, though he had better be in bed, he
took his musket and walked to Newburyport, 30 miles, in season to ship
with the troops. Two men were there ahead of him awaiting his arrival
with instructions from his uncle to bring him back to New Jersey. This
was too much for young Burr, who did not recognize the right of his
uncle to interfere, and he expressed his mind so vigorously as to
command the admiration of the soldiers and arouse the fears of the two
messengers, who returned without him. This was the last of his uncle's
interference. Who that reads of the childhood life of this orphan can
wonder that he lacked patience under the severe reverse of political
fortune at fifty years of age? That he is the one illustrious exception
among the 1,400 need cause no surprise.

CHAPTER VIII

CONTRASTS

It has already been emphasized that the Jukes always mingled blood of
their own quality in their descendants, and that the Edwards family has
invariably chosen blood of the same general tone and force. Who can
think for a moment that the Jukes would have remained on so low a level
if the Edwards blood had been mixed with theirs, or that the Edwards
would have retained their intellectual supremacy if they had married
into the Jukes. The fact is that in 150 years the Jukes never did mingle
first-class blood with their own, and the Edwards family has not in 150
years degenerated through marriage.

It is pre-eminently true that a mighty intellectual and moral force
does plough the channel of its thought and character through many
generations. It would be well for any doubter to study the records of
thoroughbreds in the animal world. The highest record ever made for milk
and butter was by an animal of no family, and she was valuable only for
what she could earn. None of her power went to her offspring. She was
simply a high-toned freak, but an animal with a clean pedigree back to
some great progenitor is valuable independently of individual earning
qualities.

No more would any one claim that the Jukes would not have been immensely
improved by education and environment, or that the Edwards family could
have maintained its record without education, training, and environment.
The facts show that the Jukes first, last, and all the time neglected
these advantages, and that the Edwards family, with all its
intermarrying, has never neglected them.

The Jukes were notorious law breakers, while the Edwards family has
furnished pra