Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1856-02-20

AN Arkansas LEGlsLAToR.-A membsr elect
of the lower chamber of the Legislature of Arkan-
sas. was persuaded by some wags in the neigh
borhood, that if he did not reach the State House
at ten O'Clock on the day of assembling, he could
not be sworn, and would lose his seat. He i'm !.
medately mounted, with hunting frock, rifle and
bowie knife, and spurred till he got to the capitol,
where he hitched his nag. A crowd was in the
chamber of the lower house. on the ground toor,
walking about with their hats on, and smoking
cigars. These he passed, ran up stairs into the
Senate Chamber, set his rifle against the wall,
and bawled out:
s.Strangers, whar's the man that swears me
in go at the same time taking out his credentials.
"Walk this way" said the clerk, who was at
the moment igniting real Principe, and ne was
sworn without inquiry.
When the teller came to count noses, ne found
there was one Senator too many present, Inc
mistake was soon discovered, and the huntsman
was informed that he did not belong there.
"Fool ,cho, with your corn bread ?'' he roared.;
'syou can't funk this chilG, no how you can fix it
Pm elected to this ere Legislature, and l'll go
agin all banks and eternal Improvements, and If
there's any of your oratory gentlemen wants to
get skinned, just say the word, and III light upon
you like ngger on woodchuck My consttu-
ents sent me here, and if you want to floor this
two legged animal, hop on just as soon as you
like for though Pm from the back country, Pm a
little smarter than any other quadruped you can
turn out of this Drove"
After this admirable harangue, he put his bowie
knife between his teeth and took up his rife,
with "Come here, old Suke stand by mel" at
the same time pointing at the chairman, who,
however, had seen such people before. After
fu1o IroS pprSuaupd that
he belonged to the lower chamber upon which he
sheathed his knife, flung his. gun on his shoulder,
and with profound congee, remarked :-"Gen-
tlemen. beg your pardon. But if | didn't think
that lower room was groggery, may be shot,"
CAUSES OF DEArH-But few men die of age.
Almost all die of disappointment, passional, men.
tai, or bodily toll, or accident. The passions kill
men sometimes, even suddenly. The common
expression, choked with passion, has little eAag-
geration in it for even though not suddenly fatal,
strong passions shorten life. Strong bodied men
often die young weak men live longer than the
strong, for the strong use their strength and the
weak have none to use. The latter take care of
themselves; the former do not As it is with the
body, SO it is with the. mind and temper. The
strong are apt TO break, or, like the candle,to run
the weak to burn out The inferior animals,
which live, in general, regular and temperate
lives, have generally their prescribed term Of
years. The horse lives twenty five years; the
OK fifteen or twenty the lion about twenty; the
dog ten to twelve; the rabbit eight; the guinea
pig six or seven years. These numbers all bear
Similar proportion to the time the animal takes
to grow to its full size. But man, of all the ami
mails, is the one that seldom comes up to his av-
erage. He ought to live hundred years, accord
ing to this physiological law, for five times twenty
are one hundred but instead of that he scarcely
reaches, on the average, four times his growing
period; the cat six times; and the rabbit even eve
eight times the standard of measurement The
reason is obvious-man is not only the most lrreg-
ular and the most Incorporate, but the most abo
rious and hard worked of all animals. He is also
the msst irritable of all animals; and there is rea-
son to believe, though we cannot tell what an an
inal secretly feels, that. more than any other an
imal, man chershes wrath to keep it warm, and
consumes himself with the fire Of his own secret
reflections BIack,oood's yNaga-ine.