,,price ,,one ,,shilling4 ------- ,the ,philosophy of ,beards4 ------- ,physiological1 ,artistic ,historical4 by ,t4 ,s4 ,gowing4 ,ipswich4 ,published by ,j4 ,haddock4 ,london3 ,t4 ,t4 ,lamare1 #b1 ,oxford ,arms ,passage4 ,paternoster ,row ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,illustration3 ,the ,ape and the ,goat ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,illustration ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,preface4 ------- ,,the following ,lecture1 the first ,i believe on the specific subject1 met with a warm reception from a numerous and good-humoured auditory2 and received long and flattering notices from the local papers1 8the ,ipswich ,journal10 and 8the ,suffolk ,chronicle40 ,my enterprising and liberal publisher1 has thought it worthy of more extended circulation4 ,may the public think with him1 and take it off his hands as freely as he has taken it off mine6 ,i have modified the passages which referred to the illustrations2 the greater portion of which it would1 independently of expense1 have been impossible to give with any effect on a small scale4 ,mr4 ,f4 ,b4 ,russel1 7to whom with his worthy brother artist1 ,mr4 ,thomas ,smyth1 ,i was indebted for the original design17 has1 with a kindness ,i can better appreciate than acknowledge1 anastaticized the humorous drawing of the ape and the goat1 7page #ba17 with which their joint talents enriched my ,lecture4 ,mr4 ,russel has also very skilfully introduced into the title page1 reduced copies of the three view's of the ,greek head of ,jupiter1 referred to at page #ad4 ,since its delivery1 many notes have been added to the ,lecture1 which it is hoped will afford both amusement and information4 ,it now only remains for me to make my bow1 wish my 8fratres barbati10 long life to their ,beards1 and shout ,vivat ,regina6 ,floreat ,barba6 ,illustration ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,the ,philosophy of ,beards4 -------------- ,,introduction4 ,,our most universal and most imaginative ,poet1 whose single lines are often abstracts and epitomes of poems1 makes ,hamlet exclaim--8,what a piece of work is man6 ,how noble in reason6 how infinite in faculties6 in form and moving1 how express and admirable6 in action1 how like an angel6 in apprehension1 how like a ,god6 the beauty of the world6 the paragon of animals60 ,and yet this same glorious creature1 thus worthily praised1 is1 with singular contradiction1 so forgetful of his higher attributes1 that he can despise his reason6 ignore his infinite faculties6 deliberately deface that form so express and admirable6 descend to actions that smack rather of the demon than the angel6 ,drown his godlike apprehension in drink6 ,shave off his majestic beauty6 and become1 instead of the paragon--the parody of animals6 ,o ,fashion6 most mighty1 but most capricious of goddesses6 what strange vagaries playest thou with the sons and daughters of men6 ,what is there so lovely1 that thou canst not1 with a word1 transform into an object of disgust and abhorrence8 ,what so ugly and repulsive1 but thou hast the art to exalt it into a golden image for thy slaves to worship1 on pain of the fiery furnace of ridicule8 ,could a collection be made of the forms and figures1 modes and mummeries1 which thou hast imposed on thy ofttimes too willing votaries1 it would task the most vivid imagination1 the most fantastic stretch of fancy1 to furnish a description of the incongruous contents6 ,perhaps no human feature has been more the subject of ,fashion's changeable humours than the ,,beard1 of which it is purposed to night to render some account1 in the hope of being able to prove that in no instance has she been guilty of more deliberate offences against nature and reason6 ,with this object in view1 the structure1 intention1 and uses of the ,beard will be examined1 and its artistic relations indicated2 its history will next be traced2 and a reply will then be briefly given to some objections against wearing the ,beard1 not embraced in the preceding matter4 ,illustration ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,i4 ,,physiology4 ------- ,a ,,quaint old ,latin author asks1 8,what is a ,beard8 ,hair8 and what is ,hair8 a ,beard80 ,perhaps a ,beard may be defined more clearly by stating1 that in its full extent it comprehends all hair visible on the countenance below the eyes1 naturally growing down the sides of the face1 crossing the cheeks by an inverted arch1 fringing the upper and lower lips1 covering the chin above and below1 and hanging down in front of the neck and throat3--moustaches and whiskers being merely parts of a general whole4 ,the hair of the head differs from that of the ,beard4 ,in an enlarged microscopical view1 the former is seen to resemble a flattened cylinder1 tapering off towards the extremity4 ,it has a rough outer bark1 and a finer inner coat2 and contains1 like a plant1 its central pith1 consisting of oil and coloring matters4 ,at the lower part it is bulbous1 and the pith vessels rest on a large vesicle4 ,the bulb is enclosed in a fold of the skin1 and imbedded in the sebaceous glands4 ,the root is usually inserted obliquely to the surface4 ,avoiding further detail1 let me at once direct your attention to the circumstance1 that whereas the hair of the head is only furnished with one pith tube1 that of the ,beard1 is provided with two4#a ,is not this a striking fact to commence with8 and does it not at once suggest that this extra provision must have a special purpose8 ,it has1 as we shall presently see2 and only now add1 that the hairs of the ,beard are more deeply inserted and more durable2 flatter1 and hence more disposed to curl4 ,footnote #a3 ,vide ,hassell's ,microscopic ,anatomy4 ,haller says 8,withof calculated that the hair of the ,beard grows at the rate of #a line in the week1 which is #f inches in the year1 and by the time a man reaches eighty1 #bg feet will have fallen under the edge of the razor40 ,as the ,beard makes its appearance simultaneously with one of the most important natural changes in man's constitution1 it has in all ages been regarded as the ensign of manliness4 ,all the leading races of men1 whether of warm or cold climates1 who have stamped their character on history--,egyptians1 ,indians1 ,jews1 ,assyrians1 ,babylonians1 ,persians1 ,arabs1 ,greeks1 ,romans1 ,celts1 ,turks1 ,scandinavians1 ,sclaves--were furnished with an abundant growth of this natural covering4 ,their enterprizes were accordingly distinguished by a corresponding vigour and daring4 ,the fact1 too1 is indisputable1 that their hardiest efforts were cotemporaneous with the existence of their ,beards2 and a closer investigation would show that the rise and fall of this natural feature has had more influence on the progress and decline of nations1 than has hitherto been suspected4 ,though there are individual exceptions1 the absence of ,beard is usually a sign of physical and moral weakness2 and in degenerate tribes wholly without1 or very deficient1 there is a conscious want of manly dignity1 and contentedness with a low physical1 moral1 and intellectual condition4 ,such tribes have to be sought for by the physiologist and ethnologist2 the historian is never called upon to do honor to their deeds4 ,nor is it without significance that the effeminate ,chinese have signalized their present attempt to become once more free men1 instead of tartar tools--by a formal resolve to have done with pigtails1 and let their hair take its natural course over head and chin4#b ,footnote #b3 ,the whiskers of ,confucius are said to be preserved as relics in ,china4 ,but the hair does not merely act as an external sign2 it has1 or it would not be there1 its own proper and distinct functions to perform4 ,the most important of these is the protection of some of the most susceptible portions of our frame from cold and moisture--those fruitful sources of painful1 and often fatal1 disease4 ,and what more admirable contrivance could be thought of for this purpose than a free and graceful veil of hair--a substance possessing the important properties of power to repel moisture1 and to serve as a non-conductor of heat and electricity4 ,let me now show you what lies underneath the surface naturally covered by the ,beard4 ,we have first that ganglion or knot1 the seat of the exquisitely painful affection tic doloureux4 ,from it you will perceive white threads of nerves radiating to the jaws precisely in the line protected by the ,beard4 ,as you contemplate it1 you can hardly fail