The Wilmingtonian. (Wilmington, Del.) 1882-188?, 1884-06-28
TWO CENTS.
LIES GREATEST PROBLEM.

painful circumstances, adds another link to
the chain " hich the fatalist would seek to
bind round the freedom of the greatest
of all privileges-human existence. As a
mere newspaper sensation Mr.. Rodneys
death was not even nine days wonder, but
to the thoughtful man the incident involves
problems Of the highest character appreci-
able by human understanding.
The deceased gentleman was one of the
very last persons that would be suspected of
liability to suicidal mania. Mr. Rodney was
shrewd business man, yet withal Of high
integrity, and in the eyes of his fellow men
walking upright in the path of 6uty. lie
was worker in the field Of life; no shrker
of responsibility; no slave Of procrastination
He would often apologize to friends for lay
ing burdens on them, when he was actually
carrying unnvited and unremunerative
responsibilities. Calm, cool, clear-headed;
an able 'logician, well-read scholar, and in
w. pShoO q S-iAiSlltth anu " SbutlClitll,
there was nothing that could furnish any
explanation Of the tragic event which put so
sudden an end to an honorable and useful
life, unless it were the overturning of a finely
adjusted mental equipoise by the operation
of disease. As the swarm of bees depend
from the bodies Of single insect; as the
avalanche is withheld by a few resisting
atoms of crystallized water; as the cannon
shot misses the generalissimo of grand
army by a hairs breadth; as an empire may
cease with the stroke Of clock, so life and
reason may be hung on wires so slender that
in sensitive frame, whose psychic elements
are adjusted to the acme of delicacy, the
forces which resist death may in moment
be transformed into the agencies for its CON
triyance. The patient, laboring under sui
cidal mania, displays the same ingenuity to
effect his own destruction and to elude the
vigilance of his friends that he would have
| done, when in health, to guard against phys
cal or financial danger, appreciable to his
forethought, or penetrable by his insight.
We may, in fact look upon suicidal mania
as the reversal of the polarity of the vital or
psychic current, by which the conditions of
gain and destruction are interchanged. If
we make two plates of metal the cathode
and anodesin metallic solution by placing
them in a galvanic circuit, all know that the
cathode regularly gains while the anode
loses, but it often happens that, without
explainable cause, the polarity becomes
! reversed, SO that valuable articles in course
Of plating are destroyed. Here is the precise
analogue OF the mental condition of the sui
eide. The polarity of the psychic current is
reversed; the conditions Of preservation and
growth become transformed into the condi-
tions Of pernicious change and destruction.
The finer, the conditions of mental equipoise
influences which the grosser constitution
would escape unharmed. A sensitiyely poi
sed boulder on a mountain top may be sent
down to destruction by breath Of air, by
the expansion of an ice crystal in a thaw, or
bya careless step of the foot, while the peb-
bles at the base Of the cliff remain unchan-
ged through the ages.
1t is a puere argument that suicide is an
outcome of infdelity, of irresolute will, of
inability to appreciate the responsibilities Of
life. To establish such proposition would
require us to show that in all cases self
destruction was the end of weak-minded and
irresponsible persons, and that it was pecul-
, arly common in countries where sceptieism
prevails to the largest extent. Statistics
prove, on the contrary, that the number of
! suicides is largest i'll Catholic France and
+ Lutheran Germany; and that men and
women of high mental attainments are the
Z most frequent victims. 1t is idle for us to
I thank God thatwe are not as other men are.
While we fold our arms and smile in Pharis-
# aical content, W may be smitten with a dis
n ease that shall blast our faculties into idiocy
q or transform our Jealous care of health and
l., life into an eager search for weapon of self
n destruction. Men of the foremost attain
v ments in all countries have testified to the
IS suicidal fascinations Of the cataract Of Mag
ara. Nearly every lofty tower or great
' bridge in the world has had its victims
Obviously Reason is very insecure posses
l. sion indeed and vain and fooish-beyond al
10 compare-is the Judgment Of the man whc
se will hold up suicide as an act of moral Grim
n inalty for whieh the Great First Cause will
,e call the offender to account. The MAJ
a. who fights duel and shoots his adversary
ir or is killed himself, is rightly held account
le able before God and Man, because he vii
ID fully, and in the posst ssion ofreason violate
re the codes human and divine, that he ma.
r. earn the applause of a few friends and obe
at the behests of self-esteem. But the suicid
m who shall hold him responsible? Hold
nd mihi, cras tiJi! Rather is it for us to boy
es humbly before the throne Of the All-Wis
ito and acknowledge the graciousuess OF TIL
III mercy which permits us for an hour, nay 70
No n sinTle minnie to retain the balance of