The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-08-30
Sleeping in Church.

writer in the New York Observer of last
week makes the following remark ON this SUBJ
ject
nave great sympathy with sleepers.
= OF that the tendency is one of my trials, but
ina. nave few times in church known the
is just as irresistible as the IuIl Of opium or
very seldom.
"deneraliy the tendency is within our con-
PEELED to work hard or 70 carry thc iahors Of
the.Week almost in the Sabbath If we choose
10 break the Sabbath on Saturday. by oyertir-
Ing ourselves s or keep late hours on Saturday
hlgnt, oI course we must expect to be sleeping
in church. But whose fault is III Then with
many, sunday being n leisure day. more time
Is gwen to eating and drinking Instead of ac.
ing ~ On me Wen known principle that when we
who really desire to avoid being sIeepv .hon1d
take alight meal at noon and more food later
In the day. for IL is almost impossible to Sit
down quietly after fun meal and keep mind
and body awake.
'Another soporiAc is dull PREACHING Rut
frequently the fault is as much with the hear.
er as the preacher-a want of interest anna
rent in the hearer discourages and throws a
pail over his best efforts. Still it must 10 CON
fessed there is soothing effect in a monoto.
nous voice, in nnvarying tones, which it Is
hard to resist.
''Bnt one of the chief causes of drow siness
The subjectof yentilationi is worn threadhare
and yet it is little understood To seal up a
room almost Theoretically, and confine people
IN II Is the true mode-it is an economical
Dethod OF manufacturing carbonic acid gas
Finally some discover that they suffer from il
and wake up to the importance of ventilation
Lo !. hole is cut in the ceiling. 'Oh how ad-
mirably our church is ventilated. How much
better is l ieel' Certainly, q little better, but
the chief point, supply of fresh air, has been
quite overlooked. There is a way of letting
the air out, but no way of letting itin. A fish
suners III ssignant water. Give me running
water he says. So you cut an outlet to his
pond, but no inlet. What will the fish say 10
your wisdom
In summer, when the sexton can open the
windows, there may bea supply OF air. but OF
the windows will only open partially or
merely the lower part SO that those sitting
near areincommoded by draughts We have
had In the papers a moving address to the .'sex-
tant OF the meetin'-Gs," entreating for speWer
are;' but sections are much abused and long
suffering race. Ii the church be too hot or too
cold, too wet or too dry, ali the blame lies with
the sexton. But he cannot manufacture oxy-
ges to order, or send it into an exhausted re-
celver without proper apparatus. Give him
windows opening at top and bottom for sum-
mer, and proper warming facilities in winter,
and for his own peace, he will do we'll.
Furnaces are abused, too, and unjustly.--
true, there are some that cannot be too much
spoken against; but they are good and philo-
sophical, II properly constructed. A full sup
ply of WGrm air (not heat) is all that is needed
ana church may be as we'll ventilated with
warm air as with cold SO that il be pure and
abundant. If there be way for it to pass off.
when exhausted, the process is complete. But
the usual construction of furnaces is faulty.
Placed III the cellar, the only supply of air to
be warmed often comes from the cellar and
the quantity is limited, so that the air passing
up is overheated and seems already scorched
and exhausted before it reaches the people who
are to breathe il.
There are churches in our city, and every.
where else, in which the only supply of air is
from small cellar, where furnace is built,
without any communication with the exter-
nal air. We know of one church where there
is air enough and where a crowded congrega-
ton is cons tantly refreshed by the breath oi
life. They keep awake. Perhaps they think
ii is the preacher; perhaps he takes all tile
glory to himself. Let him try preaching in
the black hole of Calcutta, and see if he de-
serves all the credit