SUICIDE IN HISTORY

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 82, 31 December 1926, Page 4

SUICIDE IN HISTORY

USUALLY RESORT OF GENIUS In’fiction, writers have ever employed suicide as a handy and satisfactory means of disposing of the villain. _ In that respect fiction differs from history (says “John o' London’s Weekly”). On searching the pages of. history, _ one salient fact emerges: the famous suicides have almost invariably been beings of high intellectual powers. Hannibal was undoubtedly a military genius. Napoleon classed him as one of the three greatest soldiers the world had known. Moreover, the genius of Hannibal was not confined to warfare; after his Roman campaigns he proved himself to 1 be a singularly wise and powerful magistrate in Carthage. Yet the great mind that had conceived such victory-bringing strategy in the past recoiled at the very thought of capture.; Rather thdn surrender to his enemies he swallowed the poison, which, with characteristic foresight, he had long carried in his ring. Cleopatra ranks among the world’s great beauties. But she was more than a great beauty; she was a woman who by her genius succeeded in holding and wielding the sceptre of Egypt for over 20 years. Yet, in spite of wealth and power, she took her life for love of faithless Antony. To pass from ancient to .modern times.- Within little more than a century three military leaders of undisputed genius took their jives. Lord Clive, founder of our Indian Empire, gave early signs that his was not the nature to be content with the mere ..clerkship that his impoverished father obtained for him. We are told that at seven he was “out of measure addicted to fighting,” whereas as a youth at the siege of Pondicherry he was “turbulent with his equals.” His great victory at Arcot and his glorious career in his country’s service proved that he was a king among men; his reward was an inquiry into his alleged corrupt practices, during which he exclaimed, “By God, Mr. Chairman, I am astonished at my own moderation!” Notwithstanding the fact that the committee of inquiry found that Clive had “rendered great and meritorious services to the State,” the lure of death was too strong for this man of genius. He died by his own hand when only 49. Marshal Berthier was the most trusted of Napoleon’s ‘generals; he will stand for all tilpe as the greatest chief of in history. He had had a distinguished career as a Royalist staff officer before throwing in bis lot with the Revolution, and had reached the very pinnacle of military fame when the Napoleonic crash came. Napoleon once expressed astonishment at the unique friendly relationship between himself and Berthier. “Ah!” sneered Tallyrand, “he has faith in you." Berthier lost faith, but his loyalty remained steadfast. When the Hundred Days dawned this great spldier was on the horns of a dilemma. His loyalty to France bade him oppose Napoleon; ' his loyalty to the Corsican bade him oppose what he believed to be to the interests of France. Rather than be a traitor to either, lie took his life. Poor Hector Macdonald rose froni a humble post in a draper’s shop to be General “Fighting Mac,” the hero of the British Army. His military genius in India, Egypt, and South Africa won him countless honours, and the thanks of Parliament. Recalled from the East to refute a charge preferred against him, be shot himself in a Prussian hotel on the way home. All these had reasons for preferring death There remain two “mystery" suicides Why was the lure of the unknown so strong to Thomas Chatterton and King Ludwig of Bavaria ? Poor Ludwig was called mad—indeed, was certified to be insane—because lie preferred the life of an ordinary mortal to ‘that of an unwilling king Eccentric lie was, but there was genius in the man also, for was he not the first in all Europe to perceive the mighty worth of Wagner’s music? Had there-been no Ludwig, there might have been tio “Ring.” Yet the poor, unhappy monarch could ndt resist the beckoning finger of death luring him into (lie waters of the Bavarian lake. Thoma? Chatterton’s mother described him as “little better than an absolute fool.” Posterity has labelled him a genius. His first poem was published when he was 10; during the following eight years he hoaxed the public with spurious “antique poetry” which he had

“discovered”; now they are classics of the English language. Yet, when only 18, he beard the siren voice of death, and arsenic helped his willing soul to follow.