Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1840-12-02

duty says the 10 ckronsls the dscease
| Of Richards Child, Esq. an es,imable citizen, who
| resided at the corner Of Hollis aud Washington
streets. Mr. Child, We learn, has labored for some
time past, under great depression Of spirits and al
intervals had become very melancholy, which indi,
| Gated mind diseased. He rose at about his asxal
hour, aud repaired to his cellar, where he has been
for some days past experimenting the erection Of
| furnace. He returned soon after to his chamber,
took his razor, and went again to the cellar, where
he out his throat and died almost instantly at about
7 o'clock. Drs. Perry and Flint were Immediately
called but the work Of death was efsctually done.
| Mr. Child was Independent in his circumstance
retired merchant, surrougded with all the comforts
and elegances of iife-a man who stood high in the
| estimation Of his fellow citizens, and believed and
| highly respected by his nsighbors. He was extern
siveiy known, havin. for many years held the re-
sponsible Office Of Overseer of the Poor, which be
filed aeeepably. The inference therefore is, that
he committed the fatal deed while laboring under
alienation Of mind
| SUICIDE No 2, ~ New YoRK We learn from
| the New York papers that Edward Prime, Esq
one of the founders of the house OF Prime, Ward,
| King & Co was found dead in his room. having cut
his throat with a razor He was in w all street the
| day previous, and transacted business as usual -
| The act was probably committed under temporary
| arrangement. He had been for several days pre-
vous abOring under great depression of spirits He
was man of great wealth, and retired from the
house OF Prime, Ward, King & Co., Of which he was
the head about three years ago, and has since been
living at his splendid rsansOn near Hurl Gate. He
was native Of Massachusetts,, aud was 70 years Of
age
SUICIDE No. 3, IN MONTGOMERY Co. Penn
| On FRIDAY, the 10Th inst. Mr.. Joseph Cunard, an
old and respectable farmer Of Witham township
| Montgomery county, Pa, while laboring under
mental arrangement, committed suicide by hanging
himself He was discovered few moments after
the ssion Of the act Ly his wife, who cut him
down, but not before the vital spark had fled. He
was upwar Of sixty years ofage.
SUICIDE No. 4, IN LIrcHFIELD, CoSx The
Litchfeld ct Enquirer says that Doctor Edward
Field re peetable physician of Wats rbury,
commit tied suicide N TuesdaV week nv his
throat For two or three months past he had been
laboring unders Authorization Of mind imagining
that his pecuniary affairs were in embarrassed
condition, which was not the case.
SUICIDE No. 5, IN ASHLAND, WAYNE Co. OHIO
The Cleveland Herald says that Major Andrew
Deming. formerly a citizen Of Brunswick, Medina
county, committed suicide at Ashland, Wayac CO.,
few DAYS ago, while in a state OF mental dcrange-
| ment. Major Doming was extensively known and
much respected.
Is not this singular list What can be the
of such catastrophes coming in clusters! Are
these causes moral physical intellectual or Pc
lic'l religious fanatical? or part of each, or
sa,l together! Here are five persons, the most Of
them old and wealthy, enjoying all the comforts Of
le tired Of life, and, with their hand, hasten-
ing its close by the halter or the According
to the best accounts, three of these five rich
and independent but looking upon the aspect Of the
times from melancholy point OF view, they dread
ed becoming poor, and avoid that fate, they took
away their own lives, and rushed naked and unan-
ne aled into the presence Of their Maker.
Man, the only being endowed with reason, is yet
the only being who flies in the face Of the
and laws violent hands his own life, and becomes
a self-murdsrcr Before the appearance Of the
meek and lowly Jesus among the hills and daes Of
Pale stins or along the banks OF the brosk CedroR
and the river Jordan, it was esteemed heroic act
among the ancient Romans TO take away their own
lives in cases OF danger disgrace. Cato, Mark
Antony, Cassius, Brutus, and many other cultivated
Romans, perPetratsd self obstruction merely TO
avoid ordinary msfortunes. The humane, lively,
aud classic Greeks, seldom practiced this crime
but the grave and philosophic Romans, barbaroas
to a certain extent, ab urbe condita," gloried in
it, I'll the genial aud happy influences OF Christiani
ty prevailed over the cold msxims Of philosophy
and the abstract sentiments OF virtue Self-murder,
among all Christian nations, has been treated it
deserved-a mark Of disgrace-a crime. No pc son
ending his exis,eSce in this way was permitted to
have Christian bural-the unisrtsnate being was
buried at the cross-roads-and stake placed TO
mark the spot that contained the polluted remains.
All this is now changed. Seif-murder is called
suicide-and the individual who commitslt il piiied
under the idea Of alienation OF mind" II is very
evident, however, that in whatever community self
murder prevails the true spirit of Christianity has
a very limited influence. A Christian never thiaks
Of hurryng his soul into the presence Of his God in
such way. The example and spirit Of his divine
Master, save him from such a catastrophe. IL is
only IN comparative inf lei age-in unbelicving
era-in philosophical period Of the world-that
self murder prevails TO any extent. The ancient
Rsman. and modern French put end TO their
existence any frivolous occasion, with the dognas
OF philosophy or the sentiments Of virtue their
lips Who ever heard OF meek disciple Of Jesus
Christ-a follower Of his precerts and prsctices-
cutting his throat with because fancy stocks
fel-mourning over the state Of the eonntry-or
hlnging himself up by tree with million ct dol
Lara in his Golfers for fear he should become poor
Neral coursge-a courage that never qcaiis before
"dread eternity" is Que OF the great elements of
Christianity, and this courage ss far ssrpasses the
courage produced by philosophy, or politics, lite
nature, ambition, ehvalry, the light Of ycn
burning sun crossing over Long lsland shores, does
the rush light in the dirty scr cellar in Ann street
In another respect the decline Of the true Chris.
tian spirit has enabled false teachers to paray re
weak minds ill they to the the rope for
AUTOBIOGRAPHY to get rid Of their own horrible
impress sions. Take the OF Dir. Prime himself.
H was in the habit Of reading the New York Amer.-
can and papers ofthat class that for years have been
re rescutin- all the affairs Of the country going
to wreck. FIR. p. only kaew tue movements OF the
world as they came TO him through these journals,
which were dark a2d gloomy a. the grave itself,
enliven.d by single spark Of good hamor or benc-
violence b. confEing himself to aperusal of such
papcr. shose trade i, to give the sloOnes; picture
Of thin "a. wonder that poor Mr.. p. felt
equally rloomy-beeame alarmed at human life-aud
ended his existence he did in order to avoid it
and IL we knew the oirc instances attending the me
Ianeholy suicides OF the other four individuals, we
have no doubt we should find that similar causes
! operated to some extent upon them. Who
heard OF any reader OF the lively Herald cutting his