Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-11-20
ONE OF THE FINE ARTS.
Shaving is Recorded In the Book OF Gen
es's-shavlng the Head

Shaving dates from remote antiqui-
u, and is mentioned in the first book
Of the Bible, in the forty-frst chapter
OF Genesis, where it is stated that
Joseph shaved on being summoned
before the king. There are directions
as to shaving in Leviticus and the
practice is mentioned in other parts OF
Scripture. The ancient Egyptians
regularly practiced it from prehistoric
times. though they had custom OF
allowing the beard to grow in times Of
mourning. Homer alludes to the
operation Of shaving. The early
Romans let their boards grow, but the
practice of shaving was introduced
about 800 b. c. Pliny recorded the
fact of Scipio Africanus being the first
Roman who shaved every day. Sub
sequently, the first day of shaving was
regarded by the Romans as the en-
trance upon manhood, and was cele-
brated with great festivities. Under
Hadrian the practice went out of
fashion. and remained unpopular till
the time of Constantine the Great
when it was again introduced. Alex
ander the Great compelled his warriors
to shave, on the ground that the beard
gave handle to the enemy, and thus
for utilitarian reasons, shaving was
begun in Greece. The Anglo-S axons
wore boards from the time of their in
vasion of Britain, and the hirsute APP
pendage seems to have been common
at the time of the Norman Conquest
The Normans not only shaved them
selves, but compelled the conquered
TO do so also. and many of the English
LEFT their native country rather than
submit TO such a regulation. The
conquerors soon, however, adopted the
beard, and shaving was in allegiance
for a long time until, in the reign of
Charles l., some symptoms OF fashion
in its favor became apparent. In the
time of Charles III. only whiskers and
mustaches were worn, and very soon the
custom of close shaving set in, which
lasted well into this century. In the
early part Of the eighteenth century,
Peter the Great who was determined TO
introduce western customs into Russia,
compelled shaving by imposing a
heavy tax on boards and also by hav-
ing offenders shaved with a blunt
razor or by plucking their boards out
by the roots. In Parliament held at
Trim, in 1447, by John Talbot, Earl
of Shrewsbury, the Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland, it was enacted that every Irish
man must keep his upper lip shaved,
~, no Cd I.iu Il.
law was repealed in the reign OF
Charles l., after having existed for
two hundred years. The beard was
commonly worn in France until the
time of Louis XIII. Q610-1643). That
monarch, however was young and
beardless at the time of his accession,
and this set the fashion of shaving at
court and throughout the kingdom. A
similar change took place in Spain on
the accession of Phillip ", and the
practice of shaving became general
over Europe, not being abandoned
until the soldiers Of the first Ma
poleon set the example OF wearing
boards. Till within about thirty
years ago. the beard and mustache
were looked upon as evidence
of the foreign and revolutionary char
acter of its wearer. The late Lord
Justice Knight-Bruce once refused to
allow a young barrister TO plead be-
fore him because he wore q mustache.
and even now most members OF the
legal profession never get beyond short
side whiskers. Archbishop TAFT, when
Bishop OF London, refused to allow
certain clergyman TO read prayer in
his own church. at a confirmation, be-
cause he possessed mustache and
the first cleric who wore beard (Rev.
Llewellyn Davies the late rector OF
Marylebone) brought down storm
of indignation and suspicion on his
devoted head. To the present day
the Roman and Ritualistic clergy
shave closely all round though all the
popes from Clement VII. Q523) to
Alexander VIII. who died in
1851, are represented on there
medals as wearing boards and mus
taches. 1t was not until the fifth CEN
fury that in Europe priests began to
shave their crowns The Roman
clergy then adopted the circular meth
cd, and shaved that small round spot
on the top OF the head, which is known
as the tonsure. In Scotland the monks
used TO shave the whole OF the fore
part of the head from ear TO ear. In
the Andaman islands every man shaves
his head or rather gets his wife to
shave it for him. A Chinaman's
method of shaving is the exact op-
posite Of the tonsure Of the Roman
monk. He shaves all but round
patch, the hair of which grows long
and forms his pig-tail. Spare Mo-
ments.
COmpa risons.