Encyclopaedia Britannica [20, 4 ed.]

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Edinburgh, March 6, 1810. THE FOLLOWING

NEW WORKS WILL SPEEDILY BE PUBLISHED, BY

ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO. EDINBURGH, AND

CONSTABLE, HUNTER, PARK, & HUNTER, LONDON.

I. CALEDONIA: or an Account, Historical and Topographical, of North Britain, from the most antient to the present times. By GEORGE CHALMERS, ESQ. F. R. S. Vol. II. Quarto. *** The firet Tulrnne of the above work published (1807), contains the Antient History of North Britain, •ihe second volume, wfilcir appear in March 1810, will detail, after an introduc ory chapier ot 26 sections, the Local History or tio «.Uf!rai sliiies ; beginning with Roxburgh, the most southern snire, and pioceediug, successively, to Berwick, Haouiiuituii, i^a.nhurgh, Linlithgow Reeblesi Selkirk. Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Wigton, and perhaps Ayrshire: and the Local History of each shire will be given in eight distinct sections1. Of its Name ; 2. Of its Situation anfl Extent 3. Of its Natural Objects ; 4. Of its Antiquities; 5. Of its Establishment as a Shire ; 6. Of its Civil History; 7. Of its Agriculture, Manufactures, Trade; 8. Of its Ecclesiastical History; the account of each shire concluding with a Supplemental State, which contains, in a Tabular form, the Names of the several parishes, and the number of their Ministers; their Extent and Population in 1756 1791 and 1801; with the Ministers’ Stipends in 1755 and 1798, and their Patrons; forming, what Scotland does not now possess, a sort of Liber Regis. This most interesting work will be completed by the publication of two other volumes. The third will contain the Local History and description of the remaining counties, on ihe plan stated above. The fourth volume will consist of a Topographical Dictionary, containing whatever is interestin'*- relative to all places and objects of any importance in this part of the United Kingdom. This volume will be preceded by an Historical View of the different Languages spoken in Scotland.

II. The GENEALOGY of the EARLS of SUTHERLAND, from the origin of that illustrious House to the year 1630, with the History of the Northern parts of Scotland during that period, by Sir ROBERT GORDON of Gordonstone, Baronet, continued to the year 1651, by GILBERT GORDON of Sallagh. Published from the Original Manuscript in the possession of the Marchioness of STAFFORD. Handsomely printed in Folio. *** The public is here presented not only with an accurate genealogical history of the antient house of Sutherland, hut also with a minute detail of the principal transactions which occurred tim ing a period of nearly-600 years, particularly in the counties of Sutherland and Caithness, and the Highlands of Scotland in general. Tne history of these parts, it is presumed, will receive more elucidation from this work than from any which the public is at present possessed oft The whole has been carefully transcribed by the kind permission of the Marchioness of Stafford, from the original manuscript preserved at Dunfobin Castle. An Appendix will he added, containing an inventory of writs of the Earldom, and the work will be illustrated by several Engravings.

III. The PEERAGE of SCOTLAND; containing an fl Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom, from their Origin to the present Generation.^ Collected from the Public Records, and Antient Chartularies of this Nation, the Charters an(i other Writings of the Nobility, and the Works of our best Historians. By Sir iAouticr Continued to the present Gf Glenbervie, Baronet. time by J. P. VY OOD, Esq. Handsomely Printed in Two Volumes Folio, with the Arms of each Family beautifully Engraven. *** A few Copies arc printed on Large Paper, forming Two Superb Volumes with First Impressions of the Plates; and as the Number printed is very limited, Noblemen and Gentlemen who wish to secure copies, are respectfully requested to leave their Names, either with ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE and COMPANY, Edinburgh, or with CONSTABLE, HUNTER, PARR, and HUNTER, 10, Ludgate Street, London, where Specimens of the Work may now be seen. Ihe Plan of the Work is fully detailed in the following Advertisement from ihe Editor.—The Peers of Scotland, the Representatives of dormant, attainted, and extinct titles, and persons connected with them are respectfully informed, that this edition is now in the press. 2 The

