V.
Lambkin on Sleep
[This little gem was written for the great Monograph on “Being,” which Lambkin never lived to complete. It was included, however, in his little volume of essays entitled “Rictus Almae Matris.” The careful footnotes, the fund of information, and the scholarly accuracy of the whole sketch are an example—(alas! the only one)—of what his full work would have been had he brought it to a conclusion. It is an admirable example of his manner in maturer years.]
In sleep our faculties lie dormant.[23]We perceive nothing or almost nothing of our surroundings; and the deeper our slumber the more absolute is the barrier between ourselves and the outer world. The causes of this “Cessation of Consciousness” (as it has been admirably called by ProfessorM‘Obvy)[24]lie hidden from our most profound physiologists. It was once my privilege to meet the master of physical science who has rendered famous the University of Kreigenswald,[25]and I asked him what in his opinion was the cause of sleep. He answered, with that reverence which is the glory of the Teutonic mind, “It is in the dear secret of the All-wise Nature-mother preserved.” I have never forgotten those wise and weighty words.[26]
Perhaps the nearest guess as to the nature of Sleep is to be discovered in the lectures of a brilliant but sometimes over-daring young scholar whom we all applaud in the chair of Psychology. “Sleep” (he says) “is the direct product of Brain Somnolence, which in its turn is the result of the need for Repose that every organism must experience after any specialised exertion.” Iwas present when this sentence was delivered, and I am not ashamed to add that I was one of those who heartily cheered the young speaker.[27]
We may assert, then, that Science has nearly conquered this last stronghold of ignorance and superstition.[28]
As to the Muses, we know well that Sleep has been their favourite theme for ages. With the exception of Catullus (whose verses have been greatly over-rated, and who is always talking of people lying awake at night), all the ancients have mentioned and praised this innocent pastime. Everyone who has done Greats will remember the beautiful passage in Lucretius,[29]but perhaps that in Sidonius Apollinaris, the highly polished Bishop ofGaul, is less well known.[30]To turn to our own literature, the sonnet beginning “To die, to sleep,” etc.,[31]must be noted, and above all, the glorious lines in which Wordsworth reaches his noblest level, beginning—
“It is a pleasant thing to go to sleep!”
“It is a pleasant thing to go to sleep!”
lines which, for my part, I can never read without catching some of their magical drowsy influence.[32]
All great men have slept. George III. frequently slept,[33]and that great and good man Wycliffe was in the habit of reading his Scriptural translations and his own sermons nightly to produce the desired effect.[34]The Duke of Wellington (whommy father used to call “The Iron Duke”) slept on a little bedstead no larger than a common man’s.
As for the various positions in which one may sleep, I treat of them in my little book of Latin Prose for Schools, which is coming out next year.[35]