to be struck with the fact1 that in shaving may sometimes originate that local paralysis which disfigures the corners of the mouth4 ,next we have the nerves of the teeth1 which all know to be so affected by changes of temperature4 ,glance now1 if you please1 at those glands which secrete and elaborate the lymph which is to form part of the circulating fluid1 and in which scrofula often has its origin1 and some say its name4 ,they are peculiarly liable to be affected by cold and moisture1 presenting then those well-known unsightly swellings about the neck3 they therefore receive an extra protection1 the hair usually growing much more thickly on the parts where they are met with than elsewhere4 ,there are another set of glands1 the sebaceous1 which are thickly concentrated on the chin4 ,now shaving is the cause that the hairs on this part are liable to a peculiar and very irritating disease1 which imparts a kind of foretaste of purgatory to many unfortunate victims of that unnatural practice4 ,those with strong beards most righteously suffer the most2 for the more efficient the natural protection is1 the greater is also the folly of its removal4 ,lastly1 there are the tonsils1 and the glands of the throat and larynx4 ,few require to be told how common at present are acute and chronic affections of these parts4 ,that the ,beard was intended as a protection to the whole of them1 any one may satisfy himself by wearing it and then shaving it off in cold or damp weather4 ,if not inclined to try this experiment1 and mind ,i do not recommend it1 perhaps the following evidence will be sufficiently convincing4 ,firstly1 the historical fact that the ,russian soldiers1 when compelled to shave by ,peter the ,great1 suffered most severely4 ,secondly1 the medical testimony extracted from the ,professional ,dictionary of ,dr4 ,copeland1 one of the first ,physicians of the day1 where it is stated1 8,persons in the habit of wearing long ,beards1 have often been affected with rheumatic pains in the face1 or with sore throat on shaving them off4 ,in several cases of chronic sore throat1 wearing the ,beard under the chin1 or upon the throat1 has prevented a return of the complaint40 ,thirdly1 the fact that several persons in this town 7,ipswich7 have been so cured4 ,and lastly1 this brief but important testimony of the men of the ,scottish ,central ,railway1 dated ,perth1 #bdth ,august1 #ahec4 8,we1 the servants of the ,scottish ,central ,railway1 beg to inform you1 that having last summer seen a circular recommending the men employed upon railways to cultivate the growth of their ,beards1 as the best protection against the inclemency of the weather1 have been induced to follow this advice2 and the benefit we have derived from it1 induces us to recommend it to the general adoption of our brothers in similar circumstances throughout the kingdom4 ,we can assure them1 from our own experience1 that they will by this means be saved from the bad colds and sore throats of such frequent occurrence without this natural protection40 ,signed by #e ,guards1 #a ,inspector of ,police1 #b ,engine ,men1 and #a ,fireman4 ,let us next see1 for it is a highly interesting point in a consumption-breeding climate like ours1 where thousands of victims annually die1 how the entrances to the air passages and lungs are protected by the upper part of the beard--the moustache4 ,we draw air in commonly through the nose1 and breathe it out through the mouth3 though occasionally the two passages exchange functions4 ,in a section of the nose1 the interior of the nostril is seen to communicate1 by a slightly curved passage1 with the back entrance to the mouth and throat4 ,now as the incoming air must follow the direction of the draught1 you will readily perceive that any air entering by the nostrils must pass through or over the hair of the moustache1 and be warmed in the passage3 and when the air makes its way by the mouth1 it must pass under the moustache and be warmed1 like that under the eaves of a thatched roof4 ,the moustache1 however1 not merely warms the inspired air1 but filters it from superfluous moisture1 dirt1 dust1 and smoke2 and soon we trust it will be deemed as rational to deprive the upper lip of its protecting fringe1 as to shave the eyebrows or pluck out the eyelashes4#c ,footnote #c3 ,i can from personal experience state1 that being subject when younger to swelling of the upper lip from cold1 previous to entering ,switzerland ,i allowed my moustache to grow4 ,during six weeks excursion on foot1 exposed to all weathers and stopping for none1 being at one moment in warm valleys and a few hours afterwards at the top of ice-clad mountains1 ,i never felt the least uncomfortableness about the mouth4 ,when on returning home1 however1 ,i was foolish enough to shave1 ,i paid dearly for the operation4 ,those to whom the extent of preventible disease among our artizans--disease arising solely from their employments is unknown1 ,i must refer to ,mr4 ,thackrah's book on that specific subject4 ,scientific ingenuity had long attempted to devise contrivances to relieve the men from some of these diseases2 but the schemes were found too cumbrous1 or otherwise impracticable4 ,as so often happens1 what men were profoundly searching for1 nature had placed directly under their noses4 ,mr4 ,chadwick1 to whom the public are indebted for much valuable information on questions connected with the public health1 and ,dr4 ,alison1 of ,glasgow1 one of whom had seen the particles of iron settling on and staining the ,beards of foreign smiths2 and the other had noticed the dusty ,beards of foreign masons when at work1 were led to the conclusion1 independently of each other1 that the iron and stone dust were much better deposited on the ,beard 7whence they could be washed71 than in the lungs1 where they would be sure to cause disease4 ,the lungs of a mason for instance are preserved in ,edinburgh1 which are one concrete mass of stone4 ,these gentlemen published their convictions2 and through the beneficial agency of the press1 that information1 aided by papers in the 8,builder10 and in 8,dickens's ,household ,words10 soon found its way to our artizans1 many of whom have tried the experiment1 and borne testimony to its satisfactory results4 ,at this juncture1 let us also hope that the reiterated opinions of eminent ,army ,surgeons will at length be listened to1 and the ,british ,soldier be freed from the apoplectic leathern stock1 and allowed to wear that protection which nature endowed him with4 ,to the latter the most rigid economist cannot object1 since it will add nothing to the estimates1 while it will enable the soldier to offer1 if not a bolder1 at least a more formidable front1 to the foe1 and save him from many of the hazards of the march in which more die than on the field of battle6 ,though the subject has as yet received too little scientific attention1 there can be no doubt that the hair generally has a further important function to perform in regulating the electricity which is so intimately connected with the condition of the nerves4 ,i have reserved to the last the curious fact1 which in itself is perfectly conclusive as to the protecting office of the ,beard1 and explains why its hair has additional provision for its nourishment2 and this fact is1 that while the hair of the head usually falls off with the approach of age1 that of the ,beard1 on the contrary1 continues to grow and thicken to the latest period of life4 ,he must be indeed insensible to all evidence of design1 who does not acknowledge in this a wise and beneficent provision1 especially when he connects with it the other well-known fact1 that the skull becomes denser1 and the brain less sensitive1 while the parts shielded by the ,beard are more susceptible than ever1 and have less vitality to contend with prejudicial influences4 ,before proceeding further it may be as well briefly to answer the question1 why1 if ,beards be so necessary for men1 women have no provision of the kind8 ,the reason ,i take to be this1 that they are women1 and were consequently never intended to be exposed to the hardships and difficulties men are called upon to undergo4 ,woman was made a help meet for man1 and it was designed that man should in return1 protect her to the utmost of his power from those external circumstances which it is his duty boldly to encounter4 ,her hair grows naturally longer1 and in the savage state she is accustomed to let it fall over the neck and shoulders4 ,the ancient ,athenian and ,lombard