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Works speedily to be Published

The first edition was published in 1764. In the introduction, Sir Robert Douglas thus expresses himself: a The necessity of publishing a New Peerage of Scotland, and u the utility of it, is acknowledged by all. The Compiler of the present Work has attempted it on a more regular and accurate plan than has hitherto appeared. How 6i far he has succeeded, the world must judge. But if the most assiduous application for many jears; if a painful inquiry into the public records and antient chartularies; if an unwearied search after every degree of knowledge necessary for carrying on so tc arduous a task,—if these have any merit, or deserve the favour of the public, the Au comprising those excluded from this selection, on account

VUI TheH^TORY and CHRONICLES at SCOTLAND, by ROBERT LIND, of I itscottie. Edited from Antient and Authentic Manuscripts, by JOHN GRAHAM DAL YELL. Esq. One Volume Quarto, handsomely printed, with a Portrait of King James V. from an Original Picture.

SAY

n d A T DISASTERS at SEA, according to -ic Accounts, An tieu t andf Modern. Ihrce Volumes Octavo.

the most An then, N.

The

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Works speedily to be Published, &Y«

X. The DRAMATIC WORKS of JoHNFoun; with an Introduction and Explanatory Notes. By HENRY WEBER,, Esq. In Two Volumes Octavo. *** Tliis author was coeval with Fletcher and Massinger, and others who succeeded Shakespeare. He imitated the latter with a success sufficient to provoke the envy of Ben Johnson, and to excite great admiration from his contemporaries. Notwithstanding their great merit, Ins plays have never, with the exception of two, been reprinted, and are now, for the first time, collected in a uniform edition,

XI.

HISTORY of the REFORMATION in SCOTLAND. By GEORGE D. D. Minister of Laurencekirk, Author of u An Illustration of the General Evidence establishing the Reality of Christ’s Resurrection.” Three Volumes Octavo. COOK,

XII. RESEARCHES into the ORIGIN and AFFINITY of the GREEK and TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. By A. MURRAY, F. A.S.E. and Secretary for Foreign Correspondence. One Volume Quarto. *** The immediate object of this work is, to illustrate the early state and connexion of these languages, on accurate and philosophical principles. The light which i- mins and them to admire fuicide on particular occafions as honour- death is common in that empire. The devotees of the Oentoos. able. Accuftomed to abftinence, mortification, and idol Amida drown themfelves in his prefence, attended the contempt of death, they confidered it as a mark of by their relations and friends, and feveral of the priefls, •weaknefs of mind to fubmit to the infirmities of old age. who all confider the devoted perfon as a faint who is ftay1iaps We are informed that the modern Gentoos, who ftill in gone to everlafting happinefs. Such being the fuppofed nyi, 0fthe moft things conform to the cuftoms of their anceftors, honours appropriated to a voluntary death, it is not fur- Buijt and ^ when old and infirm, are frequently brought to the prifing that the Japanefe anxioully cheriflr a contempt oi^eji Invoi ’ '* banks of rivers, particularly to thofe of the Ganges, that life. Accordingly it is a part of the education of their they may die in its facred ftreams, which they believe children “ to repeat poems in which the virtues of their A anceftors VOL. XX. P.r. I. Suicide.

S Suicide.

