Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1900-01-12
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE EMINENT DlVlNE'S SUNDAY
DISCOURSE.
Subject: Capacity to sleep-It is the ro'r
Mans BIesslng-Words ofCointoft ror
the Victims of insomnia w akeiuihess
q Means of Grace.
tCopyright, Louis Klopsch. l'cv'l


tCopyright, Louis Kiopsch. 19col
WAsHISGroy, D: Gin this discourse
Dr.. Talmage treats OF style OF dlsoroer
not much discoursed upon and untolds
what must be n consolation to many people;
text, Psalms xvii, 4, Thou Modest mine
eyes waking"
Sleep is the vacation OF the soul II is the
mind gone into tho playground OF dreims,
1t Is the relaxation OF the muscles ano t'o
solace Of the nerves; 1t Is the hush OF ac-
tiyities: 1t is the soft curtaining OF tho eyes;
it is trance of eight hours; 1t Is calm
ing OF the pulses; it is a breathing mucn
slower though far deeper; it Is temper
airy oblivion OF all carking cares; it's the
doctor recognized by all schools OF medi-
cine; 1t is divine narcotic; It is COM
plete auasthetic; it Is an angel OF the
night; 1t is a great mercy OF God Tor the
human race. Lack Of 1t puts patients on
the rack of torture, or In the madhouse, OF
in the grave. 0 blessed sleep! No wonder
the Bible makes much Of 1t. Through sleep
so sound that "A surgical incislon OF the side
Of Adam did not waken him came the best
temporal blessing ever afforded TO
nan-wlfely companionship. While In
sleep on pillow Of rock jacob
saw a ladder set ur, with angels coming
down and climbing. SO "Hs giveth His
beloved Sleep" soliloquIzed the psamist.
Solomon listens at the door OF tired
workman and euloglzes his pillow by say
ing, "The sleep OF laboring man IL
sweet" Peter was calmly sleeping be-
tween the two constables that night be-
fore his expected assassination. Christ
was asleep In boat on Galllee when
tossed In the euroclydon. The annuncia.
ton was made to Joseph In sleep, and
n, Ia ho1 NIL al nd
resurrection as q glorious Weakening out OF
sleep.
On tho other hand, insomnia or sleep
lesshess is an old disorder spoken OF again
and again in the Bible Ahasuerus suf-
fered from it, and We read, "In that night
could not the king Sleep" Joseph Hall
said of that ruler, HE that could COM
mand n hundred and seven and twenty
provinces could not command Sleep
Nebuchadnezzar had insomnia, and the
record is, Ellis sleep brake from him"
Solomon describes this troHble aud says,
Neither day nor night seeth he sleep
with his eyes" Asaph was its victim, 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"
OF course there Is an uprlghteous 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 tho steersman aud the crew,
who, leaving the management CT the yes
sci TO boys, went to sleep and allowed the
ship to strike on the sand banks OF st.
fh, mol tn
sleep ut his post, endangerlng the whole
army: as when the sluggard, who accom-
plshes nothing the day before he went to
sleep and will accomplish nothing the day
after he wakes, fills up Solomon's picture
OF him as he yawns out, "a little sleep and
q little slumber and little folding Of the
hands 10 Sleep" But sleep ut the right
time and amid the right circumstances,
can you imagine anything moro blesse IL
II sleep, according to sacred and profane
literature, Is nm emblem OF death, the
morning to all 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 ut the minute he wishes 1t to
go. as Napoleon when he wrote: sd fferent
affairs are arranged in my bed as In draw
ers. When l wish to interrupt one train oil
thought | close the drawer which contains
t'8- arhiect and open that which contains
anO1ne;. They do not mix together or in
convenience me. I have new been kept
awake by an involuntary preoccupation OF
mind. When / wish for repose Shut up
all the drawers, and / am asleep. have
always slept when l wanted rest, and al.
most at will" But / think In most cases
a. IL fn ~ fl,rr t1f n
olution, but n direct gilt from God. You
cannot purchase II. A great French finan-
cier cried out, "Alas, why Is there no sleep
TO be soldi"
Remark the second. Consider among the
worst crimes the robbery OF ourselves or
others of this mercy OF slumber. Much
ruinous doctrine has been inculcatsd on
| this subject Thomas Moore gave poor ad-
| vice when he said, "The best way to
| lengthen our days is to steal 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 at night. Prob
| ably they slept by day. The night was
| made for slumber. The worst lamp 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 Justinian
| nor O 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 A
4 ~ In IN A.
sons demand the forsaking OF your pillow
| ct that hour. Most OF the theories about
early rising we Inherited from times when
| people retired at or 0 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 ur II would be better for the world IL
some people never wakened at all.
Remark the third: All those ought to be
| comforted who by oyerwork In right direc.
| lions have come to insomnia. In all occu-
| pations and professions there are times
| when 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 whole family
OF children through the disorders that are
SIRE to strike the nursery, have been LETT
| physical wrecks, and one entire night Oh
slumber is to them rarity, II not an i'm
| possibility. The attorney at law, who,
through n long trial In poorly ventilated
| courtroom, has stood for weeks battling
| for the rights OF widows aud orphans or
for the life OF a client in whose innocence
| he is confident, though all the circum-
stances are uniavorable. In his room he
tries the case all night long and every night
| when he would like to be slumbering. The