St. Paul daily globe., 1889-05-26
HOW LONG TO SLEEP.
Some Popular Ideas Of This Important
Subject.
OLD SAWS AND SAYINGS.
Rest as It Should Be Taken and
Rest as Il Is
Taken.

Most people seem to be of the opinion
that early rising is conducive to gc6d
health and mental vigor. An old say
ing is quoted as conclusive proof OF the
correctness of this popular idea-"Six
hours for man, seven for a woman,
and eight for fool" That this pOpu-
lar idea is like almost all others, entire
ly erroneous, can be easily demon
strated. a worm-eaten proverb is
no proof of anything, and most
such proverbs are utter rot. The
men whose minds are the clear
est. whose expressed thoughts
are read with eagerness by the intelli-
gent world, whose words rule nations
and whose brains are like gigantic
thought factories-theSe men all take
plenty of sleep, and most of them are
very bad hands at getting out OF ped IN
the morning. People who never think
deeply on any subject, whose work is
manual and whose brain-power is linz
tied. NAV not need more than six or
be interesting.
Brindley, the celebrated engineer, al
WAYS betook himself to bed when he
was puzzled by some intricate problem,
and usually solved it there.
Lord Melbourne, when premier OF
England. used to lie in bed till a very
late. hour. taking his breakfast, and
reading letters and dispatches there.
The poet Thomson cultivated lazi.
ness as a fine art, and composed most OF
his great poems in bed. In this he was
not singular, as almost all the poets
have been incorrigiby lazy.
Pope was worse than Thomson.
When he had an inspiration heremained
in bed until it was thought out.
King George Ill. said: "A fool may
get on very we'll with eight hours sleep.
but philosopher needs ten;" and King
George, with all his faults, was cOnSld-
cradle of a philosopher.
Sir Walter Scott never slept less than
ten hours, and often extended this time
to twelve.
Napoleon Bonaparte and his opponent
Wellington could drop off to sleep When
ever they wanted to, and did so at all
hours of the day and night.
Lord PaImerstOn, one of the greatest
minds who ever had a hand in ruling
Europe, used to sleep in his seat in
parliament, and his valet had instruc-
tions not to wake him under any cir
cumstances until he had had eight
hours sleep. This rule was so strictly
adhered to that the prince consort was
obliged to wait two hours until the
statesman's eight hours were up on one
occasion when he called to see him on
important business connected with the
Crimean war. Lord Palmerston gen.
orally took ten hours sleep, but never
less than eight. and added an hour or
two during the day when possible.
This probably accounted for the ad-
vanced age at which he died and the
Prince Bismarck is also a great
sleeper. Mr.. Motley says that the Iron
Chancellor rarely rises till II, and is
not particularly late in going to bed.
Walters in restaurants and men who
work long hours almost invariably
spend the greater part of the day in bed
when they get day off.
A little thought on the subject of
sleep will easily explain, why the more
of it a person gets, the better are they
bodily and mentally. Sleep recuper-
ateS the system, and there is no medi-
cine like it. The more sleep the brain
gets, the better it does its work. All /
the wheels of life are oiled and eased
by sleep. A whole day in bed gives
man an extra stock of sleep, which
goes to the credit side of his sanitary
account. The theory that a man should
get up the instant he wakes is pesti-
lent heresy. True, the early bird
catches the worm, but there is just as
much chance of a man being the worm
who is such an idiot as to be an early
riser. After waking up. the most deli
ciOHs sleep is obtained. 1t is verify
treasure-trOve.
In the mere fact of lying in bed,
whether sleeping or not, there is some-
thing healthy. Bavard, the eminent
French psychologist, says in one of his
medical works: ''Man is an animal
who exercises his thinking faculties
best in horizontal position" Thus it
will be seen there are highly artistic,
social and intellectual uses connected
with an occasional day in bed. These
elements claim respect.
Asa rule, what is pleasantest is best,
provided that the mind is rightly con-
StituIed. What can be pleasanter than
those delightful little snooZes in the
morning after the regulation time for
getting up? On! that last turn! What
bliss! That semi-conscious state be-
tween waking and sleeping is not
usually recognized as the most beneficial
part of the whole nights rest, but it is
fact, nevertheless. Every minute of
such time prolOngs mans life hours.
Therefore, let us all reform and lie in
bed as late in the morning as possible.