| William Louis, Stadtholder of Friesland 1620.
| |
| 6. | George, Count Nassau Dillenburg 1623. |
| 7. | Louis Gunther—1604. |
| 8. | Ernst Casimir—1558-1632. Children of Ernst Casimir (no distinguished maternal ancestors): |
| 9. | Henry Casimir of Nassau Dietz—1640. |
| 10. | William Frederic, Count of Nassau Dietz—1664. Children of William Frederick (had Henry Frederick (8) as grandparent and William The Silent (10) as great-grandparent): |
| 11. | Henry Casimir, Prince of Nassau Dietz—1657-1696. |
| 12. | Amelia. Children of Henry Casimir (had Henry Frederick (8) as a great-grandparent): |
| 13. | John William Frizp—1687-1711. |
| 14. | Sophia Hedwig. |
| 15. | Isabella Charlotte. Children of John William Frizp (had three distinguished great-grandparents, Henry Frederick (8) twice and Amelia of Hesse (9): |
| 16. | William, Prince of Nassau Dietz—1711-1757. |
| 17. | Anne Charlotte Baden Durlach. Children of William IV (had Caroline, Queen of England (8) as grandmother): |
| 18. | William V., Prince of Nassau—1748-1806. |
| 19. | Wilhelmina Carolina Nassau-Wielburg. Children of William V. (had Frederick the Great as great-uncle): |
| 20. | William I., King of the Netherlands. |
| 21. | William George Frederick—1774-1799. |
| 22. | Frederica Louisa Brunswick. Children of William I.: |
| 23. | William II., King of the Netherlands. |
| 24. | Frederick William Charles, Prince of the Netherlands—1792-1881. Children of William II. (had Catherine II. as great-grandmother): |
| 25. | William III., King of the Netherlands. |
| 26. | Henry Prince of the Netherlands—1820. |
| 27. | Sophia Saxe-Weimar. |
Among the twenty-seven only three deserve the adjective brilliant. These are William I., king of the Netherlands, 'a captain, a hero, a legislator and a great man,'[1] and his younger brother, William George Frederick, who lived to be only twenty-five, but won considerable distinction and appears in the 'Biographie Universelle,' 'a rare model of all talents, virtues and precious qualities. 'The third is the second son of William I., Frederick William Charles, who 'took a prominent part in the war of the Belgian revolution in 1830.'[2] These came together, and we suppose their talents came from the high wave about Frederick the Great.
Reviewing the list:
In the first two generations we get what we might well expect, since John Sr. of Orange, a brother of William the Silent, was, although an able man, in no way a genius.
In the third generation, we might not be surprised to see it reappearing, and heredity would demand it in a large number of children, but as there are only two, these may have taken after their parents who were obscure.
