Inconftant fortune places thofe in joy,

To whom, ere now, fhe always has been coy.

What causes may induce a man to kill himfelf.

Pliny fays, there are but three forts of difeafes, for avoiding of which a man has a right to deftroy himself. The fevereft of all is theftone in the bladder, when there is a retention of the urine. Seneca fays, thofe difeafes only, which, for a long time, difturb the functions of the foul: and fome there have been, who, to avoid a worfe death, have chose one of their own liking. Democritus, general of the Etolians, being carried prifoner to Rome, found means to escape in the night; but, being clofe purfued by his keepers, rather than be retaken, he ran himfelf through the body with + his own fword. Antinous and Theodorus, when their city of Epirus (Paffaro) was reduced by the Romans to the laft extremity, advised the people to kill themfelves all to a man; but, the advice to furrender themselves being preferred, they went § to feek death by rufhing upon the enemy with an intention to ftrike home, and not to ward off a blow.

to flavery.

Some years ago, when the island of Gozo || Death preferred was taken by the Turks, a Sicilian who had two beautiful daughters ripe for marriage, killed them firft, and then the mother, as fhe was running in to fave them: this done he fallied into the street with a crofs bow and a hand gun, with which, at two shots, he killed two of

In the quarto edition of thefe Effays, in 1588, Pliny is faid to mention two more, viz. a pain in the ftomach, and the head ach, which, he fays, lib. xxv. cap. 3. were the only three distempers, almost, for which men killed themselves: as to their right of killing themfelves, he does not mention a word of it here; and I cannot conceive, why Montaigne, who, at first, entered thoroughly into Pliny's fenfe, by faying, that, according to this author, it was the custom for men to kill themfelves, in order to be rid of any one of these three diftempers, made him fay afterwards, that they had a right to kill themselves for this very end.

Tit. Livy, lib. xxxvii. cap. 46.

Ild. lib. xiv. cap. 46.

§Id. ibid.

A fmall island to the weft of Malta, and not far from it.

the

the foremoft Turks advancing to his door, and then, with fword in hand, charged furioufly amongst the reft, when he was, on a fudden, furrounded and cut to pieces; by which action he faved both himself and his family from flavery. The Jewifh women, after the circumcifion of their children, flung themfelves, with them, down a precipice to escape the cruelty of Antiochus. I have been told, that a prifoner of quality being in one of our jails, his relations knowing that he would furely be condemned, in order to prevent the ignominy of it, they fuborned a prieft to tell him, that the fovereign remedy for his deliverance was to recommend himself to fuch a faint, with fuch and fuch vows, and that he should fast eight days together, without taking any fort of nourishment, however weak and faint it made him. He placed his faith in the remedy, and by this means deftroyed himself before he was aware, not dreaming of death, or of any danger.

Scribonia's ad

vice to her ne

phew to kill

himfelf.

Scribonia advifing Libo, her nephew, to kill himself, rather than wait for the ftroke of juftice, perfuaded him to it, by faying, that it was really doing another perfon's bufinefs to fave his life to put it into the hands of those who would come to demand it three or four days after, and that it was ferving his enemies to keep his blood, for the fees of fuch hounds.

The courageous death of old Rafias.

We read, in the Bible, that Nicanor, the perfecutor of God's law, having fent his guards to seize upon old Rafias, who, for his virtue, was furnamed the father of the Jews, the good man, feeing no quarter was to be expected, and finding his gate burnt down, and his enemies ready to feize him, and chufing to die like a gentleman, rather than fall into the hands of his wicked adverfaries, and fuffer himself to be cruelly butchered, to the dishonour of his rank and quality, ftabbed himfelf with his own fword; but, doing it in fuch hafte that he did not give a home thruft, he ran, and threw himself from the top

The third wife of Auguftus Cæfar. + Senec. Ep. 70.

VOL. II.

Maccab. lib. ii. chap. 14. ver. 37-46.

D

of

Acts of violence committed on the chastity of women.

of a wall among his enemies, who made way for him, fo that he pitched directly upon his head: and, notwithftanding this, perceiving he had ftill fome remains of life, he renewed his courage, and, ftarting upon his feet, all bloody and wounded as he was, forced his way, thro' the croud, to a fharp fteep rock, where, for his laft effort, he drew his bowels out through one of his wounds, which, tearing and pulling them to pieces with both his hands, he threw amongst his purfuers, appealing to and invoking the divine vengeance to fall upon their heads. Of all violences done to the confcience, that done to the chastity of women is, in my opinion, the most difficult to escape, forafmuch as there is a natural mixture of corporeal pleasure in it; and for this caufe the diffent from it cannot be perfect enough, and in the party forced there feems to be fome mixture of the will. The ecclefiaftical hiftory makes reverent mention of many inftances of devout women, who have embraced death to be fecure from the outrages ready to be committed by tyrants, against their religion and confcience. Pelagia and Sophronia were both canonifed, the first of whom threw herself, with her mother and fifters, into a river, to avoid being forced by fome foldiers; and the last also killed herself, to avoid being ravished by Maxentius the emperor.

