Ashburton Guardina. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1909. THIS AND THAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXiX, Issue 7729, 24 February 1909, Page 2

Ashburton Guardina. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1909. THIS AND THAT.

Is the word composer not m general used m much to narrow a sense? It is applied nlmost exclusively to the writers of music; but what about thr writers of books:' Arc not many of these persons, m a remarkable degree, great composers? In very many instances their books assuredly have a most composing effect upon those who read them, for they rarely fail to lull or stupefy the reader into the profoundest slumber. Such books, unintentionally it may be on the part of their authors, arc most medicinal, and confer unspeakable benefits on the race. Indeed, nowadays there are wise physicians who never prescribe draughts or drugs for insomnia; but simply tt'l! their patients that, the last thing' at night, just before bedtime, they" must read this or that; it may bo some Prime Minister's speech or manifesto; a pamphlet on current controversial politics; a dozen or so of leading articles on the burning questions of some Great or Little Peddlington; a bundle of sermons on the exegeticri of original sin or the geometrical dimensions of pandemonium, or an antiquarian treatise on the tombs of the Pharoahs, the grass devoured by Nebuchadnezzar, the cosmetics used by Cleopatra, or the moral principles of the Great Auk, the Great Mogul, or some other antediluvian monster. But the result is always the same—sleep as deep as the eternal silence, and as rosy as a baby's dream. As a matter of historical detail, it may be mentioned that one eminent doctor was, m his day, accustomed to declare that he was prepared to attest before any bench of bishops or deacons' court m Christendom that he had never found Browning's Sordello or a volume of parliamentary debates fail as an agent m this humane process: though, personally, bo seldom needed or used anything heavier or more somniferous than some dainty brochure, of modern wit and humour. On the other hand, some things, not specifically intended to be exhilarating, never failed to drive drowsiness far from him. In this connection he found that nothing m all literature equalled the classic productions known as women's papers or women's pages, with their ravishing accounts of christenings, weddings, and so forth; immemorial functions at which Mrs Jenkins-Jones looked elcctrifyingly lovely m a tulle toque and Bolognese sausage; Miss Browne-Smythe m a frock of Mayonnaise sauce trimmed with plaster of Paris; Lady Clara Cuddledoon m a plume of ostrich feathers dyed scarlet; or the Duchess of Derimut m black satin slippers encrusted with diamonds. This wa.s the literature which the great physician invariably turned to when lie wished to keep himself fit for some critical night duty, or to tonicise his wits for any specially intricate operation. It has, however, to be admitted that even the main view of the subject has more than one aspect. For instance, ihere are physicians who hold that, sometimes, the literary soporific is too snddo;i m its effects. In many cases the patient has hardly begun to read when lie goes off m his chair or slips m his .slumber on lo the hearthrug, and then, unless the sleeper is helped to bed or warmly covered up where he is, he catches cold or something else that is likely to be better for the doctor as a man of business than for the patient as a husband, father, son, or citizen. But a little common sense—which is, perhaps, not so common as its name implies — should be equal to the circumstances of each case as it presents itself. At anyrate, it is deeply gratifying to Know that almost everyone of the ten thousand novels published yearly is capable of being turned to account as an infallible cure for that dire disease, insomnia. Surely, therefore, those who sneer at modern literature must bo very deficient m humanity, or singularly ignorant of the highest function of the world's masterpieces—the superinduction of slumber m weary brains.

The Thkr.vfevtk 1 Quality m LITKItATUHK.