Evening star., 1898-08-06

Some of the Hest Ideas Come to One
While Half Awake.
I,r,nun

Prom Parsons Weekly
Most people, II asked the question, would
say that bed was the place TO rest in,
not to work. And though this is true of
the great majority of people, there is still
decent modieum left who find bed a
very congenial place In which to do their
work, or a great part of it, and who in
fact. do not disguise the truth that they
can work there very effectively.
This plan was followed by the great poet
Campbell, who tells us that he lay awake
thinking of his projected poem 'Lochiel," ("
when there came into his mind with other
poettc thoughts. the idea of the shadows
gan to break, and he at once jumped out
OF bed and wrote down what has since
become worldwide proverb. Coming
events cast their shadows before"
Many writer's owe much of their success
10 clever plots and articles which have
been begun, worked out, and finally set
into proper form during the time that
their authors lay between the blankets.
The writings afterward have often been
merely mechanical, and even much of that
was done in bed; the setting of the plot
and the dialogue vas the chief thing, as
most writers Know too well.
1 trust you'll excuse me-" said cele-
brated doctor lately to a friend who had
called to see him early, and who, on being
asked to go up to his bed room, found the
physician still enjoying the comfort of the
sheets Kindly sit down. my boy, for a
minute, till Eve done answering these let
ters- / have my letters brought up i'm
mediately when they arrive in the morn
ing and l go over them in bed and put
down the replies in pencil on the back of
them. Then when my secretary arrives at
he has nothing to do but go and answer
them. AS you know, l am kept busy from
10 O'Clock, when I first appear downstairs
till late at night, and this plan, you see,
saves me nearly an hours work with him.
Ihat students often burn the midnight
OIL IN bed Is fact commonly known, but
few are aware of the length to which this
IS carried cut, especially In colleges. I
know college in London where any night
one could find thirty or forty men all
working in bed, with note books manuals
pencils and all in full rig-out, many of
them having their writing desks before
them on the bed. The contrivances for
turning out the gas without getting out of
bed when work is done would do credit to
the ingenuity of an Edison.
And whore did you ever find time to
get through your classical authors and do
your mathematical problems so thoroughly
as to gain distinction?' said 1 to Lon
con university man. who mad graduated a
lew years ago with distinguished honorS." )"
For l knew he had worked hard at his
own business all the day from till 5.
In bed, old fellow. in bed!'' said he 81
used to lie awake in the morning for an
hour before getting up and employed the
time in thinking over the Euclidian
riders and comic problems that had nuz-
Zied me. Almost invariably / worked their
solution out in my brain without paper or
pencil while lying in bed. And every night
before / went to sleep 1 went over SO
many dozen Greek verbs and Latin ammo
tations till they were all just like the null
tipication table to me-"
There is another class of men who work
much in bed-viz-. the legal fraternity. Not
very long ago a leading Q. c. in an i'm
portant case only got his brief delivered
the night before the case came on for trial
a. Manchester assizes, and yet. to every
bodys astonishInent, he Showed next day
a most surprising grasp of the case, and
dealt so successfully with it and the wit
nesses engaged in it as to bring off his
client successfully. Asked as to how he
had been able to master such an intricate
brief in one night, the Q. c. replied: ''TNook
it to bed with me and went over it this
morning"