Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-08-02
r,,nr-rrs CAUSE AND PRE-

,his-that rightly or wrongly, wisely or
foolishly, the mind of a man may become
within him q tormentor so intense and so
severe that no outward prosperity and
success can compensate for 1t, wen sufi-
GENTLY to make life seem for the moment
valuable or preferable to the long sleep of
death. Although the Scriptures say moth
ing distinctly about it, the general moral
sense of mankind has settled clearly that
suicide cannot be defended on the ground
Of right. The common law made suicide
a felony, on the ground that a man had
no more right to take his own life thar
that of his neighbor, and the forfeiture OF
all property and burial at midnight in the
highway, were among the penalties and
indignities employed to prevent the crime.
The common sense of mankind, however,
preferred to take the view that he who
voluntarily surrendered his life must in
some way be diseased in mind, for the
time being, that insanity, temporary or
chronic, is the just and proper verdict in
nearly all such cases. That the desire to
commit suicide is but a transient feeling
in most instances, and not the result OF a
fair view of life, is shown by the fact that
many who have thought of and attempted
suicide, if restored and tided over the adj
verse events, have found their future
existence as valuable to mankind and
as happy as that Of other persons. Had
Hugh Miller not unfortunately forgotten
to take a dose Of opening medicine by his
doctor, he might probably have been alive
and well now. Tha, suicide can be de-
Tended as an abstract right is impossible;
because, if so, it would be the right Of
every man, at his own pleasure, since he
must be necessarily the sole judge Of the
propriety of the act and the occasion. But
no mar liveth for himself alone. Let any
one think Of the years of childhood. the
cares Of bringing him up, and Of his train
ing and education, of the long experiences
to make him what he should be in point
Of ability to do his duty in the world, and
then say if he has a right to destroy all
that power of good at his own convent
ence alone. He has relatives and friends,
and perhaps a wife and children, who will
be left unprovided for and unprotected,
and humbled by such a calamity. Besides,
who can estimate the value Of that which
is destroyed in q moment, but which can
never be restored, i. e. the life on earth
It is not for US here to discuss this subject
in reference to the future. But we all
know that the present life is a trust, the
value of which we cannot estimate, and
which no man, therefore, may sacrifice at
his own will.
1t is only, therefore, when the life has
become useless that any will pretend to
the right to take it. But who can judge
of the value Of his life to the world' There
are probably few that at some moments
have not wished they were in their graves,
and yet there are no possible circum-
stances so affective that heslthful men have
not found the love Of life strong enough
to make them attempt to survive them.
The most general, real and fundamental
cause, however, Of that absence Of the love
| of life which makes suicide seem reason
able or desirable, is a certain vital exhaus-
ton from having lived too fast. Hence,
i. is that proHigate and impure and vicious
lives so often terminate thus, really from a
sort of physical exhaustion, causing all
the world to look dark around them.
But the mental exhaustion caused by in
tense study may often produce precisely
the same result, as the case Of Hugh Miller
may well illustrate. Reaction from the
excuses Of passion, or even religious en-
thusiasm, the impression Of disgrace from
the desertion Of friends or the triumph Of
enemies, may, any or all Of them, combine
to produce this feeling of life being a
burden.
The best practical methods Of overcom-
ing these feelings are, FIRST the assurance
that they are delusive and temporary.
There is no human being now willing to
live a virtuous and industrious life, but
can find by patience q sphere in which he
can be both useful to mankind and happy
while he lives. "This too shall pass
away" was the motto which an ancient
king found to relieve his sorrows as well
as moderate his joys. That suicide is no
relief from any Of the worst griefs which
cause men to resort to it, is q thought Of
much importance. If q man is in dis
grace by the ISLANDERS of enemies, let him
live them down; but who shall defend him
If he, as it were, confesses judgment and
the inability to meet his accusers by sui
cider If he has been guilty and reforms,
his past misdeeds viii be forgotten; but il
he dies under a cloud, his memory rots.
Thousands have found a careful and re-
formed life bring back all the brighter
hues Of former days. with a glorious sun-
set at last, with the very clouds that OBJ
scured the meridian now only throwing
back golden and glorious hues. Let every
man bear patiently the ills of life, and so
conquer them, and q lustre will yet crown
his latter days.
GERMAN BXrTLB-FIRLps = STRANGE
NAMEs.-Ths readers Of the wal news
from Germany will be puzzled over some