8 THE MENDEL JOURNAL 



more than mediocre. His son Frederick I. was but 

 a vain and ostentatious figure-head, but an inter- 

 marriage caused at least a partial reappearance of the 

 exceptional type in Frederick William L, of Prussia, 

 and a second intermarriage produced Frederick the 

 Great. Four of this generation were almost equal to 

 Frederick the Great himself. His brother Prince Henry 

 was a great strategist. His sisters Sophia Ulrica (Queen 

 of Sweden, "The Minerva of the North"), Charlotte of 

 Brunswick, and the Princess Amelia, were noted for 

 their intellect, while at least four of the other five 

 brothers and sisters could not possibly be placed in 

 the same class. Out of all the nieces and nephews of 

 Frederick the Great it is quite easy to pick seven as 

 showing in one form or another the family brilliancy, 

 while at the same time the feeling is strongly forced 

 on one that, with one or two partial blendings as 

 exceptions, the others do not. The seven whom I 

 have included in this group which seem characterised 

 as " brilliant " are Gustavus III. of Sweden and his 

 sister Sophia Albertina ; Augustus Frederick of 

 Prussia, reputed the best artillery officer in the 

 Prussian army, who died young ; Louis, a son of 

 Ferdinand of Prussia ; Amelia Duchess of Saxe- 

 Weimar, the distinguished patron of genius and 

 learning, of Wieland, Herder, and Goethe ; sixth, 

 the celebrated commander Charles William Ferdinand 

 of Brunswick ; and seventh, his brother William 

 Adolphus. 



The House of Montmorency shows in the same way 

 that genius tends to hold itself as a single entity and 



