set it free in this manner That the Consequence of so doing would be Slavery and not Liberty pag. 356. ERRATA PAge 12. Line â—…lt read obtaining p. 35. for too r. to ib. after what add is more Common p. 40. l. 2 r. Author p. 44. l. 20. r. net so illâ—…itedly p. 45. l. 1. dele of ib. 23. f. us r. as p. 49. marg r. dure p. 57. marg del in bis p. 64. l. 3. f. becomes r. comes p. 68. l. 11. r. if not to be p. 73. l. 21. del is p. 78. l. 1. r. what p. 80. l. 10 del Manliness and the â—…ks foll p. 107. l. 22. r. loss of p. 110. marg r. Agostini p. 119. f. NON COMPOS r. FELO DE SE. p. 136. l. 1. f. must r. may p. 139. l. 8. â—…r supposing p. 146. l. 9. r. Friends p. â—…47 l. 25. r. Bacchanalia p. 151. marg r. projecere p. 160. l. 7. r. Anaxagoras p. 169. l. 11. r. Numantia p. 173. l. 7. f. is r. his p. 175. l. 10. f. till r. ' t is p. 176. l. 12. r. mdanâ—…lic p. 177. l. 20. r. but how p. 178. l. 17. r. that though he p. 191. l. 21. del p. 227. l. 24. r. suthâ—… one p. 233. l. 26. del 〈◊〉 it p. 242. marg f. lib. 4. r. lib. 43. p. 271. l. 10 del of p. 291. l. 8. del any ADDENDA Page 20. Line 13. after has any right to Punish him add that is as to those Faults which he câ—…its against himself as Intemperance c. ib. l. 22 after Destruction of it add If it be â—…s Crime as shall be prov'd There are some litteral Mistakes as also in the Pointing occasion'd by the Transcribing which the Reader is desir'd to Correct or Excuse Lately Printed THE Certainty of the Christian Revelation and the Necessity of Beleiving it Established In Opposition to all the Cavils and Insinuations of such as pretend to allow Natural Religion and reject the Gospel By Francis Gastrell B. D. and Preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincoln's-Inn A Conference with a Theist in 4. Parts By W Nicholls D. D. Printed for Tho. Bennet AN ESSAY Concerning SELF-MURTHER c. Introduction TO treat of this Subject by such Arguments only as may be drawn from Reveal'd Religion or to mix these and such as may be brought from Natural Reason together wou'd be to raise the greatest Prejudices in those Persons who are most concern'd For they who undertake to defend the Lawfulness of Self-Murther of which there are many in this Age proceed chiefly upon Natural Principles and will not hearken to any Thing from Revelation till these are answered Wherefore my Design at present is to consider this Action according to the Principles of Natural Reason only To this purpose it might perhaps be thought necessary by some People to prove in the first Place the Being of a God But since this has been both readily allow'd and studiously maintain'd by the most considerable Advocates of Self-Murther I shall take it to be granted and upon this Supposition endeavour to prove that Self-Murther is naturally unlawful CHAP. 1. Man considered in the Individual The State of Nature Of Humane Life What and from whence it is Where the absolute Propriety of it is to be plac'd BY Self-Murther I mean a Man's depriving himself of Life wilfully and advisedly For the proving this Act to be unlawful we are to consider what Humane Life is From whence Man receives it Where the absolute Propriety or Dominion of it is to be plac'd And to what End it was bestow'd Man consists of a Rational Soul and Body united together naturally Humane Life is the Result of this Vnion There was a Time when neither Soul nor Body had any Being therefore the Soul cou'd not be the Cause of it self much less cou'd the Body be so But the Being of each and the Union of both and the Continuation of the same Union must be owing to that All-wise All-mighty Vniversal Cause which is called God This I suppose will easily be granted and if so it will lead us to the fixing the true Propriety or Dominion over Humane Life the absolute and lawful Power to dispose of it All absolute Propriety is either Original or Derivative each of which is twofold of Men or of Things In the present Argument the Life of a Man is the Man and not a Thing he that destroys the Life of a Man destroys a Man and he that destroys a Man destroys the Life of a Man However one of these may be of use to illustrate the other and if we know by what means Original Propriety of Things is acquired we may the more easily discover whether Man has any Original Propriety of his Life or no. Original Propriety of Things comes by taking possession of that which belongs to no body or which has been forsaken by those to whom it did belong or else by making or producing something out of that which is no Bodies which last seems to give the best Title of Propriety as being not only the possessing but the giving a kind of new Being to the Thing Now I. Man cannot have the Original Propriety of himself by any of these ways because he could not make himself nor can he be ever so derelinquished or forsaken by the great Cause of his Being as to remain independent and absolute but while he is he must belong to the same Cause thro' which he at first was besides he cou'd not take possession of himself before he was nor cou'd he be at the same time both the Person taking possession and the Person possessed If Man then has not the Original Propriety of himself no other Creature can pretend to it and therefore it remains only that it should be in God And in Him indeed it is in the strictest manner not by producing him out of that which was no Bodies but by making him out of that which he created out of nothing and by being independent Himself and not only causing but sustaining and comprehending all Things II. As to any derivative Propriety or Dominion which Man may be suppos'd to have of his Life if we consider such Propriety as absolute and independent which it must be if it gives him a Right to dispose of his Life as he pleases he can have no such Propriety neither because this is contradictory both to the Nature of God and Man 1. This cannot be derived from any but God but God cannot divest himself of such absolute Dominion or Propriety because this wou'd make Man from the time in which God shou'd do this so independent that God would have no further Right over his Life and therefore cou'd not in any Case threaten him with Death nor command him any Duty under the Penaity of any Punishment In a word this wou'd hinder God from being Omniporent for he cannot be so who has not a Power over all whether Persons or Things 2. Altho' we shou'd suppose
own Reason in what appears to him Good or Evil in embracing the first and avoiding the latter though he may be mistaken follows his own Nature Accordingly if he cannot obtain that in which he places his Happiness and his Life becomes miserable upon this Account he follows Nature who lays it down To this it may be reply'd That to sollow ones own Nature cannot be any Exemption from what was said before nor is the Account which has been given there too general for as to what relates to the End of Life the following of Reason by Virtue this belongs equally to humane Nature in General forasmuch as all Men are Rational Either then by this is meant the same with the following of humane Nature which is the Rule by which all Mankind is to Act or else we must suppose that there is a particular Rule or Law given to every individual Person different from the rest of the same Species which he alone is bound to follow But this would be more unreasonable than if we should say That every Subject of the Emperour of China was not bound by the General Laws of that Country but that he had a particular private Law by which he was bound to Act and that too often in direct opposition to the other 2. By following ones own Nature perhaps was meant the same with Zeno's Maxim * Or that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diog. Laer p. 185 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I think may be rendred the living Conformably or Consistently i.e. the being the same in Opinion Humour Manners the having ones Life all of a Piece whatsoever comes to pass which they also call'd †Ciâ—…ero de Offic. lib. 1. Decorum As if a Man were of an easie and obliging Temper that he should be the same in Adversity as well as Prosperity Sickness and Health to the meanest poorest Man as to the greatest Potentate If of a grave austere Way which was that which they chose he should carry that on through the worst Events and nothing be able to alter him the maintaining either of these or any other particular Character may be call'd the following of ones own Nature but though Men may choose different ways of Behaviour according to their Fancy or Constitution yet this must still be grounded upon the former Universal Maxim the living according to Nature as Humane and Reasonable otherwise the Character whatever it was wou'd be vicious and then 't wou'd be so much the worse to maintain it and equally absurd