Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-09-22
ExEGEsIs ON KISSING.


since Adam kissed Eve in the Gar
den of Eden. 1t is frequently refer
red to in Scripture as indicating
reverence. submission and affection.
The osculum pacis, or kiss Of peace,
was anciently given by the faithful
one to the other as testimony Of
the cordiality of affection. After the
priest had given the salntation of
peace, the deacon ordered the people
to salute one another with a holy
kiss. Even to this day male mem
bers of certain religious sects kiss
each other, in accordance with the
injunction, "Salute the brethren
with kiss In ancient Rome a
kiss was a religious ceremony. The
nearest friend of a dying person
"received his soul" By a kiss, for
the soul was supposed to leave the
body through the lips. Pllny init
mates that the Roman women began
to degenerate when they INDUCED
in indiscriminate kissing.
There are historical kisses on rec
ord, some Of which were important
enough to shape political events. 1t
is supposed that the kisses exchang.
ed by Antony and Cleopatra, and
Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn shook
an empire and destroyed religion.
When Cardinal John of Lorraine
was presented to the Duchess of
Savoy she gave him her hand to
kiss, at which the great churchman
became indignant. "I'll not be
treated in this Manner he angrily
said "I'll kiss the Queen my mis-.
tress, and, [ shall not kiss you, you
are only a duchess !" Though the
proud little Portuguese princess re-
sisted he kissed her squarely on the
mouth. Charlemagne caught his
Secretary kissing the emperor's
daughter at midnight. She carried
him home OF, her back so that his
footsteps might not be traced in the
snow. The Emperor heard of it,
and made her take him for the rest
of her life.
The poets know how to appreciate
kisses and classified them to some
extent. There is the stolen kiss
1.-THE kiss snatch'd hasty from the
sidelong maid.''
Thompson expresses it. There is the
clinging kiss Of which Byron speaks:
I" A long, long kiss, kiss of youth and
love-"
Then there is the soothing kiss
referred to by Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu:
s. Be plain in dress, and sober in your
diet;
In short, my deary, kiss me and be
quiet"
Shakespeare was partial to kisses
from misses in their teens, though in
g Twilight Night" he does not OBJ
ject to an extra year, for he says:
6 Then come kiss me, sweet-and-twen-
ty."
Lord Landowne, in his Heroic Love, I"
was believer in the instantaneous
exchange:
" The kiss you take is paid by that you
give;
The Joy is mutual, and I'm still in debt. F"
Thomas Davis " best" girl must
have used him pretty cleverly, don't
you think
I" Kisses and welcome you'll find here
before you,
And the oftener you come the more I'll
adore you"
Campbell, it would seem, never
forgot his sweetheart's first kiss:
"How delicious is the winning
Of kiss at loves beginning I"
Thomas Carew didn't go into rap.
ture over the permission:
II do not love, for those soft
Red coral lips I've kissed so oft"
Charlotte f. Bates has her fling
at kisses in an apostrOphe ofintense
regretfulness
All the kisses that l have given
| grudge from my soul to-day,
And of all / have ever taken,
would wipe the thought away"
The kiss of the soulless flirt is
scored in the subjoined couplet by
Parnell:
Then in kiss breath'd her various
arts,
p" Of triiling prettily with wounded
hearts"
Probably no verse OH kissing is
more sprightly than the one by
Leigh Hunt, founded upon an incl
dent which betell him when he bore
Carlyle news that the Government
had just granted the great Scotch
man a pension Of f300 sterling IA
year:
Jenny kissed me when we sat,
Jumping from the chair she sat in ;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put them in:
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have
missed me /;
Say I'm growing old but add.
Jenny kissed mel"
The Epoch.