The Grenada sentinel., 1900-01-13

II comes the minute he orders 1t and
departs at the minute he wishes it 20
go, as Napoleon when he wrote: DIFF
ferent affairs are arranged in my head
as in drawers. When | wish TO inter-
rupt one train of thought, close the
drawer which contains that subject and
open that which contains another
They do not mix together or ineonveni-
ence me. | have never been kept awake
by an involuntary preoccupation of
mind. When wish for repose, shut
mp all the drawers. and am asleep. /
have always slept when ! wanted rest
and almost at will" But ! think in
most cases we feel that sleep is not the
result of a resolution. but direct gift
from God. You cannot purchase it. A
great French financjer cried out: Alas!
Why is there no sleep to be sold?"
Do not take this divine gift as a mat
ter of course. Your seven or eight
hours Of healthful unconsciousness is
blessing worthy of continuous and
emphatic recog nition. Praise the Lord
for 365 resurrections in year! Arli-
fetal slumber can be made up by the
apothecaries, but natural sleep is
balT, a panacea. a cathoIicon that no
one but God can mix. With it he
bathes your eyes and brain and nerve
and bone. 1t is a soft robe woven in
Heaven, with which He wraps your
body, mind and soul. The more scien-
lists explore this mystery of sleep the
more profound il seems. God tells us
many things. but that is secret He
keeps to Himself. We philosophize and
guess about this phenomenon, but will
never know just what sleep is until
we are told about it when we get
through the last sleep. Thank God
morning, noon and night for this
strange quietude. this refreshing dis
missal. this recuperating absence, this
reinforcement of energies, this mighty
benediction.
Consider among the worst crimes
the robbery of ourselves or others OF
the mercy of slumber. Much ruinous
doctrine has been inculcated on this
subject. Thomas Moore gave poor ad-
vice when he said: The best way 10
lepgthen our days is to steal a few
hours from the night" We are told
that, though they did their work at
night, Copernicus lived TO be 10 years
of age and Galilei IS years and Herschel
S4 years. Yes, but the reason was they
were all star hunters, and the only time
for hunting stars is at night. Prob
ably they slept by day. The night was
made for slumber. The worst lamp a
student 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 Justinian nor Lord
Brougham. Let not the absurd apothe-
osis of early rising induce you to the abb
breviation of sleep. Get up when you
are slept out, unless circumstances
compel otherwise. Have no alarm clock
making its nerve-t tearing racket at four
o'clock in the morning, unless special
reasons demand the forsaking of your
pillow at that hour. Most of the the
ories about early rising we inherited
from times when people retired at eight
or nine O'Clock in the evening. 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. II all depends upon what
you do after you get up. 1t would be
better for the world if some people
never wakened at all.
But most Americans do not get sleep
enough. The sin of late retiring is one
most widespread and runous. What
is much needed is that in all our cities
those who are leaders in social life
turn back the hour of drawin groom
assemblage from ten and eleven to
eight or half-past seven, SO that the
guests al ten or half-past ten may NEE,
sleep nj the right hour in their OWL
dormitories. Two or three social
heroines could do that in all the towns
and cities. Thousands of men and won.
en- are slain each year by late hours
Five years is more than the average
of endurance. The vitality of men ano
women is depleted, and they go into
chronic ailments, if they do not die
of dyspepsia or consumption or nervous
prostration, and the beauty goes out
of the cheek beyond all restoration Of
cosmetics. Late retiring is the mother
of premature wrinkles. Lack of sleet
assassinates social life. A reformation
is needed, and if the customs of the
world could be changed in this matter
and the curtains of social life could bs
rung down at reasonable hour of tn,
night 20 per cent. would be added to tn,
worlds longevity.
All those ought to be comforted who
by overwork in right directions hav;
come to insomnia. In all occupation.
and professions there are times wher
a special draft is made upon the nervous
energy. There are thousands of mel
and women who cannot sleep becaus,
they were injured by overwork in som,
time of domestic or political or relig
ious exigency. Mothers who, after ia k
ing a whole family of children through
the disorders that are sure to strik