whether a Man was always Affably or Surlily the same if always in the wrong so that this regards only the outside the Dress of Virtue the particular Fashion which she is to appear in Let Men be sure of her first by following Nature as Humane in general and then they may give her what appearance they please by following their own Nature This will be further explain'd in the Answer to the next part of the Objection abovemention'd * See more to this purpose Chap. 11â—… 3. By following ones own Nature some will have meant the following a particular Opinion or Humour the indulging that particular Appetite or Passion which by Education Example or Constitution has got the ascendant which brings me to the remaining part of the Objection To follow Nature is to seek to be Happy Happiness consists in obtaining that which seems Good to me and avoiding that which seems Evil I and no other must be the Judge of this wherefore if Life becomes an Evil and Death a Good to me by the want of any thing in which I place my Happiness or by the suffering any thing in which I place my Misery I do but follow Nature in killing my self and the Law of Self-preservation is not transgress'd by my doing so but ceases naturally This was propos'd to be Answer'd by shewing these two things 1. In what Happiness or Misery Good or Evil as to Humane Life did really consist 2. The unreasonableness of every Man 's being left to himself to follow what seems Good or Evil to him and to dispose of Life accordingly As to the first Happiness truly consâ—…s in the observing the End of Life which has been so often mention'd As this is * See Chap. 2. p. 17. done more or less Men are proportionably Happy as 't is omitted proportionably Miserable But in the common acceptation of the Word Happiness signifies the enjoyment of a Man's desires whatever they are and for any one to say that he cannot be happy without such or such a thing which is not in his Power and that the Good or Evil of his whole Life depends upon it signifies nothing but the vehemence of that Man's desires not that there is any real Happiness in obtaining it or Misery in sailing of it it proving most commonly quite contrary that the more a Man enjoys what he vehemently desires the more miserable he is afterwards and then †Ridiculum est ad mortem cuâ—…re tadio vitae cum â—…nere vitae â—…t â—…lum ciâ—… ad morâ—… effeceris Sen. â—…pilt 24. forsooth Life seems an Evil to him and amidst the Discontent and Vexation which comes upon him at the sense of his Folly and the just reproof of his Reason He tells you very Philosophically that he does but follow Nature in delivering himself from what is Evil When he has been acting against Nature against good Sense for that is humane Nature all the while and when he has done so instead of recovering the way which he has lost and beginning truly to follow Nature he deserts it wholly and irrecoverably and offers the greatest and most positive Violence to it by Self-murther But the Mistakes concerning Happiness or Misery are grounded upon the Mistakes concerning Good and Evil and therefore 't will be necessary to take a short view of them As Humane Life consists of two parts the Soul and Body so what is good must be consider'd in a twofold manner as it relates to the Soul or to the Body 1. As it relates to the Soul the Regulating and Improving of the Mind which we suppose to be the End of humane Life This is usually called Moral Good and the contrary Moral Evil. Or else 2dly As it relates to the Body the Health or the Preservation of it for which End the several ways of Perception commonly call'd Senses were ordain'd by which notice is given to Reason what is most proper to maintain this Union and preserve Life or what is most likely to destroy it this is commonly call'd Sensitive Good and the contrary Sensitive Evil. To bring this to the Matter in hand supposing that Good True or Seeming were a proper Rule and End of humane Actions There are but two sorts of Good as has been shown Moral or Sensitive but through which of these is it that Self-murther can appear Lawful If Moral Good tends not only to the improvement of the Mind but also to the prolonging of
and the best Soul disturbed into Madness All this is true but the Question is not whether a Man may not lose his Reason through extreme Pain if it were it would be readily granted but the Question is Whether a Man has any Liberty given him to destroy himself upon the account of extreme Pain while his Reason still remains This I suppose he has not for the Reasons above mentioned Nay Madness it self has not this Liberty for if a Mad-man kills himself he is not Excusable upon account of any Liberty which he had to do so more than other People but because he knew not what he did Nor are these Papers design'd for the perusal of People in extreme Pain but rather for those in perfect Health to prepare them if perhaps they are capable of doing so to undergo it if it should be their Lot And if they shall happen to be convinc'd when they are in Health that Self-murther is unlawful even in extreme Pain this will influence their Minds when they come to suffer it they will not venture to do what they were once satisfy'd was unlawful though they are not then able to run through the several Particulars upon which their Conviction was grounded The last signification of the Word Liberty is that Ease which the Soul enjoys after it is separated from the Body in Relation to which I am to shew IV. That as Man has no Liberty or Authority granted him to destroy himself upon account of extreme Pain or Sickness so if he presumes to put this in Execution to obtain Ease or Liberty the Soul instead of enjoying any such Liberty will fall into a state of Great Slavery This will require the making out these two things 1. That there will be another State after the separation of the Soul from the Body wherein it shall be accountable for its Actions and as they are Good or Bad be Rewarded or Punish'd accordingly 2. That Self-murther being one of the worst Crimes shall be liable to a proportionable Punishment The first of these That there shall be a State c. is very seldom deny'd by those who acknowledge the Being of a God and is readily granted nay vigorously maintain'd by the Gentleman with whom I have been chiesly concerned however it is necessary for the compleating of this Design to offer some Arguments for the Proof of it and to remove some Objections which are usually made against it Yet what shall be done to this purpose shall be only what may be naturally drawn from those Principles which I laid down at the Beginning for if those be true then this will follow of course if there is a God who reserves to himself the Propriety of Humane Life the Supreme and Absolute Dominion over us If Life is imparted and continu'd to Man for a particular End and if Rules and Laws are given him for the pursuing and obtaining that End if theâ—…e Laws may be broken here unpunish'd and a Man become the more unhappy the more faithfully he observes them if a Man is capable of doing more good than he can receive an adaequate Reward for in this Life and if he is capable of Committing more Evil than he can receive a full Punishment for if those Faculties which give him this Capacity and which distinguish him from all other Creatures suggest to him naturally Reward and Punishment and fill him with Hopes and Fears accordingly Then it will be allow'd by any sensible and unprejudic'd Person that it does appear even by the Light of Nature that there must be such a State hereafter Let us consider each of these Reasons a little more particularly 1. As to that Propriety which God reserves to himself over Humane Life that Absolute Dominion which he holds and exercises over Man this considering withal the Nature of Man is an Argument that he will take an account of his Actions hereafter 'T is true all other Creatures owe their Being and Preservation to God as well as Man and are as much subject to his Dominion as he is but the different Frames of Creatures shew that God will exercise his Dominion differently Beasts act by Instinct not by Reason by Necessity not Choice and therefore perform that End for which they were made and their being so framed is a plain Declaration that God will not exercise any Judicial Power over them But Man has Reason and Liberty to follow it he knows his Duty has Natural Principles to direct him in it freedom of Will to chuse whether he will be so directed or no and commonly refuses to be so and therefore acting contrary to the End of his Being and doing so through his own fault God who gave him such a frame and who retains an Absolute Propriety and Dominion over him must either do all this to no purpose or else call him to account hereafter Cou'd it be prov'd that God left us wholly