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anceflors are celebrated, an utter contempt of life is inculcated, and filicide is fet up as the molt heroic of actions.” A notion feems alfo to have prevailed among the ancient Scythian tribes, that it was pufillanimous and ignoble for a man whofe ftrength was wafted with difeafe or infirmity, fo as to be ulelefs to the community, to continue to live. It was reckoned an heroic aftion vo'luntaiily to feek that death which he had not the good fortune to meet in the Held cf battle. Perverfion of moral, feeling does not fpring up, we hope, fpontaneoully in any nation, but is produced by fome peculiarities of fituation. A w’andering people like the Scythians, who roamed about from place to place, might often find it impoflible to attend the fick, or to fupply from their precarious ftore the wants of the aged and infirm. The aged and infirm themfelves, no longer able to fupport the chara&er of warriors, would find themfelves unhappy. In this way the praftice of putting to death fuch perfons as were ufelefs to the community might originate, and afterwards be inculcated as honourable ; but he who put an end to his infirmities by his own hand, obtained a chara&er ftill more illuflrious. J /? and ScanThe tribes of Scandinavia, which vvorlhipped Odin dinavians, the “ father of {laughter,” were taught, that dying in the field of battle was the moft glorious event that could befal them. This was a maxim fuited to a warlike nation. In order to eftablilh it more firmly in the mind, all were excluded from Odin’s feaft of heroes who died a natural death. In Afgardia flood the hall of Odin ; where, feated on a throne, he received the fouls of his departed heroes. This place was called Valhalla, fignifying “ the hall of thofe who died by violence.” Natural death being thus deemed inglorious, and puniihed with exclufion from Valhalla the paradife of Odin, he who could not enjoy death in the field of battle was led to feek it by his own hands when ficknefs or old age began to affail him. In fuch a nation fuicide muft have been very common. It prevailAs fuicide prevailed much in the decline of the Roed much in the decline man empire, when luxury, licentioufnefs, profligacy, of the Ro- and falfe philofophy, pervaded the world, fo it contiman emnued to prevail even after Chriftianity was eftabliihed. pixe.The Romans, when they became converts to Chriftianity,. did not renounce their ancient prejudices and falfe opinions, but blended them with the new religion which they embraced. The Gothic nations alfo, who fubverted the Roman empire, while they received the Chriftian religion, adhered to many of their former opinions and manners. Among other criminal practices which were retained by the Romans and their conquerors, that of fuicide was one 5 but the principles from which it proceeded w*ere explained, fo as to appear more agreeable to the new fyftem which they had efpoufed. If was committed, either to fecure from the danger of apoftacy, to procure the. honour of martyrdom, or to preferve the ■Too com- crown of virginity. mon in mo When we defeend to modern times, we lament to dern times, find fo. many inftances of fuicide among the moft poliftibut not more fo in td nations, who have the beft opportunities of knoivinoEngland the atrocity of that unnatural crime. The Englifh have than in olong been reproached by foreigners for the frequent ther councommiffion of it; and the “ gloomy month of Novemtries, ber” has been ftigmatized as the feafon when it is moft eornmon. But this difgraceful imputation, we think,

