Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-01-25
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE sY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: Capacity to sleep-It ia the Poor
Mans Blessing-W0rds of Comfort For
the Victims of efuIness
Means of Grace.
Copyright, Louis Klopsch. laOO.l

the Victims of fInsomnia-W Wax efulness
Means of Grace.
Copyright, Louis Klopscl 1901
WASHINGTON, d. Gin this discourse
Or. Tnlmage treats OF style OF disorder
not much discoursed upon and unfolds
what must be u consolation to many people;
text, Psalms lxxvii., 4, "Thou holdest mine
ayes waking"
Sleep is the vacation of the soul; 1t is the
mind gone into the playground OF drenms;
1t Is the relaxation OF the muscles and the
solace of the nerves; 1t is the hush OF nc
tivities; 1t is the soft curtatning OF the eyes;
1t is trance of eight hours; 1t is n calm :
Ing OF the pulses; 1t is a breathing much
slower, though far deeper; 1t Is q tempor-
ary oblivion OF all carking cares; 1t is the
doctor recognized by all schools OF medt-
cline; 1t is divine narcotic; 1t Is IL COM
plete anRsthetic; 1t ia an angel OF the
night; it is u great mercy OF God for the
the rack of torture, or in the madhouse, or
In the grave. o blessed sleep! No wonder
the Bible makes much OF it. Through sleep
so sound that surgical inclslon of the side
OF Adam did not waken him came the best
temporal blessing ever afforded 10
! sleep on pillow OF rock Jacob
saw ladder set nr, with angels coming
down and climbing. So "Hs giveth His
beloved Sleep soliloquized the psalmist.
solomon listens ut the door OF II tired
workman and eulogizes his pillow by say
ing. 'The sleep OF laboring man is
sweet" Peter was calmly sleeping be-
tween the two coustables that night be-
fore his expected assassination. Christ
was asleep in boat on Galilee when
tossed In the euroclydon. The annuncia-
tIon was mnde to Joseph in sleep, and
death is described rs only sleep and the
resurrection as u glorious wakening out of
sleep.
On the other hand, insomnia or Sleep
lesshess Is an old disorder spoken OF again
and again in the Bible. Ahasuerus suf-
fered from 1t, and we read, SIN that night
could not the king Sleep Joseph Hall
said OF that ruler, He that could COM
mand Il hundred and seven and twenty
provinces could not command sleep"
Nebuchadnezzar had insomnia, and the
record is, "His sleep brake from him."
Solomon describes this tronble and says,
Neither day nor night seeth he sleep
with his eyes" Asaph was Its victlm for
lie complains in my text that his eyes are
open at midnight, some mysterious power
keeping the upper and lower lids from
joining, Thou holdest mine eyes wax
ing
or course there is an uprighteous sleep,
as when Jonah, trying to escape from
duty, slept in the sides OF the ship while
the Mediterranean was in wrath because
of that prophetic passenger; as when
Columbus in his first voyage, exhausted
from being up many nights, gave the ship
in charge of the steersman aud the crew
who, leaving the management OF the yes
sci to boys, went to sleep and allowed the
ship to strike on the sand banks of ST.
Thomas: when the sentinel goes to
sleep at his post, endangering the whole
army; rs when the sluggard, who accom-
plishes nothing the day before he went to
sleep and will accomplish nothing the day
after he wakes, fills up Solomon's picture
OF him rs he yawns out. "a little sleep and
n little slumber and Il little folding OF the
hands to sleep" But sleep at the right
time and amid the right circumstances,
can you imagine anything more blessed?
LII sleep, according to sacred and profane
literature, Is nm emblem of death, the
morning to nl refreshed slumberers is
resurrection.
Remark the first: II you have escaped
the insomnia spoken OF in the text, thank
God. Here and there one can command
sleep, and 1t comes the minute he orders 1t
and departs at the minute he wishes it to
go. as Napoleon when lie wrote: sd Different
affairs are arranged In my bed as in draw
ers. When l wish to interrupt one train Of
thought close the drawer which contains
that subject and open that which contains
another. They do not mix together or in
convenience me. 1 have new been kept
awake by an involuntary preoccupation Of
mind. When l wish for repose shut up
all the drawers, and am asleep. have
always slept when l wanted rest, and al
most at will But I think in most cases
we feel that sleep Is not the result OF Il res
olution, but u direct gift from God. You
cannot purchase it. A great French flnan-
cier cried out, alas, why is there no sleep
to be sold?"
Remark the second: Consider among the
worst crimes the robbery OF ourselves or
others OF this mercy OF slumber. Much
AL
this subject. Thomas Moore gave poor ad-
vice when he said, '"The best way to
lengthen our days Is to steal Il few hours
from the night" We are told that, though
they did their work at night. Copernicus
lived to be seventy-three years OF age, and
Galilei seventy-eight years, and Herschel
eighty-four years. Yes. but the reason was
they were all star hunters, and the only
time for hunting stars Is ut night. Prob
ably they slept by day. The night was
made for slumber. The worst lamp u stu
dent can have is "the midnight lamp"
Lord Brougham never passed more than
four hours OF the night abed, and Justinian,
after one hour OF sleep, would rise from
his couch. But you are neither O Justiniau
nor Lord Brougham. Let not the absurd
apotheosis OF early rising induce you TO
the abbreviation OF sleep. Get up when
you are slept out unless circumstances
compel otherwise. Have no alarm clock
making its nerve tearing racket ut 4
o'clock in tho morning, unless special rea :
sons demand the forsnking OF your pillow
at that hour. Most of the theories about
early rising we inherited from times when
people retired at s or 8 O'Clock In the even
ing. Such early retirement is impossible
in our own times for those who are taking
part in the great activities of life. There
is no virtue In the mere act OF early rising.
1t all depends upon what you do after you
get up. 1t would be better for the world il
some people never wakened at all.
Remark the third: All those ought to be
comforted who by overwork in right drec-
tions have come to insomnia. In all occu-
pations and professions there are times
when a special draft Is made upon the ner-
vous energy. There are thousands of men
and women who cannot sleep because they
were injured by overwork In some time Of
domestic or political or religious exigency.
Mothers who, after taking u whole family
OF children through the disorders that are
sure to strike the nursery, have been left
physical wrecks, and one entire night of
slumber is to them a rarity, II not an i'm
possibility. The attorney at law, who,
through long trial In poorly ventilated
courtroom, has stood for weeks battling
for the rights Of widows and orphans or
for the life of Il client In whose innocence
he is confident, though all the circum-