The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1880-08-11
KISSING.
A Very Ancient Institution - Different
Forms and siEninCOnce OF Kissine--
Shakespeare ON the suhiect--Notable
Kissers.

|
Ikissers.
Kissing is the Oldest OF all the inarticu-
late utterances of affection. The kiss
has a history above all others. Men
used it to salute the heavenly bodies. A
passage in Job, written b. G. 2I30, illus
trates this. 1t passed to the Greeks, and
from them to the Romans, and denoted
humility and homage. In Homer, Priam
is represented as kissing the hands and
embracing the knees of Achilles while
.he sues for the dead body of Hector.
Examples are numerous of this kind of
kiss.
The custom of kissing was unknown
in England till 449, when the Princess
Rowena, daughter of Hengist, king of
Friesland, pressed her lips to the cup and
saluted Vortigern with little kiss. {"
From passage in "Evelyn's Diary" it
appears that men kissed each other in
the streets of London toward the end of
the seventeenth century. The Spanish
conquerors found it the custom preva-
lent in the new world. The kiss of
peace was anciently given by the faith
tul one to the other, as a testimony of
cordial love and affection. After the
priest had given the salutation of peace,
the deacon ordered the people to salute
also given before the Eucharist until the
twelfth or thirteenth century. Toward
the end of the third century the kiss of
peace was given in baptism. Henry II.
OF England refused to give Beckett the
kiss OF peace, at that time the usual
pledge OF reconciliation, in ll69.
Shakespeare was very fond of kissing.
You cannot read a single play of the
great master" without an abundance
Of talk about lips and kisses. The fol-
lowing is taken from one of his very
deep tragedies:
" He kissed-the last OF many double kisses"
owen cen but kiss Octavia, and we'll fol-
low"
There is gold, and here
My bluest veins TO kiss; a hand that kings
Have lipp'd, and trembling kissing"
Give me kiss-e'en this repays me-"
O. shall return once more to kiss these lips.'
This is a soldiers kiss"
Commend unto his lips thy favoring hand;
Kiss it, my warrior.N
"Come, then, and take the last warmth of my
lips"
And in Cymbeline he says:
I" Or ere could
Give him that parting kiss, which had
BeUwixt two charming words, comes in my
father,
And, like the tyrannous breathing Of the
north,
Shakes all our buds from growing"
KISSING NOT LOCAL.
Kisses are not localized. The lips
though generally associated with the
loea OF kissing, are not the sole recipi-
ents. The forehead, cheeks and hands
nil come in for share of the honor.
And each one has in the rite peculiar
value and significance of its own.
Kisses on the cheek express regard, and
are closely allied to kisses on the fore
head, which signify blessing and esteem.
They are much employed by aged peo-
pie. They possess, too, the great advan.
tage OF being non-comn. ittal. Then
there is the kiss of custom, the kiss of
duty, the pre-conjugal kiss, the filial
kiss, the playful kiss, the kiss of be-
trayal and the kiss of passionate devo.
ton and intense temperament:
man hath given all earthly bliss,
And oil his worldly worth for this
10 waste his whole heart in one kiss"
The Rev. Sidney Smith said: 1--WE
are in favor of a certain amount of shy
Less when kiss is proposed, but it
should not be too long, and when the
fair one gives it, let it be administered
with warmth and energy-let the e be
a soul IL it. If she close her eyes and
sigh Immediately after it, the effect is
greater. She should be careful not to
slobber kiss, but give it as a ahumming-
bird runs his bill into honeysuckle-
deep but delicate. There is much yir-
tue in a kiss when well delivered We
nave the memory OF one we received in
our mouth which lasted forty years, and
we believe it will be one of the last
things we shall think of when we die"
Gilbert Stuart, the portrait painter
Is said to have met lady in the streets
ofBoston who accosted [ i'm with: "Ah
Mr.. Stuart, | have just seen your like.
ness and kissed it, because it was so
much like you" ''And did it kiss YOU
in return?" why, no." "Then," said
the gallant painter, sit was not like
When Charles III. was making his
triumphal progress through England. |
Certain country ladies who were pre-
sented to him, instead of kissing the |
royal hand, in their simplicity held up |
their pretty lips to be kissed by the king |
"A bllinder no one would more |
willingly excuse than the lover of pretty
Nel NWyn, GeOrglana, duchess OF |
Devonshire, gave Steel, the butcher,
KISS for his vote nearly century since,
ana another equally beautiful woman,
Jane, duchess of Gordon, recruited her
regiment in similar manner. A kiss
from his mother made Benjamin West |
an artist. kiss me, mother, before / |
sleep! How simple a boon, vet how |
soothing TO the little suppliant is that |
soft, gentle kiss. The little head sinks |
contentedly on the pillow, for all is |
peace and happiness within. The bright |
eyes close, and the rosy lips are reveling |
in the bright and sunny dreams of in?
nocence., Yes, kiss mother, for that
goodnight kiss will linger in the mem
ory when the giVer lies moldering in the |
grave. The memory of a gentle mothers |
kiss has cheered many lonely wander |
er's pilgrimage, and has been the |
beacon-light to illuminate his desolate |