Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1882-03-09
SUICIDE In HISTORY.
The Causes of Voluntary Life Talslng-Seli
lmmolation OF Widows.

The Causes of Voluntary Life Talslng-Seli
Immolation OF Widows.
In Il review Of DIR. James j. O'Dea's book
on Suicide" printed in the New York
Star, the following is given:
Forty per cent. of the suicides in Dem
mark result from the use of alcoholic drink.
But in Italy, where there is little intemper-
ance, only six suicides in thousand can
be assigned to that cause, and a majority
occurred in the least thrifty provinces The
author thinks that about II per cent. of the
suicides result from financial embarrass-
ments and loss of property. Spectators
are particularly liable to die in that way,
as sudden reverses paralyze the
mind and destroy it's euui-
ibriun. Theodore Hook tells the
story of an unfortunate man in whose hands
everything turned out badly. He bought u
lottery ticket, but Immediately repented of
his folly and disposed of it to friend to
save himself from disappointment. But it
drew prize of 100000. Hook exclaimed
that it was Incredible; he should have cut
his throat had it happened to him. Yes"
said the stranger, ''of course YOU would.
and so did l." and barring his neck he ex.
posed to Hooks horror stricken gaze a
freshly healed wound that reached from
ear to ear.
Most suicides occur between the age of 25
and 55, with slight increase of the rate at
IS. The sexual instinct has something to
do with the tendency. Most suicides
among women occur between 20 and 40
and SO. Hereditary Influence plays an i'm
portant part, and insanity is prolific cause
of suicide. The cause which tend to pro-
duce the one also produce the other.
The author devotes very interesting
portion OF his work to the special causes
which affect individuals, growing out of
conditions Of body or mind or belief. and
shows how certain temperaments are pecu-
liarly predisposed to suicide. He laws
great stress on the prevention of suicide by
n sound physical anG moral and religious
training, by immaculate cheerful views Of
life, by drawing out the heroic qualities Of
the mind but still he thinks that attempts
at suicide should be severely punished by
law, and also that when there is a physical
predisposition to such steep medical ad.
vice should be sought.
But quite the most interesting half of
the volume relates to the history of the
painful subject. He gees over the ground
very thoroughly for q work of this kind,
and shows to what comparatively narrow
dimensions the practice Of voluntary life
taking has been reduced. In early ages,
throughout southern and eastern Asia, the
custom had full swing. The great religions
of Brahminism and Buddhism served as
fuel to feed the flame. The self f-immola-
ton of widows afterthe death Of their hus-
bands became an established custom in
India, among the Tartar tribes, the Scythi.
ans, the Scandinavians, and even the
North American Indians. Suicide to
avoid trouble and dshonor, and even pain,
was considered iustifable in Greece
and Rome, as we'll as in China and
Japan. 1t was the honorable thing for men
to do, and both stoicism and epicurianism
encouraged the practice of voluntary life
taking. Many famous Romans died by
their own hands, and Horace tells how peo-
pie of all ages and classes destroyed them
selves by leaping from the Fabrician bridge
JeSs W We're qSe Ice &c 'H III atst satlds ses t tne Il
never gained much root among them. The
tendency of Christianity was directly
against it. 1t was forbidden by the church,
and held to entail disgrace not only on the
person but on the family. During the
reign Of st. Louis in France. in 1870, the
first secular laws were enacted to preveHt
it by subjecting the bodies of suicides
to the most revolving treatment. 1t seems
very strange indeed that one of the first
modern apologists for suicide was Dr. John
Donne, who was made Dean of st. Pauls
in 1921