Certainly no one will contend that vice and crime in themselves, however extreme, are positive proofs of insanity; then why should the act of suicide, where there are no indications of unsoundness of mind, and where there are present circumstances which make life undesirable, be otherwise considered?

Those who believe that the act of suicide is in itself a proof of insanity, found their belief, in great part, on the fact that there is implanted in every being a love of life, which they contend is too strong to allow any one voluntarily to surrender it. We all, it is true, have a greater or less dread of dissolution, and our constant effort is a struggle for existence; but is it clear that this instinct, which is found throughout all animated nature, always remains the dominant passion in man? If it is so, then how shall we ac count for the suicides of the ancients, many of which have been applauded, by poets and historians, as among the brightest and most heroic deeds of all time?

When Lycurgus had perfected his system of legislation for Sparta, he pretended that it was necessary to consult the oracle of Delphi in regard to his laws; and, in order to secure the perpetual observance of them, he required an oath of the magistrates and people that they would observe them till his return. Some time after his departure he sent back word "that the laws were excellent, and would render the people great and happy;" but intending never to return, that his people might never be released from their oath, he starved himself to death.

Another Grecian legislator, Charondas, having made it death for any one to come armed into an assembly of the States, when rebuked as a transgressor of his own law, by coming into the convention without first laying aside his sword, plunged it into his breast and died.

Can any one, after considering the real nature of these, and of the suicides of Demosthenes, Cato, Hannibal, Brutus, Codrus, and of the inhabitants of the city of Xanthus, think of calling them the result of insanity? All must agree that they were in perfect harmony with the doctrines of the times, which taught that, when a man could be of service to his country or society by sacrificing his life, it was not only noble, but his duty to do it; and the great beauty of human independence was, that when life had no further pleas ures, or political or private right had been taken away, or indignities must be endured, man had it in his power to cut free from all. When the attractions of life no longer satisfied, it was taken as a sign that the Divine Being had no further need of his services on earth; and suicide was looked at as a deed good for the individual and for society.

you came.

The ancient philosopher, Seneca, said, "Does life please you? live on. Does it not? go from whence No vast wound is necessary, a mere punc ture will secure your liberty. It is a bad thing (you say) to be under the necessity of living; but there is no necessity in the case. Thanks be to the gods, nobody can be compelled to live."

According to the doctrines of the Stoics or disciples

of Zeno, "A stoical wise man is ever ready to die for his country or his friends. A wise man will never look upon death as an evil; that he will despise it, and be ready to undergo it at any time. A wise man will quit life when oppressed with severe pain, or when deprived of any of his senses, or when laboring under desperate disease."

Cicero and Pliny both were strong advocates of suicide. The latter writes: "The chief comfort of man in his imperfect state is this, that even the Deity cannot do all things. For instance, he cannot put himself to death when he pleases, which is the greatest indulgence he has given to man amid the severe evils of life."

Plato approved of resorting to suicide in cases of great misfortune or sickness, or when a man finds that he cannot overcome his evil propensities, or may become dangerous to society or the State. He held "that a man has his proper office to perform in life, from which, if prevented, (by sickness for instance,) it was not worth his while to live."

Now, who is so bold as to urge that these great men of ancient times, who either committed suicide or advocated it, were insane? In what respect did they differ from the greatest men of modern times? Were they not men of minds and powers of reasoning unsurpassed and would they not, had they been possessed of the multitude of facts at our command, have made as good use of them for arriving at the truth as we do?

No, the existence of the instinct of self-preservation

has never been considered in itself sufficient evidence to prove that the ancient philosophers who committed suicide, were insane; but wherever to this natural impulse the light of Christianity has been added, it is admitted by all that suicides have become less frequent. Christianity teaches that it is man's duty to patiently endure the ills of this world; that his life is not his own, and that an all-wise Providence has placed him here in a sphere of probation which he has no right to limit. The ancient Greeks and Romans lacked this light, and we cannot help, even with our Christian ideas, admiring their devotion, which led them to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the public good, or the vindication of private honor. We willingly let their creed account for their deaths.

But it is evident to every candid observer, that the doctrines of Christianity are not accepted as the rule of life by all; and that many of the views of the an cients, on the subject under discussion, are still held by a not inconsiderable number in all quarters of the globe. History teaches us that false views on reli gion and morals have existed in all times; and for any one to assert that suicide in our day is indication. of insanity, is to assert that what was once the acknowledged result of doctrines, held by most of us to be incorrect, is now, through the appearance of other doctrines, a result of diseased brain. As we have said, suicides have become less frequent, though those resulting from mental disease have greatly increased, with the spread of Christianity and civilization; but the love of life, and the fear of punishment in another

world, have not yet silenced all advocates of the right and duty of every one to leave this world when it becomes no longer desirable. On the contrary, the cares and miseries of life are not lessened by our greater advance in civilization, and the disciples of Seneca and Zeno seem just now to be growing nume

rous.

Many French writers treat suicide as a fine art, and a most becoming method of leaving this world when its joys are exhausted. The gentle workings of the fumes of charcoal, the power of certain drugs to produce a perpetual sleep, and other methods of extinguishing the vital spark, are presented by them in a most artistic manner as legitimate ways of shuffling off this mortal coil; and works specially devoted to the lives of the most distinguished suicides, from the beginning of the world to the present time, find a ready market.

Among the most eminent English writers there are those who believe that suicide merits neither praise nor censure; for it is, they say, the natural result of the conditions of society. Mr. Buckle, in his History of Civilization in England, says that the evidence points "to one great conclusion, and can leave no doubt on our minds that suicide is merely the product of the general condition of society, and that the individual felon only carries into effect what is a necessary consequence of preceding circumstances. In a given state of society a certain number of persons must put an end to their own life. This is a general law, and the special question as to who shall commit