"to a determination by lot. Let him on whom the firft lot falls be killed by "him, who hath the fecond; and the fecond by the third; and thus fortune "fhall make its progrefs through us all. Nor thus fhall any of us perish by his "own hand, except the laft man, in whom it would be moft ignominious to "think of faving himfelf." This propofal being accepted, he alfo drew his lot "with the reft. He, who had the firft lot, cheerfully fubmitted his neck to "him, who had the fecond, and fo on and the thoughts that their general "(whom they greatly loved) would die among them and with them, made them eager for their turn. It happened however that Jofephus and one other fol"dier only were left to draw lots; and as the general was very defirous, neither "to imbrue his own hand in the blood of his countryman, nor to be con"demned by lot himself, he perfuaded the foldier to truft his fidelity, and to "live as well as himself. Thus ended this tragical fcene, and Jofephus immediately furrendered himself up to Vefpafian."

Though Jofephus here makes ufe of all the principal Socratic arguments against suicide, and also adds fome others of his own; yet it does not at all appear, that he himself was firmly perfuaded by them. He defired at that time to live, as having predictions to declare to Vespasian, concerning his future exaltation to the Roman empire, of which there was not at that time the most distant prospect. These divine inspirations (concerning the nature of which it is not our business here to inquire) occupied his foul, and led him into actions to preserve his life, which he would otherwife probably have voluntarily facrificed on the above occafion. For this feems rather to have been his natural opinion, by the speech he made to Vefpafian foon after.. Thou, o Vefpafian, thinkeft no more than “that thou haft taken Jofephus himself captive. But I come to thee, as a meffenger of greater tidings. For had I not been fent by God to thee," I "knew what was the law of the Jews in this cafe; and how it becomes generals "to die." But I deferve to be kept under ftrait confinement, till it fhall appear, "whether I affirm any thing rafhly as coming from God." Now as it no where appears in the law of Mofes, that Jewifh commanders or foldiers were obliged to kill themselves rather than go into slavery under heathens (as is here intimated by Jofephus, and will be hereafter by Eleazar) it was only some vain doctrine or interpretation of fome rigid Jewish fectaries, and was grounded on a notion of Jewish pride, "that the Almighty was difgraced by the bondage of "his chofen people."

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There is also another paffage in Jofephus's Hiftory of the Jewish War (B.VII.), in which the commander of that day was as urgent for the complicated practice of murder and fuicide, in order to avoid falling into the enemies' hands, as Jofephus had been against it. This refpects the behaviour of Eleazar, the commander of those bands of Jews called Sicarii, who were closely befieged by the Roman general in the ftrong fortrefs of Mafada. When the Romans had now nearly destroyed all the works, and there seemed scarce a poffibility of the besieged escaping death or at least captivity, Eleazar consulted about first killing their wives and children, and then themselves; and collecting the most courageous of his companions, he addreffed them to the following purport. "Since long ago, my generous friends, we refolved never to serve the Romans, "or any other than God himself, the time is now come, which obliges us to "make that refolution good in practice. Let us not at this time bring the reproach of contradiction on ourselves. I cannot but esteem it a mark of "God's favour, that it is ftill in our power to die bravely and in a state of "freedom. It is very plain that we must be taken in a day's time, but still it " is an eligible thing to die after a glorious manner with our dearest friends. "This is what our enemies themselves cannot hinder, though they be very "defirous of taking us alive. But let us not receive our punishments from "the Romans, but from God himself, as executed by our own hands. These "will be more moderate than the other. Let our wives die before they are "abused, and our children before they have tafted of flavery. And after we "have flain them, let us beftow that glorious benefit upon one another mu"tually, and preserve ourselves in freedom, as an excellent funeral monument " for us."

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However Eleazar did not find the above harangue work the effect he expected; and there still seemed a murmuring and backwardness to execute these bloody projects. He therefore renewed his harangue in the following manner. "Truly (fays he) I was greatly mistaken in imagining, that I was leagued with brave men, who struggled hard for liberty, and with fuch as were refolved either "to live with honour or to die. But I find that you are no better than others " in virtue or courage, and are afraid of dying, though you be delivered thereby "from the greatest miferies. Yon ought to make no delay in this matter, not even to wait for advice. For the laws of our country ("but quære, where?") " and

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"and of God himself, have from ancient times, and as foon as ever we could "use our reason, continually taught us; and our forefathers have corroborated "the fame doctrine by their actions and bravery of mind;—that it is life, which " is a calamity to men, and not death. For this last affords our fouls their liberty, and fends them by a removal into their own place of purity, where they are to be infenfible of all forts of mifery." (He then enters into a difquifition of the nature of the foul and body, in which it is not neceffary here to follow him, and thus proceeds,) "But why are we afraid of death, while we are "pleased with the rest we take in fleep? and how abfurd a thing is it to pursue "after liberty while we are alive, and yet to envy it to ourselves, where it will "be eternal? We therefore, who have been brought up in a difcipline of our own, ought to become an example to others in our readiness to die. Yet if we stand in need of foreigners to support us in this matter, let us regard those "Indians, who profess the exercise of philofophy. For these good men do but unwillingly undergo the time of life, and look upon it as a necessary servitude, " and make hafte to let their fouls loofe from their bodies. Nay, when no neceffity preffes them to it or drives them upon it, these have fuch a defire of "a life of immortality, that they tell other men beforehand that they are about "to depart and nobody hinders them. But every one thinks them happy men, " and gives them letters to be carried to their familiar friends, who are dead. "So when these men have heard all, they deliver their bodies to the fire; and "in order to their getting their foul a separation from the body in the greatest

