that he was the only one to so inherit them, the next generation would have just as much chance to receive the birthright of the Condé's as his own generation had. There were but two children, and it is not asking too much from heredity if we believe that one of these two again shows the family strength by the same cause, since a father, grandfather and great grandfather are worth about 33 per cent., and we add to this one distinguished ancestor on the maternal side, since the mother of the children of the next generation was a granddaughter of Anne, the great Constable Montmorency, referred to above as the beginning of the second celebrity of the Montmorency family. This one to follow in the footsteps of his father was Henry II. of Condé, whose record, however, was not so illustrious as that of some of those who had gone before.
We now come to one of the greatest 'fraternities' in point of average to be found in all modern royalty, at least among those fraternities that contain as many as three children. Here we find two out of three in about the highest intellectual rank. Louis II., the 'Great Condé' and his sister Anne, Duchess de Longeville, certainly belong in 10. The third was Armand, Prince of Condé, famous but not praised either for character or intellect.[1] Can we account for these strictly by heredity? If these three children had arrived without any other influence than the House of Condé, it would be evidence against heredity, since before the fourth generation reversion to the mean would be called for; but it certainly is significant to note that this most brilliant fraternity of all is also backed by about the most brilliant pedigree of all royalty since Henry II. of Condé married Charlotte, daughter of Henry I. of Montmorency. She was noted for her beauty, strength of character and fascinating qualities. Henry I. was the center of the Montmorency genius. Thus the greatest of the Condés occur where we should most expect them, just at the junction of the two great streams.
The subsequent history of Condé is one of decline. Is there any infusion of bad blood sufficient to account for it aside from the external circumstances in which they lived? Louis II., the Great Condé, married Clemence, a daughter of Urban de Maillé de Brézé and a niece of Cardinal Richelieu. Maillé de Brézé was marshal of France, so it might seem at first sight as if this would be a case where we might expect a perpetuation of genius. But in looking more carefully we get the following idea of the character of the marshal, which throws no optimistic light on the rest of the members of the family. Maillé de Brézé was made Marshal of France in 1632, and left his command in Holland in anger saying that he n'etait point bête du compagne. In 1636 he was given the government of Anjou, where he showed himself 'bizarre and tyrannical.' He gave but little proof of military talent.
- ↑ 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.'