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may be juftly attributed, not to the greater frequency Sulcidei of the crime in England than in other places, but to the u-—v——^ cuftom of publilhing in the neivfpapcrs every inftance or fuicide which is known. Mr Moore, who lately publilhed a full inquiry into this fubject, was at great pains to obtain accurate information concerning the perpetration of this crime in different countries. Mercier, 'r who wrote in .1782, fays, that the annual number filicides in Paris was then about 150. He does not tell 10 us how he came by the information ; but we have the The numb er fui authority of the Abbe Fontana for afferting, that morePa . perfons put an end to their lives in Paris than in Lon" don. I he Abbe had this information from the lieute-don, Genant of the .ponce. Mr Moore was informed by oneneva) &c. of the principal magiftrates of Geneva, that in that ci- accorchng ty, which contains about 25,000 inhabitants, the ave-!° the beft rage number of fuicides is about eight. The average accounts‘ number of fuicides, from what caufe foever, for the laft 28 years, has been 32 each year for London, Southwark, and Weftminfterr In Edinburgh, which contains 80,000 inhabitants, we are convinced the average number of fuicides does not exceed four. Mr Moore found, from the accounts with which he was favoured by the feveral coroners of the county of Kent, that for the laft 18 years the number has been upwards of 32 each year. Kent is fuppofed to contain 200,000 inhabitants, and London 800,000. It is eafy therefore to fee, that in the metropolis many inftances of fuicide muft occur which are never the fubjeft of legal inquiry, and confequently never made known to the world. Whereas-in the country towns and villages of Kent it h fcarcely poflible to conceal fuch an adlion as felf-murder from the knowledge of the whole neighbourhood. The calculation therefore refpeefting Kent we may receive as true, while we muft increafe the average number in London very confiderably. Mr Moore computes the average number of fuicides in England every year at a thoufand ; but the principles on which he founds this opinion are fo imperfeft and vague, that we do not tnink it can be depended on as coming near the truth. It might lead to fome interefting conclufions to com-jn wj*t pare together, not only the number of fuicides in differ-rank and ent countries, but alfo the rank and principles, the fex fituation and age, of thofe unhappy perfons by whom it has been fukkL i* committed. Mercier fays, that at Paris it was the lower moftcoflv* ranks who were moft commonly guilty of it; that it was*" ^ moftly committed in garrets or hired lodgings ; and that it proceeded from poverty and oppreflion. A great many, he fays, wrote letters to the magiftrates before their Moore'? death. Mr Moore’s correfpondent from Geneva inform- ^ul1 Ing ed him, that from the year 1777 to 1787 more than \ooq7!incvltf fuicides were committed in Geneva 5 that two-thirds of ofSuUidt. thefe unfortunate perfons were men •, that few of the clerical order have been known to commit it \ and that it is not fo much the end of an immoral, irreligious, diffipated life, as the effedl of melancholy and poverty. By the information obtained from the coroners of Kent, it appears, that of the 32, three-fourths have deflroyed themfelves by hanging ; that the proportion of males to females has been about two-thirds of the former; that no. one feafon of the year is more d’ftinguifhed for this crime than another ; and that fuicide is upon the increafe. Our accounts refpefling the city of London are very imperfeft; but we think ourfelves intitled to conclude, that fuicide is more common among the great and wealthy

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wealthy than among the lower ranks, and that It is ufually the effedl of gaming and diffipation. Thofe who have inquired into the caufes of fuicide In Phyfical Britain have enumerated many phylical as well as moral cauusto whi^h it caufes. They have afcribed it to the variablenefs of our has been climate, to the great ufe of animal food, to ifrong fpiriafcribed in tuous liquors, to tea, and to the fulphureous exhalations Britain. of the pit coal ufed as fuel, which are faid to produce a depreiTion of fpirits and nervous affections. Ol our climrte, we have no caufe to complain, nor have we any reafon to impute any of our vices to its influence. There are many climates much more unfavourable where fuicide is fcarcely known. That an exceffive quantity of gr>. is animal food, or of ftrong liquors, or of tea, will powerfully affect the human conititution, we will not deuv ; but betore we coniider theie as caules, it muii fiirt be determined, whether thofe who are guilty of {'elf-murder be much addicted to them ; and if they are, whether there be not other caufes much more violent in their nature which have operated on their mind j for we ought not raflily to attribute vicious effeCts to any of thofe things which feem to have been created on purpofe for the comfort or convenience of man. We are rather lurprifed to find that coal is mentioned even as a diilant caufe of fuicide ; for it is one of the bleflmgs of our iiland ) and a good coal fire w-e have always found rather conducive to good ipirits than injurious to them. 13 And moral Among the moral caufes which are fuppoied to co itaufes. operate in producing fuicide in Britain, the freedom of our conftitui ion and laws is reckoned one. 1 hat rational liberty ihould have any tendency to encourage crimes of any kind, a Chriftian philofopher can never allow ; for fuch an opinion is totally difcountenanced by enlightened views of nature. Mercier has afcribed the frequency of fuicide in Paris to the oppreflion of the late government. Now it appears fomewhat extraordinary, that fuicide in one country fhould be occafioned by liberty, and in another by the want of it. One of thefe opinions muff be falie, and it is furely not difficult todiftin1 guiih which. 4 . Not owing Humanity would in moft cafes difpofe us to conclude, always to that fuicide is the effett of infanity, were there not fo ' kdariity; many infiances of cool deliberate felf murder. I hat fuicide is an unnatural crime, which none but a madman UniciJs.