to our selves after he put us into the World and that we had no Natural Rules to act by or that we could maintain and prolong our Beings without his Assistance there might be some ground for doubt in this Matter but since it is quite contrary since we have an * See pag. 6 7 8. inseparable dependence upon him since he has given us such Frames or Natures on the one side as prove us to be accountable and has retain'd such a Propriety and Sovereignty over us on the other as gives him a Right to require an account of our Actions 't is certain that he will nay that he †See that Excellent Treatise A Practical Discourse concerning Future Judgment from pag. 6. to pag. 14. must require it accordingly 2. This will appear more Plain if we come to consider the next Principle which I laid down at the ‖ Chap. 2. beginning that Life was imparted to us for a particular End for if Man is indispensibly oblig'd to pursue that End then this Obligation is a proof that there must be a Future State and that for these Reasons sollowing 1. Because every End supposes some Rules or Laws to be observ'd for the obtaining of it Now whatever the End of Humane Life is whether it be the following of Reason by Virtue or no 't is certain it is from God and therefore the Rules or Laws which are necessary for the pursuing of it must be from him likewise Now any Law given to a free Agent without any Punishment annex'd to it or without proper Provision made for the Executing of that Punishment wou'd justly call in Question the Wisdom of the Lawgiver and therefore we cannot suppose that the Laws which God gives to Man by Nature shou'd be defective in this Respect and yet we see frequently that all such Punishment is escap'd in this Life If we consider Man in the State of Nature whatever Crimes he commits against himself for Instance as to any Excess or Intemperance * Vid. pag. 20. Sup. no other has any right
Life if nothing is Sensitive Good but that alone which is reported by the Senses to be proper to preserve Life then it must be absurd to destroy Life upon the pretence of either of these Goods and to do so must be Evil both as to Moral Evil and Sensitive also and therefore highly against Nature To this let me add that the only reason why any thing is naturally Evil to the Body is as it contributes to the separation of it from the Soul which is done positively and violently by Self-murther Nature is the Course the Order which God put the Creature to move in To break off that Course violently must certainly be against Nature and what is so cannot be Lawful But here again it may probably be Obâ—…ted That if the End of humane Life as â—…t has been assign'd by me is the following of 〈◊〉 by Virtueâ—… Whose Reason must this be Must not every Man be guided by his own Reason and consequently will not his Virtue consist in following that which seems Good to him and avoiding that which seems Evil to him This brings me to consider Lastly The unreasonableness of every Man 's being left to himself to follow that which seems Good or Evâ—…l to him and to dispose of Life accordingly There must be a certain End or Design for which Life was given as the Rule of humane Actions otherwise the World wou'd be in Confusion The several things which the wisest men of Old have offer'd as this End of Life I have endeavoured to comprehend under these Words THE FOLLOWING REASON BY VIRTVE I hope it will not be expected that I should weigh out how much Reason to a Scruple will serve to this purpose because all Men readily assent to such Principles as these as self-evident That no wrong or injury ought to be done that a Man has no right to destroy what is not his especially if it be allow'd him only for his Advantage and Improvement that whatever destroys humane Society is to be avoided that whatever contributes to the preserving and improving of the Faculties which are peculiar to Man above other Creatures ought to be embrac'd These Principles I suppose are plain to every Rational Creature and allow'd fit to be observ'd by the Virtues of Justice Temperance c. Or should any Man be suppos'd to be ignorant of any of them in Lapland or new Holland yet there is no danger of this in civiliz'd Countries especially this wherein we Live nor are they deny'd by such as are chiefly against us in this Argument but acknowledg'd and maintain'd by 'em and pointed out and required to be observ'd by humane Laws Wherefore if there can be no ignorance as to these Fundamental Principles and if there can be no want of Power to observe and practise 'em to what purpose is it to plead for particular Reason and for the privilege of Judging for ones self A Man cannot do so safely without some Rule and that Rule must be universal publick Reason and unless every private Man's Reason be squar'd accordingly it can never be right but if it be squar'd accordingly then it ought not to be contended for as private Reason As Man is oblig'd to follow that Nature which is common to him with the rest of Mankind so he is oblig'd to follow that Reason which is so too I mean as to the Fundamental Rules of humane Actions He may make use of his own Reason perhaps in finding out means to observe these Rules to observe them I say not to break them one of the chief of which is the preserving of Life As in all well formed Governments one Law extends to all for the common Good so is it in the Government of the World which is order'd by Infinite Wisdom And therefore 't wou'd be as absurd to plead for particular Reason as a privilege to act against natural Principles as it wou'd be to desire it as a privilege to act against just humane Laws Reason when loudly boasted and zealously contended for by particular Men against any Ancient and Establish'd Rule shou'd always be suspected It shows some uneasiness under that Rule which if enquir'd into and examin'd with the Person concern'd wou'd be found to be against some particular Interest or Inclination which had gotten the ascendant â—…ver him In these Cases when every Man talks of Reason he means his own his own sorry share and that too perhaps very much vitiated and corrupted thus you shall see reason of all Complections Melancholy Phlegmatick and Sanguine Reason for when this is once enslav'd by any Appetite or Passion it takes the Colour of it and then whatever is the object of each Man's Desires whatsoever is his particular method of compassing it or measure of enjoying it is call'd Reason Thus this Godlike faculty is made frequently the pretence of the greatest Absurdities in our Actions as well as Discourse and it may be observ'd that People always plead it most that most offend it pretending the most faithful Duty to this Sovereign Power and yet all the while impudently warring against it in its own Name Hence it is that seeming Good and seeming Evil are made to be the Rule of humane Actions and the following of them the End of humane Life the measure of its being Good or Evil and Preserv'd or Destroy'd accordingly Whereas to act according to seeming Good or seeming Evil can never be allow'd but in the case of sudden or extream Necessity or Panic Fear when the Soul has not the Power or Leasure to bring its Actions or Resolutions to the Rule of right Reason or to examine what is really Good or really Evil and then we ought to observe that this is allow'd but upon one Account neither and that is the preserving of Life and therefore is a very strange Argument for the Destroying of it But after all that can be said seeming Good and seeming Evil are sloating and uncertain things and therefore can never be the Rule or End of Living because as they can be no certain measure themselves so they must destroy it as to all other things for to suppose this is not only to let a Man loose to any Object that he pleases but also to hinder his obtaining of any one while a new seeming Good may be starting continually and so a warm Head shall be sure never to want Game And Life thus employ'd wou'd be given to a very extraordinary End indeed especially if we consider that the Event of this must prove not only fatal to a Man's self but may do so by degrees to all that are near him nay must do so to all Mankind For if seeming Good is sufficient to justifie our Actions what Crime can ever be justly laid to any Man's charge As there is no Errour that pleases under the notion of Falshood so there is no Wickedness that prevails upon the Mind as it appears Evil but as there is seeming Truth in the one so there must
the ‖ Ad lib. 1. Iliad learned Critic Eustatius That the Grecians burnt their Dead to shew that the Divine part of Man being born upwards by the Fire mingled with the Heavens and for this reason says he the Gymnosophists burnt themselves alive as Alexander's Calanus did * Thus also Quintilian Declam 10. speaking of the Soul cum exonerata membris levi se igne lustaverit petit sedes in astra So Porphyrius says of the Samanâ—… above-mention'd In the same way the Samanaei dispatch'd themselves In some Countries it was the Custom to †The Reason of this serviâ—…s 〈◊〉 ad lib 3. 〈◊〉 That the Soul never continuing in the Body after the the Bâ—…oo was run out it was suppos'd that it delighted in Bloody Victims after its Separation kill whatever was dear to the Person Deceased according to his Condition as Dogs Horses Slaves Relations In after times they who foresaw they should be kill'd driven by necessity and withal encourag'd by some superstitious Perswasion of being Rewarded for their Fidelity killed themselves From hence and from the Opinion of the Gymnosophists asoresaid came 〈◊〉 Custom of the Womens burning themselves with their Husbands which is very Ancient ‖ 〈◊〉 ad 5. 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 verba Famulumne parentis Item Cicero 5. Tuscul. and was undoubtedly encourag'd by the Men in those Countries where they had several Wives that they might be the more secure from the revengeful Jealousie of the Women and their implacable Rage when any one thought her self slighted and the better attended in their Sickness All their Lives depending upon their Husbands But since the Men did not so unless such as were acted by a superstitious Principle since the Women that were not Married did no such thing since no Self-murther excepting that by Fire was ever allow'd by these People none of these Instances can prove that it is Natural But to come nearer home we are told that * Donne lib. 10. among the Ceans unprofitable old Men Poison'd themselves among the Athenians Condemn'd Men were their own Executioners by Poyson and among the Romans often by Blood lettings As to this Custom of the Ceans which is related at large by †Val. Max. lib. 2. cap. 1. Val. Maximus who was an Eye Witness of it and which gives occasion to ‖ Mont. lib. 2. cap. 3. Montaign to write a Chapter upon this Subject * Strabo lib. 10. Strabo says it began upon the account of some great Famine wherein a Law was made that the Aged of both Sexes should die in that manner that their might be Provision for the Younger who were more able to defend their Country The Athenians suffered Criminals to take the Cup which the Executioner prepared and brought 'em according to the Sentence of Condemnation at a certain hour to take it I say and drink it which if they refus'd to do the Officers stood ready to force it down but did this wise People by this or any other way encourage Self-murther quite contrary there being * See Aristot. lib. 5. Ethic. a Law against it by which the Right Hand as suppos'd acting it was cut off and the Body thrown out unburied and in the same manner was it Punish'd in Thebes and other Cities of Greece and how Contemptible soever this may seem nothing was more Infamous Such as Robbed Temples and Betrayed their Country being used in the same manner nay this was the greatest Punishment according to the Superstition of those Times they being of Opinion that the Ease and Happiness of the Soul depended upon the Burial of the Body as Virgil * See Servius there lib. 3. Aen. animamque sepulcro Condimus By what has been said hitherto it may appear that although we should hearken to Examples in this matter yet those which have been alledg'd here are either such as are Fabulous or Misrepresented or such as though never so true yet being grounded upon some Religious or Superstitious Perswasion cannot be of any force to prove Self-murther to be Natural But that which is brought out with the greatest Pomp upon this Occasion is the Example of the Roman Nation No People in the World had ever so much Courage and Honour No Nation rose to such a height by Learning and by Arms None had greater Men in every thing that is admirable or more sit to be Masters of the World and yet never did so many kill themselves of any Country as of this This great and popular Prejudice may be lessened by considering these three things 1. At what time the Romans were reckon'd to be at the height of their Virtue II. When Self-Murther began to be in Request among them and the Causes of its being so III. What was the Judgment of their greatest Men and what Laws they had concerning it I. At what time the Romans were reckon'd to be at the height of their Virtue During the second Punick War Rome improv'd in its Virtue The Defeats they receiv'd from Hannibal at first increas'd the Love of their Country and awak'd that great Genius to Action which began to be enervated after the War with Pyrrhus and which had been employ'd before upon their little neighbouring States only and while Hannibal himself as well as the Savage Nations which he led suffered under the Luxury of Capua Temperance Probity Honour Discipline Courage encreased among the Romans both in the City and the Army 'till at last they conquered this formidable General and brought the Carthaginians to what Terms they pleased But immediately upon the Peace with them the War with Macedon broke out which ended not only in the Subduing of all Greece but great Part of Asia and then was it that the Roman Conquests began to prove most fatal to themselves For upon the Return of the Army from these Countries Foreign * Luxuâ—…e Peregrinae Origo ab Exercitu Asiatico Liv. lib. 39. Graecia Capta serum victorem cepit Artes Intulit agresti Latio Horace Luxury was first brought among them This quickly begat Prodigality and that made way for Bribery and for private Ambition And this was so notorious at the Siege of Numantia that Jugurtha learnt 〈◊〉 his Fiends there how to practise upon the Romans and buy their Armies and their Senate afterwards Yet â—…notwithstanding they were thus disposed still their Rival Carthage was a Check upon them and they durst not launch out and be so bad as they fain would have been for fear of this ancient Enemy This was the Reason why that Great and Upright Statesman Scipio Nasica was always against the destroying of Carthage which Cato urged so passionately as to obtain at last to the utter Ruine of the Roman Virtue as National as all the Historians afterwards lament continually †Vel. Patere lib. 2. The first Scipio opened the Way to the Roman Power the latter to their Luxury for when the Dread of Carthage was removed and their Rival in Empire
this rich Furniture All the Walls here are hung with Liberty Do you see that Iron Chest There 's Liberty in the bottom of it Do you remember such a Diamond or such a Locket In how small a compass does great Liberty lie Tou toyl Day and Night to satisfie your Creditors You must be a Slave to the Ingratitude of such a false Friend or the Extortion of this and that Vsurer when Providence has plac'd Liberty so very near you that no more is requir'd but to stretch out your Hand to accept of it I do not doubt but this would seem very strange to any honest Man and yet where things are equally unsawful the Case is the same Humane Life is God's own Propriety 't is entrusted to Man only for a certain End and therefore he has no more Liberty to destroy it than to break any Trust or commit any Act of Injustice whatsoever and Nature's having put it into our Power to go out of Life when and how we please is no more an Argument that we may lawfully do so than her putting it into our Power to Steal Ravish or Murther any one else There must certainly then be some great Mistakes in this matter and therefore in order to discover them and shew how inconsistent Self-murther is with true Liberty if rightly understood Let us suppose this Pretence to be drawn up in this or the like manner Liberty is one of the most Glorious Attributes of God Man is said to be like God in respect of this Particularly and therefore nothing ought to be more dear to him than his Liberty If this be so then when this Liberty is lost by any great Calamity it must be extreme Cowardice or extreme Dulness to drag about a Decrepit Body or an Afflicted Mind and to chuse to continue poorly under this Slavery when God and Nature still leave him so much Liberty as to set his Soul Free whenever he pleases Observe The Word Liberty here is a very doubtful Term having several Significations the using of which promiscuously occasions great Obscurity and Confusion which are the chief Advantages of this Pretence Sometimes it signifies that Liberty which Man has over his own Actions by the freedom of his Will Sometimes it signifies the Liberty of the Body as well as the Mind and these two as likewise the Slavery which regards each of these are often us'd the one for the other Sometimes again Liberty signifies some Authority or Power which Man is suppos'd to have to destroy himself in some particular Circumstances though he be ty'd up in all others Lastly it signifies that Ease