in which the Stoics held it lawful to kill themselves. 1. For public good; 2. For private necessity, to avoid a tyrant's snare; 3. In cases of natural madness; 4. When the body is intolerably afflicted; 5. and lastly, In extreme poverty. And the Greeks commended a Pythagorean woman, who being asked why she and her sect did not eat beans, she said, she would rather eat them than tell: but being commanded by a tyrant to eat them, she said, she would rather tell than eat them but in fine she cut out her tongue, because she would neither taste nor tell. Thus Seneca tells of a prisoner, that being to be exposed to beasts in the theatre, he broke his neck in the spondyls of the wheel upon which he was drawn to the spectacles; and of another that died by a pertinacious holding of his breath. But that of Sampson, and Saul, and Razis, are also brought into example; and are alleged to prove, that a man may, a few hours or days, hasten his death, if, by so doing, he takes the lighter part. St. Chrysostom' tells of St. Pelagia: "Pelagia virgo, quindecim annos nata, sponte sibi necem maturavit: parata quidem erat ad cruciatus tormentaque et omne suppliciorum genus perferendum: sed metuebat tamen ne virginitatis coronam perderet:" "Being a virgin of fifteen years of age, of her own accord she hastened death unto herself: she was indeed ready to have suffered all sorts of most exquisite torments, but she was not willing to lose the crown of her virginity." Upon which fact of hers, he thus discourses: "Hence you may perceive, that the lust of the wicked hangmen struck fear into Pelagia, and therefore from their injurious lust the maiden removed and snatched herself: for if she might have kept the crown of her virginity, and receive the crown of martyrdom besides, she would not have refused the judgmentseat; but because it was altogether necessary to lose the one of them, she had a just cause, by her own voluntary death, to prevent so great an injury."—And St. Ambrose writing to his sister Marcellina, expressly commends those virgin-martyrs, who, to prevent their ravishments, did hasten their death by voluntary precipices, or drowning; and particularly allows the fact of Pelagia. To which I add also, St. Jerome', who, k In cap. 1. Jonæ, in hæc verba, Mittite me in mare. though he gives express testimony to the rule, yet he excepts the case of chastity; "Non est nostrum mortem arripere, sed illatam ab aliis libenter excipere: unde et in persecutionibus non licet propriâ manu, absque eo ubi castitas periclitatur, sed percutienti colla submittere;" "We must not snatch death with our own hands, but willingly receive it, when it is imposed by others: and therefore, in persecutions we must not die by our own hands, unless it be when our chastity is in danger : beu quanto melius, vel cæde peractâ, Parcere Romano potuit fortuna pudorim. "In other cases we must lay down our necks under him that strikes." And this seems reasonable, because, as the emperor said", "Viris bonis metum istum [pudicitiæ amittendæ] majorem esse debere quam ipsius mortis;" "He that fears to lose his chastity, fears more justly than he that fears to lose his life," 5. To this I answer, that the case is indeed very hard; and every one in this is apt not only to excuse, but to magnify, the great and glorious minds of those, who, to preserve their honour, despiced their life. And therefore when the Muscovites broke into Livonia, and in their sacking of the city of Wenden, used all manner of cruelties and barbarous immanities to men and women, filling all the streets and houses with blood and lust; a great many of the citizens running to the castle, blew up themselves with their wives and children, to prevent those horrors and shames of lust which they abhorred more than death. Now Laurentius Muller, who tells the story, says, that although the preachers of Riga did in their pulpits condemn this act of the women and maidens; yet the other Livonians and the Muscovites themselves, did not only account it sad and pitiable, but excellent and admirable. And so the author of the books of Maccabees commends the fact of Razis as glorious and great but yet this does not conclude it lawful; for it is upon no account lawful for a man of his own accord to kill himself. 6. St. Austin P denies to him the praise of magnanimity; Magis enim mens infirma deprehenditur, quæ ferre non Lucan. ii. 517. Oudendorp, p. 152. n Sect. quod si ff. quod Metus Causa. • Histor, Septentr. P Exposit. in Johan. tract. 52. et lib. 19. de Civit. Dei. VOL. XIII. Ꮓ potest duram corporis sui sanitatem, vel stultam vulgi opinionem;" "It is not greatness, but littleness of spirit, it is either impatience or pride that makes a man kill himself to avoid trouble to his body, or dishonour to his name amongst fools." I suppose he had it from Josephus, who excellently and earnestly proves it to be cowardice to lay violent hands upon ourselves; and both of them might have it from Aristotle', who will not allow it so much as to be brave and magnanimous for a man to kill himself for the avoiding of any evil: Τὸ δ' ἀποθνήσκειν, φεύγοντα πενίαν ἢ ἔρωτα ἤ τι λυπηρὸν, οὐκ ἀνδρέου, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον δειλοῦ, “ Το die that we may avoid poverty, the torments of love, or any evil affliction whatsoever, is not the part of a valiant man, but of a coward." Hostem cum fugeret, se Fannius ipse peremit. Hie, rogo, non furor est, ne moriare, mori 1? Fannius being pursued by the enemy, killed himself for fear. It may be cowardice to die in some cases; and to die to preserve our chastity, is to sin to avoid a sin, like Fannius's case of fear, mortisque timorem Morte fugant; ultroque vocant venientia fata " : or as St. Chrysostom's expression is; Пøò тov vavayíov vavayių περιβάλλειν σεαυτὸν, καὶ πρὶν ἢ δέξασθαι πληγὴν ἀποθνήσκειν τῷ δέει· Sé "To die before the wound is given, and to leap into the sea for fear of a shipwreck :" it is to do violence to our body to preserve it chaste, to burn a temple to prevent its being profaned. And therefore it is no just excuse to say the virgin-martyrs did it, lest they should lose their crown of virginity for though I shall not urge the example of Abraham, who rather ventured his wife's chastity, than his own life; yet this I say, that she that loses it by violence, is never the less a virgin before God, but much more a martyr. But then if any one can suppose it fit to be objected, that if they lost their material virginity, there was danger, lest while they were abused, they should also be tempted, and consent: I suppose it will be sufficient to answer, that a certain sin is not to be done to avoid an uncertain; and yet further, that 1 Bell. Judaic. lib. 3. cap. 25. • Ethic. ii. 7. Wilkinson, p. 111. Martial. ii. 80. Mattaire, p. 47. "Metamorph. vii. 604. Mitscherlich, vol. 1. p. 507. this could not be considerable in the case of the martyrs: for besides that it is supposed that they were infinitely for tified by the grace of God, their austere lives and holy habits, the rare discourses of their spiritual guides, their expectations of particular crowns, the great reputation and honour of virgins, and the spirit of chastity, which then very much prevailed; besides all this, I say, they had then (particularly St. Pelagia, and the virgins which St. Ambrose speaks of) the sentence of death not only within them, but upon them; and the immediate torments which they expected after ravishment, were a very competent mortification for any such fears. And therefore, as we should call it cowardice or impatience for a man to kill himself, that he may die an easy death, and prevent the hangman's more cruel hands; so it is a foolish and unreasonable caution, and a distrust of the sufficiency of the divine grace, to rush violently to death, lest we should be dishonoured or tempted in another instance: and it is not bravery, but want of courage; μαλακία γὰρ τὸ φεύγειν τὰ Eminova, it is "softness and effeminacy by death to fly the labours" of a sadder accident, says Aristotle. But be it this or not, it is certain it is something as bad. 7. (1.) It is directly against the commandment: "And it is not for nothing that in all the canonical books we find no precept, no permission from God," saith St. Austin", " ut vel adipiscendæ ipsius immortalitatis, vel ullius carendi cavendique mali causa, nobismet ipsis necem inferamus. Nam et prohibitos nos esse intelligendum est, ubi lex ait, non occides:" "that either for the gaining of immortality itself, or for the avoiding of any evil, we should kill ourselves." -It is something like this which Aristotle says: Tà pèv yáo ἐστι τῶν δικαίων, τὰ κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου τεταγμέ να, οἷον οὐ κελεύει ἑαυτὸν ἀποκτενεῖν ὁ νόμος ἃ δὲ μὴ κελεύει, ἀπαγορεύει. “Those things which the decrees have appointed agreeable to virtue, those are to go for laws; as for example, The law does not command any man to kill himself, and because the law does not command, therefore it does forbid :" that is, because the law commands no man (though he be condemned) to kill himself, therefore the law forbids him to do it to himself; the law will not make a man executioner Ubi supra. y Lib. 1. cap. 20. de Civit. Dei. Eth. Nic. lib. 6. cap. 11. Wilkinson, page 224. even of her sentence, therefore she permits him not to execute his own. But St. Austin adds beyond this, "For then we were forbidden to do it, when God said, 'Thou shalt do no murder."" And therefore it is observable, that although God said, 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour;' yet he did not in this commandment add that clause of contra proximum' nor in that of adultery; intimating, that we must neither pollute nor destroy our own bodies, any more than the body of our neighbour. 8. (2.) To prevent the hand of justice or of tyranny in striking, is sometimes to prevent the hand of God in saving, and is an act of desperation against the hopes of a good man, and the goodness of God: for help may come in the interval. Caius the emperor commanded some to be put to death, whom he presently after infinitely wished to have been alive; the haste of the executioners destroyed the men more than the rage of the prince: and it is all one if the man himself be hasty. And Pontanus tells, that when Angelus Ronconius was accused to Pope Nicolas V. that he had given way to Aversus whom the Pope's forces had enclosed, and gave leave to him to pass over the Tiber, the Pope commanded him to be proceeded against according to law; but when he rose in the morning, and told his ministers he would more maturely consider the cause of Ronconius, they told him he was that very night put to death, which caused extreme grief to the Pope. Concerning a man's life all delay is little enough; and therefore for himself to hasten it is against prudence, and hope, and charity. 9. (3.) The argument of Lactantius is very good: “Si homicida nefarius est, qui hominis extinctor est, eidem sceleri obstrictus est qui se necat;" "If he that kills another is a wicked homicide, so also is he that kills himself."-Nay he is worse, said St. Chrysostom". And this besides that it relies upon the unlimited, indefinite commandment, which must be understood universally but where God hath expressly set it limits; and though he hath given leave to public magistrates to do it, who therefore are not under that commandment,―yet because he hath not given leave to ourselves to do it to ourselves, therefore we are under the commandment besides this, I say, it relies also upon this reaIn Epist. ad Gal. cap. i. a Lib. 3. Instit. cap. 28. |