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r.]   ANTECEDENTS.   67

to me that on the average, 660 Cambridge students do not produce more than 3 men whose general eminence is of equal rank to that of the 13 men in the 660 grandfathers and uncles under consideration. A more exact test, and the best of which I can think, is to examine

into the fate of the boys at large schools. It is not difficult to learn the productiveness of each school as regards eminence, because there are.annual gatherings, to which former schoolboys who have won distinction are generally invited and not unfrequently come. As men begin to distinguish themselves at 35, and may be supposed willing to attend on such occasions till 70, the notabilities invited to be present at school gatherings represent the product of, say, 35 years. I feel sure that 660 middle-class boys do not turn out more than a fraction of one eminent man, though they may turn out many who do well in life and earn fortunes and local repute.

The second of the groups consists as already mentioned, of brothers and male cousins, making a total of about 1,450 men. I will examine