or Freedom from any Trouble Grief or Pain which the Soul is suppos'd to be let out into by Self-murther according to which several Significations I will consider 1. That Liberty which is deriv'd from God to Man in what Respects Man is like God in the freedom of his Will and as to the Power which he has over his own Actions and show that Self-murther is not warranted by such Liberty 2. I will shew the difference between the Liberty and Slavery of the Soul and Body and inquire whether any Evil which oppresses the Body can be destructive to the Liberty of the Soul 3. That no Man upon the Account of any Calamity particularly upon Account of any extreme Sickness or Pain has any Liberty or Authority to destroy himself 4. That by so doing the Soul instead of enjoying any Liberty wou'd fall into a State of utmost Slavery I. As to the Liberty which is deriv'd from God to Man 'T was said that this is one of the most Glorious Attributes of God and that in this Respect it is that Man is particularly like him God is absolutely Free for he is Infinite Infinity must be perfect Liberty because nothing can be more Free than that which has no Bounds And yet the Liberty of infinite Power is always attended with infinite Wisdom and infinite Goodness without these Almighty Liberty wou'd be only Dreadful but these make it the Ground of our Trust and Confidence and render it Adorable wherefore if we consider God not only in his Essenoe but also in his Works since every Work of his must be to some excellent End or other the means he huses to Act by must also be most Excellent and that particular kind of Method if I may so speak which he observes for the bringing what he intends to pass must be a kind of Rule or Law to him He cannot do otherwise than he does because what he does is the Effect of infinite Wisdom measur'd by the rectitude of his own Perfection and therefore always best Yet this sets no Bounds to his Liberty because it is impossible that he shou'd ever will to do otherwise than only just as he does and he who always does whatever he wills must remain always Free But Man's Liberty is very different as he is a finite Creature it can be perfect only according to its measure and that measure must be proportionable to his particular Nature Now the Nature of Man consists of a Rational Soul and Body his Liberty therefore must be twofold that which regards the Soul or that which regards the Body As to the first which is our present Subject this must be according to the chief Faculties of the Soul Knowledge and Will Man's Will is free it has the full Power or Liberty to Act without any Necessity or Compulsion but since this Will can act only according to what Man knows it being impossible that any one should will any thing whereof he has no Knowledge the extent of humane Liberty must be proportionable to humane Knowledge Again the Objects of humane Knowledge as it concerns Mans Actions are moral Good or Evil and the Freedom of Man's Will lies in choosing the one and refusing the other Now â—…ince humane Knowledge is not only of small Extent but liable to Errour and to mistake Good and Evil since also there are several Passions and Appetites which are apt to further this mistaking God has sixt such Principles in Man as represent the Method of his own Acting and are self evident whereâ—…ore Man's likeness unto God does not consist in the boundleâ—…s Liberty of his Will but in his Wills being conformable to the Will of God and then is his Will chiefly so when it concurrs with those first Principles or Laws of Nature above-mentioned That is follows readily his Reason by Virtue Yet still this is no lessening or restraining of Man's Natural Liberty Infinite Liberty observes some measures for the attaining the Ends of Infinite Wisdom the measures which are here given to Man to walk by are the same with those they â—…re the Marks and Bounds of what is fit and just they represent the Method of God's own Acting as I said before and good Method always promotes the End it is concern'd about it is the nearest and the plainest way to it and therefore wou'd be the choice of
to that in particular 1. Since God himself who is absolutely free chooses to act always according to some Method which is a Rule to Himself the same with right and eternal Reason and yet His Liberty is not prejudic'd by acting so then although Man is oblig'd to act by some Rules Laws or Principles yet since they issue out from the same Fountain of Eternal Reason this is not any Prejudice to his Natural Liberty 2. Since it has been prov'd that these are some of those Rules viz. That the end for which a Creature is made or has Life given him ought to be observ'd that Gods Propriety ought not to be desiroy'd that whatever may prove destructive to Civil Society ought to be avoided And since the killing of ones self has been prov'd to be a direct breach of every one of these Rules then it follows that Mans Natural of Liberty can be no just 〈◊〉 for Self-murther The same Argument will serve also against all unwarrantable hazarding of Life and running into great and unnecessary dangers especially by Duelling Likewise against all Vices of Excess and Intemperance which concerning a Man's own Person only seem to be within the bounds of his Natural Liberty II. In the next place I am to shew the difference between the Liberty and Slavery of the Mind and Body and whether any Evil that oppresses the Body can be destructive to the Liberty of the Soul As Man consists of a Soul and Body his Liberty must be consider'd in Relation to both Man's Liberty as to his Soul or Mind consists in the free use of its Faculties Vnderstanding and Will in such a manner as was just now shewn his Slavery as to his Mind consists in the losing the free use of these and in their subjection to Irregular Passions and Appetriâ—…es Man's Liberty as to his Body consists in the free use of its Powers as to Motion and Sensation and his Slavery as to this in the Abridgment of this Motion or in its being at anothers disposal In the decay of Sensation or in its becoming greivous to him in Pain and Torture * Vid. Somnium Scipionis Now if we consider the Dignity of Humane Nature Man's Liberty must depend upon the Mind chiesly for when all is done the Mind is the Man Mens cujusque is est quisque the Body is but of very small Consideration in comparison of the other the Body may be enslaved without a Man 's own sault it being liable to outward force as well as inward decays of Nature but still the Mind may continue free This cannot be enslav'd but by a Man 's own fault and when it is so its Liberty may be recover'd again if the Person pleases and therefore there can be no occasion of Self-murther upon this Account Plotinus †Apud Macâ—…obium lib. 1. cap. 13. gives admirable directious in this case He tells us that therâ—… are two kinds of Death a Philosophical and a Natural one that the first was in our Power but not the latter that if Men would be free from any Evils of Life they may be so by dying Philosophically and this says he is the only voluntary Death that is commendable that which we bring our selves to by Reason not by Poison by Prudaence not by any Weapon As to that part of the Question Whether any Evil that oppresses the Body may be destructive to the Liberty of the Mind This has been in part answer'd The Liberty of the Mind consists in the use of Reason some Evils of the Body as extreme Pain and Sickness may destroy the use of Reason and cause Madness and then the Liberty of the Mind is destroy'd indeed But while Reason remains Liberty must remain also the Mind cannot be enslav'd though beset by various Evils till it basely surrenders up to 'em no more than a City is enslav'd when 't is only beseig'd and defends it self valiantly nay not so much since the Avenues of Reason in those who are adult especially cannot be shut up but on the contrary the greater the Evils are which beset the Body the more may the Mind enlarge its Liberty by the practising of several Virtues which it would not have had the opportunity of exercising otherwise All Virtues are the different ways of the Souls exerting its Power according to the Dictates of right Reason Wherefore if the Evils of the Body give it greater opportunities to exert this Power and require withal that it should be exerted with greater strength and vigour then these Evils will be so far from abridging its Liberty that they will rather enlarge it For the more Virtues is has to practice the more different ways must it have to move in the wider must its range and compass be and consequently the greater its Liberty And as to the Case of extreme Pain in particular which is so commonly pleaded upon this occasion The Liberty of the Body indeed may be lost it may be confin'd 〈◊〉 and tortur'd by Tyrants or Discases