KavUj Aiitliropolniiinil /frucdirfii'H I0| 



lower degnH) than F might otlierwiHu liavo been inelinotl to suppoau Ui ancostnU natural fMtcu- 

 liaritics. All of us nro fiiiniiiar with miutlipr hikI an oxa^-tly npi iiion. It i 'X 



Haid that thu childrfii of roiigiotiH |iui'fntM fre<|ucntly turn nut i I ntiriDT" ••<i 



arc (|uot<<(l to support IIiIh aM.siTtioii. If a wiilcr induction and u cai 

 the correctness of tliin view, it might apjH«r to stn>ngly oppost* thti i; 



On l)oth tliese accounts, it is alisolut«!ly necessary, to the just treatment of m . 



inquire into the history of religious ptiople, and learn the extirnt of their hercdit«r)' p- i. .:. -, 



and whether or no their lives are attended by exceptionally goo<l fortune." (pp. 257-8.) 



Galton then starts on his analysis and finds that : 



"As a general rule, the men in Middleton's collection had considerable intellectual capacity 

 and natural cagorniMs fur study, both of which ({ualities were commonly manifest in iMiyhtxMl. 

 Most of them wrote voluminously, and were continually engagi-d in preachings and religious 

 services. They ha<l evidently n strong need of utterance. They were generally, but by no means 

 universally, of religious parentage There is no case in which either or lx)th |>arent« are dis- 

 tinctly descrilied iis having been sinful, though there are two cases of ineAnness and one of 



over-spending The Divines, as a whole, have had hnnlly any appreciable inlluencc in founding 



the governing families of England, or in producing our judges, stAtesmen, commandera, men of 

 littM-ature and science, poets or artists. The Divines are but moderately prolific." (pp. 260-2.) 



Those who many often marry several times; tliiis out of Galton's 100, 

 three married four tunes, two three times, and twelve had two wives apiece. 

 Galton accounts for the early deaths of the wives of Divines hy the 

 hypothe.sis tliat their constitutions were on the whole weak. They were 

 usually women of great piety, and 



"there is a frequent correlation between an unusually devout disposition and a weak constitu- 

 tion." (p. 204.) 



Galton finds the median age at death of Divines to be 62 to 63, which is 

 rather A'cS.s than that of eminent men dealt with in other parts of his volume. 



"As regards health, the constitutions of most of the divines were remarkably bad." (p. 265.) 



Studying young scholars or students he finds that they either die young, 

 or strengthening as they grow retain their .scholarly tastes and indidge them 

 with sustained energy", or lastly live on in a sickly way. The Divines arc 

 largely recruited from the last class. 



"There is an air of invalidism about most religious biographies It is curious how lai^ 



a part of religious biographies is comnumly given up to the occurrences of the sick room' 



I can add other rea-sons to corroborate my very strong impression that the Divines are, on the 

 whole, an ailing body of men." (pp. 265-74.) 



Those who were of vigorous constitution had too frequently been wiKl in 

 their youth. Galton generally concludes that a pious disposition is decide<lly 

 hereditary, but there are also frequent cases of the sons of pious {mrents 

 turning out badly. 



' Thus Rivet's biography is cited. He died after twelve days' suffering of stranguhttion of 

 the intestines, the remedies attempted, each successive pang and each corresponding religious 

 ejaculation is recordetl ; the history of his bowel attack being protnictwl through forty five pagM 

 or as much space as is allotted to the entire biographies of four average divines. Where the 

 piety of the divine is not witnessed by his martyrdom by men, it must be illustrated by his 

 martyrdom by disease. 



