New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1894-08-22
ANSWERING INGERsoLL.
Wm. sheran of st. Paul Writes for the
Review on Suicide.

ten by Mr.. Ingersoll on Suicide, and re-
printed in the last issue of the Review,
is of nature to stir interest in all re-
f1ecting minds. Both the subjec: and
the man are prominently before the pub
lie in our times. Never before was at
tention so forcibly drawn to tn issubject:
for never before were suicides 50 numer-
Gus and SO startling. And the man who
deals with this question has long been
known as a tirst-class lawyer, great
intidel and a brilliant writer. So that
his view of this growing tendency to
self-des;ruction must natula ally gain the
ear of the thinking world.
The article in question has value because
1t is fairly representative. It sets forth
in clear, beautiful language the position
Of the unbeliever, position he must
logically hold regarding the self-abridge-
ment of human life. One cannot claim
that Mr.. 1ngersoll goes too far when he
classifes suicide with rational acts, if his
premise of no after-life is admitted. For
given such belief, and the logical con-
clusion is that suicide cannot be crime.
1t is balance of life's joys and ills.
Pains are weighed against pleasures and
the latter are found wanting. So reason
and Mr.. 1ngcrsoll suggest happy escape
through the door Of death.
And surely if the life was the 'be all"
and the ''end all )" if death meant simply
an eternal, dreamless sleep, then most of
mankind were better in the grave, for
with most men and women life's pain
and suffering and sorrow far outweigh
the delights found therein. Our sweet
est songs, says Shelly, are those that tell
of saddest thought. Why? Because we
are more familiar with sorrow.- The
great burden of life is sorrow. DAYS
and weeks Of suffering can be counted
for the one given to pleasure. We have
to snatch our joyful moments; but hours
of trouble come unbidded. And hence
the Psalmlst tells us we are living in a
vale of tears and in the shadow of death.
Suicide therefore is logical, reasonable.
Some time ago in the columns of the
Review pointed out the Anarchistic
tendency of unbelief, remarking that the
disposal of a Divine Ruler, the center of
Ispiritual law, easily led to like dispos-
al of an Earthly ruler, the center of civil
law; and it remains to be observed that
this tendency does not stop at political
and social anarchy. There is another
term in the evolution. That term is the
subject of suicide, the individual self.
We may study this process for few
moments and discover how with unbelief
as starting point Mr.. Ingersoll reaches
the conclusion that suicide is not a
crime.
Unbelief or negation of the Super
Fnatural, destroying God and the immor..-
ability of the soul, destroys the dignity
of human nature; sinks to the level of
mere animal existence. Mind becomes a
form of attenuated matter nothing
more. With God and the Supernatural
gone, man finds only the natural left to
cultivate or reverence. But nature thus
dellized fails tn win that respect which
is paid to Spiritual, Personal Being.
Worship to her is at best reluctant and
could never be permanent. The work
of man - her highest creature-could
not amount to so much after all. At
last that oppressive work known as gov.
ernment. Have we not dispensed with
rulers above the clouds? Can we not do
with those below the clouds? The
last question was correlative of the
first. And the answer to the last ques.
ton is anarchy. When spiritual restraint
was gone man thought he might live
without political or social restraint. So
men think SO now. These men have
vowed the destruction of all government
and all society. Wecall them anarchists
they are our social and political free
thinkers.
Bot there is yet another step. Human
life though robbed OF its spiritual digni-
! ty, e1iled from its natural social condi-
!. tions, an alien to law and order, could
still, like ruined castle, claim existence,
even though its beauty and usefulness
have disappeared. But no! the drawn
dagger must complete the work Suicide
mnsttake away even existence. Why not?
Man is now only q fortuitous csngrega-
i tioa Of atoms. What matters few
days more or less to this mortal mites
4 Freed from most laws that govern him