but unless this should cause Madness it would not destroy the Liberty of the Mind It must be confess'd the Union of the Body and Mind is very close and all Perception ends in the Soul and therefore the Pains of the Body may be very grievous to it but though very grievous yet rarely to such a degree as to prove destructive to its Reason Extreme Pain is the truest test of a great and upright Mind but although it may force a Man to Lament it need not to Rebel it may affect him with Sorrow but not cast him down into Despair and where Reason struggles faithfully to retain its Power Courage Honour Justice Constancy and great Examples will be called in to help to resist what is sensitive Evil rather than a good Man should fall into what is morally so rather than he should be guilty of an unjust Action to fly from Pain when this is only Coâ—…ardise and Weakness though colour'd over with the Plausible name of Liberty When Pain is encreas'd to such a degree as to destroy Reason the dispute is at an end but let Men have a care lest they should fancy or grant themselves to be Mad only through Impatience and indulg'd Passions and then afterwards make use of their Reason to contrive their Self-destruction If you cry out as 't is usual that the Pain is too great to be endur'd that you cannot possibly bear so much torture What do you mean by this that it will kill you or that you have not strength and patience to undergo it If it will kill you what need of Self-murther the more violent the Pain is the more short will it be and if a Tyrant inslicts it how much better is it as Good Darius said * Forsitan mireris quod vitam non siniam Alicno scelere quam meo mori malo Q. Curtius lib. 5. cap. 12. To die by anothers Wickedness than by your own If you mean the latter trust Nature
she will assist you to bear Pain is always most acute when new the Powers of Sensation are blunted by degrees by their Objects pressing too violently upon them and continual labour under Pain will harden the sense of Feeling and deaden Perception No one can know his strength unless he will try it the force of deliberate and well weighted Resolution is incredible and has supported the Weak and the Guilty in the most dreadful Torments Shall Women be able to suffer so much in Child-birth Could the Spartan Boys bear whipping to Death before their Altars without a Groan Nay have the greatest Villains mock'd their Executioners Could such a Wretch as Ravillac or he that shot one of the Princes of Orange smile amidst all the Artisices of Torture and shall not Innocence and Virtue be able to support a good Man under the ordinary calamities incident to humane Nature If submission to Providence Perseverance in Duty Constancy and Patience are Virtues when are these to be practised unless in extremities But it may be said the Disease is incurable the Pain is without intermission and therefore what good can a Man do by suffering on but only expose humane Nature and render it Contemptible not at all but rather quite Contrary who can pronounce a Disease like to last incurable and how oft have the best Physicians been deceived in this matter And as to intermission suppose there should be none where the Pain is intermitting Constancy and Patience must be intermitting too and return only by fits as the Distemper does but when the Pain is continual Virtue is continual also and yet not in danger of being long upon Duty because extreme continual Pain will quickly dissolve Nature and discharge the Soul and this Consideration might be sufficient to support a Man under such Circumstances without Diogenes's Dagger to give him Liberty For if the Soul be imprison'd and enslaved when in a tortur'd or diseased Body then let it look upon every Pain as a step towards its Freedom as the bursting of some Chain or the falling off of some Fetter and as every Limb grows weaker and every Sense decays let it collect its sorces cheerfully and rejoice at these happy beginnings of Laâ—…ful and Eternal Liberty And as to 〈◊〉 this is not worth Consideration in comparison of ones Duty yet a good Man need not fear it He will rather do credit to humane Nature than expose it by his 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seneca says he will not leave his Body but when it begins to assect his Mind and then he well jump out of it 〈◊〉 from a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ouse this is a very low thought and would not be pardonable but that He make some amends for it in another place †De Consol. ad Helviam where he says that he who was great before he fell is not the less great for being fallen but is as far from Contempt as the Ruins of Temples are which the Religious adore as much as when they were standing Though Holy Temples yield to Time yet they cannot crush the God that was Worshipt in 'em by their fall no more can a decaying Body oppress an upright Mind And while the Mind is not oppress'd it cannot be contemptible There is a Beauty in Constancy and Fortitude which shines through all the Deformities of Death for at such times 't is not the Body but the Soul that is to be regarded and therefore what if the Body be pale weak and wasted away yet if the Mind continues the same unshaken and undaunted all the signs of outward Decay are but the marks of inward Virtue the Trophies of the Souls Strength and Victory and more proper to cause Admiration than Contempt Which of Scaevola's Arms would an Ancient Roman have reckon'd most comely that which was shrivel'd up lame and deformed with Scars or that which was whole and strong Sure brawny Limbs and a good Complexion are not Essential to Virtue Nay even the last Minutes of a great Man shall be beneficial the very sight of his Calamities shall be full of Instruction so that while he has Breath he shall never be past doing good All the excellent modern Buildings of Italy if I may use this allusion once more are owing to a few remains of the Ancient Roman Structures which notwithstanding the injuries of many Years and many devastations retain still some thing of their former Beauty and Magnisicence the same use might be made of the Decays of great Men in extreme Age or Pain or Sickness They are not indeed what they were but still they are more than others are what is left is regular and great and sufficient to form in us an Idea of what is lost and to teach us by the Rules of Proportion to improve our selves accordingly But a great and good Man's Example is as necessary in Death as Life we are to study as much how to Die as how to Live Where then can we receive so much Instruction for this purpose as in the Deaths of such Men and if so when can they be ever past doing good But I will not insist farther upon this Let the Stoics who are the great Defenders of Self-murther be Judges in this matter if we look into their Writings we shall find it inculcated continually the Pains of the Body can never have any influence upon the Liberty of the Mind That their wise Man is above the taking notice of any outward Evil that he is at perfect Ease in the midst of Tortures Nay they reckon it no less than a Crime to own the least sense of Pain and indeed grant more in that respect than we desire and yet after all make Pain by a strange Contradiction one of the chief Causes of Self-murther 〈◊〉 The next thing which I propos'd to speak to was Whether any Man upon account of extreme Aâ—…iction especially Pain or Sickness has Liberty or Authority to Destroy himself Not only the Stoics heretofore but some others since have been inclined to think that he has thus one tells us * Mont. lib. 2. chap. 3. God gives us leave enough to part with Life when he is pleased to reduce us to such a condition that to Live is far worse than to Die The Rule which is here given whereby we are to judge when we have this leave is when God is pleased to reduce us to such a Condition that to Live is far worse than to Die But this will be found very insussicient to this purpose if we examine the Particulars it supposes these two things 1. That there may be some Condition of Life far worse than Death 2. That 't is God that reduces the Sufferer to such a Condition As to the first before we can compare things rightly we must understand exactly the terms by which they are represented Life as Humane implies the union of the Soul and Body Death is the dissolution of that Union the condition of Life which is supposed here
