The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1863-01-30
WHOLE NO. eSl.
Change Of Habits in Old Age.

A man may change his mode ofliie az long
- no is on he youthful side Of middle life;
tho meridian limo opco passed, all such
radical change 10 attended with the peril Of
ioath. Havo you mover noticed in burying-
or in tho neurological columns Of
newspapers, how often husband follows wifo
or wifo husband, With brief Intervals OF
time between thoir departure, when they
have long lived together ? The age-worn
constitution Is unable 10 react against tho
bereavement, and to adapt itself TO tho new
circumstances in which it is placed. The
usual form in which death invados the body
Of these aged persons, demonstrates this
truth for they dio either of npoplexy or Of
paralysis of the brain. The mind, shrink.
iDg instiuctively from death, exerts ell It's
powers OF recovery TO rally after the blow
received; tho exertion is too much for lt,
It's shattered by tho very attempt There
used to be an old diplomatist here, Count
dc Lowenhelm, from Sweden, who repre-
sented the court of Stockholm near the
Tuiieries for nigh fifty years. He was
we'll preserved old man. an habituai fre.
quenier Of tho Grand Opera and Ftouch
Comedy, going constantly into society, and
never absent from single court ball. The
Crlmean war gave unusual importance to
the diplomatic rotations OF the two courts.
and IL became necessary to appoint a moro
active man TO the Swedish Legation hero.
Tho old minister seemed TO grow older every
hour after tho newspapers recorded tho APP
| pointment OF his successor. He roamed
about the1obbics of the Grand Opera and the
| French Comedy like person lost in Do
woods. He went to Stockholm, and fell
dead of apoplexy fog days after his ar
rival. His letters Of recall were bis DEATH
warrant. Have you mover heard the vulgar
remark that tho builder Of bousc dies
almost as soon as the house is completed
Tho observation has some foundation in
truth, but .ho cause of tho effect Is not
''luck;" il is this very. inability of the aged
mind to react against old habits lost. Men
rarely build houses until they have auassed
something like Independence of fortune
in o;hor words, thoy are generally in the
afternoon of life, aud thoy build the house
for harbor from the cares of business,
where they may twirl thei. thumbs and
"enjoy life" by depressing themselves with
idIeness. As long as the house is building,
all goes we'll !; they don't miss the absent
shop or counting room. There is the
l brickIayer to be scolded, and the carpenter
, to be overlooked, and discussions to be held
E with tho architect, and money 10 be paid
| out; in fine, there is something to think
about, something to worry over, something
to fret about; it ia tho old round of lifo in
miniature il you will, but still IL 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, and the last
chip has been removed, and the bit of mortar
, taken away, whom the owner has nothing tt
do but to enjoy his fine house his affluen'
fortune, thon comes-the accommodating
to- do.
The old man finds years have no
changed his mind as much as they have
D changed his body, and the toy tires the ole
n man even soouer than it tired the child
/. There is no correct relation botwen building
Q house and death, but there is close con
i noction between ago and change o. life.-
SpiTidion.