St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-12
RELIGION OF SLEEP.
Insomnia Largely Caused by. an
Indignant Conscience.

RELIGION OF SLEEP.
Insomnia Largely Caused by. an
Indignant Conscience.
AT the Grand opera house yesterday
morning. Rev. S. G.-Snith spoke to a
large congregation ON 1.-The Religion of
Sleep" taking for his text Prov. Ill,
"a: Yea. thou shalt lie down, and thy
sleep shall be sweet"
Religion has universal relations, like
the ether which science suppOseS,
though inscrutable to the senses the
spiritual realm is ali-pervasive and all
productive. Some would like to keep
religion out of business. some out of
politics, others out Of science or phil
0Sphy. But religion must be everywhere
or nowhere.
Our handbook-the Bible-ranges all
fields and gives light on all themes. A
celebrated novelist, whose life had been
passed in quiet obscurity, was asked
how she obtained SO subtle a knowledge
of human nature under all possible
phases. She replied, Il have studied
the Bible"
introduce the phenomenon of sleep
in the pulpit this morning. because 1t
belongs there. 1t man awake ought
to behave like Christian, SO L hold he
ought TO sleep like Christian. There
must be larger study OF the lnterac-
ton of mans moral and physical ma
ture. If ministers would study ny
giene, and the Bible be made a leading
text book in medical colleges, it would
he great gain to both professions.
Some physicians affect to ignore religion
and ali the mental and emotional phe-
uUlnena which are vitality related to
pathology. Not so did the physician
who witnessed the
SOAINAAIBULISM OF LADY MACBETH.
He knew that it was the whip of CON
science that drove her from her bed. In
vain to wash that hand and cry" "Out,
damned spot, out. l say" From spirit
ual despair she finds, s'Here is the
smell of blood still; all the perfumes of
Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand.' Watching the scene, we'll says
that wise witness, Objected minds to
their deaf pillows will discharge their
secrets. More need they the divine than
the physician"
The wise man in enumeratlng the
benefits which would come to the good,
promises sweet sleep as one OF them.
The night was made for sleep. 1t dlms
all sights, it bushes all sound. we
must be obedient to Gods lessons OF the
night. He only wakes we'll who sleeps
welt. Well have the poets hymed
praises of sleep,
Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of
The death of each days life, sore labor's
bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great natures second
course.
Insomnia is always misfortune. and
sometimes sin. There are three cases
recorded in the Bible. When Mordecal
had been condemned to death. it is re-
corded of Ahasuerus, 'On that night
could not the king sleep. In the book
of Daniel, after narrating the unfavor-
able diet furnished in the kings palace,
it declares that i'll the second year OF
NebuchadneZZar she dreamed dreams,
and his sleep brake from him.
Two years of indigestion would ruin
almost anybody's sleep. And we read
of King Darius that after he had per-
formed an act of iniqulty,
his SLEEP FLED FROM HIM"
Insomnia has both physical and moral
causes. Physically there are various
medical theories, but in all of them it is
related to imperfect nutrition, and inn
perfect circulation of the blood. In
somnia may be the symptom of some
disease, in which case it is mis-
fortune, or it may be the dis
ease itself. in which case it is
generally sin. Overwork is one of the
chief causes of sleeplessness. Men toll
on for an excessive number of hours
through weeks and months without va
cation, revolving great plans in their
weary brain, until the nerves rebel and
the wearied heart fails in its normal
action and sleep refuses to come. There
is no greater folly than overwork. 1t
defeats the very thing it seeks. More
men fall in business through foolish ell
terprses, begotten in fagged-out
brain, than from any other cause. The
most economical use of time is
to spend about one-third of it in
sleep. This multipIies the possibility
of waking hours fourfold. But work is
essential to sleep: it is difficult to OBJ
tain good sleep unless we have earned
it. The insomnia that sometimes comes
to fashionable women who spend half
the night in undue excitement, and
itwo-thirds of the day lounging upon
luxurious sofa dawdling over The latest
novel. comes because it ought to. She
does not deserve to sleep. She does
not need TONES or electricity, but a lit
tie wholesome and honest living. Dis
.sipations of all kinds lead to insomnia.
No Young man can afford to waste the
hours by staying awake when he
OUGHT TO BE IN BED.
He thinks he can. He has vigorous
constitution; he can sit up IWo-thirds of
| the night and then sleep soundly enough
| the next night to make it all up. 1t
seems almost useless to tell him that the
| day of reckoning will come; that he is
continually making overdrafts upon his
| deposit of life; that when in mature
manhood he needs reserve strength for
great responsibilities, he will not have
| it, but still we will tell him the truth,
again and again, whether he hearken Or
| not. The most precious legacy. the
most valuable gift of God, that the man
| has for this practical life, is his body.
| We can have butone, of that we cannot be
too careful. The excessive use of
Stimulants, tea, coffee. alcohol, tobacco,
is prolific source of insomnia. But
| these causes of sleeplessness, all of
them combined, are not equal to the in
| dignant conscience when reused against
| the body cannot sleep. Goodness and
purity are prime ministers of sleep, but
| when the very darkness is made hide
ous by visions Of evil, when wretched
thoughts of wrong come trooping
| through the aching brain, then the
fretted soul curses the night and longs
for the dawn. Nay, sleep itself be-
comes terrible, for those retributions
which may be banished by occupa-
| ton. OF held back by the will,