556 LEOPOLD VON RANKE. 



called the eyes of old Fritz, they could not be used for reading or 

 writing. lie worked under obstacles that would have appalled 

 younger men. To attempt a critical study of the sources of uni- 

 versal history without the use of one's eyes would have dismayed 

 any one except Ranke. His wonderful memory for details, — a char- 

 acteristic of his family, — and his unerring instinct for truth, were the 

 qualities which, in spite of all hindrance, made his work advance 

 rapidly and surely. 



His habits of toil were most systematic. He rose at nine o'clock in 

 the morning, and, after a simple German breakfast, worked steadily 

 until two in the afternoon, when he received visitors for a brief 

 interval, and then walked for an hour or two in the Berlin Park, or 

 Thiergarten, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. The only thing 

 which annoyed him in that attractive place was the sight of men 

 smoking. He had a most unconquerable aversion to tobacco. He 

 said he never could understand why sensible men could walk abroad 

 in God's free, beautiful nature with a cigar in the mouth. Returning 

 home at four o'clock, Ranke dined and indulged in a comfortable 

 after-dinner nap, after which he was again to be seen by his friends. 

 At seven o'clock in the evening he was ready for his second secretary, 

 with whom he worked continuously until past midnight. From eight 

 to ten hours' work was Ranke's daily habit for many years. It may 

 afford a trifling solace to the friends of early rising and the enemies of 

 night-work to learn that Ranke was informed in his ninety-first year 

 by his physician that he must change his mode of life and give up late 

 hours. Ranke's method of quiet, uninterrupted, continuous work, 

 sustained by sufficient sleep, simple diet, and regular exercise, goes 

 far toward the explanation of his phenomenal energy. It has been 

 suggested that the congenial nature of his occupation recruited his 

 strength and prolonged his life. Work was certainly his only delight. 

 His motto was Labor ipse voluptas. 



In spite of Ranke's unremitting habits of toil, he was a genial, 

 companionable man, beloved by all his friends and students. His 

 early life in Berlin and Italy was eminently social and gemutliUch. 

 Von Reumont has given a pleasing picture of Ranke and his Italian 

 days (Ilistorisches Jahrbuch, Band. VII. 4 Heft). He was a great 

 favorite in Berlin society, and was a personal friend of King Wil- 

 liam IV., as well as of the great scholars of his time, — Alexander 

 von Humboldt, Savigny, Eichhorn, Boeck, Ritter, Hegel, Neander, 

 Niebuhr, and Goethe. Although he remained a bachelor until the 

 age of fifty, he was always fond of the society of cultivated women. 