purity, they die in the midst of hymns and commendations. For their dearest "friends conduct them to their death more readily than the rest of mankind "conduct out their fellow-citizens, who are going a long journey. Who at "the fame time weep on their own accounts, but look on the others as happy perfons, foon to be made partakers of the immortal order of beings. Are we "not therefore afhamed to have lower notions than these Indians? and by our own cowardice to lay a base reproach upon the laws of our country, which are fo much defired and imitated by all mankind? But put the cafe, that we "had been brought up under another perfuafion and taught, that life is the greatest good, which men are capable of, and that death is a calamity; how"ever the circumftances we are now in ought to be an inducement to us to "bear fuch calamity courageoufly: fince it is by the will of God and by ne"ceffity that we are to die. Let us then make hafte to die bravely. Let us.

pity ourselves, our wives, our children, whilft it is in our power to show "them pity. Let us die before we become flaves to our enemies; and let us σε go out of the world with our wives and children in a state of freedom. This "is that our laws command us to do; this is that our wives and children claim at our hands; and God himself hath brought this neceffity upon us (meaning by fuffering the Romans to conquer them). Let us make hafte; and "instead of affording our enemies the pleasure they expect from getting us into "their power, let us leave them an example, which fhall at once cause their "astonishment at our deaths and their admiration of our hardinefs therein."

Now this harangue (which was probably dreffed up by Jofephus) must be fuppofed to contain the opinions of the Jews at that time concerning the propriety and necessity of fuicide on fuch occafions as the above. But the effect of whatever was faid by Eleazar is thus recorded by his hiftorian.

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"Eleazar was proceeding in his exhortation, they cut him fhort and made "hafte to do the work; being full of an ungovernable ardour of mind, and "seized with a demoniacal fury. Nor indeed when it came to the work itself "did their zeal fail. They held faft their refolution, (being convinced by the arguments of Eleazar, that they were doing a right thing in liberating their "families from the horrors of flavery) when they came into the prefence of "their wives and children; and after tenderly embracing them completed what they had refolved on, as if they had been executed by the hands of strangers. "Nor was there a man, who scrupled to perform his part in this terrible exe"cution, or who refused to defpatch (under fuch a miferable neceffity) his "nearest relations. But when they had done this, deeming it an injury to "furvive them a moment, they chose ten men by lot, who were to flay all the "reft. Each laid himfelf down by his own wife and children, and embracing "their dead bodies ftretched his neck for the executioner to perform his melancholy office. But when thefe ten men had without difmay killed all the reft, they caft lots among themfelves, who fhould kill the furviving nine "and after all himfelf. The nine offered their necks in the fame manner; " and when thefe were defpatched, the furvivor took a last survey of all the bodies, left any one fhould not be quite defpatched; but when he found they "were all dead, he first set fire to every thing around him, and then running "his fword through his own body fell down dead near his own relations. Two "ancient

"ancient women alone and five children had concealed themselves in caverns "under ground and lay hidden there, whilst the others were intent on their "mutual flaughter. The number thus flain in this fpecies of felf-murder was "nine hundred and fixty, women and children included." This calamitous flaughter was made about An. Dom. 73. One could scarce credit the relation, were it not to be recollected, that "the finger of God" (for causes well known) was in all that concerned the deftruction of the Jewish polity, the defolation of the land, and the unparalleled fufferings of its finful inhabitants.

It is now time to close this part of our inquiry into the opinions of the ancients, and the fubftance of what has been collected is as follows.-The wife of all fects agreed, that death was neither timidly to be feared nor rafhly invited; that an endeavour to avoid death was always commendable, when it did not proceed from a defire of living bafely; and a readiness to die was equally good and virtuous [T], provided it arofe not from a mere contempt of life. They all of them (the Epicureans alone excepted, who difcarded all interference of the Gods in human affairs) allowed occafions that might be interpreted into "permiffions or orders of the Deity" to quit life by voluntary violence: but without fuch a permiffion indicated by fome outward circumftances of life, no fect seems to have acknowledged the expediency or innocency of fuicide. The great difference between them lies in determining the nature and extent of these permiffions, Some confined them within fuch narrow limits, as almoft, if not totally, excluded the perpetration of what could properly be called a voluntary fuicide on any occafion. The prohibition of the Deity from retiring out of life, according to the Pythagoric and Socratic opinions, feems applicable to every inftance in which we could preferve life with innocence; and confequently the permiffion

[T] See Plutarch in the beginning of his life of Pelopidas, who has fome good reflections to the fame purpose.

The Emperor Julian alfo on his death-bed (after having received a mortal wound in battle) faid as follows. "I now offer my tribute of gratitude to the eternal Being, who has not suffered me to perifh "by the cruelty of a tyrant, by the fecret dagger of confpiracy, or by the flow tortures of a lingering "diteafe. He has given me in the midft of an honourable carcer, a fplendid and glorious departure "from this world: and I hold it equally abfurd, equally bafe, to folicit or to decline, the stroke of "fate."See GIBBON'S Rom. Hift, Vol. IV. 8vo. p. 201, who tranmates from Ammianus. 6

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