Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1907-06-07
SLEEP Of GREAT MEN
As a Rule All Famous Figures
Have Been Early Risers.
SCHILLER WROTE AT NIGHT

w.
Towels on His Head and Strong
Coffee at His Elbow-Endurance OF
Humboldt, BaIzac and voItaire.
give hours sleep Is sufficient for
men," declared Napoleon; seven for
women, children and FOOLS"
History hardly bears out the great
Corslcan's dictum, although there have
been some notable advocates among
the worlds great men of the theory
generally regarded as burning the
candle at both ends" Men, however,
undoubtedly differ fundamentally in re-
gard to the need Of sleep as they do in
other respects, and, whether great or
experience a schedule Of rest, as he
must Of diet and exercise One fact
however, may be predicated Of almost
all great persons-whatever their haD.
Its as regards retiring they hate been
early risers. During the years Of Dan
lei Webster's greatest congressional ac-
tiyity it was remarked of him that no
one ever saw him reading or preparing
for his speeches. This was all done,
according to his own confession, at an
ing their morning slumber. Webster
possessed in high degree what is
known as the morning temperament"
as distinguished from the might tenn
permanent" and he found consequently
that his mind manifested greatest
clarity and productivity during the ear
~ hours Of the day
Training undoubtedly has much to
do with the formation of mental hab-
Its, but it is folly, says the New York
Herald, to deny the existence of an in.
born inclination stronger than train
ing or discipline The German poet
Schiller is luminous example Of the
might temperament" and he is pic
tured with wet towels around his head
and strong coffee at his elbow as he
bent over his lamp lllumined manu-
script. Yet, like all German boys,
Schiller was trained to early rising,
and If he deliberately chose the night
for his time Of composition it was be-
cause of an inner impulse which admit
ted Of no refusal. With the approach
Of evening the heart quickens it's pulsa-
tons, and respirations become more
rapid, and the whole system suffers an
Increase Of feverish activity; hence we
are prepared to find the might DISPOSE
ton In the case Of nervous and ex-
c1table brain workers, notably Of poets
and writer's Of fiction. To but few is it
given to produce year In and year out
certain fixed daily quota, as In the case
Of Anthony Trollope, who early set
himself to work and with whom the
arrival Of noon marked the completion
Of his days task.
Balzac, on the other hand, mat Tirau
Of the nineteenth century, was accus-
toned regularly to arise at midnight
and after enveloping himself in bis
monks habit to seat himself at his
desk and force his weary, brain to its
task of creation. Carried away by ad-
miration of the MASTER" Theophile
Gautier and a number of other am
bilious youths Of the day undertook to
Initiate this popularity of the father
of realism" with the result that very
soon they were forced to take to their
beds in. earnest to make up for the
hours stolen from slumber. Doctors
doubtless would point to the early tax
ing of Of Balzac, who died when fifty
one years of age, as proof Of the del
eterious effects of such regimen.
On the other hand it may be question
ed whether his exhaustion was not due
to the privations and financial troubles
Of his early years rather than to work
at i'll advised hours. 1t is as illogical
to attribute his early death to the alb
normality Of his habits Of labor as to
attribute the long survival of Voltaire
and the explorer and traveller, Alexan-
der Humboldt, to like cause.
On one occasion Max Muller. as re-
lated in his autobiography, was return
ing from an evening entertainment In
Berlin with Humboldt, who was then
eighty years of age, and the converse
ton turned upon the latter's Cosmos"
Bitterly the savant complained that he
was no longer able to accomplish as
much as previously, since he now re-
CURED four hours sleep instead of two,
as in earlier years. when was your
age" he remarked to the philologian
Il would simply turn down my lamp
and after nap of two hours would be
as fresh as ever" ~
The sleeping room Of Voltaire's Sec
| rotary at Ferney was directly beneath
that Of the author, and at any hour OF
the day or night when moved to com
position the great Frenehman was ac-
| customed to stamp upon the floor Of
his chamber and summon the unfortlI-
nate scribe to take down his thoughts.
When once under way 1t was no un-
usual thing for him to- continue work
ing for sixteen hours at a stretch.
Goethe despite his habit of early ris-
ing was wont to arise in the night to
scribble down a poem or song, and
Emerson's wife was subject to the
danger of being aroused by the philos-
opher in his search for writing mate.
rials.s .s0nly a thought, my dear, =: he
i would reassure her as he seized the
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