Poverty and Hereditary Genius

By: F. C. Constable

From the Introduction to Poverty And Hereditary Genius by F. C. Constable:

"With thousands of others, I hold that poverty, which binds the overwhelming majority of our people to lifelong subservient labour, results in the disuse, and so the utter waste, of by far the greater part of the moral and intellectual force of our people. And I think there is material to our hands to prove the fact-material which is the more useful for the purpose because it has been gathered together in no way with the object of showing that poverty does so handicap the action of genius or ability.

The material I refer to is that contained in a work termed "Hereditary Genius," written by Mr. Francis Galton. This work first appeared in 1869, but it still stands preeminent for its admirable and laborious collation of facts relating to hereditary genius and ability.

In this work Mr. Galton troubles himself very little with the economic state of mankind. His main object is to prove that genius, and, I think, ability, are subjects of heredity. But, incidentally, he suggests that poverty has no serious restrictive influence on the effective action of genius or ability: he suggests that the man of genius born in the humbler ranks has appreciably the same chance of attaining reputation as he who is born in the higher ranks of life. So it is clear his work is not intended to support the views now put forward; if anything, it is intended to oppose them. I cannot therefore be accused of having faked the material I use."

• ISBN 978-1-59838-484-0
• 5 x 8 Paperback