>
.
'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. "
