Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1857-10-20
TI,e Cause Of sudden Deall,.

A great many persons have q serious
dread Of sudden death; even some Of the
old liturgies have special petition for de-
liverance from it as an evil. In certain
cases prime Of manhood is cut down like
afiower from the midst of all life's hopes
and schemes; when the strong man is
stricken down from beside his bride at the
alter. or the mother is snatched away from
the cradle of her babe, perchance violently
torn from earth by the lightning's stroke
or some catastrophc-then, indeed, there
may be something even peculiarly heart
rendering in the very suddenness OF the
stroke. But where death. without even
moments warning, comes naturally, rs 1t
came to the late Secretary Of State. at the
close Of long course of life, Industrious
ly and well spent, there is often something
peculiarly fitting and even beautiful in the
very suddenness OF the stroke. The
pain absolutely nothing, dea is without
it's sting. IL would seem. therefore. the
most perfectly natural of all deaths, for
there is no desproportionate wear and tear
of one organ but simply ceasing to live.
The weary wheels Of lite stand still. not
from disorganization, but simply from
want of any further motive power.
The causes of this class Of sudden
deaths are Of course various, sometimes
quite mysterious. In the case of Secre-
tary Marcy it was supposed to be the heart,
perhaps it is more commonly the BRAIN
These two between them are the chief
centres of the most suddenly fatal disease.
Perhaps the case OF nervous or simple ap-
oplexy is the most remarkable of all these
1t gives no mark of its approach, and it
leaves absolutely no track of disorganiza-
ton or disturbance in any l.art of the phys
ical framework. Not a muscle or ner-
vous centre may retain the slightest trace
of the presence or the absence of any agent
noxious or necessary TO life, otherwise than
is usual. 1t is simple failure of vitaliiy,
and the anatomist feels, at the conclusion
of his work, that could the mechanism Of
nature only have been kept in motion du-
ring few seconds of respite, and the vital
spark have returned to its duty. it would
have found no part of the material frame
work in the slightest degree injured or even
panied.
These attacks usually occur in old age,
when the wofk of life is done, and the
great work Of rightly parting with earth
alone remains. Thus, for instance. Mr..
Marcy was in the list year of his age
He had served his country in war. served
as Secretary Of War. and succeeded Daniel
Webster rs Secretary Of State. and had
gracefully laid aside all these duties. At
such a period. since death must come,
there are many advantages in a quiet de-
parture like the one alluded to. "Sof.ly,
suddenly and alone" was the earnest Pc
'ition of one vel. known in regard to his
death. In such cases the pain of parting
is spared-that most terrible OF pains to
many a we'll constituted mind. Rousseau
wished to gaze on the setting sun for the
last time. And thsre must be something
in consciously looking At the earth, the
sky. old scenes and old friends for the last
:ime, of which We can never conceive full
" but once in life. and that once can give
back no record. unless it be by the last
anxious glance around.
In regard to the more immediate causes
Of those sudden deaths, the too severe ex-
citements or exertions of public life. must
tend to produce them. There is wear
and tear. not enly Of the intellectual sys-
TENS but Of the heart, with all it's hopes,
fears and Anxieties. upon which the cares
of craftsmanship must tell daily Nor is
it commonly considered that the reaction
from such cares and duties may often
prove as injurious as the over pressure oI
them.
1t has often been remarked how fatal the
Fourth Of July has been to our great men.
1t is even now fresh in the memory of all,
that General Taylor could and did better
withstand the camp life Of Mexican cam.
paign than Fourth Of July at the White
House. There is, thers must be to every
patriots a certain excitement about that day
that in nice cases OF disease brings the
work of years to crisis. and thus carries
many Of noble spirit to its long home
Dollar -Nsvs. ra
/ ANTIQUITY OF THE TERM "OLD FoGY."-