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would commit, compaffion indeed may fuppofe *, but the _ Suicide. ^ murder of a wife, a father, or a child, are alfo unnatti- '‘"•“’V—^ ral •, yet compaffion does not teach us in all cafes to aferibe fuch a crime to madnefs. Paffion may often arife to fuch a height of outrage as to be fcarcely diftinguilhable from madnefs in its fymptoms and its effefts; yet we always make a diliin&ion between that madnefs which arifes from difeaie and that which is owing to a violent peturballon of mind. If a perfon be capable of managing his wordly affairs, of making a will, and of dhpofing of his property, immediately before his death, or after he formed the refolution of dying by his owm hands, fuch a man is not to be confidered as infane. . I5 But though a regard for truth prevents us from aferib-tut ofteft ing fuicide in all cafes to infanity, we mufi: aferibe it ei- alfo to ther to infanity or to vicious paffion. Thefe two divi-^ous Pa*" fions, we imagine, will comprehend every fpecies of it, ‘ whether arifing from melancholy, teedium vitce or ennm\ difappointment in fchemes of ambition or love, pride, gaming, or a defire to avoid the ihame of a public execution ; paffions which are often increafed by falfe views of God, of man, and of a future Hate, arifing from deifm and infidelity. If tbefe be the caufes of fuicide in modern time, what a difgraceful contrail do they form to thofe principles which adluated many of the ancient philofophers, the Gentoos, the Japanefe, and the worihippers of Odin ? When they committed fuicide, they committed it from principle, from a belief of its lawfulnefs, and the hope of being rewarded for what they judged an honourable facrifice. But in modern times, we are forry to fay, when it is not the eff.dl of madnefs, it is the effedl of vice : and when it is the effedl of vice, it proves that the vicious paffions are then indulged to the bigheft degree •, for there is no crime which a man can commit that is fo ftrong a fymptom of the violence of particular paffions. It is from not attending to this circumftance, that it has been found fo difficult to refute the arguments in favour of fuicide. If the criminality of fuicide be confined merely to the violent action, many apologies may be made for it; but if it be confidered folely as the effedl of vice, as the ftrongeft fymptom of ungoverned paffien, he who undertakes its defence muft undertake the defence of what all men will loudly condemn (A). A 2 It

(A) Several of the heathens entertained a very juft fenfe of the atrocity of fuicide. Quintus Curtius introduces Darius with the following fpeech, when he had loft hi;, empire : “ I wait (fays the unfortunate monarch) the iffue of my fate : you wonder, perhaps, that I do not terminate my own life ; but I choofe rather to die by the crime of another than by my orvn. We cannot refufe ourfelves the pleafure of prefenting to our readers the following beautiful paffage upon this fubjedl from Titzoiborne’s letters * : I am perfuaded (fays this elegant wuiter) this difguft of life is frequently in- * Letter dulged out of a principle of mere vanity. It is efteemed as a mark of uncommon refinement, and as placing a man is* above the ordinary level of his fpecies, to feem fuperior to the vulgar feelings of happinefs. I rue good fenfe, however, moft certainly confiils not in defpifing, but in managing our ftock of life to the beft advantage, as a cheerful acquiefcence in the meafures of Providence is one of the ftrongeft fymptoms of a wTell conftituted mind. Self-svearinefs is a circumiiance that ever attends folly ; and to condemn our being is the greateft, and indeed the peculiar infirmity, of human nature. It is a noble fentiment which Tully puts into the mouth of Cato, in his '1 reatife upon old Age \ 'Non lubet mihi (fays that venerable Roman) dcplorare vitam, quod multi, et 11 doSh,fcepe fecerunt ; tie-

q te me vixijfe pcenitet : quoviam ita vixi, ut non frujlra me natum ex'Jhmcm.

