, 1870-05-22
BEARDs AND M0UsTACHEs.
Fr4n Al tie Fear Round.


boards, 1noustachcs. and vhiskers have at iiif-
iefont times undergone. A sk,lfully inqui1ing
pen might search out for us the reasons for
these ups and downs and m intereetiag chap-
Ter or two might be added to the eocial history
or ages by reco11ing what great men wore
reflection it might seem as though 1ha,ing-
brushes we're symptoms Of civilization,
and as though man in his primitive
eondition must have let his beard Alone
This, however. Is by no means tho case !; in
virtue Of that singular impulse which prompts
men, civilized OF no, to dis6guEe themselves
under prete1t Of adornment, man no sooner
H1w his face reflected in the watcra Of
stream, than he decided it needed alterations,
md took to Eun"ing, rings through his ears,
tho Lair of his checks and chin. The first
razoEs eDployed, weso probably sIlarp lints
afterwards came shells, such as were used up
TO very recent time By the natives Of New
Zealand then appeared a variety OF shaving
Implements in steel, which looaei more or less
like modern earrinG-kniveH or nineteenth cen-
tufy cork-cutters finally, humanity was en-
doWed with the razor.
l3y the Hcttaical Law the Jews we-e forbid
don to shave; it is +ald ia Leviticus XIX, y.
u; aud again in Lev. xxi, S !: "ie shall not
round the corners Of your head., neither shalt
law, however. could not have been very st-in-
gently observed. for se ind frequent allu-
sluns to razors in the books Of the penta-
touch: and. as gro,t stress il laid upon the
1act that the NazAntes and the priests in the
temple were forbidden TO shave. it is probable
we're. iii the habit OF cutting of their
boards. Tho law to which wc have
referred above was dccreed by Noses,
Q. c. 1850; FIVE centuries before that
time, during tho reign Of senairamis,
upper classes to wear thur boards plated aud
cnIled into tressos. like short ropes. Tho hair
was arranged III the same fashion, ~ we find
BY the frescoes discovered in the excavations
1t Nineveh, by Nh. Layard and II Dotts- Tbs
however, to have shAved, and the slaves also
wore their hair much shorter and rlAited Less
elaborately. The Egyptians appear, for the
most part, to have shaved, that is, they wore
neither moustaches nor Whiskafs; but it ia
still controretted point whether that
aPpen,fdase which which We find find upoH ,; the eli1 1
faces Of men in baa-reliefs. be beard, or an
artificial ornament. We think it must have
been = beard for, setting aside tho iucon-
venience which would have attended tho wear
ing Of block of wood or leather upon the
ch,n-at5aP to support it and wo find moth
ing like chin-straps in the Egyptian figures
still extant-
Coming to Greece, We know for Certain
that Socrates. Theu,istoclcs, Aristides, Pc
ricles, and all tho great heroes OF Athens
over, that Mcibiades Was in the habit OF per-
fuming his. and of dycing or painting it as
also his hAir and eyebrows. II is noticeable,
however, that Oh the bas-reliefs Of the Patthe-
non, many OF which arc in the British Museum,
only the chiefs wear beards-the soldiers, III
almost every case, arc beardless and NOUS.
tacllelcsa. The Same thing is to be Observed
in well nigh all the specimens OF Crook paint
ing that have been handed down to us thst
IL, upon vases, cups, and tho reproductions Of
Greek frcscoes found at pompeii.
During the first centuries Of the Roman
1tepublic, the Nomaus Of all claases ailow:l
their boards to grow freely; sharing seems to
havo been quite unknown. II was not until
the year 500 B. C. that ANYTHING like razor
was seen in Homo; but At that time few
Greek BARRIERS had made their appearance in
the forum: and although, ike Ill innoyators,
they were at first received with detision, yet,
after time, they succeeded in getting cnstom-
ers; few Al first thea more until II last tho
barqers shop in Romo became what the clubs
arc in London, or the cafes in Pnr1s !;
places Of lounging and resort, where oyery
one with nothing to do spends 4 few hours OF
his time each day. Az the Romans grew rich-
CT from the spoils Of conquered nations, and
as they began to discard the simple hfc Of their
ancestors for mode Of living more in keeping
with their wealth, many hail slaves whose sole
'usiness it was to ahaye them
and cover their hair with greases;;
to nlc1,, bit Lucullua is saia to have had wom-
en- trn.ned to the work; aud, as woman'B
hand il much lighter, and usually moro skill
full, than that uf man. tho change was
pronounced by connoisseurs to be for tho
letter. by julius C,esAr's time, tho beard
hsd faen ato sta Thorough dssset s
only on people " who s stil s' wore i. e'5 Grsal a
himrelf was shaved with scrnpulous neat
ness every morning; rompey, Virgil, Horace,
Cicero, Augustus, were alt clean shaven too !;
even Cato Cticentis, who bad but slight re-
spect for tie faslions, would have thought it
disrerutable md unseem1s to appear in a
public place with q beard.
1t WIS TEajan who frat had the courage to
shake of the barber's yoke. THIS King, an ex-
ccllcnt monarch in many respects, discovered
that his shaving occupied a considerable
liz s Emperor ensp s'y since csssr he wno
really felt that he WAS on the throne for some-
| thing more than eating and drinking, he re-
fin9u.she<i n habit that cost him more minutes
tlan he could aIortl 10 lose. uadriAu, Anto-
minus 1fus, and Marcus AurcGus, his imule-
SLOWED their Goards to grow unclppcd. After
them, however, came commodus: as this e1-
| eMnlary mouarch found tho time hang 20
heavily upon his hands that he
noon. ~ Il v.ps mt ,;ta1r that Ia Tnn1;1 Il
.3iscanl tha nrcctous msans A .fy"r'1ni
him fy eh,v;nr of mal;n,, b,if.honrs s. rn i,s :.
BARRIERS had q new time Of it, and thcnccforth
| patrons until E,losn1 overturned Romn1,,s.
Ancnstr,us. tl,c Int imnerator l.n.1 inaurnrste1
| thc kingdum of Italy and viii II thc fr;rn NJ
mouet,chcs.
Neanwhile. the realm OF Britain had startled
| into being. Tue tirst Britons dyel them.
selyea blne, az school histories tell us,
and We have no positive reason to doubt tue
fact; hut blue OF not, they wuru no boards.
Cassibelannus, King OF Cassia, the alver-
sazy Of Julius Caesar, and CaIactacua, Chief ot