Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-05-13
THE GAZETTE.
THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 10, 1858.
AROIJT Boards.

ABOUT Boards. ha
The history mar Ia ih'eresiios; '"r hen'
20 q mans head il his bsir; end BY the pht-
antbropic rule .'nihI dlienam humdnam It
il at least worth taking sbou'. itHremark-
able that fashion should b. as caprici"us
abont beards a. bonpets- Excepting a few
cases of conscience, sLe seems, from the time
of Moses until DOW, to have controlled the
style of boards with bsr usual despotiem -
The Jews, indeed, wore their boards with re-
ligioss care. and considered it in the last de-
gree humiliatiug to he shsven. 1t was the
same in the early days of Christianity. and
the Saviour and ell the Apostles save one, are
represented as wearing long boards. Wnicn
we know to have been the custom OF their
times. John alone appears IN the pictures
without beard, a deprivation winch cone'.
butes good deal to that ehem'oate iook
which the painters have always gwen him
With the Greeks and Romans the iaso'on
was changeable, as il was also with the > 4
ons. The Greeks usually wore their boards,
EXCEPT when 10 mourning. The Romans,
on the COO trary, let their boards grow as a
sisp of sorrow. Ce,sr (Augustus) is related
to have trimmed his beard 10 q fashion Of his
own, and once to have cut it all off Alex
40 Ier the Great reckoned bis own beard an
ornament but ordered his soldiers to be sha-
ven because be said the beard gave han
die" to the enemy who could thus the more
easily cut of their heads. The history Of the
beard in Epaland lie notable, and shows as
many vicissitades as there have been politi-
cal mutations-every imaginable style hav-
ing been in and out Of vogue since the time
of the HeptarcEy. o. the whole. however.
boards Of some form have carried 1t against
the BARRIERS. In the reign OF Henry l the
full beard was in fashion, though the clergy
denounced it as Immoral" We have not
seen their authorities; but they we're proba-
bly meta oh ysical, and about as fine spun az
the old question of the schoolneu. ode lana
caprina," In the reign Of Richard Gear dc
Lion. shaving was again practised by the
great mass Of Englishmep, but the custom
changed before the dynasty, and boards were
worn as BEFORE. In King johns time, some
wore boards, some mOustaches, and others
shaved the whole face; exactly the same d.
versity prevailing under Johns reign as Ut
der the reign Of Victoria. A similar license
Of custom obtained in the reign IF Edward
III, though old men and men Of high rank
were, for the most part, unsbaven. Edward
Ill was distinguished by long, flowing
beard, and of course shaving was deemed In
bad taste by all loyal subjects. During the
reign of Henry V, Englishmen generally
shaved their chins, but wore noustaches.--
Henry VIII wore his beard entire, and IN bis
usual despotic way, commanded the court to
follow bis example Bloody Mary" looked
upon boards with favor, and none were cut
of during her reign except BY decapitation.
All her favorites, dukes. cardinals and bish-
OPS, have come down to US in their portraits
with long boards. Queen Bess" was equal.
" partial to boards and mOustachss; which
took during her reign the most varied and
fantastic sforms. In the time of Charles
boards began to 20 out Of fashion, but were
restored with the restoration OF Charles IL.
Wbiskers and moustaches continued In vogue
for while but soon gave way to the razor;
and presently universal shaving prevailed
throughout the kingdom. 1t is observable
that in the matter Of boards the puritan has
been as changeable as the cavalier. Crom-
we'll and his psalm singing soldiers wore the
fercest kind Of moustsches; and John kno1
thupdered against pope and cardinals through
a beard of patriarchal e3uberance The
Pilgrim Fathers" too, were fond OF hair
with a reasonable trimming, and saw no Ut
godliness in wearing an appendsge which
God bad made. But the fashion changed
after a W bile, and for many years, until quite
lately. a clergyman v no should have 80 much
as ventured on wbisker, would have been
deemed both profsne and beretical, and
would probably have lost his clerical head
for his hair! Such are the freaks of fashion
in matter of more moment. one would think,
A. H. &c ~tks eho NJ oh
since nature is beyond art. and the work
Of God Of more certain worth than any device
of man. But we do not propose philosopb-
icsl, much less theological dissertation on
boards. We will hazard the assertion. how
ever, that what may be called the "paturaP'
aud the philosophical arguments 10 their IA
vor, have not yet been aoswered. 1t may be
added that the beard is distinguishing mark
Of man hood; and it has been hinted that the
appropriate spheres of the sexes are plainly
indicated by this matter OF beard, to the utter
confusion Of all 'stroug- minded women, from
Mary Walstoncraft to Lucy Stone. 1t lie as
serted also that only those who have shaved
many years, and thus stimulated an uoDatu'
raj growth of hair, fod their boards when
at last permitted to grow long, coarse, harsh
aud inconv enient. This is probably trae; but
it may fairly be doubted, in such cases
whether it be not better to keep on shaving
10 respect to appearance. we think nine men
out of every ten look considerably worse fo'
their beards-such as they are. The e1cep
t,onal man is sometimes the bandsomer FOL
bis hair. On the whole, we are of the opip'
ion that the strength of the argument lies on
the hirs ute eide OF the question. Meanwhile
we shall continue to patronIze the barber at
heretofore. Post.
A POLL WILL BE TAKEN IN The
~ several Wards OF this city, on the hrst
Monday in June next, under the superintendent
:, IL paranns tn fak the sense of the