St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-08-12

serted. the door of home closed against
her, the faces of friends averted, no
hand that will help, no eye that will
soften with pity, the future an abyss
filed with monstrous shapes of dread
and fear, her mind racked by fragments
of thoughts like clouds broken by
storm, pursued, surrounded by the ser
penis of remorse. flying from horrors too
great to bear. rushes with joy through
the welcome door of death.
Undoubtedly there are many cases of
perfectly justifiable suicide-cases in
which not to end life would be mis-
take, sometimes almost crime.
AS to the necessity of death. each
must decide for himself. And if a man
honestly decides that death is best
best for him and others-and acts upon
the decision, why should he be blamed?
Certainly the man who kills himself
is not physical coward. He may have
lacked moral courage. but not physical.
1t may be said that some men fight
duels. because they are afraid to decline.
They are between two ires-the chance
of death and the certainty OF dishonor,
and they take the chance of DEATH, So
the Christian martyrs were, according
to their belief. between two freS-the
flames of the fagot that could burn but
for few mo ments and the fires of God
that were eternal. Aud they chose the
flames of the fagot.
Men who fear death to that degree
that they will bear all the pains and
pangs that nerves can feel rather than
die cannot afford to call the suicide
coward. 1t does not seem to me that
Brutus was a coward OF that Seneca
was. Surely Antony had nothing left
to live for. Cato was not craven. He
acted on his judgment. So with hun
dreds of others who felt that they had
reached the end that the journey was
done, the voyage was over, and, SO feel
ing, stopped. 1t seems certain that the
man who commits suicide, who ''does
the thing that stops all other deeds. that
shackles accident and bolts up change"
is not lacking in physical courage.
If men had the courage they would
not linger in prisons, in alnIshouses, in
hospitals, they would not bear the pangs
of incurable disense. the stains of dis
honor, they would not live in filth and
want, in poverty and hunger. neither
would they wear the chain of slavery.
All this can be accounted for only by
the fear Of death or ''of something
after"
Seneca, knowing that Nero Intended
to take his life, had no fear. He knew
that he could defeat the emperor. He
knew that sat the bottom of every
river, in the coil of every rope, on the
point of every dagger, Liberty sat and
smiled" He knewit was his own fault
II he allowed himself to be tortured to
death by his enemy. He said: "There
Is this blessing, that while life has but
one entrance 1t has exits innumerable,
and, as choose the house in which l
live, the ship in which l will san, so
will choose the time and manner of my
DEATH"
To me this is not cowardly, but manly
and noble.
Under the Roman law persons found
guilty OF certain offenses were not only
destroyed, but their blood was polluted
and their children became outcasts. If,
however, they died before con victiop.
their children were saved. Many com.
mitted suicide to save their babes, Ger
talnly they were not towards. Although,
guilty of great crimes they had enough
of honor, of manhood, left to save their
innocent children. This was not cow
ardice. 2
Without doubt many suicides are
caused by insanity, Men lose their
property, The fear of the future over
powers Them. Things lose proportion.
they lose poise and balance, and ID a
flash, CLEAN Of frenzy, kill themselves.