his example worthy of imitation, even without inquiring into the peculiarities of his fituation or its fimilarity to their own; the only queftion asked is, "what" he did, not "why" he did it? Had David then, had Job, or other good men applied the relief of suicide to their afflictions and fufferings, it might have staggered many in their opinion of its unlawfulness; but when men of mixed, or indifferent, or wicked characters alone are found in fcripture to have perpetrated it, this adds no fanction to the deed, but of itself depreciates its innocence. David we know put his truft in the Lord for deliverance from his troubles; and "amid all his loffes (fays Bifhop Pearce of Job) he loft not "his fenfe of his duty to God [G]:" and therefore under all his excess of anguish, though he frequently wishes and prays, that death would "overtake" him, yet he never propofes to end his miferies at a ftroke, by laying violent hands on himself. He confidered his diftreffes as falling on him by the appointment or permiffion of God, and therefore patiently to be endured, till the fame God fhould think fit to deliver him from them. "Shall we receive good " at the hand of God (was Job's language of patience) and fhall we not receive " evil? All the days of my appointed time will "wait," till my change "come." As the holy men, therefore, in the Old Testament were never known to apply this remedy to their afflictions, it is more than probable that it proceeded from their opinion of its unlawfulness in the fight of God. But the Apostles and first faints under the Gofpel-covenant make no fmall discovery of their own opinions and fentiments concerning its utter unlawfulness, by living themselves through fuch an overwhelming torrent of afflictions and fufferings, and striving as they did against every kind of perfecution and torment. Had they deemed fuicide any ways becoming, "to die (by their own hands) would have been gain to them" in every sense of the words [H]. [G] See his Sermon on Suicide. [H] "At enim multi fe interemerunt, ne in manus hoftium pervenirent. Non modo quærimus, utrum fit factum, fed utrum fuerit faciendum? Sana quippe ratio etiam exemplis anteponendà eft, cui quidem & exempla concordant, fed illa quæ tanto digniora funt imitatione, quanto excellentiora pietate. Non fecerunt Patriarchæ, non Prophetæ, non Apoítoli, quia & ipfe Dominus Chriftus, quando eos fi perfecutionem paterentur, fugere admonuit de civitate in civitatem, potuit admonere, ut fibi manus inferrent, ne in manus perfequentium pervenirent. Porro, fi hoc ille non juffit aut monuit, ut eo modo Sui ex hâc vità migrarent, quibus migrantibus manfiones æternas fe præparaturum effe promifit, quælibet exempla opponant Gentes, quæ ignorant Deum, manifeftum eft, hoc non licere colentibus unum verum Deum.". -AUGUSTINUS de Civitate Dei, Lib. I. c. xxii. In fome of the early ages of Chriftianity, when a degree of enthusiasm had been grafted on the purity and fimplicity of the Christian Faith, there want not examples of many pious perfons, who became fuicides under a notion of doing honour to God, by fhowing this particular zeal for his fervice; and there were cafes in which fome of the ancient [1] Fathers thought it was not only a juftifiable, but a meritorious action: as for inftance, when a man doubted his own resolution to abide cruel tortures, and was therefore afraid of being compelled to deny the Faith, or commit an act of idolatry; and also in the case of virgins, who, having devoted themselves to unblemished chastity in honour of the Gofpel, were in danger of violation. Some were likewise tempted to commit fuicide through a mistaken notion of the nature and excellence of martyrdom. There were many, who carried their ideas of the glory of martyrdom to that height, that they determined to die, whether called to it or not, in behalf of the Chriftian Faith. Thefe thought it lawful in the paroxyfms of their ill-judged zeal, to put themselves to death, if they could not find others ready to do it for them. But such was the effect of an heated imagi- · nation, being in no fhape connected with the credit of religion, or that crown of true martyrdom, which they were coveting [K] by these unneceflary facrifices. But as to the firft cafe (want of refolution), who knows his own ftrength or weakness, till put to the trial?—to endure which trial, every divine comfort and heavenly support is promised. Befides, the true Chriftian is proved, is made perfect by fufferings; not by flying from, but by enduring them. Timidity, as oppofed to a bold confidence in our ftrength, is indeed an amiable and truly Christian virtue; but it should lead us to put our truft in the divine affistance in the hour of danger, not to drive us into the paths of despair and fuicide. To what purpose would peculiar bleffings have been proposed, as the rewards of fuffering perfecution, if it had been lawful to cut our own perfecution short by suicide? The Faith in Christ is at least equally hurt in the [1] The opinions of fome of the Fathers on fuicide in general, and on the cafes of fome Chriftian fuicides in particular, together with the Decrees of Councils, &c. against fuicide, are collected in a fubfequent Part. Notice will alfo be hereafter taken of many, who deftroyed themselves on religious motives. See Part V. c. i. and Part VI. c. i. [K] See an account of the Donatifts in Part V. c. i. opinion opinion of others, by thus flying from troubles and not daring to confront danger, as it could be by any recantation vifibly forced from the fufferer by the extremity of bodily pain. We fhould have just grounds for concluding any one to be a guilty perfon, a counterfeit and impoftor in whatever he profeffed, who, being threatened with a public trial and fevere punishment, was found previously murdered by his own hand in prifon. Much the fame would be the cafe of a Chriftian fuicide, who should take that method of avoiding the perfecutions of his enemies: and therefore it does not feem likely to promote that glory to God and belief in his fon Jefus (but rather to do the contrary), which these timid Chriftians are afraid of hurting, by means of their irrefolution in the hour of perfecution. It would be cruel and unjust however tò condemn fuch confcientious perpetrators of fuicide for their error in judgment. An action may be