but Man alone and since this dread may increase to a very great degree by the niceness of his Reflection and the tenderness of his Conscience there is no Creature that can possibly be so miserable as Man and if this is to no purpose then there is not a Beast an Insect that perishes but has greatly the advantage of this Reasoning Creature this Lord of the World as he has flatter'd himself to be for so many Ages Since then it is certain that Man has such Notions and that God who dispos'd the frame of his Nature in such a manner as to receive 'em early and retain 'em strongly is All-wise Good and Just It cannot be imagin'd that he did this in Vain or only to Disturb and Torment him for as it would not be agreeable to Infinite Wisdom to do any thing to no purpose so it would by no means consist with Insinite Goodness to fix such Principles in the Noblest of his Creatures as must serve to no other End but to make him more miserable than any of the rest These Reasons I hope may suffice to prove to any Unprejudic'd and Impartial Person who acknowledges that there is a God the Necessity and Certainty of a Future State of Reward and Punishment and that too according to Natural Principles As for those Objections that are usually made upon this Occasion That the distinction of Good and Evil depends only upon Humane Laws that the Hopes and Fears of Future Reward and Punishment are not Natural but the Inventions of Politicians to manage Mankind and support Government and that this is prov'd by those who having had the Sence and Courage to assert their Natural Liberty have never been troubled with any thing of this kind nothing can be more Unreasonable than this for first it is plain by the consent of Nations that the distinctions of Good and Evil which are generally the same are sounded in Nature that the force which they have upon Men's Minds is ancienter than Government it self as being from Right Reason which is co-eternal with God As Cicero tells us Nor says he * Nec si Regnante Lue. Tarquinio nulla erat Romae Scripta â—…ex de stupris idcirco non contra illam legem sempiterâ—…am Sext. Tarq. vim Lucretiae attulit Erat enim ratio profecta à 〈◊〉 Natura adrecte faciendum impellens à delicto avocans quâ—… non tum denique incipit lox esse cum scripta est sed tum cum orta est orta est autem simuâ—… cum montos divina Lib. 2. de Legibus if there had been no Written Law against Rapes in Tarquin's Reign would his Son Sextus when he forc'd Lucretia have sin'd the less against this Eternal Law because this was Reason it self rising from the very Nature of Things and prompting Us to Good and restraining Us from Evil accordingly which did not then first become Law when 't was written down but oblig'd from its beginning which was the same with that of the Divine Mind it self So that the Goodness of Humane Laws depends upon their being deriv'd from this Eternal Fountain they do not of themselves determine what is Good and Evil but only declare what was so before to save People the pains of disputing about their Duty and to promote it by the threats of immediate Punishment But of all Pretences that sure is the weakest which would insinuate that the Notions of Good and Evil and the Hopes and Fears which are the effects of them are owing only to the Craft of Politicians and are not Natural but meer Fiction For this very Objection which supposes 'em necessary for Government proves the contrary for if Civil Government is absolutely necessary for Man's Happiness if such Government cannot be preserv'd without such Notions then we must either say that Man was made so imperfect as not to be furnish'd with such Notions such Principles and Rules as are absolutely necessary for him that what was thus omitted by God was supply'd by the Cunning of Crafty Men or that God suffers his Creatures to be impos'd upon by their Brethren to be fill'd with vain Hopes and tormented with vain Fears and that too often to their present disadvantage Or else we must grant that these Notions which are necessary for the general good of Mankind and are also generally embrac'd by them must be Natural In a Word nothing sure can be more reasonable than this Man cannot be happy without Civil Society Civil Society cannot be supported without Man's Passions and Appetites are restrain'd these cannot be restrain'd without the Hopes and Fears of a Future State these Hopes and Fears are generally entertain'd by Man and do restrain him and therefore as they are Natural they must be True and there is a Future Sate accordingly Nor does it signify any thing in this case to boast of Wit and Courage Asserting of Natural Liberty and the being free'd by these means from these Notions What was the Opinion of the Greeks and Romans in this Case were not these People as Famous for their Wit as for their Arms and wou'd it not be as Ridiculous for any single Man to oppose his Sence as his Courage against them and how is Man's Natural Liberty endanger'd by these Notions when it depends upon the direction and assistance of such Principles as are founded on them as has been shewn in the first part of this Chapter Or supposing that some Gentlemen even that one in a hundred which I am sure is many more than I need grant had wholly extinguish'd any such Notions does it follow from hence that there is no such at all or are those few a better Argument of what is Natural to Man than so many Thousand of others What if there be some few that are Deaf or Blind or that have besotted themselves by their Vices shall we conclude from hence that Stupidity or Blindness are Natural and that Seeing and Apprehending are signs of Mens being out of order Though a Man should be free from all sense of Evil and fear of Future Punishment this would be no better Argument that such a Persons Soul was in its proper and natural State than the Bodies being free from all Pain would prove that it was in perfect Health Pain is the effect of some Violence offer'd to Nature in order to put it upon its Guard as the Soul has an outward sense of it by the Body that it may resist or avoid whatever is hurtful to that so it has an inward sense of it in an ill Conscience that it may avoid what may prove hurtful to it self also Now as it would be very strange for any one upon his loss of Feeling in any Part from a Gangrene or Dead Palsey to argue that 't was unnatural for any Man to have the sense of Feeling in that Part so is it no less strange for any one that has lost these Notions of Good and Evil Reward or Punishment in a
Life to come to tell you considently that they are unnatural for all that this proves is only that such a Persons Mind is distemper'd that it does not exert its Faculties in a natural way that is in the same way that the generality of Mankind do for 't is from hence that we must judge of Humane Nature not from the temper or report of one or few Persons and if so then these Notions which are so General must be Natural and therefore certain because whatever is of Nature is of God There needs no further Answer to the Objections against a Future State or any further proofs for it where the wisest of the Philosophers concur with us so Universally The belief of this was the Foundation of those Excellent Discourses which were written by these Antient Sages and therefore we may find the Immortality of the Soul and a Future State continually Inculcated by the greatest of them this too was the ground of that greatness of Mind that Justice Courage Temperance and Piety of the Greeks and Romans 'T was this that gave Socrates that Calmness and Tranquility in his last Minutes under the most barbarous Injustice and made him as casie in his Death as ever lawful Monarch was at his Coronation And 't is to those Excellent Authors * Plato and Xenophon See this also clearly copiously and solidly prov'd in the Treatise above-mentioned viz. 〈◊〉 Practical Discourse of Future Judgment Likewise in the 2d Part. Vol. 1. Chap. 5. Sect. 2. Of the Christian Life 〈◊〉 that Late Eminent Divine Dr. Scot. which give an account of this Great Man that I remit the Reader for further satisfaction or if happily what has been said shall be sufficient then there will I suppose be no great difficulty in the remaining Point 2. That Self-Murther being one of the worst Crimes shall have a Punishment proportionable and consequently he that makes use of this to obtain Ease or Liberty shall fall into a state of great Misery or Slavery To make this appear we need only to produce the Opinions of some of the Greatest Men in this Matter and consider briefly the Grounds of Punishment and Reward in General and the Nature of this Crime in Particular For the First Virgil describing the Aboad and Condition of Self-murtherers in that Place above-mention'd * AEn 6. shews it to be unspeakably worse than the Evil which they sled from while he crys out Quam vellent aethere in alto Nunc pauperiem duros perferre labores This was according to the Doctrine of Plato and therefore Macrobius discoursing upon that Passage of Cicero which I quoted before †p. 22 Sup. That there could be no entrance into a State of Happiness for those who Kill'd themselves says ‖ Macrob lib. 1. in Som. Scip. Cap 13 it was the Opinion of