New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-03-16

y =
question, as a friend and God-fearing
man. and to which pray you to give lie .
plain yes or no.
/ "'Go Or
Feeling as feel. shall be justified be-
fore God IN taking my own lie Mlll It be
deadly sin Tor me- 20 do for myself what
would do to mad dog
u repeat his words almost as he spoke
them. can not give you the faintest idea
of the solemn deliberatlon with which he
put this awful question. For some mo-
| Inents ] could not say word. Then /
started up and told him that L would not
| answer him yes or no-that II was not fair
10 ask me to take such a responsibility
| Then he rose, too. and said that he must re-
solve it for himself, and saw plainly which
| way it would 90 Give me till tomorrow
20 think it out, ] said, OBTAINING him.
"'TO-morrow may be too late, he replied
| The hit may come upon me tonight Tor all
| know
"'Come home with me; I'm not afraid
| You wont u me said.
81 would try very hard not 10 DO so
butt know myself. I can not trust my
self Don't you trust me-
81 viii Trust you; but III do more. You
are not armed, I suppose
"'No,' he replied with a shuddero not
now
iii take care tha. you shall not be, and
|
the first indication of hOmicidal mania, !
| give you nv word, III shoot-aDd I'll shoot
! straight / said this TO satisfy him. poor
/! fellow Ia his weak state | could have laid
| him down like child. 1t did satisfy him,
. and we went home together. led him 70
! talk of our old soldering days and gradu,
! ally got him back to his wound. I made
him describe the first sensations of pain in his
| head, and repeat all that his different med
zeal advisers had said. ! happened To have
| a strong preparation of hasheesh by me-
| gave him dose, and while under its intiu-
| trce. carefully examined his head. Now
| the head, you must know. does not tatten
! or waste away in proportion 30 other parts
| Of the body. Still his had become mere
| skin and bone; and this state. perhaps, gave
| NE an advantage over others who had made
! the same examination. At last l felt, or
| thought felt, faint twitching-a sort Of
abnormal pulsati0n-about two inches
above the left ear. IL might be merely
| nervous, but it mi ght be caused by the ball.
Il then setmy mind to work. and thought
the whole case over steadily. In the first
place, was that impulse 10 take human life,
of which my poor friend had spoken, really
| uncomfortable. For example. suppose that
| one day he did take pistol ION purpose
and go to that young lady's gsrden-would
he shoot her? To suppose that the insane
| mind never changes its purpose, or turns
from the fel! completion of its purpose. is to
say in other words than the insane mind is
stronger than the sane mind. If a man
with freshly broken leg were 70 tell you
he was going to run a loot race, you would
not believe him, because your common
sense revolts against the idea of his running
with leg disabled. But if one with his
brain disabled declares that he is going to
do something dependent upon the action of
his mind, common sense does not always
argue so well.
'.In the second place, did not my poor
friend, with his impaired means of judy
ment. believe that the impulse was uncon-
trollable ! Because If he did the end would
be the same, so tar as he was concerned.
He would sacrifice his own life 20 protect
that of others, though they were in no &C.
tual danger.
In the third place. might Got this story
of the impulse be mere pretense to excuse
the commissi n of suicide {! Now there are
no forms of madness more obscure in their
origin, more difficult to detect, more persis
tent. and more fatal than suicidal mania:
and as there have been numerous cases III
which persons who have destroyed them.
selves have carefully prepared evidence
tending to show that their death was acct
dental, why should there not be one in
which the fatal &C. was to be $50 tar az pos
sible) justified.
.'In the fourth place. grantin. that there
was either real homicidal mania or tanced
hOmicidal mania tending TO suicidal. or
simply the latter. wac there a possibility Of
cure2
las the firs: :hree questions rested for
their solution on one set Of facts. and the
deductions TO be drawn theretrOm. | con
siGered them together. 4 victim OF sui
cidaI mania rarely if ever speaks of sui
eide When man says he is going to
drown himself you may generally direct
him 70 the cars which will take him Co the
river side with the fullest conviction that
he will not breakfast with crabs. If, in an
exceptional case. suicide is mentioned, it
will either be treated lightly, as an act that
is not crime. or the patient viii be very
earnest in his assurances that he would
never commit it. Remembering my poor
friends manner, noticed that he spoke
of taking his own life with much more
emotion than he evnced hen he ;old me
of the impulse 10 shed the blood Of others.
His words J must have human lite-it l
had had q pistol with me ] should have
shot her-some day soon | shal! take pI.-
fol on purpose and shoot her-I should
murder nv keeper and 20 straight for tina:
innocent girl were spoken as calmly az
though he said, Il owe five d0llarS-l must
go and pay them,' and at the same time
with a tone of deep cOmmiseration for The
predestined victims. They We're 10 die tor
no fault OF their own. but they were doomed
TO death-if he lived. When. or the other
hand. he spoke Of saving their lives at the
expense OF his own. his manner changed.
No one afflicted with suicidal mania ever
treated selflestruction with the horror, the
consciousness OF lts wlckednesa. and the
RELIGIOUS doubts as to its being pardOnahle
under any circumstances. with which he
considered it. He had never once spoken
of murder as a crime.
After a long and careful consideration (
came 10 the following conclusions:
He is not laboring under suicidal mania,
"IIis impulse is real. and Will have Fatal
| results.
no curative effect.
Then took down my books bearing
upon the anatomy OF the human head.
THE next morning l addressed him
thus
"Betore answer you as to whether you
would be justified before God, under the
impulse You have told me of. in taking
your own life TO save another. you must
answer me several quesdons.'
"'Go en- he said.
".Wben YOU consulted those doctors, did
Won tell them all that you have told met
mo. I did not dare. / said that had
horrible thoughts and cravings, but with
out entering into details "a 10 what they
we're, Once / went SO far as to say feared
was becoming dangerous. and the fool
smiled
o.. Good. Did they eve. speak Of search.
3: Yes: they said i: might be the cause
| Of nv .utferings, suPposing it had lodged
| near the BRAIN out that no one would take
the responsibility of searching to- it--sc to
| speak-in the dark.
80 They were rlght7 :, The operation might