devoted themselves to death, we do not find the least word of
improbation against examples of this kind? nay, what is more, the
instance of Samson's voluntary death is authorized by a miracle, by
which he revenges himself of his enemies. Would this miracle have
been displayed to justify a crime; and would this man, who lost his
strength by suffering himself to be seduced by the allurements of a
woman, have recovered it to commit an authorised crime, as if God
himself would practice deceit on men?

     Thou shalt do no murder, says the decalogue; what are we to
infer from this? if this commandment is to be taken literally, we
{85} must not destroy malefactors, nor our enemies: and Moses, who
put so many people to death, was a bad interpreter of his own
precept. If there are any exceptions, certainly the first must be in
favour of suicide, because it is exempt from any degree of violence
and injustice, the two only circumstances which can make homicide
criminal; and because nature, moreover, has, in this respect, thrown
sufficient obstacles in the way.

     But still they tell us, we must patiently endure the evils
which God inflicts, and make a merit of our sufferings. This
application however of the maxims of Christianity, is very ill
calculated to satisfy our judgment. Man is subject to a thousand
troubles, his life is a complication of evils, and he seems to have
been born only to suffer. Reason directs him to shun as many of
these evils as he can avoid; and religion, which is never in
contradiction to reason, approves of his endeavours. But how
inconsiderable is the account of these evils, in comparison with
those he is obliged to endure against his will? It is with {86}
respect to these, that a merciful God allows man to claim the merit
of resistance; he receives the tribute he has been pleased to
impose, as a voluntary homage, and he places our resignation in this
life to our profit in the next. True repentance is derived from
nature; if man endures whatever he is obliged to suffer, he does, in
this respect, all that God requires of him; and if any one is so
inflated with pride, as to attempt more, he is a madman, who ought
to be confined, or an impostor, who ought to be punished. Let us,
therefore, without scruple, fly from all the evils we can avoid;
there will still be too many left for us to endure. Let us, without
remorse, quit life itself when it becomes a torment to us, since it
is in our own power to do it, and that in so doing we neither offend
God nor man. If we would offer a sacrifice to the supreme Being, is
it nothing to undergo death? let us devote to God that which he
demands by the voice of reason, and into his hands let us peaceably
surrender our souls.

     Such are the liberal precepts which good {87} sense dictates to
every man, and which religion authorises.[9] Let us apply these
precepts to ourselves. You have condescended to disclose your mind
to me; I am acquainted with your uneasiness; you do not endure less
than myself; and your troubles, like mine, are incurable; and they
are the more remediless, {88} as the laws of honour are more
immutable than those of fortune. You bear them, I must confess, with
fortitude. Virtue supports you; advance but one step farther, and
she disengages you. You intreat me to suffer; my lord, I dare
importune you to put an end to your sufferings; and I leave you to
judge which of us is most dear to the other.

     Why should we delay doing that which we must do at last? shall
we wait till old age and decrepid baseness attach us to life, after
they have robbed it of its charms, and till we are doomed to drag an
infirm and decrepid body with labour, and ignominy, and pain? We are
at an age when the soul has vigour to disengage itself with ease
from its shackles, and when a man knows how to die as he ought; when
farther advanced in years, he suffers himself to be torn from life,
which he quits with reluctance. Let us take advantage of this time,
when the tedium of life makes death desirable; and let us tremble
for fear it should come in all its horrors, at the moment when we
could wish to avoid it. I remember {89} the time, when I prayed to
heaven only for a single hour of life, and when I should have died
in despair if it had not been granted. Ah! what a pain it is to
burst asunder the ties which attach our hearts to this world, and
how advisable it is to quit life the moment the connection is
broken! I am sensible, my lord, that we are both worthy of a purer
mansion; virtue points it out, and destiny invites us to seek it.
May the friendship which invites us preserve our union to the latest
hour! O what a pleasure for two sincere friends voluntary to end
their days in each others arms, to intermingle their latest breath,
and at the same instant to give up the soul which they shared in
common! What pain, what regret can infect their last moments? What
do they quit by taking leave of the world? They go together; they
quit nothing. {90}

                            LETTER CXV.

                                  

                              ANSWER.

                                  

                                  

     THOU art distracted, my friend, by a fatal passion; be more
discreet; do not give counsel, whilst thou standest so much in need
of advice. I have known greater evils than yours. I am armed with
fortitude of mind; I am an Englishman, and not afraid to die; but I
know how to live and suffer as becomes a man. I have seen death near
at hand, and have viewed it with too much indifference to go in
search of it.