Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-03-12
FAMOUS SUICIDES.
cAssIus, CATO, AND MARK ANTONY
FELL BY THE DAGGER
SEINE Peculiarly Painful ana Drsmss'o
Methods Adopted to End Life
How Nero Died.
fst. Louis Glo~be-D

VI
Cbatterton killed himself In despair ct
the failure OF all his projects.
Chenier killed himself by thrusting Q
largo brass key down his throat.
Lucretius, the great Latin poet. stabbed
himself in o fit of disgust with life.
Goethe tells of a German laborer whom
he knew who cast himself headlong into o
boiling soap-vat.
Cooceius Nervs, a wealthy Roman law
yer. killed himself IN disgust ct the state
of the Roman republic.
The last Duke of Bedford died q violent
death by his " act. Disgust with lie
was said to be the cause.
Stanton. the great War Secretary. died
nv his own hand in 1859. He was undouot-
edly insane from
Cassius fell by his own dagger, after the
hattie of Philippi, the same dagger, IL Is
said. with which he stabbed Cesar.
Fraulein Won Lassberg drowned herself
y, vexation and disgust at life after read
ING Goethe's Sorrows Of Werther."
Samson. the Judge of Israel. DESTROYED
himself in the temple Of the Philistines
by pulling it down on himself and HIS
enemies.
Rousseau tells Of a friend who was a
warm advocate of suicide. and at the age
Of so drowned himself IN the Lake OF
Geneva.
Homer. il Is said, hanged himself in
extreme old age because, after long trial,
ne could not solve the "Fisherman's Puz-
zle."
Senator Lane, Of Kansas, the famous
lin Lane of ante bellum DAYS, died III
1866. by his own hand, In a ut OF mental
alteration.
One of the most distinguished suicides
in this country was the hon. Jonn DAVIS,
Speaker of the House of Representatives
from 1S45 to 1917.
Demosthenes took poison which for
wears he had carried about with MIN IN a
pen. lie was Disguised at the hcKleness
and folly of the Athenians.
Catullus Luctatius killed himself in a
peculiarly painful manner by swallowing
Goals of IRE and experimenting them Win
a piece Of red-hot iron.
Saul. the first King Of Israel, killed him.
self rather than be slam BY the Phills-
tines. Defeated in battle and his kingdom
gone. he had nothing to 1--we tor.
Nacer, n Roman official Of Cicero's
| time, hanged himself when informed
| that the great orator intended to appear
against him IN his trial for population.
Ajax killed himself with his spear
J~ocasta, Antigone. Hamon.. ,Eurydice,
| Edipus, and manv other Greek heroes and
heroines died by their W hands.
Herennius. the S~icilian, showed signs OF
madness and was confined by his friends
Determined to thwart them, be beat ms
brains against a post.
The philosopher Cleombrotss, aftel
reading Plato's Phgdon. killed himself II
order that he might at once ENJOY the
sweets of the future life so viyldly de
scribed.
Whether the death OF Clement G. Val
landicham was q suicide or an accident M
never been satisfactorily determined
though the evidence seems to indicate
self-destructlOn.
Abimelech. while storming the town o
ThebeZ. was wounded IN the head by 4
stone thrown by a woman, and made hi
armor-bearer kill him lest 1t should be sac
a woman slew him..
yatel. q famous French cook, ran him
self through with a sword because the hsl
for a state dinner came TOO late 70 De used
and he could not stand the disgrace o
serving a dinner without fish.
PetronIus Arbiter, tho poet and manao
pleasure in Nero's court, having fallen mt
| disgrace, went home. wrote q satlrica
poem describing Nero's debaucherles, ant
then opened his veins.
Like his great guest, Hannibal, Mlthri
dates killed himself BY poison 10 ayol'
falling into the hands of the Romans. ii
preferred death TO appearance IN the III
umphal procession OF a Roman general.
The philosopher Damocles threw hlmsel
into a caldron of boiling OIL and miserabl,
persisted. His fate was not known unit
the oil was poured out ana MS pOnes
boiled clean, were found.
Portia. the daughter OF Cato, attempte,
TO kill herself by drinking boiling water
but unable to swallow it. she hastll
crammed Landfuls of glowing Goals int
her throat. and died in great agony.
E~mpedocles. the philosopher, thre,
himself into the crater of Nesuvlus. ii
has had a modern imltator, an English
man, who killed himself by jumping neaC
long into the orator OF an irOn-turnace.
Terence. the Roman dramatist, lost h
manuscripts, q collection of lO5 pays b
had translated from the Greek Tor use o
the Roman stage. He was unable 10 el
dure the loss and drowned himself.
The great Zeno lived q quiet and happ
life until the ago Of 90, when one day Il
accidentally stumbled and broke h
thumb. He interpreted the accident "a
summons from earth, and so hanged hin
self.
The Roman Emperor Ohio killed hin
" r. -..x IS ntpAf Iva AaFr
} popular revolution had overthrown b
mower. He was aware that from his succe.
: sor he had nothing 10 expect, aud so pr
ferred death.
Cato was the typical Roman suicide. II
: killed himself with a dagger on the al
proach of Cesar's forces to Utica, known
that the cause Of liberty was lost and b
ing unwilling 10 SURVIVE the downlal {
/ his country.
The poems Of Lablenus were ordered b
+, imperial edict to DO burned on account {
| the blasphemv they were alleged 70 COZ
= taip. The order was carried out. and, !
despair. Labienus burned himself to deaf
> IN his house.
g., H~egesippus, the philosopher, discourse
; 60 eloquently on the peace OF death
: comuared with the worry of lite TIN
: tuany OF his auditors killed themselye
Il aud to stop the epidemic Ptolemy o
dered him to teach no more IN pubic.
A%hithophel. the Hebrew statesman, joir
ed in the rebellion Of Absolom agalns
David, but when his advice as to the COZ
, dnct OF the war was rejected and he sa
= the cause was lost he went home. foro,ol
4 the failure Of the rebellion, and hange
himself.
Balmaceda, the fallen President of Chill
after the revolution winch resulted Ia th
overthrow of his government. took retug
Q in the house of u friend. but, finding ever
n avenue of escape closed, shot hlmse
rather than surrender aud be torn IN piec'
S by the enraged populace.
: Sardanapalus, the luxurious Orient
. monarch, finding himself hard pressed |
7: his nemie gathered his guards, b
: wives, concubines, and children, togeth
= with ell his treasures, and set fire to Il
4 building, thus thwartlng the hope his 10
entertained of taking him alive.
Lord Londonderry. better known
Lord Castlereagh. killed himself In a tit
INSANITY produced py oyerwor6 and Wort
: Noticing his depression, his attendants T
o moved all razors, knives, and other meal
: OF el~f-destruction, but overlooked a sml
Il L. AHe 80 hRAnA