necessity should induce any one to deviate from the hours

he has fixed upon.

Secondly, the habit of retiring to rest early. Upon this point I have already insisted.

Thirdly, early rising. Of so much consequence is this habit justly regarded, that volumes have been written to enforce it. Philosophy, physic, poetry, and religion, unite their testimony and their appeals in favor of the practice. They paint to us the natural beauties of the morning; the clearness of mind, the exhilaration of spirits, and the invigorated strength, which are then possessed, and the consequent facilities for study, for meditation, for devotion, and for enjoyment, that are presented; nor have these advantages been overrated. Nevertheless, immense multitudes, whose only pursuit in this world is happiness, disregard them all, and suffer the sun to shine one, two, three, or four hours upon the world, before their eyes behold it; and thus do they deprive themselves of the possibility of real enjoyment; and as for usefulness with such persons, it is out of the question. For, as Dr. Trotter justly says: "Can any human being be in pursuit of noble and elevated honors, who is found in bed at eight or nine in the morning? Such a man never yet in the world acquired the title of either good or great." 99* On the other hand, those men who have done most for literature and science, or in the cause of benevolence, have, almost without exception, illustrated the good old rule :

Early to bed and early to rise,

Is the way to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Examples of early rising.

To give a few instances: most of the ancient philosophers and poets, as Homer, Horace, and Virgil, were of this description. In modern times, Dr. Parkhurst, the philologist, rose at five in the summer, and six in the winter: Sir Matthew Hale, who studied daily sixteen hours, rose early. * View of the Nervous Temperament, p. 283,

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Bishops Jewel, Burnet, and Horne, have left us their testimony and examples, in favour of early rising. Sir Thomas More, the author of Utopia, found time to compose that work by means of rising uniformly at four; and he represents the Utopians as being in the habit every morning of attending public lectures before day break. Old Parr, to whom I have frequently referred, sums up the rules of diet and regimen in the following weighty sentence-" Keep your body cool by temperance-your feet warm by exercise. Rise early-go to bed soon. Never eat till you are hungry-never drink but when nature requires it." Dr. Doddridge informs us, that most of his works were composed by means of rising at five, instead of seven o'clock. And it is said that Sir Walter Scott sends forth his semiannual and even monthly volumes, by means of rising at four o'clock and devoting only five hours to study: so that after nine in the morning, he is free to engage in other pursuits. But one of the most instructive examples on record, is that of Dr. Paley. "I spent," says he, the first two years of my undergraduateship happily, but unprofitably. I was constantly in society, where we were not immoral, but idle and expensive. At the commencement of the third year, after having left the usual party at a late hour, I was awakened at five in the morning by one of my companions, who stood at my bedside and said, " Paley, I have been thinking what a fool you are. I could do nothing, probably, if I were to try, and can afford to lead the life you lead. You could do every thing, and cannot afford it. I have had no sleep during the whole night on account of these reflections; and am now come solemnly to inform you, that if you persist in your indolence, I must renounce your society." " I was so struck," says the Doctor, "with the visit and the visitor, that I lay in bed a great part of the day, and formed my plan. I ordered my bed maker to lay my fire every morning, in order that it might be lighted by myself. I arose at five-read during the whole day-took supper at ninewent to bed-continued the practice up to this hour."

EARLY RISING.

Proper hour of rising.

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From four to six o'clock seems to be the time for rising, if we follow the best examples: the precise hour being fixed by the season of the year, the age, the hour of going to bed, and the state of the health. He who rises thus early, and is not indolent, (and early rising and indolence, I believe, never go together,) will be sufficiently fatigued by nine or ten o'clock at night, to fall into a sound sleep, which, in ordinary cases, will not be broken till the regular hour of rising. At any rate, no student should permit himself to indulge in the second, or morning nap, after a wakeful interval. On this point physicians urgently insist.* Nor should any one indulge himself in lying in bed after first awaking in the morning: for nothing debilitates more. If he feels a strong propensity to fall asleep again, at the early dawn, let him spring instantly from his couch, and the shock of a refreshing air bath, will dissipate his drowsiness: and even if he has not had his usual allowance of sleep, it is far preferable to make up the deficiency at some other time, even after dinner, than to do it in the morning. For morning slumbers, are, of all others, the most unrefreshing; especially if the early part of the night has been spent in wakefulness. Yet by indulging in them, even in such cases, the pernicious habit of lying long in bed in the morning will be acquired insensibly. But by resisting the inclination, and determining that only certain hours of the night shall be devoted to slumber, the constitution soon yields to the habit, and an immense advantage is gained in respect to health.

