New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-07-20
~vv WORK DAILY TRIBUNE, FRIDAY, JULY 90 1883

STAGES beginning with tine EXPRESSION Oh QUE
prof,und conviction that the man who' a','i
making M his mind to 10 over to the inaIo''y'
dslibarately sits down and writes a iette'
about il. as thoa "a il was matter oil consul
.rbl. consequence. is an ass. A very distinct
and unmistakahle as if, after iuterrnptlng ire
business CT the world with his wildly waved
farewell. he goes ON and does it; and very
phenomenal ass if. after drawing at'en'io" ~
hims,lf and promising his ellew-men a sensa-
tion, be decides upon the whole not 10 40 n'
but to stay with us long enuogh to reno MS
own obituary. In saying this we nave no
wish to be unkind or uncharitable toward tiiose
of our fellow-men who are SO tired Oh the Society
Of mankind ia to be anxious to hurry INTO tho
hereafter. We are only stating, perhaps WIN
coldness. but we believe with truth, concrete
fact. And our self-killing friends themselves
must confess that they can make no serious
claim for charitable consideration upon those
whom, by the very act of suicide, they ahJh'eo
Incompetent to make the social iitb OF the "oriu
tolerable They defv our worst Judgment
when they fly into the outer to escape assocla-
tion with us.
There are suicides and suicides; some OF
them not wholly lacking in dignity, not totally
and irretrieyably absurd. History Is not I'M
adorned by some such instances. The GROWING
act in the career of Judas, though it may have
seemed ridiculous to the utllitarisn age in which
he lived. and to his coutem porares, who saw
only that he sped himself cut at II time when
he had at least thirty pieces to live on mas
gained in the perspective and seems now quite
creditabe to him. Cleopatra and Marx An
a rJnfa
tony took themselves of III way that' "hen
contrasted with the sensuOus careers that I'M
mediately preceded their exit seems almost ne
ruic. But we do not read that either OIL them
left sentimental letters behind, or directions
for the coroner though poets have cramnea
literature with that sort of thing for them ever
since. Really, however, there is no dignity, nor
seldom any 6ecsncy, in suicide, whatever ol
charitable consideration time and the de NOR
this sentiment may impart to it. 1t is at the BEST
cowa dly desertion OF the ranks in presence Oh
the enemy. 1t is insanity, OF course, always.
But always it must be observed, the insanity Oh
personal vanity of oyerweening egotism. And
the most ins ufferabe egotsm and vanity OF all
ia that which poses itself before plunging;
which writes letters for publication, INDUCES
itself in auto-otituaries, and chuckles over the
sensation it intends to create. Abnormal self
consciousness is the root of all suicides as it is
of most insanity. But there are degrees OF
self-consciDusness, and we may find DISTANCES
of suicide in which the Overp0wering selt-con-
seriousness that led to it taxes our sympathy
though it cannot command our respect.
IL is laid down as a general rule that the act
of suicide is proof of insanity. 1t is equally
true that morbid self-consciousness IS at the
bottom of all self-kIlling as it is Of most in-
sanity. This kind Of vanity is bad enough
when it carries out its self-destroying purpose;
il is worse, more ridiculous and absurd, when
il poses for the plunge, makes its farewells, in
suits society by the open expression of Its de-
sire to fee away and be rid of association with
it, and then having enjoyed the sensation and
the notoriety calmly rehabilitates itself aud
stays. 1t is not our business to advise people
COME nnplatng suicide as to the manner OF
their taking off, but we may at least say that
there are degrees of fooshness in it, and that
the foolishness most of all TO be avoided is that
cf writing sentimental farewells. Ii you are
tired of this world and the company it affords,
don't waste time writing adieus to it arrange
your affairs calmly and deliberately, and do
your utmost dreadfulness on yourself with as
little fuss as possible. AS to Mr.. Mobiles,
whose remarkable behavior has melted these
remarks, it need only be said that the chance
is left him to do something in the world to ias-
tify him in changing his mind. And we hope
he will do it, though we nfess we have
grave doubts of it.