The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-09-13
EARLY RIsERS.


Every reasonable man-every one. that is. who
gets.up when he chooses, and goes TO bed when
he tcels incIned-has at times been veXed by
inc zeal OF early rlsers. II two men Jake the
same allowance OF sleep, but one OF them begins
1t at eleven O'Clock and the other at two, the
first " ii! feel himself a moral head and snoul.
ders above his friend. He fancies himself to be
standing on little pedestal OF conscious vir-
tue, from which he may, fguTatIvey pealling
Hap his wings and crow over his interiors. He
is always mentally voting little congratulatory
addresses to himself pointing out that, BY his
seh-denlal and constant superiority to the ordl-
nary weakness OF humanity, he has set an
example whose influence can hardly be over
estimated. He sometimes has sufficient self
command TO Confne his demand upon popular
admr9tion TO a mere taclt assumption; but
however carefully he may act the part of modest
merit, he glows with an inward satisfaction
which can never he quite repressed.
He could not. though he would, hide his light
under a bushel. 1t shines through him as
through an alabaster vase. He is zoo much OF
an angel among common men to be able quite
to cover up his wings. Ii st. Simeon Stylites
had come down from his pillar in the flesh ne
would certainly have carried it about him in
spirit. He would have made some incidental
reference to the 'raln, wind, frost. heat, hail
damp, ana sleet and snow" which ne had
borne. He would have let his acquaintances
know that II was no joke, whatever they might
think, 20 stand twenty years on a pillar. The
early riser Is the Stytes Of private life. He
glorles, even in secret, over his selI-lnlicted
ml6erles; but, TO extract from such recOlechOns
all the consolation which they can afford, it is
necessary to share them with other people. he
is delis hted to speak with authority as to the
state OF the weather between six and seven III
the morning.
He brings in Observation-Disclosures references
to his walks before breakfast, and he goes
quietly to sleep after dinner as if he had earned
clear right to a little repose. Few people
have strength OF mind enough really to bear up
against claims OF this kind. Radicals, who say,
perhaps very sincerely, that q mans man for
wi
wardness in the presence of a lord No one
Will admit that mere wealth has any claims to
respect; yet we somehow feel an instructive
Difference towards man with good balance
at his bankers, of which we are not conscious
towards his nelghbor, who lives from hand to
mouth. In the same. way, few people really
dare to dispute the merits of man who gets
up at six in the morning; he has accumulated
a balance of solid virtue which gives an unde-
fined weight OF responsibility to his actions. 1t
appears to be merely due TO his beneyoence
that he does not crush you to the earth with a
sense of N oral inieriority
And yet, If we could only venture TO MAKE
staLd. perhaps we might find tnat this clam is
oimposng OILY because it has not been criti-
cally tested. Early rising IS, TO a considerable
extent, proof of mperlect civilization. In the
East, everybody is up with the sun: as for OBJ
vious reasons laborlng men are compelled to
be here. But the invention of candles and the
change from ply ,iCal TO intellectual labor have
altered all the conditions of lie. The evening
hours are now superior in almost every respect
10 muse OI ine HOTuln9. IN q social point OF
view, 1t Is unnecessary 10 demonstrate that no
man can enjoy society before breakfast. If il
were often possible for friends 10 gather at that
time, as they do at certain baths to drink the
waters, the consequence would be disastrous;
for nature has implanted in the human breast
QuarIelsome, captious, and i-humored spiris,
which IS always predominant during the first
hours of the Gay. Strictly speaking, mau does
not become a social being until breakfast
and even then the instinct exists IN a very
modified form; many people read the news
paper at breakfast; but no one could be brute
enough to read il at duner. In those barbarous
times when dinner took place about midday.
supper was the really sOciable meal, which has
been gradually superseded by the onward move
ment OF dinner. From al this 1t follows that a
mans social tendencies are almost always in
the inverse ratio of his propensity to early
rising. When Caesar remarked, "Let me have
men about me that are fat sleek-headcd men,
4 and such as sleep o. nights he evidently meant
to condemn, not the unfortunate beings who
may be physically lean, but the restless tenn
permanent which leads to early rising, self
cOnceit discomfort, and conspiracy. If people
who get up prematurely and disagreeaOe, and
even dangerous, in social point of view, they
4 will equally fail 10 justify themselves on IN
telectual grounds. Those who delight in ALWAYS
fring off small prudential maXims of the
''early to bed early to risen variety, generally
denounCe the practice OF study at night. But
i here again, the assumption seems to be gra-
tuitous. The early riser descends every morn
ing into q partial chaos; fires are smoking and
\ green wood sputterlng; every house is haunted
by unkempt servants with busters and shovels,
going through the hateful process of putting
things in order: the world is slowly getting
under Way and the machinery moves at first
with slow Jerks and creaks, and raising clouds
Y of dust. 1t is absurd to suppose that such an
atmosphere of discomfort can be more favor
able to mental labor than the harmonious
quiet of the evening, when q man may intrench
himself in perfect repose, without fear OF in
terruption; when even London approXimates
\ 10 the quiet of the country and when all the
dscordant elements Of the day have more or
less shaken into their places. Every smoker
knows the superiority of the evening over the
morning cigar; which proves that philosophi
cal and contemplatrve frame of mind is far
more easily attained at the end than at the be-
ginning OF the day, mental attitude of serene
~ meditation being essential to intelligent smok-
ing. 1t is true that mans powers may be
M supposed to be fresher and less exhausted in
the morning; but, as a rule, this advantage is
~ counterbalaneed by the diminution of restless
ness and irrtablity, and the greater power OF
+ concentration, produced by the evening calm.
ness man NAV possibly write novels before
n breakfast with success, because it is necessary
that his sensibility TO external impressions
- should be as lively and fresh as possible. He
& NAV of course do anything that comes under
the name of business most effectively in the
middle of the day. But he can hardly be
~ metaphysician till past II at night, except OF
peril of setting down all metaphysics as folly
Some detTactors might, IL is true, observe tha
this is because metaphysics are improved 10y
the haZiness OF outline congenal to mine
which is too tired to be quite steady in its per
ceptons, but it is doubtless really owing TO tht
fact that they require sustained and undiVerted
T. attention. Now such attention is impossible
so long as the mediator may be exposed TO the
4E cries of milkmen or barrelorgans; the dul
E steady sound of late carriages Is rather favora
Bile than otherwise to profound reflection. w
W therefore consider that, for almost all Dur