The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1873-01-02

SLEEP THE BEST STIMULANT.-The pull
pit, the bench, the bar, the forum have con-
tributed their legions of victims to drunken
habits. The beautiful woman, the sweet
singer, the conversationalist, the periodical
writer. have filed, but too often, the drunk
ards grave. Now that the press has become
such great power in the land, when the
magazine must come out on certain day,
and the daily newspapers at fixed hour,
nothing Waits; everything must give way to
theine1orable call for copy. and, sick or we'll,
disposed or indisposed, asleep or awake, the
copy must come. The writer must compose
his article, whether he feels like it or not,
and if he is not in the vein Of writing, he
must whip himself up to it by the stimulus
Of drink. Some of the greatest writers of
the country have confessed to the practice,
on urgent occasions of taking a sip of BRAN
dy at the end Of every page, or even oftener.
1t may have escaped the general readers no
tice that more men die young who have been
connected with the New York press, within
ten wears, and that, too from intemperance,
than in all the other educational callings
put together--young men whose talents
have been Of the first order, and gave pro-
mise of a life Of usefulness, honor and
eminence. The best possible thing for a
man to do, when he feels too tired to per-
form task or too weak to carry it through,
is to 20 to bed and sleep week, if he can.
This the only true recuperation Of brain
power, the only actual renewal Of brain force.
Because, during sleep the brain is in q
sense of rest, in condition to receive and
appropriate particles of nutriment from the
blood, which take the place of those which
have been consumed in previous labor, since
the very act of thinking consumes, burns
up solid particles, as every turn of the wheel
or screw of the splendid steamer is the re-
suit of the consumption by fire of the fuel in
the furnace. That supply Of consumed
brain substance can only be had from the
nutriment particles in the blood which were
obtained from the food eaten previously, and
the brain is so constituted that it can best
receive and appropriate to itself those nutri'
ment particles during the state of rest, OF
quiet and of stiffness in sleep Mere stimu
lants supply nothing themsclves-they only
goad the brain, force it to greater cousump
ton of its substance until that substance has
been so fully exhausted that there is no,
power enough left to receive a supply, JUS
as men are so near death, by thirst or starva
tion, that there is not power enough TO swal
low anything, and all is over. The incapa
city Of the brain for receiving rccuperativC
particles sometimes comes on with the ra
pidity of stroke of lightning, and the MAJ
becomes mad in an instant, loses sense an(
. is an idiot.
1t was under circumstances Of this yer,
sort, in the middle of a sentence ofgreat ora
torical power, one Of the most eminent mind
of the age lost his ideas, pressed his hand ol
l., forehead, and after moments silence said
"God, as with sponge, has blotted ont III.
mind" BE assured. readers, "thero is res
for the weary" only in early and abundan
sleep, ana wise and happy arc they who hav
6rmness enough to resolve that "by God
help will seek it in no other way"
HqRs Journal oS UeaM