St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-01
SUICIDES OF HISTORY.

writer IN the Pittsbarg Dispatch. From
the days OF the Roman empire down to
the present time men who had staked
their all and lost have capped the climax
of their defeat by self-destruction.
Rather than endure disgrace they have
acted as their own eXecutioners. Balma-
ceda. the would-be dictator of Chile,
shot himself when convinced that escape
from the victorious insurgents was i'm
noSsible.
Boulanger. after making q brilliant
record as soldier in AlgIerS and in the
Franco-Prussian war, and being idOliZed
by his people. aspired to Overturn the
republic and found an empire of which
he could be the head. A traitor to his
country. and branded as a thief. he was
outlawsd. When at last tie woman
who was his companion in exile died he
ended his strange career by shooting
himself on her grave.
1t Is only a few months since Prince
Rudolph of Austria and Marie Netsera
ended their liasOn in manner that
shocked the entire world. In the days
when Romans believed ii a disgrace to
be killed by a foe in battle suicides
were common. Cato stabbed himself
rather than live under the despotic
reign of Caesar. and when ThemistOcles
was ordered to lead the Persians against
his cOuntrymen he took poison.
Hannibal ana Mithridates poisoned
themselves to escape being made pris-
oners. Sampson was the heroic suicide
OF the Scriptures. for. in order 10 be re-
yenged on his enemies. he pulled down
the temple in which thew were Teveling
and persisted with them. Many of the
most noted suicides of history are due
to the philosophy of herOisn rather
than INSANITY.
ZenO. the founder of the StOics. lived
until he was ninety-eight. Then. when
he fell one day and put his thumb out
OF joint. he decided that he had lived
long enough. 50 he repaired to his dwell
ing and hanged himself. Homer is said
to have hanged himself because he
could not solve the ''iisherman's rid
de Terence stabbed himself because
he had lost los translated comedies
BrutuS threw himself Oh his sword.
Lycurgus took poison and Nero cut his
throat.
III China suicide has been a fine art
for several centuries. If a Mandarin is
guilty of misconduct he is requested to
put himself ont of the land of the liv-
ing. There is a distinction. too. in the
manner in which the Oriental NAV die.
If he is OF exalted rank. and entitled TO
wear the peacock feather. he is priv
LEGGED to choke himself TO death with
gold leaf.
This is regarded as a distinguished
manner of ending life. If the Mandarin
Is only of the rank that is entitled 10
wear the red button he must be content
with Strangling himself with a silken
cord. Such arc the distinctions of caste.
One of the most remarkable cases of
suicide was that of the king of Falaha
on the west coast of Africa.
The king was attacked by a MOham-
medan force. and finding resistance i'm
possible assembled his family and
principal officers. and after addressing
them and intimating his determination
never TO accept MOhammedism. and
inviting those who did not agree with
him to 90 away. he applied match IN
a Jorge quantity of gunpOwdPr collected
for the purpose and blew into atoms
the palace and all VINO were in it.
Suicides among the arlstOcracy in
England are rather numerous. The
suicide OF the Duke of Bedford in .Janu-
airy last shocked society circles of both
countries. He was one of the largest
landed prOprietOTs in England. ini-
mensely wealthy. and was seventy-twO
years of age. Living on a sick bed,
from which he had no promise Of I'M
mediate recovery, he succumbed to the
agony OF the moment and sought relief
in death. The fact that il was sui
eide was carefully concealed from the
newspapers. but the secret leaked out
after the body had been cremated.
Lord CongletOn. who was Mr.. Par
nell's great uncle. hanged himself in
1912. In the same year the Earl of
Munster one of the iliegitimate sons of
King William ". shot himself in the
head. In 1869 Lord ClOncarry, the last
OF his house. Jumped from a window
and broke his neck.
In 1873 the last Earl of DE la Ware
drowned himself. and in 1916 Lord Lyt-
tleton. the insane brother-in-law of
Gladstone. escaped from his keepers.
threw himself OF the staircase Of his
own house and was killed.
A story of suicide in which sentiment
is mingled is that of Prince BandOuin.
heir TO the throne of Belgium. The
Youthful prince loved beneath his sta
ton. and finding that love could never
be realized sought peace IN the eternal
silence OF the grave.
Commercial disaster to any member of
the ROthschild family is As great a dis
grace as crime is TO any other family.
This was illustrated in the recent at
tempis OF Baron Gustav de Rothschild
10 end his existence. His attempt at
self-destructiOn followed close upon his
loss of 10000. 090 francs on the London
market The attempt was a failure,
and IN that respect resembled his specu-
lation. His was not the first affair of
the kind in the ROthschild family.
Baron James de Rothsehild, crazed by
i'll luck. some time ago blew out his
brains in the presence of his mother.
Only last Nav Lord James Edward
Shelto Douglass. brother of the Marquis
OF Queensberry. committed suicide by
cutting his throat with razor. He had
been travelling from Ireland during the
night, and behaved in such a strange
manner that the railroad officials or
dered one of their employees TO accom-
pany him to Boston.
Upon arrival in that city Lord Doug
lass put I'D at hotel, and when the at
tendant was not looking he cut his
throat. The tragic death of Lady Bras
sey. who plunged into the sea from her
Yacht while suffering from fever. Will
be long remembered. She was one of
the most ambitious of women and re-
markablv talented. When she jumped
overheard last year her husband dived
after her. and it was with some diff
cult6 that he was rescued from sharing
her fate.
Suicides are common among default-
ers as preferable to facing the charge OF
dishonor and trying to live down the
record. Politicians smarting under the
sense of defeat have ended all with a
bullet Disappointed lovers by the score
take their lives when Tilted by the OBJ
ject OF their choice. and so the category
runs. disappointment of every charac-
ter has prompted all kinds of people TO
end this brief existence with bare bod
kin.
BOARDING POINTERS.