The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1853-12-22
Westerly, December s2, 1888.
= Boards.

wise for men-(we leave women out of
the question, on this occasion to per-
nit the covering which nature has given
them to remain, has been a matter of
controversy from early ages. In the first
ages Of the race the Bear d Party had it
their own way. The anti-Beard Party
had its origin in Egypt, probably headed
by few " strong-minded women" But
they were not brazcn enough to entirely
divest their faces of the ornament which
nature had provided they merely trim
med the corners Of their beard /; or, in
modern vernacular, they wore goatees.
In time it became subject of contro-
versy among the Israelites, but Moses
put that question at rest, by issuing an
order-(seeLev. 10th chap )-"Neither
shalt thou mar the corners Of thy beard. {"
Nothing short of death in the family, or
some other great grief ever led an ancient
Hebrew to shave. He would tarry at
Jericho six months rather than be seen
without a beard on the fashionable prom
enades of Jerusalem. The Philadelphia
Register furnishes some interesting his
torical facts on this subject which we
give below.
In early Greece, BARRIERS were un-
known. The shaving theory was not
generally discussed in that country until
the reign Of Philip, This monarch
shaved and his son, Alexander, being
a young man who went ahead when he
was sure he was right, called a halt on
entering into Asia with his army, and
would not stir until he had had every
soldier clean shaved. Plutarch records
the fact, and Secretary Dobbiu, who
keeps Plutarch under his pillow, no
doubt had Alexander's order in view
when he issued his famous circular on
whiskers.
Varro, the historian, tells us that there
were no BARRIERS in Rome until the year
Asa Of the Republic, when one was
smuggled in from Sicily. A confrma-
ton of his statement is the fact that
Roman Statues anterior to that period
are all bearded. At first, the young
Romans only trimmed little but, one
morning, Scipio Atricanus, who, though
an old fogy, aspired, like Everett, to
lead the yOnng men Of his day, appeared
in the Senate close shaved. 1t was a
coup d'etas ; Cato and other conserva-
tives rallied and argued but the day
was fatal one for boards. Several
centuries passed away before anything
like a reaction took place. Adrian
wore beard because he had warts or
his chin which the Empress Sabina
could not abide Several Emperors
after him tried to restore the fashion o.
beard wearing; Julian, the Apostate
went SO far as to write singing satire
against shaving. But his efforts were o
no avail shaving had grown into ;
national custom, and u custom will def
The hardest relormer it were easier tt
introduce Mexico into the Union thar
the Bloomer among ladies, and to abol
ish the peculiar institution" than tn
stove-pipe hat.
The Christian Church continued it
! opposition to shaving as late as the be
: ginning of the ninth century. Wearing
!. the beard was one way of proclaimin
to the world their protestation agains
, the Pagan civilization. The ApOstolica
: Constitutions, formally enjoin lon
beard, (op0rtet pratcra non barbg pllu'
cOrrumpere, book l, chap. 81. St. Gle
ment, the Roman, cites Leviticus, an
hurls anathemas at every shaver, on th
J. ground that God created man in hi
It own image, and that it is sacrilege
: reap the chin. st. Clement, Of Alexan
Y dria, st. jerome, st Cypriau, Tertul
y Ian, aud the other Fathers Of th
Y Church condemned those who shave
v as disfguring in order to comply wit
o the requirements of luxurious an
eifeminate civilization. The Carthag
Council, in 1893, ordered that clcrgyme
should wear short hair, and long beard,
: CLericus nee conan autriat nee bdrbd,
radat, canon az This order was re
g newed in the sixth century by the Couu
: ell of Barcelona. But the Wester
! Church, like the Emperors, was oblige
to yield to the omnipotence of fashion
About the beginning of the ninth centu
ry, Pope Leo, the Third, shaved. Tn
W act was the signal of furious dissensioI
/. which lasted nearly eight hundred year
l. and on several occasions barely failed
produce the most serious scbisms. Fro,