Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-12-06

ness, and he suffered from erratic
slumber. and he writes In Ecclcsiastes
"A dream comoth through the multi
tude Of business" DIR. Gregory, in ex.
perimentiug with dreams, found that
while In slumber made him think he
was going up the hot sides OF Mount
Etna. Another morbid physician, ex-
perimentIng with dreams. his feet IN
covered through sleep. thought he was
riding In an Alpine diligence. But a
great many dreams are merely mar
cotic disturbance. Anything that you
see while under the influence of chloral
or brandy or hasheesh or laudanum
Is not n revelation from God.
The learned De Quincy did not
ascribe to divine communication wha,
he saw i'm sleep. opium saturated,
dreams which he afterward described
in the following words: Il was wor-
shipped. was sacrificed. | ied from
the wrath OF Brahma. through all the
forests of Asia. vishnu hated me.
Sceva laid in wait for me. came
suddenly upon Isis and Osiris. l had
done a deed. they said. that made the
crocodiIes tremble. ] was buried for
a thousand years in stone collins. with
mummies and sphinxes In narrow
chambers at the heart of eternal pyra-
mids. l was kissed with the can
cerous kiss OF crocodiles and lay con-
founded with unutterable Shiny things
among wreathy and Nilotic mud"
Dyspeptic Christianity.
Do not mistake narcotic disturbance
for divine revelation. But ! have to
tell you that the majority Of the dreams
are merely the penalty OF outraged d.
gestive organs, and you have no right
TO mistake the nightmare for heavenly
revelation. Late suppers are a war;
ranty deed for bad dreams. Highly
spiced salads at II O'Clock at night, in
stead Of opening the door heavenward,
open the door Internal and dIabolical
You outrage natural law, and you In
suit the God who made those laws. 1t
takes from three to five hours to d.
gest food, and you have no right to
keep your digestive organs In struggle
when the rest OF your body is In SON.
nolence. The general rule is eat MOTH
-
sleep on your right side, keep the win
dow open five inches for ventilation,
and other worlds viii not disturb you
much. BY physical maltreatment you
take the ladder that Jacob saw In his
dream. and you lower 1t to the neither
world, allowing the ascent OF the de-
monlacaL Dreams are midnight dys-
pepsia. An unregulated desire for
something to eat ruined the race In
paradise. and an unregulated desire
for something to eat keeps Il ruined.
The world during 5000 years has tried
In vain to digest that first apple. The
world will not be evangelical until we
get rid OF dyspeptic Christianity.
Healthy people do not want the cadav-
erous and sleepy thing that some peo-
pie call religion. They want a religion
that lives regularly by day and sleeps
soundly by night IL through trouble
or coming on OF old age or exhaustion
OF Christian service you cannot sleep
well, then you may expect from God
songs in the night" but there are no
blessed communications to those who
willingly surrender TO indigestibles.
Napoleon's army at I.eipsic. Dresden
and Borodinc came near being destroy
ed through the disturbed gastric juices
of its commander. That is the way
you have lost some OF your battles.
Mission of Dreams.
Another remark make Is that our
dreams are apt TO he merely the echo
Of our daytime thoughts. viii give
you recipe for pleasant dreams FIN
your days with elevated thought and
unselnsh action and your dreams will
be Sc, 10 mlsic. II all day you arc
gouglng and grasping and avariclous.
In your drains you VIII see gold
that you casrot clutch and bargains
In which yoa were out -Shylockcd. II
during the day you are Irasciblc and
pugnncious and gunpowdery OF dispo.
sltion. YOU will ut night have hattie
With enemies in which they will get
the best Of you. III you are all day
long In n hurry, at night you Will
dream OF rail trains that you want TO
catch while you cannot move one inch
toward the depot. II you are always
oversuspicious and expectant of as
sault, you Will have at night hallu-
cinations of assassins with daggers
drawn. No one wonders that Richard
III, the Ubiquitous. the night before
the battle OF Bosworth Field dreamed
that all. those whom he had murdered
stared at him and that he was torn
TO pieces by demons from the pit. The
scholars dream is a philosophic echo.
The poets dream Is n rhythmic echo.
Coleridge composed his "Kubla Khan"
asleep In narcotic dream and, wax
ing up. wrote down 500 lines of Il.
Tartinia, the violin player. composed
his most wonderful sonata while asleep
In a dream so vivid that, waking. he
easily transferred II to paper.
Waking thoughts have their echo In
sleeping thoughts. If a man spend HIS
life In trying TO make others happy
and Is heavenly minded, around his
pillow he will see cripples who have
got over their crutch. and professions OF
celestial imperials, and hear the grand
march roll down from drums Of heav-
en- over Jasper parapets- You are very
apt to hear In dreams what you hear
when you are wide awake.
Now, having shown you that, having
a Bible. we ought TO be satisfied not
getting any further communication
from God. and having shown you that
all dreams have an important mission
since they show. the comparative indie
pendence of the soul from the body,
and having shown you that the major
ity of dreams are result OF dis
turbed physical condition. and having
shown you that orr sleeping thoughts
are apt TO be an echo of our waking
thoughts, come now to my fifth and
most Important remark. and that Is to
say that II is capable OF proof that
God does sometimes in our day and
has often since the close of the Bible
dispensation appeared TO people in
dreams
Warned by God.
All dreams tina: make you better are
from God How do I.know II? Is not
God the source OF all good? 1t does
not take very logical mind 10 argue
that out TertuIlian and Martin Luther
believed In dreams. The dreams Of
Holm IIrSc ,re.. ft,aVao