Plotinus an Eminent Platonist That no Death could be Rewarded but what was Natural and that Death alone was Natural where the Body left the Soul and not the Soul the Body Besides as he adds farther the Soul shall be Rewarded according to that Perfection which it arrives to in this Life therefore Death is not to be hastned because it can never be so perfect but that it may receive addition tho' a Man may have risen to a very high Pitch of Goodness and Virtue yet he may rise higher sâ—…ill wherefore he that cuts off his Life cuts off his Improvement and so despises the Reward which is propos'd to him which being a great Contempt of the Proposer must be the occasion of severe Punishment To these let me add an Excellent Author * Milton's Paradise Lost. lib. 10. of our own who makes the first Man upon his Wife 's advising to kill themselves in their great Distress to argue thus from the Light of Nature If thou covet Death as utmost End Of Misery so thinking to evade The Penalty pronounc'd doubt not but God Hath wiselier Arm'd his Vengeful Power than so To be forestall'd much more I fear least Death So snatch'd will not exempt us from the Pain We are by Doom to pay rather such acts Of Contumacy will Provoke the Highest To make Death in us live then let us seek Some safer Resolution But the Reasonableness of this will be more plain if we consider what must be the Ground of Reward and Punishment in General and the Nature of the Crime before us What is it then that shall make the Soul to be admitted into a State of Liberty Ease or Happiness but the endeavouring faithfully to fulfil that End for which Life was bestow'd by performing every part of its Duty towards God our Neighbour or our selves and this too notwithstanding the worst Evils and Calamities which can possibly befall us On the other side what shall expose the Soul to the Slavery of extreme Torment but the forsaking of this End the refusing to submit to the Will of God the Injuring our Neighbour and encouraging others to do so now if the doing any one of these things must make a Man liable to Punishment what must it do to be guilty of them all and much more by Self-murther For this is the 〈◊〉 destruction of God's particular Propriety the Positive Renouncing that End for which he gives Man Life the doing what is destructive to Civil Society the Overthrowing the Laws both of God and Man to Rebel against Providence and break out into Eternity Self-murther is the doing all this and what is still more the doing it wilfully and advisedly and therefore what Punishment shall be due to it I hope the greatness of this Crime appears so plain by this time every Argument which has been us'd for the proving it unlawful proving this also that no new Arguments will be requir'd of me to demonstrate it and therefore I shall only confirm this by these two Considerations 1. That this is the least capable of 〈◊〉 of any ill Action whatsoever or 〈◊〉 't is the positive 〈◊〉 of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 been allow'd as a most 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Duty by the Light of 〈◊〉 by which 't is plain also that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for something that is past and of Resolution of not doing the same thing for the time to come but the Gentleman with whom we have had so much to do after he has brought in a maim'd account of Repentance under the covert of a venerable Name viz. * See Biath pag. 32. This is true Repentance to do no more to speak no more those things whereof you Repent and not be ever Sinning and ever asking Pardon tells us such a Repentance as this our Case is capable enough of Was ever any thing so trivial What kind of Repentance Why a Man is capable of keeping the Resolution of Killing himself no more after he has once done so Can this be in earnest but this is absurd as to both parts of Repentance for this is either Sorrow for what is past supposes some thing
to have been done amiss whereas here Repentance goes beforehand and the Person is reckon'd to have confess'd the Crime before he has committed it or else 't is Resolution against doing something that is Evil but how can this be when the Person is Positively resolv'd for it this is strange trisling with a Man 's Own Conscience and with God and what can be more provoking than to know the Evil of an Action to foresee that it wants Repenâ—…ance to be sensible that it ought to be abhorr'd and avoided and yet to do it for all that If it be said that a Man may have time to Repent afterwards and that he may possibly contrive his Death accordingly Alas what hopes can he draw srom hence to design sirst positively to commit that which one acknowledges to be Evil and to design to ask forgiveness when 't is committed is an undeniable Evidence that a Man transgresses Presumptuously against the Light of his own Reason for the more necessary that he thinks Repentance is the more clear sense must he have of the Evil of the thing which he is about to do and therefore the greater must his Punishment be 2. The Person who is guilty of Self-murther can receive no Punishment in this World which he can be sensible of and therefore shall be punish'd the more hereafter I have shewn already * Sup. pag. 26 27 that among other things which prove the unlawfulness of Self-murther 't is a greater Crime in respect of the Publick than the Murther of another Man because some satisfaction may be made for that especially to the Publick by the forfeiture of the Persons own Life and by the terrour of his Example But in Self-murther there can be nothing of this the Offender evades all sensible Punishment he makes no Satisfaction considerable for despising and breaking the Laws of his Country and encouraging others to do so He brings Horrour Confusion Infamy and Poverty often upon his forsaken Family and yet does it often upon this very Account that he cannot be Punish'd here and therefore will undoubtedly suffer in a more dreadful manner hereafter Thus I have considered the several Significations of the Word Liberty as a pretence for Self-murther and shewed what that Liberty is in General which Man has as to his own Actions That no Evil which oppresses the Body can be destructive while Reason remains to the Liberty of the Soul That no Sickness or Pain whatsoever can be any sign that God gives the Sufferer Liberty to destroy himself That he who does so to obtain Liberty or Ease from any such Evils shall fall into a state of greater Slavery and therefore that Liberty in what sense soever is an unreasonable pretence for Self-murther And now I have gone through what I propos'd laid down the Principles upon which I take Self-murther to be unlawful Answer'd such Objections as I thought most strong against them and withal examin'd those General Prejudices by which People are usually misled in this Matter I will not trouble the Reader with any more particular view of what has been said If he wants this he may have it by turning back to the Contents But hitherto we have been led only by Natural Reason if the Principles which we have argued from were brought to what is revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures the unlawfulness of this Act would quickly appear more Plainly For as to God's Propriety in Man There we may find in how wonderful a manner this is increas'd by the Death of our Crucifi'd Lord who purchas'd us by his Blood made us Members of his Body uniting us to Himself by his Holy Spirit Thus too as to the end of Humane Life there our Reason is instructed what to believe and our Wills what to do and encourag'd to obey accordingly by the assistance of the same Spirit And although we may see there that the best of Men in the following of this End shall be expos'd to great Afflictions to Poverty Sickness Disgrace nay sometimes to Death it self yet we may see also the great advantages of such Sufferings by the improvement of ourSouls and the increase of our Reward And above all for the enabling us to undergo them in their worst Extremes we have there set before us the most Excellent Example of Patience Constancy and Humility in the meek and forgiving Son of God What Contempt or Disgrace what Torture of the Body could ever equal what He Suffer'd in his Death What Sorrow and Anxiety what Torments of the Mind could ever be compar'd to what He felt in the Garden and yet with what Duty and Resignation did He submit to all O my Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from Me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt These Blessed Words alone if rightly consider'd might afford in what Circumstances soever the most Sovereign Preservative against this dreadful crime of Self-murther But Arguments of this kind may if it be found necessary be insisted upon more conveniently hereafter FINIS