Students apt to forget salutary college habits.

But why do I press the point of early rising, in a place where, nolens volens, it must be practiced! I answer, because I fear that this requirement is too apt to be regarded by students, as an unwelcome task, which greatly interferes

* See Journal of Health, vol. I. p. 75.

with their comfort. And I draw this inference from the fact, that so many, the day they leave college walls, revert to their old habits of going to bed and rising late; and continue in them through life. Whereas, in fact, to have acquired permanently, habits of a contrary character, would be an ample compensation for all the confinement and expense of a college course. And if young gentlemen would look at the law on this subject in a rational light, and not as an unnecessary and unpleasant penance, their own experience would show them its immense importance to their future usefulness and happiness. I ought to add in this place, that persons remarkable for longevity, all agree in having been early risers.

Exercise necessary to sound sleep.

But in the fourth place, early rising is not all that is requisite to secure unbroken and refreshing slumbers at night. A proper amount of exercise during the day, is of immense importance; as is shown by the fact, that labouring men rarely find any difficulty in securing a due proportion of sleep, unless their exercise has been excessive. The want of this exercise, is the principal cause of the sleeplessness and restlessness of the nervous and the bilious. Hence, if it have not been taken during the day, measures should be adopted for securing it before retiring to rest. To walk up and down an open passage for an hour, or more, before bedtime, is recommended for this purpose-agreeable to the practice of Cato, of Utica. Other kinds of exercise, however, afford good substitutes.

Temperance necessary.

Fifthly; temperance in diet, is indispensable to quiet and refreshing slumber at night. This thought is well expressed in Ecclesiasticus: (Chap. 31. v.20.) "sound sleep cometh of moderate eating: he riseth early, and his wits are with him but the pains of watching, and choler and pangs of the belly, are with an unsatiable man." Almost every one

SLEEP AS AFFECTED BY FOOD.

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After

has found this sentiment true by his own experience. indulging a little too much in some favourite dish, rich food, or unseasonable luncheon, or dessert, especially late in the evening, what man has not been tossed to and fro on his couch, harrassed by unpleasant dreams, and disposed to protract his stay in bed in the morning, to make up for the fatigue and restlessness of the night; and when he arose, found himself dull, unrefreshed, irritable, and melancholy? But though all allow such to be the effect of great excess in eating, "it is worthy of observation also," says a physician, "that the stomach will sometimes be much irritated by a small quantity of indigestible food taken at night, and thus may sleep be prevented as certainly as if the organ were overloaded with food."* Even a too hearty dinner, taken at twelve o'clock, will very often produce such an irritation of the digestive organs, as to disturb, or destroy, the rest of the subsequent night: much more, then, might we expect this result from a hearty supper; and still more, from a ten

o'clock luncheon of meat.

This irritation of the intestinal nerves, is the grand cause of those unpleasant dreams, so troublesome and exhausting to nervous invalids: and even the night mare, which is only the climax of dreaming, is usually occasioned in the same manner. It produces also, in some constitutions, the idea of spectres, visions, and revelations. You probably have a case of this kind in the experience of Cowper. "To whatever cause it is owing," says he "(whether to constitution or God's express appointment,) I am hunted by spiritual hounds in the night season.

Case of Swedenborg.

A single hearty dinner was undoubtedly the source of the delusions of Swedenborgianism; as is evident from Swedenborg's own account of his first vision. "I dined very late" says he, "at my lodgings at London, and ate with great appetite, till at the close of my repast, I perceived a

Sure Methods &c. p. 177.