Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1862-10-24

GRANGE or HARfrs THE CAUSE or
DrArn.--A nsn may change his mode Of
life as long as he Is on the youthful side Of
middle life; the meridian line once passed
sil sch radical change is attended with the
peril Of death. Have you never ro,iced in
buryinp grounds, or in The neurological col
umns OF newspapers, how often husband
follows wife or wife husband, with brief in.
teryal Of time between their departure
when they have long lived together? The
age worn constitution is unable TO react
against the bereavement and to adapt itself
TO the new circumstances in which it is
placed. The usual form in which death
invades the body of these aged persons
demonstrates this truth: for they die either
Of apoplexy or Of paralysis of the brain.
The mind, shrinking instinctively from
death, exerts all its powers of recovery to
rally after the blow received; the exertion
is too much for it is shattered by the very
attempt. There used to be an old diplo-
matist in Paris-Couni de Lowenhelm,
from Sweden-who represented the court
of Stockholm near the Tuileries for nigh
fifty years. He was well-rreserved old
man, an habitual frequerter of the grand
opera and French comedy, going constantly
into society, and never absent from single
court ball. The Crimean war gave unusu-
al importance TO the diplomatic relation Of
the two courts, and it became necessary TO
appoint more active man TO the Swedish
legation. The old minister seemed 10 grow
older every hour after the newspapers re-
al he ...,t, -
lie roamed about the lobbies Of the grand
opera and the French comedy like per-
son lost in the woods. He went TO Stock
holm and fell dead of apoplexy a few days
after his arrival. His letters Of recall were
his death-warrant.
Have you never heard the vulgar remark
that the builder of house dies almost as
soon as the house is completed ! The OBJ
servation has some foundation in truth, but
the cause of the effect is not I" luck !" it is
this very inability of the aged mind to re-
act against old habits lost. Men rarely
build houses until they have amassed some
thing like independence of fortune; in 9TH
er words, they are generally in the after
noon Of life, and they build the house for
harbor from the cares Of business, where
they may twirl their thumbs and enjoy
life by expressing themselves with idle
ness. As long as the house is building, all
goes well they don't miss the absent shop
or counting-room. There is the bricklayer
to be scolled and the carpenter TO be over
looked, and discussions to be held with
the architect, and money to be paid out; in
tine, there is something to think about, some
thing to worry over, something to fret
about; il is the old round Of life in minia-
ture if you will, but still it is the old round
which has been paced for forty years. Bot
when the house is complete, when the last
coat OF paint has dried, and the last chip
has been removed, and the bit of mortar
taken away, when the owner has nothing
to do but to enjoy his fine house and his
affiuent fortune, then comes the vacuum
nothing to do. The old man finds years
have not changed his mind as much as they
have changed his body, and the toy tries
the old man even sooner than il tried the
child. There is no correlation between
building house and death, but there is a
close connection between age and change
Of life.-.Spiyidion.