A certain author

diffuades the la

dies from putting themselves to death for fear of a ravifhment.

It may, perhaps, be reckoned an honour to us, in future ages, that a learned author of the prefent, and particularly a Parifian,would fain perfuade the ladies of our time to take any other course, rather than once to entertain the horrid thought of such a defperate action. I am forry he had never heard (that he might have mixed it with his other tales) the remarkable faying of a woman, which was told me at Tholouse, who had paffed through the handling of fome foldiers : "God be praised, faid fhe, that once, at leaft, in my "life, I have had my fwill without fin." Indeed, our French ladies are too good-natured to be guilty of fuch cruelty to themfelves; and, God be thanked, our air is thoroughly

thoroughly purged of it fince this good advice: according to the rule of honeft * Marot, it is enough that they fay "no," when they do it.

life. Granus Silvanus,

Hiftory abounds with inftances of perfons that have, in a thousand forms, exchanged a melanDeath preferred choly life for death. Lucius Aruntius to a miserable killed himself, for the fake, as he faid, of Aying from deeds paft and to come. and Statius Proximus, after being pardoned by Nero, killed themselves, either because they could not bear to think they owed their lives to the pardon of fo wicked a man, or that they might not be troubled another time to follicit a fecond pardon, confidering how apt he was to entertain fufpicions, and receive accufations against men of probity. Spargapizes, the son of queen Tomyris, being taken § prifoner of war by Cyrus, made ufe of the firft favour which Cyrus granted him to be unbound, in killing himself, having propofed no other benefit from his liberty than to be revenged on himself for the difgrace of being taken. Bogez, governor in Ionia for king Xerxes, being befieged by the Athenian army, under the command of Cimon, refufed the offer made him, that, if he would capitulate, he fhould return, in fafety, with all his wealth, to Afia; not having patience to furvive the lofs of a place which his mafter had given him to keep; therefore after having defended his city to the laft extremity, fo that there was no food left to eat, he firft threw all his gold into the river Strymon, together with every thing elfe, of which he thought the enemy would make good prize: and having ordered a great pile of wood to be fet on fire, and the throats of all the women, children, concubines, and fervants to be cut, he caft their bodies into the flames, and then leaped in himself.

• In an epigram, intitled, Yea and Nay, which begins, "Un doux "Nenny avec un doux Sourire," i. e. " One foft nay, nay, with a fim"pering smile."

Having spoke thus, like a prophet, he cut his veins. Tacit. Annal. lib vi. § Herodot. lib. i. p. 98.

1 Tacit. Annal. lib. xiv. Idem, lib. vii. p. 475.

Ninachetuen, an Indian nobleman, having the first

Remarkable

death of an In

dian of quality.

intelligence of the Portuguese viceroy's determination to turn him out of an office which he had in Malacca, without any apparent caufe, and to give it to the king of Campar, formed this refolution in his own mind: he caufed a fcaffold to be erected on pillars, which was not fo broad as long, and royally adorned with tapeftry, and abundance of flowers and perfumes; and then having put on a robe of cloth of gold, inriched with a great number of coftly jewels, he went out into the frect, and mounted, by fteps, to the fcaffold, in one corner of which there was a pile of aromatic wood lighted. The people flocking to fee to what end thefe unufual preparations were made, Ninachetuen, with a countenance full of boldness and indignation, remonftrated how much the Portuguese nation had been obliged to him; with what fidelity he had behaved in his office; that having fo often, fword in hand, teftified, in behalf of another, that honour was much dearer to him than life, he would not abandon his concern for it in his own caufe; that fortune having denied him all the means of oppofing the injury intended to be done to him, he had courage to free himself, at leaft from the feeling of it, and not ferve as a jeft to the populace, nor for a triumph to men of lefs worth than himself; which having faid, he leaped into the fire. Sextilia, the wife of Scaurus, and Paxca, the wife of Labeo, in order to encourage their hufbands to avoid the dangers that preffed upon them, wherein they had no fhare but for the fake of conjugal affection, voluntarily engaged their own lives, to ferve them for an example and company in this extreme neccffity. What they did for their hufbands, Cocceius Nerva did for his country, with equal affection, tho' not fo much to advantage. This great lawyer, flourishing in health, wealth, reputation, and credit with the emperor, had no other motive to kill himself, but mere compaffion of the miferable ftate of the Roman republic.

Two women who put themfelves to death, to encourage their husbands to do the fame.

Tacit. Annal. lib. vi.

† Ibid.

Nothing