In illustration of this point, he
quoted a remark said to have been made by a magistrate not long ago,
to the effect that in certain conditions a man was not to be blamed
for taking his own life.
His fifth reason was that circumstances arise in which some people
convince themselves that their deaths would benefit their families.
Thus, insurances may fall in, for, after one or two premiums have been
paid, many offices take the risk of suicide. Or they may know that
when they are gone, wealthy relatives will take care of their
children, who will thus be happier and better off than these are while
they, the fathers, live. Wrong as it may be, this, indeed, is an
attitude with which it is difficult not to feel a certain sympathy.
After all, we are told that there is no greater love than that of a
man who lays down his life for his friend, though there ran be no
doubt that the saying was not intended to include this kind of laying
down of life.
Colonel Unsworth's sixth cause was the increasing atrophy of the
public conscience. He stated that suicide is rarely preached against
from the pulpit, as drunkenness is for instance.
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