Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-05-22
Ye}istellaueuns &eading.
HOW DOES HE SLEEP?
BY CHARLES F. DEEMS, D. D.

BY CHARLES F. DEEMS, D. D.
A man who achieves any great thing in any
department of human effort must have assist
ants in the shape of employees, lieutenants,
deputies, marshals-whatever you may choose
to call them. He has brain enough to fur
nish direction to the energy of many men.
His success or failure will be due in large
measure to the righteousness of his selection.
He must know his men. They must be capa-
BILE. They must be faithful. They must have
no bad habits.
This last brings me to what wish to pre-
sent to my readers.
One of the most important things to know
about any man upon whom you are going to
place any dependence is, how he sleeps ?
Sleeplessness may sometimes be involuntary.
There may have been some shock to the mans
nerves which has made him insomnolent; but
sleeplessness is more frequently voluntary.
Men choose to push their studies or their work
into those hours when they should be asleep.
1t does not matter for what cause any man
may do this; the mere fact of not sleeping
spoils his case He may spend his nights in
the theatre, in thestudy, or in the "protracted
meeting" 1t will make no difference; the
result to the body will be the same. The sleep
was not had, and for that the man must pay.
One man may do with little less sleep than
another but, as general rule, if you want a
clerk, a lieutenant, a lawyer, physician, a
legislator,a judge, president, or pastor, do
not trust your interests to any man that does
not take on the average eight good, solid hours
of sleep out Of every twenty-four. Whatever
may be his reason for it, if he does not give
himself that, he will snap sometime just when
you want him to be strong.
The intellectual and moral connections of
sleeping have, I think, not been sufficiently ap.
preciated. Men and boys have been praised
for burning the midnight oil.'' Now, this
"midnight oil" is delusion and a snare The
student who is fast asleep at eleven o'clock
every night and is wide awake at seven in the
morning is going to surpass another student OF
the same intellectual ability who goes to bed
after twelve and rises before FIVE. In sleep the
plate on which the picture is taken is receiv-
ing its chemical preparation, and it is plain
that that which is the best prepared will take
the premium.
Men who are the fastest asleep when they
are asleep are the widest awake when they
are awake.
Great workers must be great resters.
Every man who has clerks in his employ
ought to know what their sleeping habits are.
The young man who is up till two, three and
four o'clock in the morning, and must put in
his appearance at the bank or store at nine or
ten o'clock, and work all day, cannot repeat
this process many days without a certain
shakiness coming into the system, which ne
will endeavor to steady by some deluslve
stimulus. 1t is in this way that many a
young man begins his course to ruin. He
need not necessarily have been in bad compa-
ny. He has lost his sleep; and losing sleep
is losing strength and grace.
Here is the outline of history of a suicide
within my own knowledge: A young mana
stranger in New Ycrk-in good situation
in large boarding house-pleasant young
companions evenings out-goes to
midnight parties. from eleven to seven-his
nerves disturbed-a little drink-a little mis-
take in business another drink-reprooffrom
employer-more drink-more mistakes-loss
of situation help from frivolous compan-
ions-money all gone-then credit all gone
then turned out of boarding house-wander-
ing in the modification desperation
shoots himself.
Now, it does not always come to this; but
all people who are losing sleep are somewhere
along this line. They are somewhere in the
rapids.
We must begin reform in this department.
"People who call and profess themselves
Christians" must refuse to 60 out in the even
ing to any amusement, to any entertainment,
to any religious exercises, from which they
cannot return at ten o'clock, to be in their
beds at eleven. The absurd and ruinous Gus
tom of guests arriving at nine and ten o'clock
and supper being served between eleven and
twelve must be opposed. Well-to-do officers
and members of the several churches must be
made by their pastors to feel that if they give
such entertainments they are responsible to a
measure for the deleterious results that are to
come to the bodies, to the intellects, and to
the souls of their guests, young and old. En-
ployes in every department must be made to
understand that intelligent men are not going
to entrust important matters to the hands OF
other men who do not sleep. How dare any
merchant consider himself Christian who
works his clerks all night and then holds them
responsible for the bodily, mental, and moral
injury they have sustained, and which reacts
upon his interests?
Our religious services, our business, our
amusements, our police regulations must all
be adjusted to this great necessity ofour nature.
Instead of asking our acquaintance, when we
meet, the usual question of "How do you doT
we might teach good lesson by that other
question, "How do you sleep?"