cenfurable in its own nature, which yet may imply no guilt in the performer; a zeal without knowledge may be dangerous to others, but does not of neceffary confequence always imply perfonal guilt in its follower. As to that suicide, which has been thought allowable under fear of compulfion to idolatrous acts, it may receive much the fame anfwer as the former, being indeed a plea of much the fame nature, though under different terms. The proposals of an idolatrous act can only be made under the threatenings of tortures in case of refufal; and then the question returns into the breaft of the perfecuted Chriftian, "Can I bear to undergo fuch torments with resolution. "and without wavering, or may I not rather rid myfelf at once of the hazard by fuicide, and thus maintain the glory of God unimpaired in my perfon ?" If fuicide were an indifferent action, it might bear an argument in this cafe; but being contrary in its fpirit and views to the whole tenour of a Chriftian's faith and morality, the former of which bids him look up to God for ftrength in his weaknefs, and the latter comforts him with the affurance of being made perfect through fufferings, it must be refigned as indefenfible. It was the meeknefs and refignation of the Chriftian, and his readiness to undergo whatever might be imposed in confequence of his refufal to bow down before the statue of Trajan, that induced [1] the amiable Pliny to speak [1] See his famous Letter to Trajan, and that Emperor's humane reply in Plin. Ep. 97. and 98. Lib. X. mildly of his cafe, and unwillingly to give judgment against such inoffensive members of society. On the contrary, had the principal members of the Christian Church, who were brought before him, endeavoured to dispatch themselves, whenever perfecution threatened them, this would have prejudiced the Proconful very little in their favour. He would then very naturally have been led to furmife, that fome dangerous plots and fecret machinations against the empire lurked under the cloke of this new fect; fince its principal members thus fled from inquiry on the approach of danger [M]. The cafe of the Virgins, who in the early ages of the Church often destroyed themselves, when there was imminent danger of violation, seems to require a fhare of compaffion, though there is no room for defence on any true Christian principle [N]. They were ready and defirous of submitting to every kind of cruelty, and earnestly fought the crown of martyrdom; but the crown of virginity was ftit more precious in their fight, and the only ftep to preferve that, was many times by laying violent hands on themselves. But God heeds (we know) the pure intentions of the heart before any outward action whatever, and will never deprive us of our reward on account of, much less confider as a fault in us, the compulfatory violence of others. The idea of virginity was moreover ftretched to an high degree of enthusiasm in those days. It would be a laborious task to cull out all that has been faid on thefe occafions [o] by the primitive Fathers; it may fuffice to obferve here, that the cafe of virgin-fuicide feems moft to claim their pity and even their approbation; nor have they failed to admit the names of many fuch women into the lifts of martyrs; and yet it would be difficult (as was before observed) to reconcile even their felf-deftruction with any folid principle of Chriftianity. But seeing that the judgments of God are incomprehenfible and the depth of his counfels [M] See a Letter of Trajan to Pliny (Book X.), wherein he charges him to guard against the inftitution of particular focieties or combinations of men, as dangerous to the tranquillity of the state: and under this predicament the Chriftians were usually confidered; particularly as they refused to worship in the common mode. Their suicide on perfecution would have riveted this opinion. [N] See more of Virgin-suicide and opinions concerning it, Part V. c. i. beyond beyond our finite capacities to discover, it would be a great inftance of our uncharitable difpofition to pretend to determine the state of fuch in the other world, who have upon very extraordinary accounts been tempted to commit fuicide. "This is one of God's fecrets (fays Taylor on this fubject), which "the great day will bring to light [P]." The times of tribulation and perfecution for the Cross of Christ are now happily at an end. We shall seldom be called on to maintain our faith at the hazard of our lives, or be put to the trial of becoming martyrs to our religious opinions. As thefe violences have ceased, so with them must even these pretences to the lawfulness or expediency of religious fuicide have alfo ceased. The glory of God is now to be pursued in our "Lives," not by our voluntary deaths; nor does there remain any one rational or even enthusiastic ground for suicide in the Christian of these days. When it is perpetrated, as the winding up a life of iniquity and fin, (as is too generally the cafe) it never reafons on Chriftian, but philofophic grounds; and on the principles of that philofophy alone, which not only scorns to be improved or enlightened by revelation, but is alfo frequently under the prejudice of fome ftrong paffion. From whence there is fufficient ground to maintain, that when fuicide is at all imputable, (as not flowing from some degree of infanity) it either proceeds from acknowledged, practical fin, or from fpeculative fcepticism and infidelity, or from the conjunction of both. would be hard to find an inftance in thefe days, or in thofe preceding them, fince the storms of religious perfecution have ceased, of a "practical believer in Christ," who at the fame time enjoyed a found fhare of health, who either put an end to his own life on the refult of cool deliberation, or argued in favour of the practice in others. It But it having been afferted, that the idea of fuicide or compaffing our own death immediately, is condemned by every principle of Chriftianity, it may be neceffary to inquire, how far it can be justifiable according to the fame principles, to follow fuch employments or profeffions, as unavoidably tend to hazard and endanger our lives? Now the effential difference between actual fuicide and the pursuing such plans of life, as may endanger our existence here [P] See Ductor Dubitantium. Chap. on Suicide. and |