Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-10-15
It'll a Fact AIarmingIv Patent that
the Number of SUICIDES is
on the Increase.
LndT. DsWi:t TaImage Charges She
Wheels YhiBg Upon Infideliiy
and ignosticism,
Some of the Ressops why People Seek 10
Take Their Owa Lives-a Few lnsfaa-
css Of Thtir attempts



Dewitt Ta!msge, D D., TOOK for his text
Acte ca. II, verses and 5. "He drew
out MS sword, and would have killed
himself supposing tha! the prisoners hsc
been & ID. But Paul crIed with LOUD
voice, saying, Do tbyssu no hsEm." The
sermon vas IS follows:
Hare is would be suicide arrested II
his deadly attempt. He HSs s sheriff
and acc ordirg 20 the 4 lncn Law, haiilf
himself must suf.r the punishment duS
an escaped pr suner; and IL the prisoner
breaking jail WIS sentenced 20 be en-
dupeeou,d for three or fJuf years, then
the sheriff nus. be enouc seored for three
or four years; and il the prisoner b:es k
ing sill wa to have 81 # red capital pun
isorneut, then the Sheriff must suffer
capital punishment. TIE sheriff had re-
ceived especial chETgs 10 keep sharp
lookCu! tlr Paul ana Siies. The govern
ment hsd not bad COL Il tence in bolts and
cars TO keep sale these two clergymen,
about whom there seemed to be some.
thing strange and supernatural.
Sure enough, by miraculous power,
they are free, snd the sheriff, waking out
Of sound sleep, and supposlDg theee
ministers have run away, and kno wing
that they wers to die for preachiD G
Christ, and real zing that he must there
fore OLE, rather than 60 under the execu
TONER'S sXs on the morrow and suffer
pubic disgrace, resolves to pEecipi-
tate bis own deceaEe. But before
the narp, keert glltering dagger
of the sheriff could strike his
heart, one OF the unioosened prisoners 81.
rests the blsde by the command: "Do
thyse.f no harm"
10 ellen time. and where Christianity
had not intertered with 1t, suicide WAS
considered honorable AID
SIGN OF COURAGE.
Demosthenes poisoned himself when
told tha. Alexander's ambassador had de-
msnded the surrender OF the Athenian
orators. IsccGA,es killed himself rather
than surrender to Philip OF Mecedon.
Cato, rather than submit 10 julius C3 sr,
took his own lie, and after three umes
MS wounds mad been dressed tore them
open and perlehed. MlshIidates killed
himself rather than submit to Pompey,
the corQ 1eror. Hannibal destroyed his
lie By poison from his riog, considering
life Undesirable. LyCurgus suicide, BTu
tu5 suicide. After toe disaster Of Mos
cow, Napoleon always carried with HIM d
preparation Of opium, and one night his
serFsnt heard the ex-emparor arise, put
something in glass and drink il, ana
soon after the grosus aroused all the at
kslndents, srd 1t WAS only through utmost
medical skili ne w,s resuscitated from the
stupor OF the opiate.
TIMES have changed, and yet the Ameri
CEN conscience needs 10 be toned up on
the subject Of suicide. Have you seen 9
paper 10 the last month that cid not an
nounce the passage out of life by ones
own bshesi2 Defaultere, alarmed st the
idea Of exposure, quit lie precipita.ely.
Men losing large fortunes go
out Of the world because they
cannot endure earthly existence. Fr1s-
trated aRsc Tor, domestic infelicity, dyS.
peptic impatieace, anger, remorss, envy,
jealousy, destitutio3, mlssnthsopy, are
considered sufficient Cause for soscond
ing from this life by Paris green, by laud-
anur, by belladonna, by O!hello's dag
ger, by halter, by lesp from the abutment
of bridge, by firearms. More cases o.
felo de Sc Ia the last TWO yesrs than eny
TWO years OF the worlds existence. and
more II the last month than In any twelve
months. The evil Is more and more
spreading.
A pulpit not lorg sgo expressed some
doubt as 10 whether there WAS really
anything wrong about quitting this life
when
1T BECAME DIsAGREEABLg,
and there are found II resps ctao!e circles
people spologetic for the crime Which
Paul in the text arrested. l shall! show
you teiore get through that suicide is
the worst Of sill crimes, and shall lift s
warning unmistakable. But In the early
psrt Of this sermon l wish to admit that
soma CT the best Christians that have ever
lived have committed eet- destruction,
but always in Dement'S, and not rtspon
sible. have no more doubt Of their
eternal felicity than have of the Chris
tian who dies In his bed In the delirium
of typhoid fever. While the shock Of the
catastrophe Is very great, l charge Eli
those who have hsd Christian friends
under cerebal alteration step eff the
boundaries OF this life, to have no doubt
shout their happiness. The dear Lord
took them right GU! Of their deed and
freuzied state into perfect safety. How
Christ feels toward the insane you may
know from the kind wsy he treated the
demoniac of Gadsrs and tina child luna
tic, and the potency with which ne
hushed tenpests either of sea or brain.
Scotland, the lsno prolific OF intellect
usl glsnts, mad ncne grander than Hugh
Miller. Great for science and great for
God. He came CT the best, Highland
blood, and was descendant of Donald
Roy, man em;nen. for piety and the
rare gift Of stctLd-s sight. His attsin.
ments, climbing up as he did from the
quarry ard the wall Of the stonemsson,
Drew forth the sstonished admiration CT
Buckland aud Mu:chisor, the scientists,
and DR. Chalmers, the theolog an, and
held universities spellbouId while he told
them them the story Of what he had seen
CT God in the cid red sandstone.
That man did more than ery being thst
ever lived to show that the God Of the
hills is the God Of the Bible, and he
struck his tuning fork on the
rocks Of Cromarty until he
brough. geology and theology &C.
cortkrt in divine worship. His two
books, entitled Footprints CT the Gre
ntor" and the Testimony OF The Rocks"
pro lsimed the banns OF an everlasting
marriage between genuine.
SCIENCE AND REVELATION.
On this Latter book he toiled day and
,t,bt %brruyh lova nj Datrre ard love OF