women are even said to have accompanied their husbands to the battle-field with their hair so arranged as to imitate the ,beard4 ,in more civilized society1 various contrivances are resorted to by the gentler sex for protection1 which would be utterly unsuitable to the sterner4 ,in saying this ,i do not include the present absurd bonnet1 which seems purposely contrived to expose rather than shield the fair1 and to excite our pity and cause us to tremble while we cannot but admire6 ,two curious exceptional cases of bearded women must not be passed over2 one1 that of a female soldier in the army of ,charles ,,xii1 who was taken at the battle of ,pultowa1 where she had fought with a courage worthy of her ,beard3 the other1 that of ,margaret of ,parma1 the celebrated ,regent of the ,netherlands1 who conceived that her ,beard imparted such dignity to her appearance1 that she would never allow a hair of it to be touched4 ,illustration ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,ii4 ,,artistic ,,division4 ,,not only was the ,beard intended to serve the important purposes just described2 but1 combining beauty with utility1 to impart manly grace and free finish to the male face4 ,to its picturesqueness ,poets and ,painters1 the most competent judges1 have borne universal testimony4 ,it is indeed impossible to view a series of bearded portraits1 however indifferently executed1 without feeling that they possess dignity1 gravity1 freedom1 vigour1 and completeness2 while in looking on a row of razored faces1 however illustrious the originals1 or skilful the artists1 a sense of artificial conventional bareness is experienced4 ,addison gives vent to the same notion1 when he makes ,sir ,roger de ,coverley point to a venerable bust in ,westminster ,abbey1 and ask 8whether our forefathers did not look much wiser in their ,beards1 than we without them80 and say1 8for my part1 when ,i am in my gallery in the country1 and see my ancestors1 who many of them died before they were of my age1 ,i cannot forbear regarding them as so many old ,patriarchs1 and at the same time looking upon myself as an idle smock-faced young fellow4 ,i love to see your ,abrahams1 your ,isaacs1 and your ,jacobs1 as we have them in the old pieces of tapestry1 with ,beards below their girdles that cover half the hangings40 ,the knight added1 8if ,i would recommend ,beards in one of my papers1 and endeavour to restore human faces to their ancient dignity1 upon a month's warning he would undertake to lead up the fashion himself in a pair of whiskers40 ,in reference to this last allusion it may be as well to state1 that the word whisker is frequently used by earlier authors to denote the moustache1 and that in ,addison's time1 a mass of false hair was worn1 and the head and face close shaven4 ,to shew that it is the ,beard alone that causes the sensation we have alluded to1 look at two drawings on exactly the same original outline1 of a ,greek head of ,jupiter1 the one with1 the other without the ,beard6 ,what say you8 ,is not the experiment a sort of 8occular demonstration0 in favor of nature1 and a justification of art and artists8 ,see how the forehead of the bearded one rises like a well-supported dome--what depth the eyes acquire--how firm the features become--how the muscular angularity is modified--into what free flowing lines the lower part of the oval is resolved1 and what gravity the increased length given to the face imparts4 ,as amusing and instructive pendants1 take two drawings of the head of a lion1 one with and the other without the mane4 ,you will see how much of the majesty of the king of the woods1 as well as that of the lord of the earth1 dwells in this free flowing appendage4 ,by comparing these drawings with those of ,jupiter1 you will detect1 ,i think1 in the head of the lion whence the ,greek sculptor drew his ideal of this noble type of godlike humanity4 ,since this idea struck me1 ,mr4 ,john ,marshall1 in a lecture at the ,government ,school of ,practical ,art1 has remarked1 8that nature leaves nothing but what is beautiful uncovered1 and that the masculine chin is seldom sightly1 because it was designed to be covered1 while the chins of women are generally beautiful40 ,this view he supported by instancing1 8that the bear1 the rabbit1 the cat1 and the bird1 are hideous to look upon when deprived of their hairy and feathery decorations3 but the horse1 the greyhound1 and other animals so sparingly covered that the shape remains unaltered by the fur1 are beautiful even in their naked forms40 ,this argument1 it seems to me1 applies with greater force to the various ages of man4 ,in the babe1 the chin is exceedingly soft1 and its curve blends into those of the face and neck3 in the boy it still retains a feminine gentleness of line1 but as he advances to the youth1 the bones grow more and more prominent1 and the future character begins to stamp itself upon the form3 at the approach of manhood1 the lines combining with those of the mouth become more harsh1 angular1 and decided2 in middle age1 various ugly markings establish themselves about both1 which in age are rendered not only deeper1 but increased in number by the loss of the teeth and the falling in of the lips1 which of course distorts all the muscles connected with the mouth4 ,such1 however1 is the force of prejudice founded on custom1 that people who sink themselves to the ears in deep shirt collars1 and to the chin in starched cravat and stiffened stock1 muffle themselves in comforters till their necks are as big as their waists2 nay do not demur some of them to be seen in that abomination of ugliness--that huge black patch of deformity--a respirator1 have still sufficient face left to tell us that the expression of the countenance would be injured by restoring the ,beard6 ,a word1 therefore1 on the expression of ,bearded faces4 ,the works of the ,greeks1#d the paintings of the old ,masters1 but above all the productions of the pencil of ,raphael1 justly styled 8the ,painter of ,expression10 is a sufficient general answer to this ill-considered charge4 ,it would indeed be strange if ,he who made the male face1 and fixed the laws of every feature--clothing it with hair1 as with a garment1 should in this last particular have made an elaborate provision to mar the excellency of ,his own work6 ,nothing indeed but the long effeminizing of our faces could have given rise to the present shaven ideal--to the forgetfulness of the true standard of masculine beauty of expression1 which is naturally as antipodal as the magnetic north and south poles1 to that of female loveliness1 where delicacy of line1 blushing changeable colour1 and eyes that win by seeming not to wish it1 are charms we all feel1 and at the same time understand how inappropriate they are when applied to the opposite sex2 where the bold enterprizing brow--the deep penetrating eye--the daring1 sagacious nose1 and the fleshy but firm mouth1 well supported on the decided projecting chin1 proclaim a being who has an appointed path to tread1 and hard rough work to do1 in this world of difficulties and ceaseless transition4 ,footnote #d3 ,elmes says1 8,the ,beard in ,art has an ideal character as an attribute1 and distinguished by its undulating curl the ,beard of ,jupiter ,olympius from that of ,jupiter ,serapis 7who has a longer and straighter ,beard7 the lank ,beard of ,neptune and the river ,gods1 from the short and frizzly ,beards of ,hercules1 ,ajax1 ,diomede1 ,ulysses1 c40 ,so much for the general charge2 if we examine the separate features1 there can be no question that the upper part of the face--the most godlike portion--where the mind sits enthroned1 gains in expression by the addition of and contrast with the ,beard2 the nose also is thrown into higher relief1 while the eyes acquire both depth and brilliancy4 ,the mouth1 which is especially the seat of the affections1 its surrounding muscles rendering it the reflex of every passing emotion1 owes its general expression to the line between the lips--the key to family likeness2 and this line is more sharply defined by the shadow cast by the moustache1 from which the teeth also acquire additional whiteness1 and the lips a brighter red4 ,neither the mouth nor chin are1 as we have said1 unsightly in early life1 but at a later period the case is otherwise4 ,there is scarcely indeed a more naturally disgusting object than a beardless old man 7compared by the ,turks to a 8plucked pigeon107 with all the deep-ploughed lines of effete passions1 grasping avarice1 