St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-11-24
FALLAcv OF SUICIDE.


FALLAcy OF SUICIDE.
ne Obllgatasas u Lafs Caaase ~ ess-
rendeeod.
In spite Of the instructive clinging ia
life and shrinking from death that Il
20 universal even under the most un.
favorable and sorrowful conditions,
there are, alas! too many instances in
which this instinct proves no barrier
to the voluntary termination of life it
self. Suicide is, indeed, seemingly one
Of the attendant evils of civilization,
and Is by no means confined to the ig-
norant or abject classes. We are con-
stantly confronted with the fact that
neither material advantages nor intel
ligence, nor education, nor even good
moral record, are proof against this
disloyalty to life. Many causes are
adduced for this act-grief, shame, re-
morse, despair. being among the most
numerous. But perhaps the foundation
be said to be the common habit of think
ing that life is only to be valued for
the happiness it yields. Many people
grow up with the idea that If personal
life be not personally happy it is use
less. Thus, when they come to some
epoch when sorrow triumphs over joy.
failure over success, pain over pleasure,
life loses all meaning to them, and is
easily parted from.
This view Of life is essentially untrue
and most injurious While we may never
| I'm hAs "a &c r..
tual suicide, it is certain that If carried
out to its full conclusions it would
tend in that direction. Happiness is
normal and rightful condition,
one which should be expected and
valued, and within certain limits
sought, for self and others. But it is
never the whole of life, only q part,
and q part which. cannot be exacted.
Life contains it, but it also contains a
great deal homework, service, man.
hood, duty, responsibility; and If these
receive the rightful emphasis in
thought and heart, no suggestion of
suicide could find any Judgment
1t would be we'll If the true character
Of this act were more fully drawn and
realized than it generally is. Our pity
dwells on the sufferings which were so
great as to overcome the natural love
Of life, and our compassion for the
afflicted one blinds us to the intrinsic
selfishness and cowardice of his deed.
Take. for instance. the frequent occur
renee OF loss of fortune, bankruptcy,
perhaps disgrace. Let the consequent
agony be what it may, what is the po-
sition of him who, to escape it, throws
away the life which he holds In trust?
He leaves his family not only to all
the hardships and suffering which he
refuses to endure, but also to the addi-
tional grief of his loss and to the life
long bitter memory of his end. His
duties as a husband. father, a son, a
brother, he casts to the winds. All the
possibilities of retrieving his losses, of
building up another business, of pro-
viding for those who are rightly de-
pendent upon him for support, he de-
liberately throws away. His obliga-
tons as citizen, friend, a man
among men, he ruthfully ignores All
opportunities of atoning to those he
may have wronged he discards. Isany
deserter from battlefield half so dis
loyal and faithless rs he? The one
runs away from a single duty; the
other abandons them all and forever.
1t matters little what is the form of
suffering which tempts such a course.
It may be the wrecking Of hopes by be-
reavement,or by the perfidy of another:
it may be despair produced by repeated
aisappointments; it may be the pangs
Of remorse for his own guilt. In any
case, it is his duty to bear 1t like man.
not to shrink from it like a coward.
What though happiness be gone? Duty
remains. Life is not plavthing, to be
used as long rs it gives pleasure, and
then cast aside. It is an imperative
krust, . continuous obligation, from
which no grief, no loss, no shame, can
ever absolve us No one, indeed, is
able to predict that even happiness is
gone forever. 1t is not an unmeaning
proverb that ''the darkest hour is just
before the dawn" Often when hope is
luenched and sorrow overwhelms us,
unexpected help is near. The future |
may hold brighter things in store; new
power to retrieve the past may be gen.
srated within us. And always the cour-
age and heroism which accept the bur |
lens of life and follow the call of duty, |
however footsore and weary, bring to |
the heart a peace and serenity which |
are not far from true happiness To cut |
away and destroy in q moment all these |
possibilities is as foolish as it is wrong. |
Nevertheless, it is upon far more solid |
and ethical grounds than this that the
obligation of preserving and cherish
ing life should be based.
This principle needs more emphasis
n the training of youth. That our life
is trust-thst we exist, not mainly
for happiness, but for service-is \
truth which can be established at .
very early age. Little children can be
taught to love and to help one another.
until what may at first have been self
sacrifice becomes a pleasurable duty.
They should also be taught that true
self-care tends to the same end. There
IS q fallacious custom of thinking
that what we do for ourselves ends
with self. Many children who are
brought up in habits of cleanliness and
who early learn to take
care of their health and exert their
have no other motive pre-.
sented to them than their own good.
Yet nothing is clearer than that all
these things tend also to their value
10 others, and this motive should never
be overlooked. 1t is no abstract the
Dry, nor is it difficult SO to present it to
the young mind and weave it into the
young life as to give higher meaning
TO all that is done for personal wei.
fare. There is no rigid line between
duties to self and duties to others.
They melt into one another; they act
and react upon each other; and when
the right balance between them is de
stroyed neither can be perfectly full
filed. When it comes to be fully rec
ognized that self-care and self-im-
provement are social obligations a.
well as personal ones, then the duty OF
will rest upon firm