The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1853-02-26
Boards AND BARRIERS.

the days of old, the Tartars waged long
and bitter war with the Persians alb GU t
the growth and management of the beard;
many stout hero bit the dust in defense
of his beard, and the fearful struggle cost
many valuable lives. No doubt the
Greeks wore boards till the time of Al
exam der. who ordered them to be sha.
we'd, lest they should afford handle for
their enemies in the tug Of war, and the
old Greek BARRIERS shaved every chin,
The people of Italy did not begin to
shave till four centuries after the foun.
dation Of Rome, when Ticinius brought
over from Sicily company of BARRIERS,
who became immediate tavorites, ant
to be among the shaven was test of re-
speciality. Persons of standing hac
their children shaved by a person OF the
same or even greater quality, who, by
performing the work of the barber, be
came the adaptive farther of the person
so shaved. The ha'r removed from
the face was carefully preserved and
cons-crated 10 the gods! In solemn
/ strains blind Homer tells Of the white
beard OF Nes.or, and amid all the hero.
ism of the heroic story he does not for.
get the beard of old King Priam. And
Virgil tells us of the beard of Mezenti.
us, so thick and long that it covered all
his breast. Socrates is called by Per.
sus the bearded master; Pliny the young
er talks of the white beard of Euphrate,
Syrian philosopher, and of the awe
with which i, inspired the people; Plu-
tarch speaks of the long white beard OF
, an old Laconlan, who used to say, "Sec-
ing constantly my white beard, labor
TO do nothing unworthy of its white
ness" Strabo relates that the Indian
Philosophers called Gymnosophists were
careful to have long boards to captivate
the veneratlon ofthe people. The Jews
esteemed the beard very highly; thus
Hanun, king of the Ammonlt-s, design
ing to insult David in the person of his
ambassadors, cut off half their boards
The Hebrews wore beard on the chin,
but not on the upper lip or cheeks
! Mourning was and still IS among the
modern Jews indicated by neglec,ing
the beard; and intense grief, b. pluck.
ing away the hair of the head and beard
To salute man by touching his beard
was the token of sincere respect. The
Druids we're accustomed to cultivate
their boards, and permit them to grow
to great length: and they were no less
celebrated for their white robes and
silver knives, their religious services and
metrical theology, than for their vener-
able boards.
In ecclesiastical history we find that
priests have fallen to loggerheads on the
sub ect OF boards; those Of the Greek
Church aGhrring to boards, and those of
the Roman Church inclning to razors
By the statutes some monastesies the
lay monks were Obliged TO let their
boards grow, while the priests were
closely shaver The old Kings Of France
had their boards plated and knotted with
gold: the kings OF Persia did the same
the Chinese were scrupulously careful
in attention to their boards, but, alas
nature has bestowed upon them no lux
uriant crop of the facial ornament
Better be whipped and branded with a
red-hot iron than have your beard Gu
off in Turkey. One of the bufoons OF
the bashaw took it into his head one
day, for a frolic, to shave his beard
(which" says Belzoni, lis no triile
, among the Turks, as some of them, | re-
ally believe, would sooner have their
head cut off than their beard" In thi.
state he went home to his women, who
: actually thrust him out of the door; and
such was the disgrace of cutting off hi
beard, that even his fellow buffoon
would not eat with him till it was grown
again. Boards are religious article
with the Arabs. Mohammed never Gu
his beard. The razor is never drawn
over the face ofthe grand signor. Per
SANS who clip their boards are consid
cred downright heretics; only the slave
of the seraglio are shaven.
While the Gauls We're under the sway
Of their native sovereigns, none but no
bles and Christian priests were permit
ted to wear long boards. 1t was priv
ilege of the few, not the right Of the
many. Legislation clipped their boards;
but the Franks having made Themselves
masters of Gaul, bondsmen were com
manded to shave their chins. Even the
right OF wearing short beard was ia
, ken away, and clean shave was the To-
ofthe serbs SO long as servltude contin
ued in France.
Who has not heard of Robert O
France, with his long white beard, wht
on every battle-plain led on his harness
sed knights, and in the struggle Of the
fight was still conspicuous for the beard
which was let down outside his curas.
and which hoated in the breeze like =;
} silver-scarfl or OF that celebrated Ger
man n,inter in the davs nj Charles v