, 1873-03-16

masters of our own existence, says Mr. Io4e-
r,ache and his fellow believers. They hold that
if there is any hidden law that q man must con-
tinuo to live against his wishes then it is also
duty to bear pain without the employment OF
sedatives, to be rained On and catch cold instead
of using umbrellas, and to submit to all other
trials and hibulations which Nature may
impose upon us, without availing our
selvcs Of any Of tho Prevontlves OF
restoratives that have been invented
for the alienation Of mortal paugs. Mr. Ioue-
mache has not failed to notice that those who
have horror Of suicide frequently encounter
death as matter Of duty without hlnch'ne'
This is probably the reason why he is nn1lon8
to establish duty aa moving cause for Bu1clde,
and thereby render it more popular. 1t would
not be difficult to demonstrate the fa1slt5 OF
Mr. Tollemacho's reasoning. 1t would only be
1ecesaarv to 70 over tho old arguments with
which tho Inter Christian fathers met tho
Pagan idea Of death in general and suicide
in particular It is not necessary to do this, for
the ,eductio al absurde1n quickly suggests itself
to most well~regnlated minds nowadays. As
the London Spectator observes, '1t Life is not a
trust, which VIC have no right to lay down at
our own discretion, totally now and most dan
gerous class Of questions, which might acquire
the most serious significance for any nation
that entertained thom, would at once arise
+ Prof. Newman instances us case where
killing or self-killing, would be justinable, that
Of "a party forced to travel rapidly through
forcgt or desert, where one Of them suddenly
fails in strength. If the rest stay to carry him,
all will perish They reluctantly leave him
behind. Sometimes he bogs to be killed, lest ho
perish by slow starvation or by vormin deyour~
ing him. Tho facts. / confess, led mo to the
conviction that we oyerstrain our reluctance to
shorten life" This case occurred to him, he
gays, in reading the travels Of Mungo Park, or
accounts Of tho North American Indians. Why
ho should have gone 10 far as a1ungo Park, or
the North American Indians, is puzzle. Every
battle fought by two armies leaves multitude
Of wounded mon who, the surgeons know per-
fectly well, cannot possible recover, and who
dAA0A 0AlEooho tAAA "A'AA~ %4S3 A"AbS-&
OF course, they have tho same right to
commit suicide that the helpless traveller has.
And il they bare this rignt then the surgeons
have tho right to furnish the means for anicide
% logical deduction which Mr.. Tollemacho
makes part OF tho system Of Euthanaeia. And
not to 20 so far as the battlefield, there are
multitudcs of cases in the hospitals whero the
physicians know that death is the only possible
relief of the patient, aud that death is inevita-
bio. Should these, also, be furnished with the
means Of putting IN ond to their own lives?
Yes, says Mr. To1lamache. From this
point the inquiry extends to idiots and
lunatics, confirmed drunLards, and aged
persons who have become burden
to themselves and others. Indeed, it is hard to
ind the place to stop, aud herein consists the
practical refutation OF the doctrine. Once admit
that there is any place where suicide is justfia-
bio, and re enter upon . broad and ever-wldcn-
ing sea Of se]f-murdor, in which ali notions Of
Divine ordering Of tie universe and all concep-
tions OF human duty are lost md d:ssipatcd.