disappointed ambition1 the pinchings of poverty1 the swollen lines of self-indulgence1 and the distortions of disease and decay6 ,now the ,beard1 which1 as the ,romans phrased it1 8buds0 on the face of youth in a soft downiness in harmony with immature manliness1 and lengthens and thickens with the progress of life1 keeps gradually covering1 varying1 and beautifying1 as the 8mantling ivy0 the rugged oak1 or the antique tower1 and by playing with its light free forms over the harsher characteristics1 imparts new graces even to decay1 by heightening all that is still pleasing1 veiling all that is repulsive4 ,the colour of the ,beard is usually warmer than that of the hair of the head1 and reflection soon suggests the reason4 ,the latter comes into contact chiefly with the forehead1 which has little colour2 but the ,beard grows out of the face where there is always more or less4 ,now nature makes use of the colours of the face in painting the ,beard--a reason by the bye for not attempting to alter the original hue1 and carries off her warm and cold colours by that means4 ,never shall ,i forget the circumstance of a gentleman with high colour1 light brown hair1 full whiskers of a warm brown1 deepening into a warm black1 and good looking1 though his features1 especially the nose1 were not regular--taking a whim into his head to shave off his whiskers4 ,deprived of this fringe1 the colour of his cheeks looked spotty1 his nose forlorn and wretched1 and his whole face like a house on a hill-top exposed to the north east1 from which the sheltering plantations had been ruthlessly removed4 ,the following singular fact in connection with the colour of the ,beard1 ,i learnt in chance conversation with a hairdresser4 ,observing that persons like him with high complexion and dark hair1 had usually a purple black beard3 he said1 8that's true1 sir10 and told me he had 8found in his own ,beard1 and in those of his customers1 distinct red hairs intermingled with the black10 just as it is stated that in the grey fur of animals there are distinct rings of white and black hairs4 ,this purplish bloom of a black ,beard is much admired by the ,persians2 and curiously enough they produce the effect by a red dye of henna paste1 followed by a preparation of indigo4 ,there is one other point connected with colour which ought not to be omitted4 ,all artists know the value of white in clearing up colours4 ,now let any one look at an old face surrounded by white hair1 whether in man or woman1 and he will perceive a harmonizing beauty in it1 that no artificial imitation of more youthful colours can possibly impart4 ,in this1 as in other cases1 the natural is the most becoming4 ,permit me to conclude this section of my lecture by reminding all who wish to let their ,beards grow1 that there is a law above fashion1 and that each individual face is endowed with its individual ,beard1 the form and colour of which is determined by similar laws to those which regulate the tint of the skin1 the form and colour of the hair of the head1 eyebrows1 and eyelashes2 and therefore the most becoming1 even if ugly in itself1 to their respective physiognomies4 ,what suits a square face1 will not suit an oval1 and a high forehead demands a different ,beard to a low one4 ,leave the matter therefore to nature1 and in due season the fitting form and colour will manifest themselves4 ,and here parties who have never shaved have this great advantage over those who have yielded to the unnatural custom1 that hair will only be visible1 even when present1 in its proper place1 be better in character and colour1 and more graceful in its form4 ,and now1 ladies and gentlemen1 as all history we are told grew out of fable1 allow me1 as a sort of intermezzo1 to preface my history by 8a ,fable for the ,times40 ,an ,ape1 one day1 said to a ,goat1 8,why wear that nasty ugly ,beard8 ,i'll shave you for a quarter groat ,cleaner than ,sheep was ever shear'd40 8,thank you1 ,sir ,ape60 the ,goat replied1 8,i'll think of it40 ,to court he ran1 ,where he the foplings busy spied ,effacing ev'ry mark of man3 ,thinking to win the softer sex ,by making themselves softer still4 8,ah60 says our ,goat1 8ah6 ah6 ,i'feggs1 ,i'll be in fashion1 that ,i will60 ,he seats himself1 the ,ape's not slow1 ,but tucks the cloth in1 and then lathers2 ,when lo6 stalk'd by a goodly row1 ,a solemn train of old ,church ,fathers6 ,with these came ,doctors of each ,art1 ,and each one pointed to his ,beard6 ,our ,goat sprang up1 with sudden start1 ,like one whom conscience makes afeard4 8,o ,ape6 this man's a creature brave1 ,to whom we all like slaves submit2 ,bearded to-day--t'morrow he'll shave1 ,then where's the good of his boasted wit6 8,there's your apron6 take your basin6 ',tis best to abide by nature's rule3 ,his ,beard no ,goat will see disgrace in1 ,whom nature did not make a fool60 ,,moral4 ,let your ,beards grow in their natural shapes1 ,god made you all ,men1 don't make yourselves ,apes6 ,illustration ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,iii4 ,,historical ,,survey4 ------- ,,egyptians4 ,,having seen that the ,beard is a natural feature of the male face1 and that the ,creator intended it for distinction1 protection1 and ornament1 let us turn lightly over the pages of history and examine the estimation in which it has been held at various times among the leading people1 ancient and modern4 ,the first nation which suggests itself is the ,egyptian1 and very peculiar forms of ,beard were assigned by them on their monuments to their gods1 kings1 and common people4 ,that of the gods is curled and the length of the oval of the face3 that of the kings is shaped like an ,egyptian doorway1 and three fourths of the same standard3 of which the people's is one fourth and nearly square4 ,this appendage seems from the appearance of an attaching band to have been frequently artificial1 and probably the ,egyptians1 who1 as you may see by the wig in the ,british ,museum1 wore false hair1 also wore false ,beards4 ,some have supposed the forms alluded to1 to be mere symbols of the male sex on the monuments2 but this notion is disproved by male persons being represented without them4 ,that they were occasionally so used1 however1 is clear from the kingly ,beard on that symbol of royalty the ,sphynx4 ,the priests of this ancient nation are stated to have removed every hair from the body thrice a week2 and they ultimately compelled the people to shave both their heads and faces2 and all slaves and servants1 though foreigners1 were obliged to do the same4 ,that this arose from some superstitious notion of cleanliness1 is confirmed by the remark of ,herodotus1 8that no ,egyptian of either sex1 would on any account kiss the lips of a bearded ,greek1 or make use of his knife1 spit1 or cauldron1 or taste the meat of an animal which had been slaughtered by his hand40 ,in times of mourning1 however1 the ,egyptians allowed the hair of the head and ,beard to grow in token of grief4 ,,jews4 ,such was the practice of the ,egyptians2 and it is highly important to take the ,jews next1 because at the period of our first knowledge of them as a people1 they appear in bondage to the former nation2 and it is now generally believed that most of the usages established by ,moses had more or less reference to ,egyptian customs1 from which he was desirous of weaning them4 ,as might be expected from the inspired ,lawgiver1 whose sublime books start with the grand assertion1 that man was made 8in the express image of ,god10 any attempt to alter the natural features of the 8human face divine10 was denounced and emphatically interdicted4 ,twice is the commandment issued--first to the whole people1 8thou shalt not mar the corners of thy ,beard10 in other words1 thou shalt not alter the form thereof1 which ,i thy ,god have appointed6 ,then to the ,priests1 with the addition1 that they should not make baldness upon their heads4 ,it is of the utmost consequence to recall the superstitious practice of the ,egyptian ,priests1 and to remember that ,moses issued this command to the ,aaronites1 fresh from ,egypt1 because it most convincingly shews that the practice of shaving1 even when resorted to with the view of pleasing the ,deity1 by an extreme degree of external purity1 in approaching ,his mysterious presence1 was directly and most absolutely forbidden4 ,it is as if ,god had said1 8,what art thou1 ,o man6 who thinkest in thy vain imagination that ,i1 thy ,creator1 knew not how to fashion thee6 and blasphemously supposest that thou canst