The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-12-05
Ceneerssfssg Boards.

more or less amiablc, between men and
vomcn. ON the question which Of the two
SEXES e more under the slavery OF fashion.
Men. doubtless, have much 10 say on their
aide. Their foppcries in dress are foolish
enoucb. and have been nj times almost In
credibly siIIy--witness the shoes with curl
iug toes In which the dandies in the days
Of the eariy Plantagenets reioiced-but, on
the whole, they do not match the extrava-
rances OF female taste. And then, there Is
tipht iacing, a practice to which. while
artists vainly proclaim that it disfigures the
form, and physicians 10 as little purpose
declare that IL Is unhealthy, the women OBJ
stinately ching. But then, on the other
hand, the history OF the beard Is terrible
record Of male folly. II some inhabitant OF
a superior sphere were called down 10 hear
the case. as in Leigh Hunts apologize the
angel ia called In 10 arbItrate between the
Man aud the Fish, what would he say when
n was thus prescntcds Here is natural
growth, which Is commonly allowed TO be
ornamental, which certainly concesls what
are often the weaker and least sbapely parts
Of the face, which helps TO protect import
ant organs OF life, the removal OF which Is
tedious, painful, and, In possibility at least,
dangerous not Dionysius compelled to
SINCE off his beard With hot walnui-shells
for fear OF letting a razor approach his
tyranuous throat ?-and yet at various
epochs sundry nations have agreed, as far
ms might be, 10 remove IL, and not only
this. but TO make its removal test OF
mental sanity and moral goodness. 1t Is
this last fact, the bigotry, so to speak,
which has commonly been associated w1th
this fashion, that makes the history OF the
beard so strange and, we may venture 10
saw, so humliating a record. Does 1t not
seem absolutely incredible that not more
than quarter OF century ago Archbishop
TAFT. then Bishop Of London, an excep
tionally liberal prelate, actually forbade
one of his clergy, man OF the highest
character, TO read prayers IN his own
church on the occasion OF confirmation,
because he had the sense TO let the HAIR
gov on his upper lip; and that Lord-Jus-
tice knight Bruce absolutely refused TO
hear. in fact ignored the presence Of. a
bearded young bsrrister who attempted to
address him; and that in case well
known TO the present writer all the digni-
fed machinery OF the governing body OF a
school was called In by the head master to
compel an innovatlng colleague to shave?
These Instances are striking, because
they are recent, but the whole history OF
the subject Is full OF the most curious
anomalies. In earlier antiquity the wearing
OF the beard was, with the exception OF
Egypt, where the priests certainly were
shayen. universally customary. TWAS, in-
deed, held TO be peculiarly sacred. TO
touch Il was TO make the most solemn APP
peal possible TO compassion "a fact possibly
connected with the belplessness OF man
so grssped). The Greeks recognized, in-
deed, a peculiar type OF beauty in the
beardless Apollo; but this feature was GER
tainly part OF their ordinary conception
OF the manly form, and they certainly did
not, MS DIR. Doran supposes strangely mis-
led by an analogy of sound, "style as bar
baTians unshaven savages, all nations who
were out Of the pale Of their own Gus.
toms and religion" Encyclopedia Brit
tannica, edition 1867 Shaving. how
ever, seems TO have become common
after the best days Of Greece had past.
Alexander the Great is represented with a
beardless face; and he is said to have made
his Macedonians doff their boards, as af-
fording dangerous hold TO the enemy in
close combat. II was certainly one OF the
Greek fashions that made their way into
Rome, and after long struggle it seems TO
have prevailed. BARRIERS from Sicily are
said to have settled in the city as early as
800 Il. G.. Conservatives, such as Cato the
Elder, seem to have fercely resisted the
change. Scipio Africans the Younger is
sad 10 have been the first who shaved
daily. But the fashion prevailed. The
heads OF the great Romans of the last age
OF the republic are beardless; and the Gus
tom seems to have continued during
h. Oh l..
beard was, Of course, a sign Of manly years,
and the young Romans cultivated il as dill
gently rs an ambitious lad among our
selves; but to cut it of was a necessary
sacrifice to custom, though, II we may
Judge from an expression in one OF Cicero's
letters, there was q class OF ultra-fashion-
able youths who wore a small beard. Au-
gustlls, the Elder Pliny tells us, always
used the razor. "Bearded" became a
synonym for something old-fashioned, and
even silly. The philosophers. however,
still were champions of nature, though
not always creditable champions, as they
were often believed to make the beard
and its accompaniment, the cloak, serve
I'm the stead both OF wisdom and vir-
tue. Some OF the emperors, however, after
the end OF the first century OF our era,
seem to have worn the beard. Julian, in
the fourth century, being conspicuous
example. In our own country, the Eng
lish before the Conquest were commonly
bearded, though the Norman fashion Of
shaving was creeping in, just as the Greek
fashion had crept into Rome. can army
OF priests" was the report brought back
by Harold's spy from the camp of the in
yaders. The conquerors Of Senlsc seem
10 have imposed their custom Of shaving
upon the conquered, and II was one Of the
grievances Of the English under Their
new masters that they were compelled
TO shave. After two centuries, how.
ever, boards again asserted their right
to exist. The portraits OF pre-Reforma.
ton founders al Oxford and Cambridge
frequently display the beard; but II seems
to have gone partially out OF fashion in the
DAYS Of the Tudors. DIR. Doran tells us
that the benchers OF Lincoln's Inn forbad,
any bearded person TO sit at table unless hI
paid for double commons. Still, there arr
conspicuous exceptions. The beard which
SIR Thomas Moore moved out Of the way o
the executioner's axe has become famous
The appendage, too, must have been com
mon, when Elizabeth thought ii wortl
while 10 impose a tax on all who wore
beard OF more than a fortuighfs growth
The Reformers, again. certainly wer
bearded, as In the earlier half OF the mex
century were the statesmen and prelates q
= the Stuart monarchy. Meanwhile, Shawn
became more and more common anon
the ecclesiastics Of the Roman Churc
(the Greek communion, conservative |
this, ~ In all things, has always chung
the beard), though the Popes, as late as th
end Of the seventeenth century, seem M
TO have personally followed the practic,
With us shaving became almost uniyers,
with the restoration. the Second Charlie
with whom the growth seems TO have bee
naturally deficient, setting the fashion
Still there were those who refused 10 SUI
tha heard In Elv n,tloa.et a