Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1862-11-20
Change OF Habits the cause OF
Death.

A man may change his mode oI HE
as long as he is on the youthful sido OF
middle life 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 columns of newspa-
pcrs. how often husband follows wife or
wife husband, with brief interval 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 demon
strates this truth; for they die of apo
plexy or of paralysis of the brain. The
mind shrinking instinctively from death,
exerts all its powers of recovery to rally
aft er the blow is received; the exertion
is too much for it, tits shattered by the
very attempt. There used to be an old
diplomatist in Paris--Count de Lowen
helm, from Sweden-who represented
the court of Stockholm near tho Tuiler-
les for nigh fifty years. He was well
preserved old man, an habitual frequent
er of the grand opera and French come
dy, going constantly into society, and
never absent from single court ball.
The Crimean war gave unusual impor-
tance to the diplomatic relations OF the
two courts, and it became necessary to
appoint a more active man to the Swed-
ish legation. The old minister seemed
to grow older every hour after the news
papers recorded the appointment of his
successor. He roamed about the lobbies
of the grand opera and the French com
edy like person lost in the woods. -
He went to Stockholm and fell dead Of
apoplexy a few days after his arrival
His letters Of recall were his death war
rant
Have you never heard the vulgar re-
mark that the builder of a house dies al
most as soon as the house is completed
The observation has some foundation iu
truth, but the cause of the effect is no
"luck," it is this very inability of the
aged mind to react against old habit
lost. Men rarely build houses unit
they have amassed something like inde-
pendence of fortune; in other words,
they are generally in the afternoon oil
life, and they build the house for har
Dor from the cares of business, where
they may twirl their thumbs and zen
Joy life by expressing themselves will
idlcness. As long as the house is build
j., ing, all goes well, they don't miss til
absent shop or counting room. Their
is the bricklayer to be scoldod and tn
carpenter to be overlooked, and Discus
. sions to be held with the arc ,tect, an
, money to be paid out; in fine, there
something to think about, something tt
worry over: something to fret about;
is the cid round of life in miniature
=, you will. but still it is the old roun
: which has been paced for forty years. =
But when the house is complete, whe
the last coat of paint has dried, and tn
last chip has been removed, and last b
6 of mortar taken away; when the ownt
:, has nothing to do but to enjoy his fin
house and his affluent fortune, the
comes tho vacuum, nothing to do. TIL
old man finds years have not change
= his mind as much as they have change
,. bis body, and the toy tired the old ma
=, even sooner than it tired the child
There is no correlation between buildin
: house and death, but there is a clos
y connection between age and change
=. life.-Spirtdion.