No evidence you have Morphy slowly losing his mind over the years and his friends and family doing what any family would do damage control. If Maurian and his family are writting letter s to news papers defending morphy's sanity when at that time he was acting strange than thats a cover up right there. I dont believe the family told the whole truth.

When Morphy's family took him to the Lunatic Asylum or whatever it was called either he did something or they were worried he would,I think the worst thing they could do was take him back home even though care for the Mentally ill was nowhere it is today.

Whether something happens 20 years or 20 minutes ago can contribute to a suicide. I'm still affect by what some... did to me in 1989 that I dont talk to them to this day and we were good friends before that thank God I'm still here. Proof! what proof nobody told the whole truth. Heres another pithy ( I like that word) Link http://www.umich.edu/%7Eece/student...

Once again, the possibility is always there. As intriguing as the idea may be - and it is intriguing - there's nothing solid to back it up. This isn't to say the idea isn't worth exploring, but it needs more than broad generalizations to make it plausible.

I can give one very good reason why Paul Morphy would not have committed suicide.

First, suicide is the refuge of depression. Crazy people seldom kill themselves except by accident (such as thinking they can fly).

So many things could have killed him. Morphy could have as little as an undiagnosed thyroid problem, or high blood pressure.

I can imagine facts that (if they existed) would strengthen your case: if Morphy's family had ever had a concern about him being suicidal, if he had attempted or discussed suicide in the past, if he had exhibited any of the classic suicide-anticipating behavior (giving away his most prized possessions, exhibiting unusual cheerfulness after a period of very dark depression, etc.), but I know of no credible evidence of such behavior.

The medical knowledge available in Morphy's time was very limited by today's standards (as today's will be seen by tomorrow's), and I've long been suspicious of the diagnosis of the cause of his death. I suspect the reality is that the physician who examined him was only able to give an educated guess as to the cause of his death (not so different from many cases today). That's a perfectly legitimate professional service for a physician to perform, but it is far from conclusive.

I suspect we'll never know what caused the Paul Morphy drop to merge back into the ocean of Universal Mind (if I may wax metaphysical for a moment!)

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

And suiciders weren't allowed to be buried according to Catholic traditions were they? And Morphy was buried according to Catholic traditions, correct?

<And suiciders weren't allowed to be buried according to Catholic traditions were they? And Morphy was buried according to Catholic traditions, correct?>

I believe that's correct, but it would help to have someone well versed in Roman Catholicism to answer that.

In Act V. Scene I, directly after the "Alas! poor Yorick" speech, a procession enters the graveyard to bury one who had died. Unknown to Hamlet at the time, they are about to bury Ophelia, the one he loved, who was thought to have ended her own life:

[ http://bartleby.com/70/4251.html , starting at line 94 ]:

Enter Priests, &c., in procession: the Corpse of OPHELIA, LAERTES and Mourners following; KING, QUEEN, their Trains, &c.

Hamlet: And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken The corse [corpse] they follow did with desperate hand Fordo its own life; ’twas of some estate. Couch we awhile, and mark. [Retiring with HORATIO.]

Laertes [Ophelia's brother]: What ceremony else?

Hamlet: That is Laertes, A very noble youth: mark.

Laertes: What ceremony else?

First Priest: Her obsequies have been as far enlarg’d As we have warrantise: her death was doubtful, And, but that great command o’ersways the order, She should in ground unsanctified have lodg’d Till the last trumpet; for charitable prayers, Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her; Yet here she is allow’d her virgin crants, Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home Of bell and burial.

Laertes: Must there no more be done?

First Priest. No more be done: We should profane the service of the dead, To sing a requiem, and such rest to her As to peace-parted souls.

Laertes: Lay her i’ the earth; And from her fair and unpolluted flesh May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest, A ministering angel shall my sister be, When thou liest howling.

Hamlet: What! the fair Ophelia?

Queen. Sweets to the sweet: farewell! [Scattering flowers.] I hop’d thou shouldst have been my Hamlet’s wife; I thought thy bride-bed to have deck’d, sweet maid, And not have strew’d thy grave....

