Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1865-06-02
The origin 0! Kissing.

INV Vsisih va NhSSsuSs
That this is u custom of remote an
tiquity appears from the book o, Gene
sis tXNXvlI, 26), when Isaac kissed his
son Jacob. This kiss IS remarkable ns
tho first recorded I'm history. Indeed,
the Bible abounds with all sorts of kis-
ses. We have the kiss of homage i'm
v, !; of reconciliation, In samuel,
XIV, 33; of valediction, in Ruth 1, IA;
of Appreciation, in Psalms, IL, II; OF
humble gratitude, In Luke, VII, 81; of
welcome, In Exodus, XVIII; o. love
and joy, in Genesis, xxx, IL; OF sor-
row, in Acts, Xx, IL; OF peace, in Ro-
mans, XVI, l8; and OF idolatrous reyer-
encc, In Hosea, XIII, ~. There are Also
spiritual kisses, rs in Cauticles, 1, ;
and hypocritical kisses, as in : samuel.
Nv, 5. Kisses are also traitorous, such
rs Jacobs to Amasa, when he kissed
and then slew Gin 2 Samuel, XXX, 81, aud
that of judas to Christ, whcn hc kissed
and then betrayed. II was customary
which latter Is still practiced by the
Arabs. Kissing the hand is strictly bib
licai. Kissing the feet was an express
sion of lowiy and tender regard, in
Luke, VII, 80, We are told that the
members of the church at Ephesus
wept sore at the departure Of st. Paul,
. fell Oh his neck and kissed him."
Among the heathcn nations il WAS
usual to throw Kisses Ia the sun anu to
the moon, is well rs to the images Of
the gods, fearful of touching tucm with
proinnc lips. Kissing tho hand Is first
heard of among the Persians. Memo
phcn relates that IL was customary f0l
them to kiss whomsoever they honored.
kissing the feet of a prince was token
OF subiection, which was at times car
ricd 50 far that the print of the foot re-
c"'ve'' '"c Kiss conveying the impress
sion that the very dust hecame sacred
10y the royal tread. When Demosthe-
hes was carried into temple, he kiss
ed his own hand ny Nt.y nf alteration;
au' Wi4.u auppl!o@''nH the itomana for
peace, the Cartnagenian ambassadors
kissed the feet OF The council"
The kiss of homage, the character of
which is not ind Gated in the Bible, was
probably upon the forehead, expressive
Of high respect, which was formerly, IL
not now, in use among the Bcdau.Hs.
The kabbins, i'm the falsel. daAeasa
spirit which animated much of what
they wrote, did not permit more tia
three kinds OF kisses, thuse of reyei-
ence, of reception, and OF departure.
the sovereign pontilla, ~ n mark OF re-
spect, since the eighth century. II wos
first paid to the Pope of Constantine ay
the Emperor Justinian, on his eatry
into Constantinop!c. When the ccie-
mony takes place, the Pope wears n slip
per embroidered with u cross, which is
kissed, and not the toe, which Is gener-
ally supposed. Recently Protestants
have not been required to DO so, slight
inclination Of the knee merely being
expected.
As All act Of ordinary salutation, the
kiss Is still common on the continent Of
Europe and in the East. 1t was inter-
by the early Christians In their
assemblies, US u token OF love To one an
other, and took place just prior to the
When, according To the
Hebrew practice, and still existing Gus
tom Of oriental churches, the men and
women sat apart, u kiss OF peace was
given by men to men, and by the wO-
men To the gomcn. However, the Pc
culiar circumstances have vanished
which gave propriety and emphasis to
such aa expression Of brDtherly love
and Christian friendship. 1t was also
for mark OF respect among our forefa-
thers; for one person to write or to say
that he had Kissed the hand" OF an
otner was IOflnulufy or equivalent I'M
port with the expressions Of obedience
and servitude with which our commu-
and intercourse with the world
are now usually attended. To this fre-
quent allusion Is made by Shakespeare
and the dramatic poets.
The Yord kiss Is constantly used by
poets and authors In a tiguratiye sense !:
Prom yon island gentle breczes
Watt fragrance Der tLe deep,
The kisses OF u THOUSAND flowers,
stolen from them while asleep"