History of the Jews, Vol. 6 (of 6): Containing a Memoir of the Author by Dr. Philip Bloch, a Chronological Table of Jewish History, an Index to the Whole WorkGraetz, Heinrich
History
History of the Jews, Vol. 6 (of 6): Containing a Memoir of the Author by Dr. Philip Bloch, a Chronological Table of Jewish History, an Index to the Whole Work
Graetz, Heinrich
Jews -- History
Five o’clock in the morning found Graetz at his desk. Until nine he
gave uninterrupted attention to his literary work. After that hour he
was in the habit of devoting himself to his lectures. He carried on
an extensive correspondence, found leisure for all sorts of things,
and was fond of the innocent gayeties of social life. He retired late,
and in general needed but little sleep. His sound, almost invincible
nervous system was supplemented by a constitution calculated to supply
his extraordinary capacity for work with a proper physical basis. He
was of average height, and habitually bent forward his lean and spare,
but sinewy, muscular figure, built upon a strong bony frame. His face
was somewhat marred by pock-marks, but his head made a massive, unusual
impression. Soft, chestnut-brown, later gray hair, in fair though
not clustering abundance, crowned his board-like, square forehead.
His sharp, observant eyes, grayish-brown in color, betokened the
owner’s enjoyment of life, and a somewhat large, prominent nose with
its delicate nostrils, quivering like “feelers,” gave his long, oval,
bony face its characteristic searching expression. Sometimes sadness
played about his lips, but usually they were curled by mockery, irony,
and defiance, as though sarcastic words might dart out at any moment.
In point of fact, sharp satire occasionally spiced his conversation,
which, as a rule, however, was far from fulfilling the expectations
aroused by his writings. In his younger years happy moments found
him full of jokes and pranks for the delectation of his domestic
circle, and at all times he displayed unquenchable zest for life and
cheerful optimism. Love of family was a dominant trait in him. Towards
his wife his bearing was always tender and attentive, as though the
honeymoon had not passed; towards his daughter it was marked by the
perfection of gallantry; towards his sons he exercised forbearance and
self-sacrificing devotion, and his aged father he met with the filial
respect of Talmudic times. He enjoyed and cultivated intercourse with
friends. For a friend, for any person or cause that had enlisted his
sympathy, he was ready to pledge himself. Deeply moved by the sad
conditions prevalent in Palestine, he had brought thence a plan for
the education of Jewish orphans in Jerusalem. He and his traveling
companions founded a society, and he exerted himself to secure a
fund, small though it might be, for the promotion of its object. For
this purpose he took journey after journey, delivered lectures, at
first much against his inclination, in many cities, and even accepted
an invitation to go to Galicia, where he was received with joyful
demonstrations and overwhelmed with flattering homage. Encouraged by
such successes, he persisted, until he had put the society upon a
modest but secure basis, which enables it to continue its good work to
this day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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