MENTAL AND MORAL HEREDITY 235 



have certainly been forthcoming. In the third generation of 

 descendants from Alfonso I. we find Alfonso III., who, though a 

 great warrior and statesman, was an unprincipled tyrant, again 

 indicated by the symbol of low moraUty. Now, there is no other 

 person in the pedigree, except Theresa, where this "miprincipled 

 tyranny " and low morahty could have emanated. For the 

 various famihes which were introduced by marriage into the line 

 of the descendants of Alfonso I., were of a high grade of morality, 

 or their general character was such that they have been described 

 as " kindly and pious," " virtuous and highly eulogised," and 

 " able and moderate." Following the descendants of Alfonso III. 

 we find the same symbol of low morality appearing by the side of 

 the name of Alfonso IV., who was brave and able, but cruel and 

 tyrannical, and by that of his daughter Mary, who was a wicked 

 and revengeful queen, while her brother, ' Peter the Rigorous,' was 

 a wise, able, and just ruler. Following down the Une of descent 

 of 'Peter the Rigorous,' through the next two generations, where 

 the pedigree terminates, we find that his descendants are, with 

 but two unindicated cases, all of high order from the moral stand- 

 point. They are " moderate and enUghtened " or " liberal and 

 accomphshed " or " accredited with the highest praises for the 

 possession of many virtues." It is interesting to note that much 

 of this high standard may be due to the introduction of PhiUppa, 

 sister of Henry IV. of England, who had an elevated character 

 and many virtues, into the pedigree, by marriage with John I. of 

 Portugal. This fact is worth emphasizing, because there is a 

 tendency in the popular conception of these problems, to regard 

 the female part of the line as having less influence than the male. 

 The pedigrees contained in Dr. Adams Wood's book will dispel 

 this erroneous idea if they are studied carefully enough. 



Theappearance of many new characters, intellectual and moral, 

 in the various lines of descent which are traced in these pedigrees, 

 are accounted for clearly by feminine introduction. Such a case 

 occurs, for instance, in the pedigree of Maria Theresa, on page 180, 

 She married Francis of Lorraine, in whose ancestry individuals 

 of intensely rehgious feeUngs do not occur. But both the mother 

 and the grandmother on the father's side of Maria Theresa were 

 intensely reUgious. Maria Theresa herself is not so indicated. 

 But her son, Joseph II. of Austria, was austere, and his interest 

 in reUgious matters as manifested by his ecclesiastical poUcy was 

 deep and intense. We may in passing say that we cannot agree 

 that the epithet " bigoted " which is applied to him by the author 

 is altogether justified. We do not think that a Holy Roman 

 Emperor, such as Joseph II. was, who brings himself into conflict 

 with the Holy See, by issuing an edict of toleration, granting 

 freedom of worship to all Protestants and to members of the 



