The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-05

ssnnpe' n friend advised him 10 despatch him
self He rejected the advice. hoping that smstrs
NftSrysrS ala, so that he was comfortable. de
iivered.. When at one time the city OF Epirns
e was S9iiSsG The chiefs OF that city advised the
people to ali kill themselves. but they preferred
surrender, and acted upon that ide a;;o,,,r, v,.
once taken prisoner to. Rome, but escaped. ano'
being followed and in DANCER OF being retaken,
he killed himself with his sword rather than
again DO subjected to captivity. Sons Jewisn
women, when their place was bosieged 6y An,
down a precipice to avoid the cruelty of their
conaueror., When the island OF SoHa Was once
taken E by dnn. Turks; ana a S Sia %Ite k', them n rushed he'd
out of the house and shot with, his crossbow Two
Turks, and then charged with his sword and was
liyerod himself and his family from slevery and
dishonor. In the book Of Maccabess y is told
old man Razis, but the old man fret stabbed
and then flung himself from the top of q wall.
which xerXes had made BoogsS Governor, and
had reduced 1t to e%xtremitics, the Governor was
SssTSS ; I'm OP %sIs. hit he to a gSSs MOTH mott be sal the h,s
thought OF living after having lost the city his
King had given him to keep: He, thhS o
made a great FIRE, ordered the throats Of all tho
women, children. and servants to bs cut threw
self. When sparFapises. the son, q Queen
Tomyris. was a prisoner OF war of Cyrus, he
felt 50, 80 deeply Il the dis srp,S Of %,6 being :, taken Rsa that hat
bound, he Killed himself. When, the city of
Gspna was beine, besieRed by the Romans
the city v would u be taken they could expect no
HerGHi sIns and in thus ne enroRed the Romans. and
now Hannibal had abandoned them. He pro
stSted t tSn i he had " Prepared Tr > Ia9 9rini Which snH t tReg
would take together. "a beverage" said he.
s "shst fT wd1, f insniss. S Sn5 SSai ssd ss0 and 01 ears fr S"5
the sense of 80 many hateful mischiefs as the
conquered suffer from cruel and implaca6le
only twenty.seven of the Senators present.
They first strengthened their courage with wine.
and then drank the fatal potion.
When Alexander had besieeed a city in India.
the people etermine to destroy Themselves selves
s the s spani sisy ci Tei CT t Asfa pad w wash About aso; W 70 So
taken by the Romans. the inhabitants gathered
their riches and furniture in a public place and
piled around 1t combustible materials. and left
nifty of their young mon to carry out their plans;
fought until they were slain: The young men
massacred every soul in the city. then set fire to
When King Philip attacked Abydos. the people
determined to Kill themselves, after having
they we're fee not tr sSis to- collect Ole iof fb wan goods Cd t and
treasures and Withdrew. his soldiers, granting
At the end OF those days not one was left alive.
Plutarch's list in this kind is long, but we
Of the Roman civil war Cato the younger had
been engaged in defending Utica. At the bat
and the citizens OF the place desired to come to
terms with the conqueror. Cato, however. was
well aware OF the cruelty p~racticed during
that Caesar. though in "a mild mood. would
not have, power to prevent these ,cruelties.
The gates shut until he was able to send away
his followers by sea. He himself dined with
afier lFi his usual Siisf %anneS. upon h %ian iespf E:
called his freedman. Butas, and sent him to the
was soon brought that all had gone except Cras-
sent Butas to see Il any Of them should happen
to return for anything they wanted. and mean
while he fell into a little slumber.. When Bntas
reported that all was quiet in the haven Cato
lay down as If he would sleep and babe him shut
the door as he went out. AS soon as Butas was
gone Cato took his sword and stabbed himself.
secured power at Rome word came that the
army in Germany had declared for vitellius:
1snU ppmPPsiSn % op MGed '2 }a mnln5nih to nif him1 f His
enemies tried to bring on a decisive battle. while
his own officers desired him to avoid a collision
while he remained behind on the southern bank
OF the Pc. His advance forces met tho Vitellian
in which the forces OF Ohio were defeated. On
the next day the ~victors were welcomed by the
though Ohio still had under his command a
formidable force. he considered that the verdict
] Gi ais G" speech mu Of farewell SS SSSlfpt to- those as m naoand 8
him. and then lay down to sleep for several
hours. Early in the morning he killed himself
with a sword. held upright under him with both
his hands. and died with no more than a single
gronn. When Cleomenes. King OF Sparta. the
third of his name. Ind lost n battle, Therycion
advised him to kill himself to escape the igno-
minious death or infamous life that his con-
qucror might impose. But he replied: THAT
is n remedy that can never be wanting, but
which II man is never to make use OF while
there is an inch Of hope within him; that it was
sometimes constancy and valor TO live: that he
would that even his death should be Of use to
his country, and would make of it an act of honor
md viTtIn' Having Lost hia fhrnna hn fnnl-
rc:sSe in Egypt. and was. kindly received by
try: but his successor imprisoned him. Hav.
ing escaped. he led an instruction against this
King. which failed. Finding themselves in this
strait. Clcomenes hade his friends all die brave.
ly. as became his followers and their own past
actions. Each OF them readily and resolutely
fell upon his own sword. except Panteus, n very
handsome m n and the Kings dearest friend.
The King babe him, when he had seen him aud
the rest fallen, die by their example. Panteus
walked over them as they lay. and pricked every
one with his dagger to try whether any was alive.
When he pricked Clcomenes in the ankle and
saw him turn upon his back. he kissed him, sat
down by him, and when he was quite lead GOV.
cred up the body. and then killed himself over 1t.
Such are some of the instances in ancient his.
tory in which the remarkable phenomenon Of
suicides in battle. has appeared. Among the
signs OF progress in civilized nations no one Is
more significant than this-that suicide on the
battlefield Is unknown where the armies of civ.
ilized nations confront each other. In our civil
war or in the Franco-G war, the prisoners