Schopenhauer reduces the law of heredity to the simple formula that man
has his moral nature, his character, his inclinations, and his heart
from his father, and the quality and tendency of his intellect from his
mother. Buckle, on the other hand, questions hereditary transmission of
mental qualities altogether. Though little disposed to doubt with the
English historian, yet we may hesitate to assent to the proposition of
the German philosopher; the adoption of a more scientific doctrine,
one that recognises a process of compensation, neutralisation, and
accentuation, would probably bring us nearer the truth. But whatever the
complicated working of the law of heredity may be, there can be no doubt
that the tracing of a remarkable man's pedigree is always an interesting
and rarely an entirely idle occupation. Pursuing such an inquiry with
regard to Frederick Chopin, we find ourselves, however, soon at the end
of our tether. This is the more annoying, as there are circumstances
that particularly incite our curiosity. The "Journal de Rouen" of
December 1, 1849, contains an article, probably by Amedee de Mereaux, in
which it is stated that Frederick Chopin was descended from the French
family Chopin d'Arnouville, of which one member, a victim of the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes, had taken refuge in Poland.
[Footnote: In scanning the Moniteur of 1835, I came across several
prefects and sous-prefects of the name of Choppin d'Arnouville. (There
are two communes of the name of Arnouville, both are in the departement
of the Seine et Oise--the one in the arrondissement Mantes,
the other in the arrondissement Pontoise. This latter is called
Arnouville-les-Gonesse.) I noticed also a number of intimations
concerning plain Chopins and Choppins who served their country as maires
and army officers. Indeed, the name of Chopin is by no means uncommon in
France, and more than one individual of that name has illustrated it
by his achievements--to wit: The jurist Rene Chopin or Choppin
(1537--1606), the litterateur Chopin (born about 1800), and the poet
Charles-Auguste Chopin (1811--1844).] Although this confidently-advanced
statement is supported by the inscription on the composer's tombstone in
Pere Lachaise, which describes his father as a French refugee, both the
Catholicism of the latter and contradictory accounts of his extraction
caution us not to put too much faith in its authenticity. M. A. Szulc,
the author of a Polish book o