The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-02-05
BILL ARP'S Weekly LETTER.
WILLIAM ~ HORRIFIED At THE
INCREASE o. SUICIDES.
A PRACTICAL REMEDY SUGGESTED.
Wicked Deeds Lead 10 Romorsc 81 CON.
science which in Turn Leads - Con
temptation 81 self Murder.

wns Eliminating about these suicides thai
8eom % b0 on the Increase an 0yrr the land.
and are not confined 20 any class or o1ndl-
ton. Several have occurred during tho last
Tow days in Georgia and The adjoining states.
Two were young mon. two past middle ago
and One wns q girl in her teens. None had
good cause Tor the rash deed. aud Il seomH
Ike this generation has moro nerve and less
fear Of The hereafter than their fathers. /
cannot imagine any condition or peril thai
requires as much courage and win power az
tho deliberate taking Of ones life. / would
rather take my chnnoes Ia battle or ship
wreck or peatllence. To be- weary OF life Is
common misfortune, aud thousands there
are who can e1claim with David ooh. tina.
! had the wings Of a dove, that / might fy
away and be at rest But 90 the average
man "thG wearIest life that age. ache. DO
nury and imprisonment can lay on nature 4
paradise 20 what we fear u death" 10
must be fearful leap 90 commit suicide
TO die aud go We know not where, and yet
Il has become almost az common as murder
murder that has the excuse Of gratifying
some passion a. hate, revenge ,ayRricc desire
or ambition. The suicide leaves no blood
behind him save his own-no nothing but
| pity and domestic grief There r. no sheriff
20 pursue, no court 20 try, and IN this ooun-
try no attainder or conAscation or burial
without benefit Of clergy.
htuo mor2 than a century ago, when
| George ~ was king Of England. the law was
in force that the body Of suicide should
have "a stake thrust through Il and be buried
| by the highway, 80 as 10 intimidato Others
from self destruction. His goods and chattlos
were forfeited 90 the crown. This law was re-
penlcd during King Georges reign. bat a now
law declared that the body should be- buried
atnight, without the performance OF religious
ceremonies. Such was the detostatiOn OF
our English ancestors for what they called
the crime OF suicide. i know OF but ono
crime that would Justify a man taking his
own hie, and that i5 remorsc-such rcmorse
as Judas lsoariot Eel. when nc wont out and
hanged himself There are but three in
stances Of self murder mentioned in sacred
history, and they wore all bad men. But In
| our day, suicides are generally goOd-hearted
! people Shakespeare says of Othello that he
! was great Of heart. but IL was remoE5e for
| killing his innocent wife that nerved him 70
| the decd. Nowadays the most OF suicides
| are caused not from remorse, but from dis
| appointments, failures in business, domestic
unhappiness, or grief over lost lovers or
/ dead kindred. Sometimes the unhappy man
| tries to drown trouble in drink, and this
| brings depression that ends i'm self murder.
/ But it does not take a great misfortune 20
| cause suicide now. Only last week clever
/ young man killed himself on hearing that
! his mother was dead, and young girl
! hanged herself because she did not like her
| step-mother. How many travelling men have
| been found dead in the Atlanta hotels during
the past few years with no extraordinary
/ cause for self dCstructiOn-just tired OF life
couldn't make money fast enough; couldn't
square their accounts with their employers,
or some such reason. Job suffered great
/ tribulations, but didn't dare to destroy him
/ self. In the greatest anguish he said: my
| soul is weary OF my life, oh, that it would
! please God to destroy me, that He would
! loose His hand and cut me of"
What Is the cause Of this growing mental
malady in this happy land? Are these sui
cides all skeptics or inidels, or universal
lists, that they should have no fear Of death,
no dread OF something after death 2
! Maybe there is q hereafter and a judgment
to come, and il So murderer has a bet
ter chance than q suicide, for he has time to
repent and be forgiven, as David was. Then,
again, 1t is such a selfish act for it brings
| grief to kindred and leaves a shadow over
! the household that never passes away. A
few years ago met a young man whom l
had not seen since he was lad. He was do
ing well in a distant state, where his mother
| and sisters lived, but | could see the lines of
a never forgotten sorrow in his face. His
father hung himself in barn and the heart
broken family moved far away. A few
months ago Imet an old friend who had al
ways greeted me cheerfully, but l hardly
knew him. He was prematurely gray, and
the lines Of sadness were in every lineament
of his intellectual features. He had ceased
to smile. His only son, on whom his love
and his hope was conferred had killed him
, self-had placed the fatal pistol to his temple
and fired it. What makes our young men
| do so? If it comes from remorse, is 1t not
| cheaper and safer to repent and reform2
4 H. MI L..
! his body. His soul goes marching on and
the remorse goes with it. But even his body
is sacred, and he has no right to mutilate or
destroy it. Tho scripture says that our
bodies are temples OF the living God-created
| in His image and but little lower than the
angels Oh, it is horrible to think of. II
becomes no one bqt murderers and as5as
sins and they don't do it. II the butcher
Flanagan, should kill himself in his cell, il
would be a fit ending of his life, whether he
be sane or insane, but for young man OF
woman who have been tenderly raised and
have parents or children or kindred who
love them, there is no excuse. Better tC
bear the ills we have than to plunge in q gut
of dark despair. Get up and try again. II
you have nerve enough to pull the fata
trigger, YOU surely can make another effort
to reform or to suffer and endure whatever
troubles you. Get up and do something
work Tor your DOar0 IL you cHn 10 DeILGr
Work at anything dig, hoe chop wood, b,
fireman on a locomotive, keep going don
stop to think and brood over troubles. Con
slant employment will stine grief IT yoJ
can't get work, go to the woods and beal
the birds sing, and soc the glad water flow
| ing In the little branches Life Is WOtl
living and the faithful wag of your dog
tail is worth living for-much more, is tn'
love of kindred and friends. 1 believe tina
idleness is not only the DEVILS workshop anc
the chief cause of crime, but it produce
that morbid melancholy state OF mind tina
begins with drink and ends in suicide. VIII
ever heard OF an engineer, or conductor
or a gardener, or a hard-Working farme
committing suicide. They haven't got tim
to think about it. If domestic trouble o
family discord haunts you, work it of
Socrates married Xantippe, the most aggra
waiting woman he could find, and he says b
did it for 5elf-discipline and humiliation
Some women marry aggravating men, bu
not for the like reason, but women rarel