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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1901)
> . 'Cbe Conservative * ing within doors , he ran boldly up to the wall , and cast himself down man fully among the thickest of them ; but they , quickly giving back , and a space being made , he fell down in the midst of a void. Nevertheless , while there was yet breath within him , being in flamed with anger , he rose up , and though his blood gushed out like spouts of water , and his wounds were grievous , yet he ran through in the midst of the throng , and standing on a steep rook , when , as his blood was not quite gone , lie plucked out his bowels , and taking them in both his hands , he east them them among the throng , and calling upon the Lord of life and spirit to re store them to him again , he thus died. " Jewish View of Suicide Doubtful. I have been unable to form a definite opinion as to the exact view which the Jews took of suicide. I cannot find any passage in the Bible in which it is mentioned as a sin. "Thou shalt not kill" does not seem to cover the ground ; and Ahitophel , who , having "set his house in order , " killed himself very de liberately , was buried in his father's grave. It is incredible that this would have been done had suicide been looked upon as a moral offence. Of course , the way in which the Jewish religion re garded self-destruction may have been entirely changed prior to the time of Josephus , without any special mention being made of it. That historian tells us that the bodies of those who had killed themselves were not buried until after sunset. This , as is well known , was the Athenian law , its object being. . I think , chiefly to deter men from the suicidal act. Christian Church Opposed to the Act. The Christian church was , from the first , opposed to suicide. It was not however , for several centuries after the death of Christ that it did more than enter remonstrance against it , and then only when it occurred under certain cir cumstauces. Suicide seems to have been comparatively rare among Christ ions until persecution drove them to it In Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of tin Roman Empire" we read that when Christianity came to be tolerated by tin pagans , and martyrdom became com paratively rare , the more infatuated o : the Christians deliberately incited th pagans to acts of violence against them selves , and when brought before tin magistrate , begged that sentence o : death might be passed and carried out This conduct of the early Christians was at times so glaring that the pagan rulers often refused to pass any seutonc upon them , and told them to go and kil themselves if they were so anxious to die. Stories are related of martyrs who pressed the executioner to make haste , and who cheerfully leaped into the fires which had been made to consume them , having apparently discovered a sensa tion of pleasure in the midst of ex quisite torture. Several examples have been preserved of a xeal impatient of those restraints which the emperors had provided for the security of the church , lie Christians , indeed , went so far as ) supply by their voluntary declara- ions the want of an accuser by disturb- ng the public service of paganism ; Hid they afterwards implored the mag- strate to pronounce and carry out the eualty prescribed by law. Upon one xjcasion Autonius Pius , the pro-consul , efused their clamor for sentence of death , saying , "unhappy men , if you are thus weary of your lives , is it so dif ficult for you to find ropes and preci pices ? " Suicidal Fanaticism. The fanaticism of some sects , such as lie Donatists , was very marked , since hey tried by every method to get their opponents to kill them , and even proin- sed a reward to a pagan who would take their lives. When this method 'ailed , they threw themselves from some ugh place , and many precipices acquired fame by the number of religious sui cides. Voluntary self - destruction among Christians did not decrease to any ap preciable extent until about 452 A. D. , > vheu the Council of Aries condemned it under all circumstances. But even this condemnation did not have any im mediate result , and several centuries later fanaticism , in the form of a thirst for death again became quite common , "At the battle of Hittin , during the irusades , those Knights Templar who refused to adopt the Moslem faith were ruthlessly slain by command of Saladin and many Christian soldiers who were searching for the glory of martyrdom but were not Templars , put on the mantles of the slain , and went gladly to their deaths. " While suicide is not specifically con demned in the New Testament , it has nevertheless , been strenuously opposed by every Christian sect for the pas thirteen hundred years ; and if self destruction in the supposed cause of re ligion occurred today in a Ohristiai land , the suicide would naturally be re garded as a lunatic. Buffalo , New York , June 15 , 1901. JOHN P. BROWN AND HIS WORK. John P. Brown , of Indiana , secretary of the international society of arbori culture , is in Lincoln as the guest of Dr John M. Mayhew , on G street. Mr. Brown comes from Arbor Lodge , where he was in consultation with J. Sterling Morton , president of the society. The object of the international society is to encourage the preservation of for ests and extensive planting of trees by railways and farmers. Last summer Secretary Brown travelled fifteen thous and miles throughout the west , and suc- ceeded in interesting many railway companies. The Rio Grande Western planted G5,000 trees on its line this year , as a result of his visit. Last Juno the Journal gave an account of this trip and Mr. Brown's report of the destructive rk beetle of Black Hills forests , which o was investigating. More than a million catalpa trees lave been planted as a result of this so- iety's efforts. All the railways are in- crested in the voluntary work of this locioty , it not having any aid from state r government , and are helping the sec- etary by furnishing transportation and ill facilities for performing his work. Mr. Brown says that timber suitable 'or cross-ties is getting scarcer each year , oak now being almost out of the ques- ion , and in ten years ties , will bo ox- ; remely difficult to obtain. Ho urges orporatious to plant catalpa timber in arge quantities , as this is the only rapidly growing tree which is suitable for cross-ties and telegraph poles. The society has 825 members , part of whom are in Australia and New Zea- .ond , as well as members in all the states. The hot winds of the west , Mr. Brown thinks , may bo eliminated by ex tensive plantings of forest belts running st and west at frequent intervals through Texas , Oklahoma , Kansas and Nebraska. He says no farmer can af ford to ignore this question , since belts of trees , if planted in sufficient numbers , will greatly increase the productive ness of farms and maintain their fer tility. The society is now printing a bulletin which will bo ready July 1 , and will beef of great value to every farmer. This will be sent to those interested in arbori culture who write the secretary at Con- nersvile , Indiana , inclosing postage. Mr. Brown says that eastern Nebraska has a greater amount of valuable tim ber than any portion of Indiana which was originally heavily timbered. He at tributes this to the care the Nebraska farmers are taking with their woodlands and the influence of such men as J. Sterling Morton and others. Speaking of birds , Mr. Brown , who was in Kan sas in 1874 during the siege of grass hoppers , said : "There are more birds about Arbor Lodge than I have seen elsewhere in a year's travel ; enough to destroy all the locusts in Otoo county , were they as thick as they were during that historic year of the plague. " Mr. Brown will leave tonight for Den ver. Nebraska State Journal , June 11 , 1901. It is the belief of the Richmond ( Va. ) Times ( Dem. ) that "if a vote were taken in Virginia today as an indepen dent proposition on free silver and like doctrines advocated by Mr. Bryan in 189G , it would be almost unanimous against Bryauism. "