[end of passage, after which a confrontation between Hamlet and Laertes ensues]

I also recall a passage from Dostoevsky's *The Brothers Karamazov* in which the saintly Father Zossima mentions that though he is officially prohibited from praying for the souls of those who have ended their own lives, in the quiet of his own cell, he does pray for them:

"But woe to those who have slain themselves on earth, woe to the suicides! I believe that there can be none more miserable than they. They tell us that it is a sin to pray for them and outwardly the Church, as it were, renounces them, but in my secret heart I believe that we may pray even for them. Love can never be an offence to Christ. For such as those I have prayed inwardly all my life, I confess it, fathers and teachers, and even now I pray for them every day...."

http://www.ccel.org/d/dostoevsky/ka...

[continued]

Though "the Brothers K" is set in the context of the Russian Orthodox Church, I suspect the attitudes on this subject are similar.

I once asked a Buddhist friend for whom I have much respect what his opinion was of the "karma" incurred by suicide. His concise response, "It would depend on the circumstances." I thought this a wise (fair) answer. If there is a Divine Law concerning suicide, I hope it is of this kind.

♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗

[ http://bartleby.com/70/4251.html , starting at line 93]:

Hamlet: But soft! but soft! aside: here comes the king.

Enter Priests, &c., in procession: the Corpse of OPHELIA, LAERTES and Mourners following; KING, QUEEN, their Trains, &c.

Hamlet: The queen, the courtiers: who is that they follow? And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken The corse [corpse] they follow did with desperate hand Fordo [For-do] its own life; ’twas of some estate. Couch we awhile, and mark. [Retiring with HORATIO.]

[continue as above]

♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗

"Congestion of the Brain" was a 19th Century term used to describe many conditions including hydrocephalus, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, meningitis, and sunstroke.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000415/ti...

More resources:

http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/...

♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗

Though I cannot seem to turn up the reference right now (nor do I remember my sense of how "solid" the study appeared to me), I recall reading years ago that the identifiable group with the lowest suicide rate of all is overweight males. I thought this curious, since one might suppose that, other things being equal, overweight men would be less happy than men of normal weight, and therefore more prone to self-destruction.

When I mentioned this curiosity to a psychologically-savvy friend of mine, he replied, "Of course. Why kill yourself when you can order a pizza?!"

I don't mean to make light of the awful phenomenon of suicide (nor of the struggle of being overweight), but I think my friend's insight was not without its truth content! And perhaps it contains a lesson for us all (though I'm not quite sure just what that lesson is.)

(I also recall reading more recently the remarks of a researcher who was studying obesity in mice. He said, in essence, "It is well-known by those who work with mice that overweight mice are less belligerent and more sociable than mice of normal weight."

Perhaps there's an upside to being overweight that doesn't get adequate press?! Maybe that cheerful, round-bellied Buddha is there for a reason!)

http://www.healthatoz.com/healthato...

But I don't recall it being a Swedish study. Perhaps this is just a different study that discovered the same connection (or the same correlation)?!

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

YAY!!

(Rumor has it that her favorite Chess engine is Fruit (Computer) :)

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

"I never comment on rumors, especially ones that I start." -Warren Buffett (celebrated investor: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/ )

(Note: You can now pick up a single share of Berkshire Hathaway stock for a mere $89,200 (U.S.) http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BRK-A I suspect Mr. Buffett's net worth will exceed that of his friend Bill Gates in a few years, if not sooner...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetle...

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

In March 1883, Steinitz published his account of his meeting with Paul Morphy. ( http://batgirl.atspace.com/Steinitz... )

Steinitz had this to say:

"Morphy is a most interesting man to talk to. He is shrewd and practical and apparently in excellent health. I am convinced that his derangement is purely local and quite curable if he would place himself under medical treatment. If his derangement were general, his bodily health would suffer and he would knew [sic] that he was ill."