Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1902-08-07
ORIGIN OF THE KISS.
An Opal 'Twixt Two Ruby Lips Lured
on a Lover.

as to thi, question. Kissing is usual
~ accepted as an agreeable fact, and
its theory and history are ignored.
But somebody who has been inyesti-
eating Greek lore has decided that
if kissing did not begin with Adam
and Eve it undoubtedly began with
the Greeks, saws Helen Pitkin, in the
New Orleans Times-Democrat
The story goes that beautiful
young shcphcrdess found an opal on
one of the hills of Greece, and wish
ing to give II to young shepherd,
whose hands were busy with his
flock. let him take it from her lips
with hi, own. Thus the kiss was in
vented, and perhaps the popular SUI
pcrstitlon against the opal may be
traced back to the same incident,
for OSCILLATION has been fraught with
great moment in the worlds history.
Kissing was an act Of religion in
ancient Rome. The nearest friend
of dying person performed the
rite of receiving his soul by kiss,
surprising that it escaped through
his lips at the moment of expiration.
Later. in Rome. near relatives were
allowed to kiss their female kindred
on the mouth, but this was done in
order TO know whether they smelt
of wine. because the Roman ladies,
in spite of the prohibition, were
sometimes found to have made too
free with the juice of the grape.
1t i, said that kissing was first in
PRODUCED into England by royalty.
The British monarch, Nortigern,
gave a banquet in honor Of his Scan
dinavian allies. at which Rowena,
the beautiful daughter of Hengist,
was present. During the proceed
ings the princess, after pressing a
trimming beaker TO her lips, saluted
the astonished and delighted mon
arch with little kiss, after the man
ner Of her people
The most honorable royal kiss on
record is that which Queen Margaret
of France. in the presence of the
whole court, one day imprinted on
the lips of the ugliest man in the
kingdom. Alain Charter, whom she
found asleep TO those around her
she said Il do not kiss the man,
but the mouth that has uttered so
many charming things
Among the serious kisses may be
mentioned those Of Antony and Cleo
patra and Of Henry VIII. and Anne
Bolcyn. Both of these, it is said,
shook an empire and destroyed re-
ligion.
Charlcmagne once caught his sec
rotary kissing the emperor's daugh-
ter at midnight. The lady, that her
lovers footsteps might not be traced
in the snow. carried him home on
her back. The emperor heard of it.
and made her take the secretary for
the rest of her life. which she was
not at all unwilling to do.
When Cardinal John of Lorraine
was presented TO the duchess of
Savoy she gave him her hand to kiss,
greatly to the Indignation Of the
iratc churchman. How, madam"
exclaimed he; "am | to be treated
in thi. manner? kiss the queen,
my mistress, who is the greatest
queen in the whole world, and shall
| not kiss you, dirty little duchess:
| would have YOU know | kissed a.
handsome ladies and of as great or
greater family than yours" With
out more ado, he made for the lips
of the naughty Portuguese princess,
and, despite her resistance, kissed
her three times on the mouth before
he released her, with an exultant
laugh.
But in some quarters of the globe
the practice is not favored, if, indeed,
it is known. New Zealanders, Ia
hitians, Papuans, and Esquimaux
are still to be civilized in this re-
spcct, and Africa is the largest non
kissing area on the face of the earth.
John Bunyan denounced it in no
measured terms, and the Puritans
looked upon it with extreme disfa-
vor. Under the "bluc laws of Con
necticut no woman was allowed to
kiss even her child on the Sabbath
or fasting day, under heavy penal
ties.
Important Postscript