please me1 by superstitiously sacrificing what ,i1 in my ,almighty wisdom1 had endowed thee with1 for protection and ornament60 ,and1 as if to mark the distinction more strongly1 ,moses enjoined in the strictest manner every ordinary and natural method of purifying the person4 ,it cannot but be instructive to note1 that thus on the very threshold of history1 we have two customs so opposite brought into contrast--the one strongly condemned1 the other most awfully sanctioned4 ,and it is the more necessary to mark this1 because there are many religious persons who have by custom acquired the ,egyptian notion1 and forgotten its emphatic condemnation4 ,there are many who1 though told that certain diseases to which the more active of the clergy are specially liable1 might be prevented and may be cured1 by simply wearing the ,beard1 will still insist upon their ministers paying the penalty invariably attaching to a violation of ,god's laws1 because their prejudices lead them to fancy a smooth face rather than a manly one4 ,as further confirmation of our idea that the object of this law of ,moses was to prevent any of the natural features from being materially altered--he objected not to trimming the ,beard1 which was a common ,jewish practice--is to be found in the first verse of the #adth chapter of ,deuteronomy1 where the people are commanded not to shave their eyebrows2 which was a customary mark of grief among some bearded nations4 ,the ,jews too1 unlike the ,persians and others1 instead of shaving the ,beard in time of mourning--though in the violence of oriental grief they sometimes plucked it--usually left it merely untrimmed or veiled1 till the days of mourning were passed4 ,you all remember the fearful vengeance ,david took when his ambassadors were disgraced by shaving their ,beards4 ,the ,beard continued to be worn in all its glory by these chosen people1 and it would be impossible for us to imagine to ourselves the appearance of any of their patriarchs1 judges1 priests1 prophets1 or mature kings--or of the sublime founder of our religion--or of the chosen twelve--save the youthful ,john1 without this venerable and venerated feature4 ,what painter would dare such an offence to our most sacred associations1 as to represent any of these with the smirking smoothness of razored neatness6 ,that in ,mahomet's time1 the ,jews still held to their primitive custom1 is evident from that lawgiver's command to his followers to clip the whiskers and ,beard1 in order to distinguish themselves from the ,jews4 ,indeed the latter1 in every way most remarkable people1 have clung to the prescribed custom with all the force of religious feeling and firm conviction4 ,and however in modern times some of the laity1 impelled by a desire to mix unobserved amongst the populations of ,western ,europe1 may have sacrificed conviction to convenience1 their ,rabbies have remained invariably consistent in their testimony to truth and nature2 and one of the most enduring impressions of my youth is the remembrance of the ,chief ,rabbi ,herschel treading the streets of ,london1 like the last of the prophets1 in dark robes1 with long pale face and flowing ,beard1 ,and eyes1 whose deep mysterious glow1 ,disdainful of each fleeting show1 ,dwelt in the old and sacred past1 ,or ,seer-like scann'd the future1 vast4 ,,assyrians ,,and ,,babylonians4 ,the ,assyrians and ,babylonians1 as we know from the researches and discoveries of ,layard and others1 wore highly ornamental ,beards1 in which they were followed by the ancient ,persians1 and the bands appearing on them were of gold4 ,,persians1 ,,arabs1 ,,and ,,turks4 ,the ancient ,arabs1 like their kindred1 the ,jews1 were ,bearded1 and like them also they have preserved their ,beards intact1 though their faith has more than once changed4 ,from ,mahomet's time we may class them for our purpose with the ,turks and ,persians1 since all have manifested the same respect for the ,beard1 looking upon it as the perfection and completion of man's countenance and the type of freedom2 and shaving as a mark of debasement and slavery4#e ,mahomet1 who sanctioned dyeing the ,beard1 preferred that it should be of a cane colour1 which was the hue assigned by tradition to ,abraham's4 ,one of the points of ,persian heresy is preferring a black ,beard1 and a particular cut2 and about this hair-splitting difference1 they once waged a cruel war with the ,uzbec ,tartars1 in which they were accustomed to lay their enemies' ,beards as trophies at the feet of the ,shah4 ,footnote #e3 8,it is customary to shave the ,ottoman ,princes as a mark of subjection to the reigning ,sultan2 and those who serve in the ,seraglio have their ,beards shaven as a sign of servitude1 and do not suffer it to grow till the ,sultan has set them at liberty40--,burder's ,oriental ,customs4 ,volney says1 8,at length ,ibrahim ,bey suffered ,ali his page to let his ,beard grow1 i4e41 gave him his freedom1 for among the ,turks to want the ,beard is thought only fit for slaves and women40 ,as instances of respect paid to the ,beard1 we may cite the common ,mahomedan oath 8by the ,beard of the ,prophet60 and the form of supplication1 8by your ,beard1 or the life of your ,beard40 ,the ,turks will point to theirs and say1 8do you think this venerable ,beard could lie80 ,and a man's testimony used to be so much measured by his ,beard1 that in hiring a witness1 length of this appendage was an indispensable qualification4 ,to touch another's ,beard1 unless to kiss it respectfully1 is considered by all these people a great insult4 ,when two friends meet1 to kiss it1 sometimes on both sides1 answers to our shake of the hand--how are you8 and 8may ,god preserve your ,beard60 is a form of invoking a blessing on a friend4 ,in the bosoms of their families the ,beard is treated as an object of reverential fondness--wife and children kissing it with the most tender and respectful affection4 ,to express high value for a thing1 they say1 8it is worth more than one's ,beard40#f ,footnote #f3 ,dr4 ,wolff says1 ,mahomed ,effendi told him 8that the ,mahomedans believed that though ,noah lived #ajjj years1 no hair of his blessed ,beard fell off1 or became white2 while that of the ,devil consists only of one long hair20 and the same ,mahomed1 wishing to compliment two midshipmen1 8hoped they would some day have fine long ,beards like himself40 8,shame on your ,beard60 is a term of reproach1 and 8,i spit on your ,beard60 an expression of the most profound contempt4 ,when the ,shah of ,persia1 in #ahbf1 was speaking to our ,ambassador1 7,sir ,j4 ,malcolm17 concerning the ,russians1 to shew how low he esteemed them1 he exclaimed1 8,i spit on their ,beards60#g ,footnote #g3 ,niebuhr says1 8,i once saw1 in a caravan1 an ,arab highly offended at a man who had accidentally bespattered his ,beard4 ,it was with difficulty he could be appeased1 even though the offender humbly asked his pardon1 and kissed his ,beard in token of submission40 ,though ,i avoided breaking the argument by its insertion under the account of the ,jews1 it may be interesting to state1 that ,moses1 in ,numbers1 orders a man to be considered unclean for seven days1 whose ,beard has been defiled in this way3 and that ,david could scarcely have devised a more efficient means to convince ,achish of his madness1 than the expedient he adopted of allowing his saliva to descend upon his ,beard4 ,to cut off the ,beard is considered a deep disgrace and degradation4 ,the noted ,wahahee ,chief ,saoud was accustomed to shave the ,beard as a punishment for the gravest offences4 ,he had long wished to purchase the mare of a ,sheikh of the ,shahmanny tribe1 but all his offers were rejected4 ,a ,sheikh of the ,kahtans1 however1 having been sentenced to lose his hairy honors1 when the barber appeared1 exclaimed1 8,o ,saoud1 take the mare of the ,shahmanny as a ransom for my ,beard60 ,the offer was accepted1 and a bargain struck with the owner of the mare for #b1ejj dollars1 which he declared he would not have taken1 nor any other sum1 had it not been to save the ,beard of a noble ,kahtan4 ,even when disease or accident renders necessary the removal of the whole or part of the ,beard1 it is only at the last extremity that an ,arab will yield2 and then he lives secluded1 or if obliged to go out1 wears a thick black veil1 until his chin can reappear 8with all its pristine honours blushing thick upon it40 ,almost every ,mahomedan carries a comb with him for the sole purpose of arranging his ,beard3 this is often done1 especially