ages
died. The parents appeared inconsolable; and the father soon sank under
his grief. From the moment of his death, the mother was cheerful. On
being asked what had cheered her, she said she had mourned for her
child's loneliness in the world of spirits: now he had his father with
him, and she was happy for them both. What a divine spirit of
self-sacrifice is here! but there is scarcely a superstition sincerely
entertained which does not tell as plain a tale. Those which express
fear indicate moral abasement, greater or less. Those which express
trust and love indicate greater or less moral elevation and purity.

* * * * *

The practice of Suicide is worth the contemplation of a traveller, as
affording some clear indications as to religious sentiment. Suicide in
the largest sense is here intended,--the voluntary surrender of life
from any cause.

There has been a stage in the moral advancement of every nation when
suicide, in one form or another, has been considered a duty; and it is
impossible to foresee the time when it will cease to be so considered.
It was a necessary result from the idea of honour once prevalent in the
most civilized societies, when men and women destroyed themselves to
avoid disgrace. The defeated warrior, the baffled statesman, the injured
woman, destroyed themselves when the hope of honour was gone. In the
same age, as in every succeeding one, there have been suicides who have
devoted themselves for others, presenting a series of tales which may
almost redeem the disgraces which darken the annals of the race.--The
most illustrious of the Christian Fathers, immersed in the superstitions
about the transcendent excellence of the virtue of chastity which have
extinguished so many other virtues, and injured the morals of society to
this day, by sacrificing other principles to fanaticism on this,
permitted women to kill themselves to escape from violence which left
the mind in its purity, and the will in its rectitude.--Martyrdom for
the truth existed also before the venerating eyes of men,--the noblest
kind of suicide: it attracted glory to itself from the faithful heart of
the race; and, from its thus attracting glory, it became a means of
gaining glory, and sank from being martyrdom to be a mere fanatical
self-seeking. While the spirit of persecution was roaming abroad,
seeking whom it might devour, there were St. Theresas roaming abroad,
seeking to be devoured,