FIELD-MARSHAL COUNT VON MOLTKE 399 Q. Where did you complete your studies in town or in the country ? A. In town. Q. How many hours a day do you devote to mental work ? A. Very differ- ent. Q. Do you attribute to any particular habit of your life a favorable influence upon your health ? A. Moderation in all habits of life. In all weathers exer- cise in the open air. No day altogether at home. Q. How long did you sleep at a mature age ? A. From eight to nine hours on an average. Q. What alterations have you made at an advanced age in your mode of life ? A. None. Q. How long did you work daily in your fiftieth, sixtieth, seventieth, eighti- eth years ? A. Quite as circumstances required it ; often, therefore, very long. Q. What were your recreations ? A. Riding on horseback up to my eighty- sixth year. Q. How many hours do you spend in the open air? A. Now, in summer, on my estate, half the day. Q. How long do you sleep at present ? A. Always eight hours still. Q. What are your habits with regard to eating, etc. ? A. I eat very little, and take concentrated food. Q. To what circumstances do you particularly attribute your stalwart old age (which may God long preserve !) ? A. To God's grace and temperate habits. An interesting anecdote is related, apropos of his dislike to display, on the occasion of the opening of new barracks at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, to which, as the oldest and most distinguished officer of the regiment in which he first served, he was invited. His acceptance of the invitation was accompanied by the stipulation that no ceremony should be made ; but the officers, desiring to do honor to their illustrious guest, had provided the best carriage that the town afforded to meet him at the station. On his arrival, the field-marshal thanked the officer in waiting, took a common cab, and with his nephew, who was with him as aide-de-camp, drove off to the barracks, to the astonishment of the honest burghers. His favorite recreations were chess, in which he excelled ; music, especially that of the school of Schubert and Mozart he entertained very decided opinions about the " music of the future " and whist, which he rarely missed playing after dinner, even when at the seat of war. The count was an authority on the culture of roses, and at Kreisau, where he spent most of his time after his retire- ment from more active service, he possessed one of the finest and most unique collections of roses in Germany, a fact which lends an additional grace to the tribute of respect paid to the field-marshal's memory, when, the day after his death, the empress visited the headquarters of the General Staff and placed a magnificent wreath of his favorite flower upon the bed of the departed herOo Had not his reputation as a military strategist overshadowed his other gifts, the count would have gained distinction in the world of letters. In the 'twen-
