Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-01-17
SERMON
Rev. DR.. Calnla9e

keV. U. carnage
Subject: Capacity to Sieep-It 10 the Poor
Mans BlessinE-wordso of Comfort For
the Victims OF fInsonnIs-wakefuln
Means of Grace.
Copyright Louis Klopsch 1901
WASHINGTON, D. C.-In this discourse
DR.. Talmage treats OF style OF disorder
not much discoursed upon and unfolds
what must be a consolation to many people;
text, Psalms ixxvii., 4, Thou holdest mine
eyes waking"
Sleep is the vacation OF the soul; 1t is the
mind gone into the playground OF dreams;
1t Is the relaxation OF the muscles and the
solace of the nerves; It is the hush of ac-
tivities; it Is the soft curtaining OF the eyes;
1t Is trance OF eight hours; 1t is a calm
ing OF the pulses; it Is q breathing much
slower, though far deeper; it Is a tempor-
ary oblivion OF all carking cares; it is the
doctor recognized by all schools OF medi-
cine; 1t is II divine narcotic; it Is a COM
plete anBsthetic; 1t Is an angel OF the
night; 1t is great mercy OF God for the
human race. Lack Of 1t puts patients on
the rack OF torture, or In the madhouse, or
in the grave. o blessed sleepi No wonder
the Bible makes much OF it. Through sleep
so sound that a surgical incisIon Of the side
OF Adam did not waken him came the best
temporal blessing ever afforded TO
man %sn-wiieiy companionship. SaTa While in in
saw ladder set ur, with angels coming
down and climbing. So "Hs giveth His
beloved Sleep" soliloquized the psalmist
Solomon listens ut the door of "A tired
workman and eulogizes his pillow by say
ing. THE sleep OF a laborng man is
sweet ~ PRtRF calmly slpanipD he
tween the two constables that night be-
fore his expected assassination. Christ
was asleep in boat on Galilee when
tossed in the euroclydon. The annuncia-
tion was made to Joseph in sleep, and
death Is described as only sleep and the
resurrection rs glorious wakening out OF
sleep.
On the other hand, ins omnia or Sleep
lesshess is an old disorder spoken OF again
and again in the Bible. Ahasuerus suf-
could not the king Sleep Joseph Hall
said OF that ruler, He that could COM
mand q 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 trouble and says,
Neither day nor night seeth he sleep
with his eyes" Asaph was its victim, for
he complains In my text that his eyes are
open at midnight, some mysterious pow.
keeping the upper and lower lids from
Joining, "psou ho1dest mine eyes wax.
Ing"
or course there il 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, exhaust ed
| from being up many nights, gave the ship
In charge OF the steersman and the crew,
| who, leaving the management OF the ves-
| sci to boys, went to sleep and allowed the
J ship to strike on the sand banks of st.
| Thomas: as when the sentinel goes to
| sleep at his post, endangeriug the whole
army; rs when the sluggard, who accom-
| plishes nothing the day before he went to
| sleep and will accomplish -e.tt,c : -
after he wakes, fills up Solo;nor- pici re
OF him as he yawns out, "A little sleep and
| a 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 FHything more biesse i?
IL sleep, according to sacred and profane
literature, Is an emblem of death, the
morning to all refreshed slumberers Is
resurrection.
Remark the first: II you have escape,
the insomnia spoken of in the text. thank
God. Here and there one can command
sleep, and 1t comes the minute he orders IL
and departs at the minute he wishes IL to
go, rs Napoleon when he wrote: ID IfIerent
dHdfS are aFTanSeu III my Del as III draw
ers. When / wish to interrupt one train of
thought I 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 l shut Up
all the drawers, and l am asleep. 1 have
always slept when / wanted rest, and al
most at will" But 1 think in most cases
We feel that sleep is not the result of a res
olution, but direct gift from God. You
cannot purchase it. great French lnun-
cier cried out. ALIAS. why is there no sleep
to be sold2''
Remark the second: Consider among the
worst crimes the robbery of ourselves or
others OF this mercy of siumber. Much
ruinous doctrine has been inculcat ed 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. CoperDicus
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 a stu
dent cac 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 BroCgham. Let not the absurd
apotheosis OF early rising induce you to
the abbreviation Of sleep. Get up when
compel otherwise. Have no alarm clock
making its nerve tearing racket Mt 4
O'Clock In the morning, unless special rea
sons demand the forsaking OF your pillow
at that hour. Most OF the theories about
early rising we inherited from times when
L. al, L..
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 te
,omforted who by overwork In right direc-
tions have come to insomnia. In all occu-
pation5 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 o.
domestic or political or religious exigency.
Mothers who, after taking a whole family
OF children through the disorders that are
sure to strike the nursery, have been let
physical wrecks, and one entire night o.
slumber is to them rarity, II not an i'm
possibility. The attorney at law, who,
through a long trial in poorly ventilated
courtroom, has stood for weeks battling
for the rights OF widows and orphans or
for the life Of a client in whose innocence
he is confident, though all the circum-
stances are unfavorable. In his room lie
tries the case all night long and every night
when he would like to be slumbering. tn
physician in time of epidemic, worn ou- In
saving the lives of whole families and fall
ing in his attempts to sleep at night be-
tween the janglings OF his doorbeli. The
merchant who has experienced panIcs,
when the banks went down and Wall street
became a pandemoniu and there was a
possibility that the next day he would be
penniless-that night with no more posi-
bility Of gaining sleep than II such bless
ing had never touched our planet.
Remark the fourth: Insomnia Is no sign
OF divine displeasure. Martin Luther had
distressing insomnia and wrote. "When I