Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul: - WebRing
Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul: - WebRing
Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul: - WebRing
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ESSAYS ON SUICIDE AND THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL<br />
for business <strong>and</strong> affairs, who have all <strong>the</strong>ir lives crouched under slavery to<br />
<strong>the</strong> grossest superstiti<strong>on</strong>. Even gaiety <strong>and</strong> sweetness <strong>of</strong> temper, which infuse a<br />
balm into every o<strong>the</strong>r wound, afford no remedy to so virulent a pois<strong>on</strong>; as we<br />
may particularly observe <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fair sex, who tho' comm<strong>on</strong>ly possest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
rich presents <strong>of</strong> nature, feel many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir joys blasted by this importunate<br />
intruder. But when found Philosophy has <strong>on</strong>ce gained possessi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mind,<br />
superstiti<strong>on</strong> is effectually excluded, <strong>and</strong> <strong>on</strong>e may fairly affirm that her<br />
triumph over this enemy is more complete than over most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vices <strong>and</strong><br />
imperfecti<strong>on</strong>s incident to human nature. Love or anger, ambiti<strong>on</strong> or avarice,<br />
have <strong>the</strong>ir root in <strong>the</strong> temper <strong>and</strong> affecti<strong>on</strong>, which <strong>the</strong> soundest reas<strong>on</strong> is<br />
scarce ever able fully to correct, but superstiti<strong>on</strong> being founded <strong>on</strong> false<br />
opini<strong>on</strong>, must immediately vanish when true philosophy has inspired juster<br />
sentiments <strong>of</strong> superior powers. The c<strong>on</strong>test is here more equal between <strong>the</strong><br />
distemper <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> medicine, {3} <strong>and</strong> nothing can hinder <strong>the</strong> latter from<br />
proving effectual but its being false <strong>and</strong> sophisticated.<br />
IT will here be superfluous to magnify <strong>the</strong> merits <strong>of</strong> Philosophy by displaying <strong>the</strong> pernicious<br />
tendency <strong>of</strong> that vice <strong>of</strong> which it cures <strong>the</strong> human mind. ([editor's note] 1) The superstitious<br />
man says Tully 2 is miserable in every scene, in every incident in life; even sleep itself, which<br />
banishes all o<strong>the</strong>r cares <strong>of</strong> unhappy mortals, affords to him matter <strong>of</strong> new terror; while he<br />
examines his dreams, <strong>and</strong> finds in those visi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> night prognosticati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong> future<br />
calamities. I may add that tho' death al<strong>on</strong>e can put a full period to his misery, he dares not<br />
fly to this refuge, but still prol<strong>on</strong>gs a miserable existence from a vain fear left he <strong>of</strong>fend his<br />
Maker, by using <strong>the</strong> power, with which that beneficent being has endowed him. The presents<br />
<strong>of</strong> God <strong>and</strong> nature are ravished from us by this {4} cruel enemy, <strong>and</strong> notwithst<strong>and</strong>ing that<br />
<strong>on</strong>e step would remove us from <strong>the</strong> regi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong> pain <strong>and</strong> sorrow, her menaces still chain us<br />
down to a hated being which she herself chiefly c<strong>on</strong>tributes to render miserable.<br />
'TIS observed by such as have been reduced by <strong>the</strong> calamities <strong>of</strong> life to <strong>the</strong> necessity <strong>of</strong><br />
employing this fatal remedy, that if <strong>the</strong> unseas<strong>on</strong>able care <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir friends deprive <strong>the</strong>m <strong>of</strong><br />
that species <strong>of</strong> Death which <strong>the</strong>y proposed to <strong>the</strong>mselves, <strong>the</strong>y seldom venture up<strong>on</strong> any<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r, or can summ<strong>on</strong> up so much resoluti<strong>on</strong> a sec<strong>on</strong>d time as to execute <strong>the</strong>ir purpose. So<br />
great is our horror <strong>of</strong> death, that when it presents itself under any form, besides that to<br />
which a man has endeavoured to rec<strong>on</strong>cile his imaginati<strong>on</strong>, it acquires new terrors <strong>and</strong><br />
overcomes his feeble courage: But when <strong>the</strong> menaces <strong>of</strong> superstiti<strong>on</strong> are joined to this<br />
natural timidity, no w<strong>on</strong>der it quite deprives men <strong>of</strong> all power over <strong>the</strong>ir lives, since even<br />
many pleasures <strong>and</strong> enjoyments, {5} to which we are carried by a str<strong>on</strong>g propensity, are torn<br />
from us by this inhuman tyrant. Let us here endeavour to restore men to <strong>the</strong>ir native liberty,<br />
by examining all <strong>the</strong> comm<strong>on</strong> arguments against <strong>Suicide</strong>, <strong>and</strong> shewing that that acti<strong>on</strong> may<br />
be free from every imputati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> guilt or blame, according to <strong>the</strong> sentiments <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> antient<br />
philosophers. ([editor's note] 2)<br />
IF <strong>Suicide</strong> be criminal, it must be a transgressi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> our duty ei<strong>the</strong>r to God, our neighbour,<br />
or ourselves. -- To prove that suicide is no transgressi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> our duty to God, <strong>the</strong> following<br />
c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong>s may perhaps suffice. In order to govern <strong>the</strong> material world, <strong>the</strong> almighty<br />
Creator has established general <strong>and</strong> immutable laws, by which all bodies, from <strong>the</strong> greatest<br />
planet to <strong>the</strong> smallest particle <strong>of</strong> matter, are maintained in <strong>the</strong>ir proper sphere <strong>and</strong> functi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
To govern <strong>the</strong> animal world, he has endowed all living creatures with bodily <strong>and</strong> mental<br />
powers; with senses, passi<strong>on</strong>s, {6} appetites, memory, <strong>and</strong> judgement, by which <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
impelled or regulated in that course <strong>of</strong> life to which <strong>the</strong>y are destined. These two distinct<br />
principles <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> material <strong>and</strong> animal world, c<strong>on</strong>tinually encroach up<strong>on</strong> each o<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>and</strong><br />
mutually retard or forward each o<strong>the</strong>rs operati<strong>on</strong>. The powers <strong>of</strong> men <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> all o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
animals are restrained <strong>and</strong> directed by <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>and</strong> qualities <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> surrounding bodies,<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> modificati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>and</strong> acti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se bodies are incessantly altered by <strong>the</strong> operati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
all animals. Man is stopt by rivers in his passage over <strong>the</strong> surface <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> earth; <strong>and</strong> rivers,<br />
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