Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/376

 SVIDAS

328

SUITBERT

the number of suicides was 8332, or 116 per million of population.

In this number must obviously be included the sui- cides attributable to madness, but we cannot accept the opinion of a large number of physicians, moral- ists, and jurists who, led into error by a false phi- losophy, lay it down as a general rule that suicide is always due to dementia, so great is the horror which this act inspires in every man of sane mind. The Church rejects this theory and, while admitting exceptions, considers that those unfortunates who, impelled by despair or anger, attempt their life often act through malice or culpable cowardice. In fact, despair and anger are not as a general thing movements of the soul which it is impossible to resist, especially if one does not neglect the helps offered by religion, confi- dence in God, belief in the immortality of the soul and in a future life of rewards and punishments. Widely different reasons have been advanced to explain this frequency of suicide, but it is more correct to say that it does not depend on any one particular cause, but rather on an assemblage of factors, such as the social and economic situation, the misery of a great number, a more feverish pursuit of what is considered happi- ness, often ending in cruel deceptions, the ever more refined search for pleasure, a more precocious and in- tense stimulation of sexual life, intellectual overwork, the influence of the Press and the sensational news with which it daily provides its readers, the influences of heredity, the ravages of alcoholism, etc. But it is undeniable that the religious factor is by far the most important, as statistics prove (cf. the detailed investi- gations of Jacquart); the proportion of suicides in Protestant countries being as a general rule greater than that in Cathohc countries, and the increase in suicides keeping step with the de-Christianization of a country. France presents a painful example parallel to the systematic de-Christianization; the number of suicides for each 100,000 of population has increased from 8.32 in 1852 to 29 in 1900. The reason is ob- vious. Religion alone, and especially the Catholic re- ligion, instructs us with regard to the true destiny of life and the importance of death; it alone furnishes a solution of the enigma of suffering, inasmuch as it shows man living in a land of exile and suffering as a means of acquiring the glory and happiness of a fu- ture life. By its doctrines of the efficacy of repent- ance and the practice of confession it relieves the moral suffering of man; it forbids and prevents to a large extent the disorders of life; in a word it is of a nature to prevent the causes which are calculated to impel a man to the extreme act.

General works of moral theolog>' as also of moral philosophy, especially in reference to the principles as well as the frequency and causes of suicide: ■W.\lter in Staalslexikon (2nd ed., Freiburg, 1903), 8. V. Sdbstmord; Masabyk, Der Selbstmord als sociale Massencrscheinung der modernen Civilisali&n (Vienna, 1881) ; MoR- BELLi, Suicide, htteriuitional Scientific Series (New York, 1882) ; Bailey, Modern Socuil Conditions (New York, 1906); Schnap- per-Ahndt, Socintstatistik (Leipzig, 1906); Krose, Des Selbst- mord iin 10^ Jahrhunderl (Freiburg, 1906) : NiEUWBARN, Beknopt kertcelyk Handwoordenbock (Tilburg, 1910): Jacquart, Essaisde statistique Tnorate: I, Le Suicide (Brussels, 1908).

A. Vandeb Heeren.

Suidas (SouiSos, SoiJSas), author of, perhaps, the most important Greek lexicon or encyclopedia. Nothing is known of Suidas himself except that he lived about the middle of the tenth century, appar- ently at Constantinople, and that he was probably an ecclesiastical person devoted to literary studies. But his lexicon is one of the most valuable documents of Greek jihilology, grammar, and literary history. He uses material from the classical period down to his own time; a long chain of later authors, from Eustathiusof Thessalonica (c. 11'.I2), quote from him. Suidas's lexicon is something between a grammatical dictionary and an encyclopedia in the modern sense. He explains the source, derivation, and meaning of words according to the philology of his period, using

such earlier authorities as Harpokration and Hella- dios. There is nothing specially important about this part of his work. It is the articles on literary history that are valuable. In these he gives a supply of details, and to some extent quotations, from authors whose works are otherwise lost. He uses older scholia to the classics (Homer, Thucydides, Sophocles, etc.), and for later WTiters, Polybius, Josephus, the "Chronicon Paschale' ', George Syncellus, George Hamartolus. and so on.

So his lexicon represents a convenient work of reference for persons who played a part in political, ecclesiastical, and literary history in the East down to the tenth century. His chief source for this is the encyclopedia of Constantine \TI PorphjTO- genitus (912-59), and for Roman history the excerpts. of John of Antioch (seventh century). Krumbacher (op. cit., 566) counts two main sources of his work: Constantine VII for ancient history, Hamartolus (Georgios Monarchos) for the Byzantine age. The lexicon is arranged, not quite alphabetically, but according to a system (formerly common in many languages) called antistoichia (dmo-Toixia); namely the letters follow phonetically, in order of sound (of course in the pronunciation of Suidas's time, which is the same as modern Greek). So for instance ai comes after «; ei, i' come together after f, " after o, and so on. The system is not difficult to learn and remember, but in some modern editions (Bekker) the work is rearranged alphabetically. Suidas con- tains much material for church histoiy among his biographical articles. But there is very little of this kind that is not also known from other sources. His lexicon still may fulfil its original purpose as a convenient work of reference.

Demetrios Chalkondyi.es published the cditio princcps at Milan in 1499. CJaisford. Suidir Ifjicmi (3 vols.. Oxford, 1834); Bep.nhardy. Sui'lrr. lexicon (2 vols., ftalle and Brunswick); Bekker, Suida; lexicon (Berlin, lSo4); FABRlcirs-HARLES, Bihliotheca graca (Hamburg, 1790-1S09); VI, 389-595; P. G.. CXVII, 1193-1424; Volkm.\nn, De Suidte biographicis qucestiones selectfc (Bonn, 1861). Krumbacher, Byzantinische Lilteratur (Munich. 1897), 562-70.

Adrian Fortescue.

Suitbert (Sdidbert), Saint, Apostle of the Fris- ians, b. m England in the seventh century; d. at Suit- berts-Insel, now Kaiserswerth, neai' Diisseldorf, 1 March, 713. He studied in Ireland, at Rathmelsigi, Connacht, along with St. Egbert (q. v.). The latter, filled with zeal for the conversion of the Germans, had sent St. Wihtberht, or Wigbert, to evangeUze the Frisians, but owing to the opposition of the pagan ruler, Rathbod, \\'ihtberht was unsuccessful and re- turned to England. Egbert then sent St. W'illibrord and his twelve companions, among whom was St. Suit- bert. They landed near the mouth of the Rhine and journeyed to Utrecht, which became their headquar- ters. The new missionaries worked with great success under the protection of Peiiin of Heristal, who, having recently conquered a portion of Frisia, compelled Rath- bod to cea.se harassing the Christian.'*. Suitbert la- boured chiefly in North Brabant, Guelderland, and Cleves. After some years he went l>;ick to England, and in 693 was consecrated in Mcrcia a,-* a missionary bishop by St. Wilfrid of York. He returned to Frisia and fixed his see at \\ijkbij Duurstede on a branch of the Rhine. A little later, enirustiiig his flock of con- verts to St. \\'illibrord, he ])rocceded north of the Rhine and the Lippe, among the Bructeri, or Boruc- tuari, in the district of Berg, Westphalia, This mis- sion bore great fruit at first, but was eventually a fail- ure owing to the inroads of the pagan Saxons; when the latter had conquered the territory, Suitbert with- drew to a small island in the Rhine, six miles from Diisseldorf, granted to him by Pejiin of Heristal, where he built a monastery and ended his days in jieace. His relics were rediscovered in 1626 at Kaisers- werth and are still venerated there. St. Suitbert of