The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-01-14

ish fashion of wearing a skirting of beard
round the face in them it may be proper
enough, but with us openness of counte-
nance is characteristic of an ingenious
mind"
Bulwer, writing in 1873, thus quantity
describes the value of mustache. He
ssys:-"The ingenious Montaigne in his
Esssies, speaking of one who was wont
to find fault with Nature, that she had
not made provision for a sweet-bag to
hang under our noses, explods the cavil,
alleadging that his mustachoes served
him to that purpose in retaining the
scent of his perfumed gloves, or any
other sweet, wherewith he had touched
them, which verely is considerable use
that may be made Of this part. knew
gentleman of good worth, who, being
almost toothless, wore his mustachoes
thick and standing up to concesle that
lapse of bis visage"
TO what extremes such fancies may be
carried, was shown amusingly some fifty
years ago by Frenchman, in the pres
ence OF a witness we'll known to the
writer. His upper lip was graced by
flowing moustsche of such extraordinary
length that it was his custom before a
meal to tie it with the utmost gravity be.
hind his head, that there might be no i'm
pediment to the full enjoyment Of his
| D.,la oil, oIx,
cited, speaks in another place OF shaving
the chin as a dishonour to Nature and
considers it can act not only of indecen-
cy, but of injustice, and ingrstitude
against God and Nature; repugnant to
Scripture, wherein we are forbidden not
to corrupt the upper lip and lower the
honour of the beard, or shave it," and he
goes on to show that the cutting off
persons beard was considered severe
punishment.
At the same period it was held that the
highest degree Of spite or malice which
could be offered to an enemy consisted
not only in cutting off the head, but az
terward in shaving the beard and fixing
the mouth into grin. A similar senti-
ment of disgrace attached, at somewhat
later period, to any attempt to pull the
beard, SO we find in note to Grey's
"Hudibras - "To pull the devil by the
beard, a common saying in England"
The being pulled by the beard in Spain
is deemed as dishonorable as being
kicked in England. Archbishop Laud,
when advised to make his escape replied,
of / should get into Holland, should
have every Anabaptist come and pull me
by the beard"
The expression to beard a person
that is, to sffront him, or to set him at
defiance-is illustrated by the words in
Shakespeares King Henry w." Part
l., act l.: beard thee to thy face" For
this the French expression was fare la
bdrbe a queIqu'un; and in Italy it was
said ia la barbe 0d unO. 1t is difficult
to ascertain when the very personal Gus
tom of pulling the nose superseded that
of pulling the beard; but it most proba-
bly, was adopted as sufficiently strong
equivalent when the chin became naked
and close shaven, and so afforded no
handle for intended insult. In the reign
of James III. as much as 100000 was paid
| by William Cavendish, Earl of Devon
shire, for this treatment of a person at
Court.
That there may even be an element of
danger in the beard we gather from a
story given in "Plutarch's Lives" of
Alex snder, who caused his Macedonian
soldiers to be clipped, lest their enemies
| should make use of their boards as han
dies in the fight C@3ar has left it upon
record that ancient Britons wore no
bsards, though they allowed hair to grow
upon the upper lip; and Strsbo bears tes-
timony of an opposite sort, writing to
Scilly islanders in his time, whose custom
it was to grow bear 8, goat fashion in a
point below the chin.
A strong proof of the value set upon
this part of their personal adornment by
men is found in the fact that when the
4NOImduS 5OuBut W COuupcl buo IukllSu
to shave, as they did themselves, many
chose rather to abandon their country
than to lose their whiskers That this
form of pride was not confined to COM
paratively modern days we know from
st. Ohrysostom, who tells us that Persian
kings wore long boards interviewer with
golden threads, while slaves in the same
country were shaved, as a sign of servi-
tude.
The argument commonly adopted by
those who do not shave is that Mature
knows BEST" and although many in all
ages have ignored this maxim, or contra.
dictsd it by removing, more or less, the
hairs upon their face, it seems to have
occurred to none, except to that most
subtle race the Chinese, to supplement
the gifts Of Nature, and to attach with
considerable skill false tufts of hair to
the smooth surface of their chins-Illus-
trated London NeaUs.