“ It is in the oow’er, indeed, of but a very fmall portion of mankind to aft the fame glorious part that afforded fuch high fatisfaflion to this diftinguiihed patriot; but the number is yet far more inconfiderable of thofe who cannot, in any ftation, fecure themfelves a fufficient fund of complacency to render life juftly valuable. Who is it that is .glaced out of the reach of the higheft of all gratifications, thofe of the generous affe&ions, and that cannot provide J for

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Suicide,

It is unnecefTary then to enter particularly into the arguments of thofe cafuifts who have undertaken the deUnnecef- ipicable office of advocates for the crime of filicide, fary to en- rheir talents might furely have been employed more ter mto the ufefully to the world, and more honourably to them•^ves’. t^an 'n pleading for a crime, which, if it were committed by every man to whom their principles would make it lawful, would totally deftroy fomc of the nobleff: virtues, fortitude, patience, and refignation ; nay, would deffroy fociety itfelf, and teach us to defpife the opinion that this world is a ftate of preparation for another. “ I came into life without my own confent, and may I not quit it at pleafure ?” (fay the advocates for fuicide). If, becaufe we came into life without our own confent, we might quit it at pleafure, why may we not fpend our life alfo as we pleafe ? Why may we not rob and murder, and commit every kind of crime, if mere inclination is to be the rule of aftion ! Thus upon the principles of fuicide the highwayman and murderer may reafon, and every man may find a fufficient apology for any crime which he is tempted to commit. Or this abfurdity may be otherwife anfwered: As we came into life without our own confent, we muff: have come with the confent of fome other being ; and logic fays, that with the confent of that Being only can we lawfully quit it. 7 r great It is fufficient fhortly to fay, that fuicide is contrary Its s* criminality to the ftrongeft principle of the human conftitution, felfand impru- prefervation j that it is rebellion againft God ; that it is denm cruelty to the feelings and reputation, and often takes away the fubfiffence of a wife, a child, or a father ; that it proves a want of fortitude to brave misfortunes ; that it delivers only from imagined to plunge into real evils. We may add, that almoft every inftance of fuicide of which we have heard was ralh, imprudent, and premature, interrupted a ufeful life, or prevented a more honourable death. Had Cato’s pride permitted him to yield himfelf to the generofity of Caefar, his chara&er and his influence might have contributed to retard the flavery of his country, which his death tended to haften. Had Brutus and Caffius not executed the fatal refolution which they had formed, of dying by their own hands in cafe of misfortune, the battle of Philippi might have had a very different iffue. Had Hannibal furrendered himfelf to the Romans, inffead of fwallowing poifon, he would have gained more glory in braving their tortures than he won in the battle of Cannae ; for to die innocently and heroically is the greateft exertion of human fortitude. As fuicide was deemed a crime by the moft illuftrie* cafuifts ^pon this lubjedt.

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ous and virtuous of the Greek and Roman ph!lofopW§, Smcide. it was confidered as a crime by the laws, and treated L"“—v^"-/ with ignominy. By the law of Thebes filicides were t0p0,vlSu have no honours paid to their memory The Athe-nlfhltfby nian law ordained the hand which committed the deed the Greeks* to be cut off, and burned apart from the reff of the Ceans, &tc. body. The body was not buried with the ufual folem-!! i>etlte nities, but was ignominioufly thrown into fome pit. In in^Lc^es Cea and Maffilia (the ancient Marfeilles), it was confi- At tic ast dered as a crime againft the ftate 5 and it was therefore P> 5W neceffary for thole who wilhed to deftroy themfelves to obtain permiffion from the magiftrates. f Plutarch ac- f Plutarch quaints us, that an unaccountable paflion for fuicide feiz- on the Fired the Milefian virgins; from indulging which they couldtues °f not be prevented by the tears and entreaties of parents'^' and friends : but what perfuafion and entreaty could not effedl was accomplilhed by very different means. A decree was iffued, “ that the body of every young woman who hanged herfelf ftiould be dragged naked through the ftreets by the fame rope with which (he had committed the deed.” This wife edi