Maryland free press., 1862-12-05
Change of Habits the cause of Death

A man may change his mode of life as lono
as ne is on the youthful side of middle Iife
the meridian line once passed, all such radical
changes is attended with the peril of death =
have you never noticed in burying-grounds or
IN neurological colians of Newspapers, how Of
ten husband follows wife or wife busb,,ds
parture, when they have long HSeaa ttb9s1EG aGe.
The age-worn constitution is unable to: react
against the bereavement and to adapt itselft
the new circumstances in which it was placed
The usual form in which death invades the body
OF these aged persons demonstrates this truth.
for they die of appoplexy or of paralysis Of the
brain. The mind shrinking instinctively from
death, exerts all its powers of recovery to rail-
ly after the blow is received, the exertion is too
much for it, It's shattered by the very attempt.
There used to be an old diplomatist in paris
Count dc Lowenhelm, from Sweden--who
~ .r IS Stockholm near the
Tuillers for nigh fifty years, He Vas s a well veil
preserved old man, an habtual frequenter of
the grand opera and French comedy, going
constantly in society, and never absent from
single court ball. The Crimean war gave unu-
sual Importance to the diplomatic relations of
the two courts, and it became necessary to APP
point more active man to the Swedish lega-
ton The old minister seemed to grow older ev-
cry hour after the newspapers recorded the
appointment of his successor. He roamed
about the lobbiesDf the grand opera and the
French commedy like person lost in the
woods. He went to Stockholm and fell dead
of apoplexy few days after his arrival His
letters of recall were his death warrent
Have you never heard the vulgar remark
that tho builder Of a house dds almost
as soon as the house is completed? The
observation has some foundation IN truth, but
the cause of the effect is not ''luck," it is this
very inability of the aged mind to react against
old habits lost. Men rarely build houses until
they have amassed something like indcpen-
dence of fortune: in other words, they are gen.
orally in the afternoon Of life, and they build
the house for harbor from the cares of busi-
ness, whore thoy may twirl their thumbs and
"enjoy life" by expressing themselves with
idleness. AS long as the house is building, all
goes we'll, they don't miss the absent shop Or
counting room, There is the bricklaycr to be
scolded and the carpenter to be overlooked,
and discussions to be held with the architect,
and money to be paid out; in fine, there is
something to think about, something to worry
over; something to fret about; it is the old
round of life in miniature if you will, but still
it is the old round which has been paced for
forty years. But when the house is complete
when the last coat of paint has dried, last chip
has been removed, and last bit Of mortar ia
ken away; when the owner has nothing to dc
but to enjoy his fine house and his aflluent for
tune, then comes the vacuum, nothing to do
The old man finds pears have not changed his
mind as much as they have changed his body
and the toy tired the old man even sooner than
it tired the child. There is no correlation be-
tween building house and death, but there is
close connection between age and change o.
life.--Spiridion,