The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-05-03
SLEEP.
Its Nature and its Necessity.

| Doctors of medicine are either grow.
| ing complacent or sensible. One o.
| them, DIR. Hall, has had the good sense
to tell the world that children, until
| the age of eighteen, and old and feeble
people land he might as well said
everybody, need ten hours sleep, and
that bouncing suddenly out of bed in
the morning is as hurtful as it is disa-
greeable; that fifteen or twenty min
utes spent in gradually waking up,
stretching the limbs aud letting the
blood slowly resume its wonted circu-
lation is time well spent. For the
| sudden sending the blood to the heart
is a severe shock, and the person who
gets up in this hasty and reckless
manner is sure to be drowsy by mid
| day, unless he or she is an editor or a
belle, and does not get up till after
| noon. / concur in this-in fact, / al
| ways knew that it was true; and
think, further, that pulling anybody
out of bed ought to be a State prison
offense, and doubt not that conviction
for it could be had before any of our
sleepy juries-if they were awake
enough to hear the evidence. The
world is all astray about this matter of
sleep, led away by nursery couplets
about early TO rise and the examples
Of Napoleon, Peter the Great and
other military heroes, who are report
ed to have been satisfied with an hour
or two of sleep snatched from the
twenty-fOur, taken on a plank while
|. their half a-dozen scribbling secretar-
les were not allowed to sleep at ALL
We all know what became of Napo-
leon. Even Mr.. Abbott cannot make
it appear that he had much more re-
spect for the Ruler of the universe.
These sleepless people have made most
of the mischief in the world. Catha-
rins de Medici was, we believe, light
sleeper. George Washington, on the
contrary, took his time, walked up the
father of his country by degrees, got
out Of bed with deliberatIon, and
dressed himself with thoughtful slow
ness. What a ridiculous idea it would
be to think of that great man as
bouncing out of bed at the first bell,
and dressing himself rs if there was a
fire next door! The instinct of chill
dren against early, and especially sud-
den rising is well founded; and it is
pleasant to have the learned faculty
confirm long and growing coviction
that it is not sin to lie in bed till the
second bell rings. 1t is the experience
of the majority of the people that the
most delicious moments of the whole
day are those when they ought to get
up, and do not. Hereafter let them
linger in this delightful border land
with quiet conscience. Nature is
about to be vindicated by the scientists.
If the whole life could be like that
brief interview between half awaking
and getting out into the cold world
that rare space of time when duty
calls so family that there is a sweet
delight in letting it call before con-
science is aroused at alone might
like to revise the hymn-book, and live
always. We have now been for several
thousand years going to the ant and
getting away from the sluggard to that
degree that we have developed q very
nervous condition. To say nothing of
being defrauded of our rights, and of
the legitimate and healthy luxury of
sleeping long and waking up slowly,
as plants do, 10 doubt many of the
nervous diseases that are attributed to
stock gambling, tobacco and unrequit-
ed love are due to the want of sufii-
cient sleep from childhood up
Charles Dudley Warner.