Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1875 — The History of Suicide. [ARTICLE]

The History of Suicide.

At the last meeting of the Medico-Legal Society Mr. R. S. Guernsey’s paper on “ The Penal Laws Relating to Suicide in Ancient and Modern Times” was read by Dr. Miller. After defining the differences between the two classes of suicides recognized by the law, the author took up the history of suicide and the laws bearing upon it in different ages and different countries. The Mosaic law contains no penalty for Jdo de ge. The first suicides mentioned in the Old Testament were those of Saul and his armor-bearer. Samson’s death can hardly be called a suicide. Josephus says that in Judea the body of the man who had taken his own life was not buried till after sunset. In some parts of India suicide was once considered meritorious, but the self-immolation of widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands is no longer permitted. In China suicide is by no means uncommon, and no disgrace attaches to the victim of his own violence or to his family. In Japan suicides are frequent, and the taking of one’s life is often looked upon as meritorious. When an official has failed in the performance of his duty he has the privilege of performing hari-kari, or disemboweling himself, to save him the disgrace of dying by the hand of the executioner. If he avails himself of the privilege his property is saved from forfeiture and his family from dishonor. In some countries the act of suicide is looked upon as heroic, and frequently the sons of the self-murderer are rewarded for the courage of their father with important appointments and promotions. The Stoics, the disciples of Zeno, taught that suicide under certain circumstances was right; that as man had nothing to fear after death he was at libefty to take his' own' life w’lienever it became irksome to him. Pythagoras held that no man had the right to leave his post without an order from his commander; but other philosophers reasoned that as man’s life was his own he could dispose of it'as he pleased. * Egesiug was said to be so eloquent in praise of death that hundreds who heard him made away with themselves and suicide became epidemic. Ptolemy, alarmed at the spread pf the infatuation, ordered Egesius aw r ay from Alexandria and the people at once came to their senses. At one time in France poison was furnished to all who could give satisfactory proof that it was better for them to die than to live. A cobbler who. had determined to kill himself thought he would do it with eclat; so, having prepared his poison he began a letter which was to lie read after his death and to be talked of throughout the province. He started off with a quotation, and continued: “Thus says Moliere,” but fearing that he had erred in attributing the' remark to Moliere he took down his favorite author and Iregan to read. After an hour’s pleasant communion with the great writer he put the poison away and went to work at his ftpt- | ' '!- The Milesian virgins once became as-

flicted with the insane notion that they should commit suicide, and many of them obeyed the impulse. A law was passed ordaining that the body of the suicide should be dragged naked through the street, and this effectually dispelled the illusion. Some of the Roman jurists said that suicide was a felony unless permitted by the Emperor. Under one Emperor the soldiers were set to ditching and making sewers. Mortified at what they looked upon as an ignominy, many of them committed suicide ; Under another a soldier attempting suicide was treated as a deserter. Domitian decreed that the suicide of an accused person should , entail upon himi the dishonor that would have attached to him had his crime been proved. Among the early Christians there was an ardent longing for martyrdom, and under the influence of Tertullian’s saying: “ The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” numbers of them fell victims to their religious fanaticism. A Bishops’ Council in the fifth century decreed that suicide was the effect of diabolical influence. Afterward the church treated it as a sin, and the body of the self-murderer was buried without the sacred rites. In the time of Louis IX., of France, the body of the suicide was subjected to the grossest indignities. It was taken from the house through an opening made for that purpose, was horribly mutilated, and buried at night. No mass was allowed for the soul of the dead man, but the charitably disposed were kindly permitted to pray for its repose if they felt inclined. Mahomet expressly forbids suicide in the Koran, and the crime is extremely rare among Mohammedans. The Roman Catholic, the Greek and Protestant Episcopal Churches prohibit the reading of the burial service over the body of the suicide, except in the case of one who died while insane. The statute law of England prohibits it in all cases. At the time of the Reformation in England the suicide’s property was confiscated to compensate the State for the loss of a subject, his body was buried at the crossroads and a stake was driven through it to mark the detestation of the law and to deter others from the crime. This very ancient rule fell into general, if not entire, disuse many years ago, but it was not repealed until the fourth, year of George IV.’s reign, and even then, to manifest the horror of the law at the act of suicide, it was ordered that the /body, which might be placed in a churchyard or other consecrated grounds, should be buried at night and without the performance of religious rites. The Indians of South America when oppressed beyond endurance by their Spanish conquerors made away with themselves in great numbers. They were checked only by being told that if they did not desist from the practice their masters would commit suicide too, and follow them into the next world, where their toils and torments should be increased tenfold. This threat had the desired effect. There is little suicide among the North American Indians. It is only the squaws who kill themselves. They always do this by hanging to a tree, arid invariably select the smallest tree that will answer the purpose/ believing that in the next world they win be obliged to drag the tree about with them forever.—lF. Y. Sun.