The Time requisite to restore the waste occasioned by the action of the Day—depends on the activity of the habits, and on the Health of the Individual,—in general it cannot be less than Seven—and need not be more than Nine hours[28].
Invalids will derive much benefit from indulging in the Siesta whenever they feel languid.
A Sailor will tell you, that a Seaman can sleep as much in five hours, as a Landsman can in ten.
Whether rising very early lengthens Life we know not,—but think that sitting up very late shortens it,—and recommend you to rise by eight, and retire to rest by eleven; your feelings will bear out the adage, that “one Hour’s rest before midnight, is worth two after.”
When Old People have been examined with a view to ascertain the causes of their Longevity, they have uniformly agreed in one thing only,—that they ALL went to Bed early, and rose early.
“Early to bed, and early to rise,
Will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
Dr. Franklin published an ingenious Essay on the advantage of early rising—He called it “an Economical Project,” and calculated, that the saving that might be made in the City of Paris, by using Sunshine instead of Candles—at no less than £4,000,000 Sterling.
If the Delicate, and the nervous, the very Young, or the very Old—sit up beyond their usual hour, they feel the want of artificial aid, to raise their spirits to what is no more than the ordinary pitch of those who are in the vigour of their Life—and must fly from the festive board—or purchase a few hours of hilarity at the heavy price of Head-Ach and Dyspepsia for many days after; and a terrible exasperation of any Chronic Complaint they are afflicted with.
When the Body and Mind are both craving repose—to force their action, by the spur of spirituous stimulus, is the most extravagant waste of the “Vis Vitæ,” that Fashion ever invented to consume her foolish Votaries—for Fools they certainly are, who mortgage the comfort of a Week, for the conviviality of an Hour—with the certainty of their term of Life being speedily foreclosed by Gout, Palsy, &c.
Among the most distressing miseries of this “Elysium of Bricks and Mortar,” may be reckoned how rarely we enjoy “the sweets of a Slumber unbroke.”