who
goes to bed in trouble, and only sleeps because nature is so exhausted
that she cannot bear the protracted watchfulness any longer? Why then
should we expect it, in the case of the infant?

I know an excellent father who is so far from believing this doctrine,
that he silences the cries of his child by the word of command--and
believes that in so doing, he promotes both his health and his
happiness. He would no more let him cry himself to sleep than he would
let him cough himself to sleep; though both crying and coughing, in
their places, may be and undoubtedly are salutary.

Whatever may be the age and circumstances of an individual, he ought to
retire for rest with a cheerful mind. All anxiety about the future, all
regret about the past, all plans even, in regard to the business or
amusement of the morrow, should be kept wholly out of the mind. We
should yield ourselves up to the arms of sleep with the same quietude as
if life were finished, and we had nothing more to do or think of.

SEC. 9. _Quality of Sleep._

The soundness, as well as other qualities, of sleep, differs greatly in
different individuals; and even in the same night, with the same
individual in different circumstances. The first four or five hours of
sleep are usually more sound than the remainder. Hardly anything will
interrupt the repose of some persons during the early part of the night,
while they awake afterwards at the slightest noise or movement--the
chirping of a cricket, or the playing of a kitten.

In profound sleep, we probably dream very little, if at all; but in
other circumstances, we are constantly disturbed by dreaming, and
sometimes start and wake in the greatest anxiety or horror.

Nightmare is generally accompanied by dreams of the most distressing
kind. We imagine a wild beast, or a serpent in pursuit of us; or a rock
is detached from some neighboring cliff, and is about to roll upon and
crush us; and yet all our efforts to fly are unavailing. We seem chained
to the spot; but while in the very jaws of destruction, perhaps we
awake, trembling, and palpitating, and weary, as if something of a
serious nature had really happened.

In the case of nightmare, it is more than probable that we fall asleep
with our stomachs too heavily loaded with food, or with a smaller
quantity of that which is highly indigestible. Or it may sometimes arise
from an improper position of the body, such as disturbs the action of
the stomach or l