[To the Editor of THE SPEtT.1/4TOR.] have not, so far,
in .the correspondence about Eutha- nasia, seen any reference to what seems to me the most serious objection to the proposed change in the law. I refer to the mental distress it bight cause old people suffering from a painful and incurable diseaSe:—c.g„ rheumatoid arthritis, who do not wish to shorten their lives, but might feel it their duty to do so rather than remain a burden on their relatives. The whole question is a very perplexing one, and it is a good thing it should be well ventilated. At present the State calls suicide a crime, but gives a posthumous V.C. to the man Who throws away his life to save others. The Church calls it a sin, but honours the martyrs who faced certain death for their Faith. I cannot recall any passage in Scripture for- bidding suicide, while the Master Himself said : " Greater love bath no man than this, that a man lay -down his life for .his. friends." It appears therefore that the sin is Amt so much a question of the act as of the motive-sacrifice for others, or cowardice and want of faith.—Yours faithfully„ M. C. B.
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