after prayers2 when the devotee usually remains sitting on his heels and industriously using the comb4 ,the hairs which fall are carefully collected1 to be either buried with the owner1 or deposited previously in his tomb1 after having been first separately broken in order to release the guardian angels4 ,to perfume and fumigate the ,beard with incense is a common eastern custom4 ,in mourning1 the ,persians shave themselves2 and ,herodotus relates one instance when they also cropped the manes and tails of their horses in honor of their leader ,mardonius4 ,one wiseacre of a ,sultan is said to have shaved his ,beard1 saying 8his councillors should never lead him by it1 as they had done his forefathers60 forgetting that he had still left them the convenient handle of his nose--by which1 as you know1 ladies and gentlemen1 people have been led from time immemorial4 ,let me hope1 therefore1 no one will cite this as an historical precedent for shaving4 ,he was fortunately succeeded by wiser men1 and the ,sultan is yet distinguished by a goodly ,beard3#h as is also the ,shah of ,persia1 and all the ,arabs and their ,chiefs4 ,footnote #h3 ,it used to be considered one of the almost impossible feats of ,chivalry to pluck a hair from the ,sultan's ,beard4--7,may the ,russians find it quite so67 ,the romance of ,oberon is founded on this notion1 and ,shakspeare makes ,benedict say in a spirit of bravado1 8,i'll fetch you a hair off the great ,cham's ,beard40 7i4e4 ,khan of ,tartary's ,beard47 ,,greeks4 ,the ancient ,greeks were world-famous for their ,beards4 ,all ,homer's heroes are bearded1 and ,nestor the ,sage is described as stroking his as a graceful prelusion to an oration4 ,saturn1 ,jupiter1 ,neptune1 ,pluto1 ,mars1 ,vulcan1 ,mercury1 are represented with ,beards4 ,apollo is without1 as an emblem of perpetual youth4 ,hercules and the demigods are also well furnished4 ,and sculapius the ,god of ,health1--significant fact6--is most abundantly endowed4 ,the mother of ,achilles1 when supplicating ,jupiter1 touches his ,beard with one hand1 with the other his knee4 ,as might be supposed from their hardy characteristics1 the ,spartans especially cherished the ,beard4 ,when one ,nicander was asked why8 he replied1 8because we esteem it the ornament that preeminently distinguishes man40 ,it being demanded of another why he wore so long a ,beard8 his noble reply was1 8,since it is grown white1 it incessantly reminds me not to dishonor my old age40#i ,plutarch1 after mentioning the bushy hair and ,beard of the ,spartan commander ,lysander1 says1 8that ,lycurgus was of opinion that abundance of hair and ,beard made those who were fair1 more so1 and those who were ugly1 more terrible to their enemies40 ,regarding shaving as a mark of slavish servitude1 they compelled their chief magistrates to shave their upper lips during their term of office1 to remind them that though administrators of the laws1 they were still subject to them4 ,footnote #i3 ,the ,rev4 ,john ,more1 of ,norwich1 a worthy clergyman in ,elizabeth's reign1 who is said to have had the longest and largest ,beard of any ,englishman of his time1 seems to have chosen this ,spartan for his model2 since when asked to give a reason for it he replied1 8that no act of his life might be unworthy of the gravity of his appearance40 ,and ,baudinus1 quoted by ,pagenstecher1 says1 ,frederick ,taubman1 the celebrated ,german wit1 humourist1 and theologian1 being asked the same question answered1 8in order that whenever ,i behold these hairs1 ,i may remember that ,i am no vile coward or old woman1 but a man1 called ,frederick ,taubman40 ,the ,greeks in general continued to wear the ,beard till the decay of ,athenian virtue brought that free state into subjection to the ,macedonian ,conqueror1 who1 according to ,plutarch1 ordered his soldiers to shave1 lest their ,beards should afford a handle to their enemies4 ,this must have been when he was in one of his drunken fits1 or he might have had them trimmed like the old ,greek warriors4#aj ,be that as it may1 ,greek freedom and ,greek ,beards expired together4 ,footnote #aj3 ,that the ,beard1 however1 sometimes afforded a handle to an enemy in ancient times1 when swords1 especially the ,greek1 were very short1 is admitted4 ,and ,i possess an engraving from one of ,raphael's ,vatican ,cartoons1 where one soldier is represented in the act of cutting down another whom he has seized by the ,beard4 ,he must be a poor master of his weapon1 however1 who in modern times would allow a man to grasp his ,beard without being hewn down or run through in the process4 ,diogenes1 cotemporary with ,alexander1 once asked a smooth-chinned voluptuary whether he quarrelled with nature for making him a man instead of a woman8 ,and ,phocion rebuking one who courted the people and affected a long ,spartan ,beard1 said to him1 8if thou needs must flatter1 why didst thou not clip thy ,beard80 ,it is a curious fact for those who resolve civilization into shaving1 that the only parties in ancient ,greece who retained their ,beards under all changes were the ,philosophers1 or lovers of wisdom--they with whom all that distinguished ,greek intellect was a special study and profession2 who were in fact the most civilized portion of the community4 ,from the time of the ,emperor ,justinian the ,greeks resumed the ,beard1 which was worn by all the ,greek ,emperors down to the last1 the unfortunate ,paleologus1 who died fighting bravely at the taking of ,constantinople by the ,turks4 ,it was by these ,emperors regarded as an ensign of royalty--an attribute of kingly majesty4 ,,etruscans--,,romans4 ,the ,etruscans represented their gods with ,beards1 and wore them themselves2 as did the ,romans4 ,every schoolboy recollects the awe inspired to the invading ,gauls when1 on entering the ,senate-house1 they saw the conscript ,fathers sitting calm and immovable as the gods1 for which the ,barbarians at first view took them1 till one bolder than the rest plucked at the ,beard of the noble ,marcus ,papirius1 who by indignantly raising his staff1 unconsciously gave the signal for the murder of himself1 and his venerable compatriots4 ,during all the best ages of the ,republic1 while the old ,roman virtue retained something of its original vigour1 and before it had been sapped and undermined by the imported vices and effeminate customs of conquered nations1 ,rome's statesmen1 heroes1 priests and people all wore1 and all reverenced1 the virile glories of the ,beard6 ,it was not till the year of ,rome #ded1 about three centuries before our era1 that one of those corrupt ,prtors1 who usually returned laden with foreign gold1 and pampered with foreign luxury1 imported a stock of ,barbers from ,sicily2 and that credulous gossip ,pliny libels the younger ,scipio ,africanus by stating--calumnious on dit6--8that he was the first who shaved his whole ,beard40 ,this is just one of those instances where a foolish custom1 like a bad piece of wit1 is sought to be fathered on some world-renowned name4 ,long after the above date1 the ,beard was only partially shaved or trimmed2 and the same word 7tondere7 is sometimes used to mean either4 ,of course when once the fashion had set in1 it was1 as with us1 considered unbecoming to wear a ,beard2 and ,marcus ,livius on his return from banishment1 was compelled by the ,censors to shave1 before appearing in the ,senate4 ,with the increasing growth of vice and effeminacy among this once hardy race1 the decreasing ,beard kept pace4#aa ,csar1 the real founder of the empire1 by whom every kind of foppery and debauchery was indulged in as a mask to deep schemes of ambition1 of course shaved2#ab and having done so1 shaving continued to be the imperial fashion down to the time of ,hadrian1 7whose bold ,roman head ,i exhibited1 as the first restorer of manly beauty47 ,from his time most of the ,emperors#ac wore it till ,constantine1 who shaved out of superstition4 ,his father had a noble ,beard4 ,footnote #aa3 ,suetonius says1 8he was excessively nice about his body1 that he was not only sheered and shaved1 but plucked40 ,footnote #ab3 ,besides shaving1 the ,romans as they progressed in luxurious effeminacy1 used depilatories1 tweezers and all sorts of contrivances to make themselves as little like men and as much like women as possible2 and their satirists abound with passages impossible to quote with decency on the causes and consequences of this abrogation of the distinctive peculiarities of the two sexes4 ,footnote #ac3 ,pagenstecher says1 8one