St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-03-24

because you put lli'lt ituthOii'y iH'' VI
gained government. Why then is re
sponsiblc sui,idc Il sin against God Til
fundamental fact here is that life belong
to God. lie is the author Of it, there
fore the rightful disposcr OF it. We ar
not our own with respect to our matcria
life. Suicide is therefore an usurpatiol
Of Gods prerogative. 1t is substitu
ton Of sellwill for the will of God, an,
this is the root of all sin. Self.sacriiic'
lndcel for others sake is the highest viz
tue. TO give our life for the good Of on
fellow men, is Godlikc. This cannot fai
to be agreeable with the will CT God
Yet rash and needless sacrifice of life
even for others sake, Is not agrecabl,
with the highest Christian virtue. There
must he some high sanction for such sac
rilicc. Grant that the unsclishncss o
of such sacrifice constitutes its csscntia
virtue; yet the highest form of unsclii>h
ness is not instructive, hut rational.
Our religion has secured itSelt at this
point. Jesus came 70 sacrifice himself
for man yet he did not rashly throw
himself into the hands of his enemies
but awaited the hour appointed by hi:
Father. lie did not covct death. lie
accepted ii as his Fathers will, and the
prompting of love that was ever sub
jcct to his wisdom. But self destruction
is the contradiction Of self sacrifice. Ii
is Il selfish and infinitely worse than Use
less flinging away Of life, ard in its self
assertion, its usurpatIOn Of Gods prcrog-
ative, consists essentially its sin. But ii
involves much else 1t involves distrust
of God, Il loss of faith in his ordeln" oi
our life. 1t is an Impeachment Of his
perfect goodness. Ii is loss OF that stead
fast courage whose source is faith in God.
1t involves the assumption that ones life
in the meaning and intent Of God is
worthless, 1t assumes that one has moth
ing here on earth to do for the honor of
God ard the welfare of man, as ii it were
possible that God would hold one here to
earth, il in His intent he were worth
less as if there were not something
worthy yet for one TO be and do. In
fact it Is loss of faith in the meaning OF
our life. And this is not only loss OF self
respect, a degradation Of manhood, it i,
practical atheism.
Moreover a responsible =clf-dc-truciion
Is impossible without a crippling, Il break
ing down of conscience. Thus it involv-
es crime against the soul. We have a
natural love OF life 1t Is Gods work in
Us. lie has meaning it. lie means,
by it that we have something To do in
this world. lie would secure us against
Il rash venture into Il world unseen. \
hard lot indeed will slackcn ones hold of
life. Faith in 4 higher world may SUI
pcrScdc somewhat this instructive hold on
tie present world. But conscience re-
mains, even after the love Of life has
gone, TO hold one here obcdicnt to God :
Will and conscience must be crippled or
broken down before one will deliberately
Hing ones self out into Il world uniricd.
God intends that We should cherish the.
natural dread Of death, until this dread l.
superseded by the power of faith, 10y con-
sCiouSIess OF forgiveness and rcconcilla-
ton with Him and even then lie holds
US in conscience TO abide Ills time.
This natural dread of death which
conscience emphasizes and in:crprciS, and
which God would have operative upon
us, is suggestive ol the probationary char
actcr Of this present lie. 1t suggests that
here and now we make our peace with
God, or nothing Is assured to Us for the
tt,tt 4 nj fl,,r,, !,
mistake than 10 conluund the Responsible
suicides conquest Of instinct and con-
science with the consciousness OF the
peace of forgiveness and reconciliation
with God. God means that death shall
be a dread till we are rcconcilcd and at
peace with Him. 1t i, healthy dread
All else is unhealthy, involving either 4
reason alienatcd and an instinc: p,rvcrt-
ed, or cons ;lencc crippled Even the
Holy One of God is set before us as in Il
mysterious dread of the last encounter, as
if TO emphasize to. Us the fact that it Is
healthy instinct that shrinks from it.
Our holy religion illustrates the power of
conscience 10 hold one 10 lie, even after
faith has triumphcd over the fear OF death.
Nothln" can be more subimely triumph
ant than that superiority TO death which
the carly Christians exhibited; yet con-
science held them to life till Co.'s time
SHOULD come. Although suicide WAS Il
familiar occurrence among the surround
ing pagan peoples, and especially a Ro-
man frenzy i'll that age, we never hear Of
suicide in the Christian church. While
cur religion clcvatcS one above the earth
ly life, and the fear Of death, it is pre-
ciScly the religion that alone worlhily
emphasizes the value Of the present life,
and holds one here in conscience. Brah-
minsm fosters suicide and contuunds it
with acceptable -clfsacrilicc. Christian
ity with all lis urgency of true seli-sac-
riiicc puts its curse upon self-dc,truciion.
| am speaking here you perceive OF Il
responsible suicide, Il sclt-destructon in
which conscience is broken down, rather
than reason Gethroncd. 1t may indeed
be question whether any mind is strict
ly sane that tolerates so fearful VEN
iure; yet we must accept the theory OF
Il responsible suicide. The measure of
this responsibility God only knows. But
it is clear that to cripple the reason and
paralyze the will by crippling the con-
sicencc with respect TO the question, is
itself Il responsible act and this is the
genesis of much suicide Yet on the
other hand there are cases of scli-d..truc-
ton in which the soul has innoccnily lost
its accountability. No one honors the
memory of noble Hugh Miller the less,
that in 4 moment of insanity he destroy
ed himself.