The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-07-22
DO THYSELP NO HARM
DIR. TALTAGE R -C1C1DE
THE WORST OF ALL CRIMES.
Insanity and In6deIity are the Causes
of Self DestructfOn--TO Get Rad of
Earthly SorrOws do not Rush Into
Greater sorrows.

Earthly SOrrOVB 90 not HAusn Anto
Greater Sorrows.
cCopyright, 1893, by American Press AS
socIation.)
This sermon of DR.. Talmage which we
send out today seems startlingly appro-
pirate TO this theme when so many are
leaving this life by their own hand, an
evil about which all reasonable people
are agreed; text, Acts xvi, 3, D thy
self no harm
Here is a would b suicide arrested
in his deadly attempt. He was a sherln'
and, according TO the Roman d"' 4"
baiIif himself must suffer the PUNISH
ment due an escaped prisoner ana IL
the prisoner breaking jail was sehtehc-
cd to be endungeoned for three or 1ouF
wears then the sheriff must be enouh-
peoned for three or four years. ana Il
~ nrisoner breaking jail was to nave
suffered capital punishment then the
.ber,ff must suffer capital punishment
IT. sheriff had received especial charge
to keep a sharp lookout for Pau4 anu
s,Ias The government had not much
confidence in bolts and pars 10 Keep Sa1o
these two clergymen, ABOUT "hohl 'heie
seemed to be something strange and su-
pernatural. Sure enough, by miraculous
DOWtT the Liz 49,, NN
akinp out of a sound sleep ana sup
posing these ministers nave run away
and knowing that they were 10 Ole Iof
nreaching Christ and realizing That ne
must therefore die, rather than go uh-
der the executioners ak on the MORO"
and suffer public disgrace resolves "
precipitate his own decease. But oeioLe
the sharp, keen, gltterlnS ddSSel y! TX
sheriff could strike his heart one OF the
unIoosened prisoners arrests the pldue
NV the DO thyself no harm.
hnr CHRISTIANITY
had not interfered with it suicide was
considered honorable and a sign OF cour-
age. Demostenes poisoned h1mSel1 "nen
told that Alexander,s emoassador Hau
orators. Isocrates killed himself raLher
than surrender to Philip OF faceGon.
Cato, rather than submit to Jullus tae-
sar. took his own life, and three tunes al
ter his wounds had been dressed tore
them open and persisted. Mithrldates
killed himself rather than SUBMIT 10
Pompey, the conQueror. Hannibal de-
stroyed his life by poison from his ring,
considering life unbearable. L~ycurSuS, d
suicide, Brutus a suicide. After the as
aster of Moscow Napoleon always car"
ried with him q preparation or poison,
and one night his servant heard the ex-
emperor arise, put something III a glass
and drink it, and soon after the sroahS
aroused all the attendants, and 1t was
only through utmost medical skill that
he was resuscitated. Times have chang
ed. and yet the American conscience
needs TO be toned up OIL IL SubJCII VI
suicide. Have you seen a paper IN the
last month that did not announce the
passage out of life by ones own behest?
Defaulters, alarmed at the idea or expo
cure, quit life precipitately. Men losing
fortunes go out of the world because
they cannot endure earthly existence.
Frustrated Affection, domestic 1ntellclty'
dyspeptic impatience, anger, remorse,
envy, jealousy, destitutiOn, m1santhropy,
are considered sufficient causes for alb
sconding from this life by paris green,
a.. NY hn11n1nnnn NV othpi-
los dagger, by halter, by leap from the
abutment of a bridge, by firearms. More
cases of felo de sc in the last two years
than any two years of the worlds exist
ence and more in the last month than
in any twelve months. The evil is more
and more spreading.
WORST OF ALL CRIMES.
A pulpit not long ago expressed some
doubt as to whether there was really
anything wrong about quitting this life
when it became diSagreeable and there
are found in respectable circles people
apologize for the crime which Paul in
the text arrested. l shall SHOW you pc
fore I get through that suicide is the
worst of all crimes, and I shall lift a
warning unmistakable. But in the early
part of this sermon I wish to admit that
some of the best Christians that have
ever lived have committed self destruc-
ton, but always in dementia and not
responsible. l have no more doubt about
their eternal felicity than I have of the
Christian who dies in his bed in the de-
1irium of typhoid fever. While the
shock of the catastrophe is very great, l
charge all those who have had Christian
friends under cerebal alteration step off
the boundaries of this life to have no
doubt tbout their happiness. The dear
Lord took them right out of their dazed
How Christ feels toward the insane you
may know from the way he treated
the demoniac of Gadara and the child
lunatic and the potency with which he
huShp6 tpmnpStS either of sea or brain
Scotland, the and prolific of intel
lectal giants, had none grander than
for God. He was an elder in st. Johns
Presbyterian church. He came of the
best highland blood and was a descend
ant of Donald Roy, a man eminent for
His attainments. climbing up as he did
from the quarry and the wall of the
s~tonemason, drew forth the astonished
admiration of auckland and Murchison,
the scientists. and DR.. Chalmers, the
theologian~ and held universities spell
bound while he told them the story of
Red Sandstone That man did more
than any other being that ever lived to
show that the God of the hills is the
God of tha Bible, and he struck his I'M
ne brought geology and theology accord
ant in divine worship. His two books.
entitled Tba r %FG0tpnints % Of the the e encts and and
claimed the banns of an everlasting
marriage between genuine science and
revelation. On this latter book he toiled
day and night. through love of nature
and love of God, until he could not sleep
and his brain gave way, and he was
found dead with a revolver by his side.
the cruel instrument having had two
bullets-one for him and the other for
the gunSmith who at the c~oroner's in
quest was examining it and fell dead
Have you any doubt of the Qualification
of Hugh Miller after his hot brain had
ceased throbbing that winter night in his
study at Portobello? Among the might
lest of earth, among the mightiest of
Heaven.
No one doubted the piety of William
Cowper, the author of those three great
hymns, 20 For a Closer Walk With
Cod What Various Hindrances We
Meet" There Is a Fountain Filled
With Blood"-William Cowper, who
shares with Isaac Watts and Charles
Wesley the chief honors of Christian
hymnology. In hypochondria he resolv-
ed to take his own life and rode to the
river Thames. but found a man seated
on some goods at that very point from
which he expected to spring. and rode
back to his home, and that night threw
himself upon his own knife. but the
blade broke, and then he hanged him
self to the ceiling. but the rope broke.