The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-22

Suicide.
We published last Sunday two pleas for sui
eide. The authors OF both exemplifed the
strength Of their own convictions by killing
themselves. the one with morphine and the
other with strychnine. The plea of the former
is little more than declaration that he was
o fatalist, who had nourished for two years .
presentiment that he was to die by his own
hand; "that it would come to this, and there
mated his belief in the old pagan notion that
death is an eternal sleep. He was simply q
monomaniac. The more elaborate plea Of the
latter seems at first to be novel and somewhat
Ingenious. He strives to justify the Christian
in voluntarily opening the gates of death a.
the only entr ance to the kingdom Of heaven.
But, more closely examined, his argument
rests, after all, on no other basis than that on
which the philosophers Of antiquity justified
the pagan in voluntarily opening the gates Of
eternal sleep. Moreover, ii valid at all, 10
proves too much. II 1t be right to kill your
self in order to reach the kingdom Of heaven
more speedily, 1t would be right to kill others
from the same motive. The fact Is that muir
der and self-murder are essentially vio-
lations OF the same great commandment
"Thou shalt not kill" The close connection
Of the two crimes has been painfully illustrated
within the past fortnight in the cases Of
Mrs. Fall and her daughter, Mrs. Boone and
her four children and Hattie Howard and her
lover It would appear that in each Of these
cases murder and self-murder walked hand In
hand.
Moralists have amply proved that the same
reasons which forbid one 10 take the life OF
his fellow-man forbid him to take his own.
Life is o sacred gift Of the Creator. It is
treasure which man cannot bestow, and there
fore has no right to take away. GAIL that
man hath will he give for bis life" For when
that is ended there Is an end Of all possessions
depending upon it The murderer inf1icts ON
his victim and the self-murderer on himself an
irreparsbls injury. 50 far as this state
Of existence is Concerned, and breaks
open the doors Of q new and untried state.
God, who gave life, can alone authorize its
destruction. The sclf-nurderer usurps an
authority which does not belong to him. He
commits q great wrong towards nin,::sH ~
cutting of his possibilities Of enjoyment How
does he know, even in the midst Of despair,
but that something may turn up" we'll worth
patiently waiting fort He commits q wrong
towards society by severing the ties, however
slight they may seem to him, that bind him 70
it. II he has dependents on his care and toll
It is cowardly ss we'll as wrong to desert
them and leave them to struggle alone against
q sea Of troubles. Society does not relinqush
its claims for service on even the most isolated
Individual Moreover. life has been conaded
to each one as trust for himself as well a. for
others II must not be recklessly flung aside.
The poet Coleridge has admirably summed
up the truth Of this whole matter in "Ths
Suicides Argument" and in "Nature's
Answer" which we reprint to-day. Before
the would-be suicide destroys his life let him
heed the questions, "Is't return'd as twas
senti LIST no worse for the wear" The
recent alarming increase in the number Of
suicides would soon be checked il each one
who is tempted to kill himself would compare
what he is with what no was, and obey tho
poets injunction
Make out tho invent'ry; inspect, compare:
Then die Ii die you dare.
Courageous resistance against misfortune.
end especially the charitable activity recom-
me nded by Rousseau as Q corrective Of
suicidal proclivities, will, with all sane per-
sons. prove effectual. II the press and the
pulpit unite In teaching that seltmurder ls .
crime, In vf,w OF mans duties to himself, TO-
society and to his Creator, the public mind
will be freed from its latent paganism on this
point, and we shah read no moro pleas for
suicide.