of the ,emperors of ,rome refused to admit to an audience certain ,ambassadors of the ,veneti1 because they had no ,beards40 ,even after the custom of shaving was introduced1 the first appearance of the ,beard was hailed with joy1 and usually about the time of assuming the toga2 the 8first fruits0 of hair were solemnly consecrated--relict of previous respect--to some god1 as in the case of ,nero1#ad who presented his in a golden box1 set with jewels1 to the ,capitoline ,jupiter4#ae ,footnote #ad3 ,the branch of the ,roman family to which ,nero belonged was called ,enobarbus1 copper-coloured or red ,beard2 and the legend of the family was1 that the ,dioscuri announced to one of their ancestors a victory1 and to confirm the truth of what was said1 stroked his black hair and ,beard1 and turned them red4 ,cn4 ,domitius1 who was ,censor with ,l4 ,crassus the orator1 8took0 says ,pagenstecher1 8too much pride in his10 and ,crassus fired away the following epigram upon it4 8,quid mirum si barbam habet aeneam ,domitius cum et os ferreum et cor habet plumbeum40 7,where's the wonder ,domitius has a brazen ,beard1 when he has bones of iron and a heart of lead47 ,shakspeare 7the unlearned67 who never loses a characteristic1 makes his ,enobarbus1 7who was great grandfather of ,nero1 wore a ,beard1 as seen on his medals1 and was a fine bold warrior17 speak thus of ,antony1 under the fascination of ,cleopatra3-- ,,lep4 8,good ,enobarbus1 ',tis a worthy deed1 ,and shall become you well1 to entreat your ,captain ,to soft and gentle speech40 ,,enob4 8,i shall entreat him ,to answer like himself3 if ,csar move him1 ,let ,antony look over ,csar's head1 ,and speak as loud as ,mars4 ,by ,jupiter1 ,were ,i the wearer of ,antonius' ,beard1 ,i would not shave't to-day40 ,this passage evidently associates the ,beard with manly determination1 and shaving with the want of it1 for subsequently ,enobarbus speaks of ,antony's effeminacy in these words3-- 8,our courteous ,antony1 ,whom ne'er the word of ,no woman heard speak1 ,being barber'd ten times o'er1 goes to the feast1 ,and for his ordinary pays his heart ,for what his eyes eat only40 ,footnote #ae3 ,arcite in ,chaucer's ,knight's ,tale thus devotes his ,beard to ,mars3-- 8,and eke to this avow ,i wol me bind1 ,my ,berd1 my here that hangeth low adoun1 ,that never yet felt non offensioun ,of rasour1 ne of shere1 ,i wol thee yeve40 ,shaving in token of grief was the custom of the early ,romans2 when1 however1 that which had been considered a deprivation became a general fashion1 the ,beard was allowed to grow in time of sorrow1 to denote personal neglect4 ,the ,roman ,philosophers1 like the ,greek1 cherished a long ,beard as the emblem of wisdom4 ,the following anecdote shews that it was sometimes a fallacious sign4 ,one of the ,emperors being pestered by a man in a long robe and ,beard1 asked him what he was4 8,do you not see that ,i am a philosopher80 was the reply4 8,the cloak ,i see1 and the ,beard ,i see10 said the ,emperor1 8but the philosopher1 where is he80 ,i must not conclude this notice of ,roman customs without mentioning the instructive fact1 that the slaves of the early ,romans were shaved as a mark of servitude1 and not allowed to wear the distinctive sign of a free man until emancipated4 ,at a later period the slaves1 as the most manly1 wore the ,beard1 and only shaved when entitled to be put on a level with their debased and vicious masters6 ,illustration ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,ecclesiastical ,,history4 ,a ,,brief glance at ,ecclesiastical ,history will furnish one or two interesting matters4 ,most of the ,fathers of the ,church both wore and approved of the ,beard4 ,clement1 of ,alexandria1 says1 8nature adorned man like the lion1 with a ,beard1 as the index of strength and empire40 ,lactantius1 ,theodoret1 ,st4 ,augustine1 and ,st4 ,cyprian1 are all eloquent in praise of this natural feature3 about which many discussions were raised in the early ages of the ,church1 when matters of discipline necessarily engaged much of the attention of its leaders4 ,to settle these disputes1 at the #dth ,council of ,carthage1 held ,a4,d4 #beb1 canon #dd1 it was enacted 8that a clergyman shall not cherish his hair nor shave his ,beard40 7,clericus nec comam nutriat nec barbam radat47 ,and ,bingham quotes an early letter1 in which it is said of one who from a layman had become a clergyman1 8his habit1 gait1 modesty1 countenance1 and discourse1 were all religious1 and agreeably to these his hair was short and his ,beard long20 shewing that in those early times ,st4 ,paul was better understood than at a later date4 ,subsequently the ,beard was alternately commended to the clergy for its becoming gravity1 or condemned from the ascetic notion that pride was apt to lurk in a fine ,beard4 ,in some of the monasteries lay members wore the ,beard1 while those in orders were shaved1 and the hairs1 remnant of an earlier superstition1 devoutly consecrated to ,god with special prayers and imposing ceremonies4 ,one order of the ,cistercians were specially allowed to wear their ,beards1 and were hence called 8fratres barbati0 or ,bearded brethren4 ,the military orders of the ,church1 as the ,knights of ,st4 ,john and the ,templars1 were always full ,bearded4 ,to touch the ,beard1 was at one time a solemnity by which a godfather acknowledged the child of his adoption4 ,one of the fertile sources of dispute between the ,roman and ,greek ,churches has been this subject of wearing or not wearing the ,beard4 ,the ,greek ,church1 with a firm faithfulness which does credit to its orthodoxy1 has stood manfully by the early ,church decisions and refused to admit any shaven saint into its calendar1 heartily despising the ,romish ,church for its weakness in this respect4 ,on the other hand1 the ,popes1 to mark the distinction between ,eastern and ,western christianity1 early introduced statutes 8de radendis barbis10 or concerning shaving the ,beard4 ,here and there1 however1 a manly old fellow1 like ,pope ,julius ,,ii1 who made ,michael ,angelo sculpture him with a drawn sword in his hand1 or a ,cardinal1 like ,pole or ,allen1 and many ,bishops1 managed to believe that faith and nature might be reconciled by taking a comprehensive and truly ,catholic view of both4 ,the leading ,english and ,german ,reformers wore their ,beards2 7if ,luther confined himself to a moustache1 it was because his ,monkish habit of shaving was too strong for him17 and most of the ,martyrs to the ,protestant ,faith were burnt in their ,beards4 ,illustration ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,modern ,,history4 ------- ,,britons4 ,,the ,britons 8like their neighbours the ,gauls0#af 7two of whose heads were shewn copied from ,roman monuments17 were ,bearded1 though1 probably1 for some purpose of distinction1 their ,chiefs1 as stated by ,csar and others1 had merely an enormous twisted moustache4 ,the ,druids and their successors1 the native ,british ,clergy1 regarded this natural covering as adding to their dignity and gracing their office and their age4#ag ,footnote #af3 ,the ,goths and ,dacians1 as seen on the ,roman monuments1 were ,bearded2 and the ancient ,hungarians1 ,raumer states1 wore long ,beards adorned with gold and jewels4 ,the ,catti also were accustomed not to trim the hair of the head or ,beard till they had proved their manliness by slaying an enemy in battle4 ,footnote #ag3 ,one of the ,legends of ,king ,arthur mentions a giant who made 8a great exhibition of domestic manufacture10 consisting of a 8cloak fringed with the ,beards of kings40 ,,saxons4 ,the ,anglo-,saxons brought their ,beards with them which they preferred of the forked shape1 and this again might be either two-pronged1 or three-pronged1 or plutonian and neptunian4 ,st4 ,augustine is figured with his ,beard on his appearance to convert these ,islands in the sixth century4 ,his followers must soon have shaved1 because a writer of the seventh century1 complains that 8the ,clergy had grown so corrupt as to be distinguished from the ,laity less by their actions than by their want of ,beards40 ,the illustrious ,alfred was so careful of the ,beards of his subjects1 that he inflicted the then heavy fine of twenty shillings on any one maliciously injuring the ,beard of another4 ,the ,danes who invaded this country were ,bearded4 ,fosbrooke says1 some of them wore ,beards with six forks1 and history mentions ,sueno the fork-beard4#ah ,footnote #ah3 ,many princes have borne the title of ,bearded--as the ,greek ,emperor ,constantine ,pogonatus1 ,count ,godfrey1 the ,emperor ,barbarossa1 and ,eberhard ,duke of ,wirtemberg in the reign of ,maximilian1 whose wisdom might truly be said to have grown with his ,beard1 and on whom the following verse was made3-- 8,hic situs est cui barba dedit cognomina ,princeps1 ,princeps ,teutonici gloria magna soli40 7,here is a ,prince whose ,beard gave his surname1 ,a ,prince the glory of the land ,almayne47 ,during this period1 the ,french monarchy was growing4 ,its first kings held the ,beard as sacred1 and ornamented it with gold4 ,their subjects were proud of it as marking them out to be free men in contradistinction to the degenerate ,roman population4 ,alaric touched the ,beard of ,clovis as a solemn mode of confirming a treaty1 and acknowledging ,clovis as his godfather4 ,the ,merovingian ,dynasty were ,bearded4 ,then came ,charlemagne who swore by his ,beard1 as did ,otho the ,great and ,barbarossa1 ,emperors of ,germany1 after him4 ,the following story shows the faith of those early times in the sacredness of this form of adjuration4 ,a peasant1 who had sworn a false oath on the relics of two holy ,martyrs1 having taken hold of his ,beard1 as further confirmation1 heaven to punish him1 caused the whole to come off in his hand6 ,charlemagne also enacted that any one who should call another red beard or red-fox1 should pay a heavy fine2 a law explained by a prejudice embodied in two ,german proverbs4#ai ,footnote #ai3 ,rothbart nie gut wart ,rothbart ,schelmen art4 ,of red beard no good heard ,red beard--a knave to be feared2 and carried to its climax in the anecdote of a ,spanish nobleman1 who1 having accused a man of some crime1 and the latter being proved innocent1 exclaimed1 8if he did not do it he was plotting it1 for the rascal has a red beard60 ,those who need consolation under this calumny1 traceable probably to an old notion1 derived from his name1 that ,judas ,iscariot had a red beard1 ,i am fortunately able to refer to a sermon#bj on that ,arch-,traitor1 full of wit1 humor1 pathos1 and imagination1 by the celebrated ,abraham ,st4 ,clara1 where red beards are nobly vindicated1 and the following noted instances cited3-- ,footnote #bj3 ,judas der ,ertz4 ,schelm4 ,several illustrious ,romans1 ,the ,emperor ,barbarossa2 ,hanquinus ,rufus1 ,king of the ,goths2 ,bishops ,gaudentius and ,gandulfius2 ,the ,martyrs ,dominicus1 ,maurinus1 and ,savinianus4 ,during the distractions to which ,charlemagne's empire was subject after his decease1 the ,northmen appeared1 and a band1 under ,rollo1 having been converted and settled in what is now ,normandy1 became known in ,english ,history as the ,normans2 with whom an increasing intimacy having sprung up in the reign of ,edward the ,confessor1 7whose head was shewn from the ,bayeux tapestry17 a ,norman party was gradually formed at court and ,norman customs1 one of which was shaving1 partially adopted4 ,harold1 as representative of the real old ,english party1 wore his ,beard as shown by a cotemporary ,,mss4 illuminator2 but ,william the ,conqueror1 and most of his followers1 are figured only with a moustache and their back hair close cropped or shaven4 ,it was this barbarous fashion that induced ,harold's spies to report to their master that the invaders were an army of ,priests4 ,william is said to have attempted to compel the sturdy ,saxons to shave1 but many of them left the kingdom rather than part with their ,beards4 ,in this1 as in other matters1 ,anglo-,saxon firmness ultimately conquered the conquerors1 and the ,norman sovereigns gave in to the national custom4 ,as early as ,henry ,i1 that is only #dd years from ,william's landing1 we learn that ,bishop ,serlo met that monarch on his arrival in ,normandy1 and made a long harangue on the enormities of the times1 especially long hair and bushy ,beards1 which he said they would not clip1 lest the stumps should wound the ladies' faces4 ,henry1 with repentant obedience1 submitted his hairy honors to the ,bishop1 who with pious zeal1 taking a pair of shears from his trunk1 trimmed king and nobles with his own hand4 ,this conduct of the ,bishop is curiously illustrated by a cotemporary decree of the ,senate of ,venice1 of the year #aajb1 commanding all long ,beards to be cut off in consequence of a ,bull of ,pope ,paschal ,,ii1 denouncing the vanity of long hair1 founded on a misinterpretation of #ast ,corinthians1 xii1 #ad1ba which applies only to the hair of the head4 ,on this text a sermon might be written though scarcely preached1 which would 8a tale unfold1 would harrow up the soul40#bb ,footnote #ba3 ,a writer in ,dickens' ,household ,words says ,pope ,anacletus1 7query #ast or #bnd7 was the first who introduced the custom of shaving4 ,footnote #bb3 ,in this and in other places ,i am obliged to leave under a veil of obscure allusion1 arguments of thrilling force1 not only from ancient but from our own history3 matters not to be met with in ordinary histories2 but too abundant in the pages of satirists and moralists1 who were hardy enough to lash the prevalent follies and vices of the times in which they lived4 ,the stout king ,stephen wore his ,beard1 and a ,saxon chronicler complains that in the civil wars of his time1 in order to extort the wealth of peaceable people1 they were 8hung up by their ,beards20 a proof the latter were long and strong4 ,stephen's cotemporary1 ,frederick the #ast of ,germany1 to prevent quarrelling1 laid a very heavy fine on any one who pulled another's ,beard4 ,henry ,,ii1 is said to have had a vision in which all classes of his subjects reproached him in his sleep for his tyranny and oppression4 ,a cotemporary ,,mss4 illuminator1 having fortunately designed several cartoons1 really much more expressive than some in the ,new ,houses of ,parliament1 from which we learn that the faces of all classes of the people and of the ,clergy then appeared as nature made them1 ,i selected one1 representing the leaders of the distressed agriculturalists of that remote period1 because while it illustrated my subject1 it seemed to possess great interest for that patient and much enduring class4 ,one could almost imagine the stout fellow with the one-sided ,saxon spade1 to be urging on the heroes with the pitchfork and scythe1 nearly in the words of ,marmion1 8,charge1 ,sibthorp1#bc charge6 ,on1 ,stanley1 on60 ,footnote #bc3 ,i trust my honest and uncompromising brother ,beard will pardon the liberty ,i have taken with his name4 ,no one can be a more sincere admirer than myself of the manly way in which he maintains his opinions on all occasions1 and the humorous kindness of disposition which renders him beloved in private and in public4 ,i should always esteem him as a public man1 were it only for his long and single-handed fight against that economical iniquity--that suicidal tax on prudence and foresight1 and bounty on improvidence--the ,fire ,insurance ,duty6 ,henry's ,queen ,eleanor had been previously the wife of ,louis ,,vii1 of ,france1 who having been persuaded by his ,priests to shave off his ,beard1 so disgusted ,eleanor that she obtained a divorce4#bd ,footnote #bd3 8,she had10 says ,d',israeli1 8for her marriage dower the rich province of ,poitou and ,guyenne2 and this was the origin of those wars which for #cjj years ravaged ,france1 and cost the ,french three million of men4 ,all which probably had never occurred had ,louis ,,vii not been so rash as to crop his head and shave his ,beard1 by which he became so disgustful in the eyes of our ,queen ,eleanor40 ,richard the ,lion-hearted was ,bearded like a lion1 and though he was so absorbed in the ,crusades that he did not redress1 yet he acknowledged the justice of the complaints of the celebrated ,longbeard1 8,earl of ,london and ,king of the ,poor10 who did honor to his ,beard by resisting oppression1 and perished1 after an heroic struggle1 the victim of cowardice and treachery4 ,the monuments of ,roger1 ,bishop of ,sarum1 and ,andrew1 ,abbot of ,peterborough1 shew that ,bishops wore the ,beard1 and ,abbots and ,monks shaved in this reign4 ,john had what was called 8a ,judas' ,beard10 of which his actions were every way worthy4 ,fortunately1 the bold ,barons outbearded him1 and ,magna ,charta was the result4 ,his son1 ,henry ,,iii1 had a moderate ,beard1 and the longest reign till ,george ,,iii4 ,edward ,i1 shewed the ,scots what a long ,beard could do with long shanks1 and a long head to back it4#be ,this king has been called the ,english ,justinian1 both he and the ,roman ,emperor being noted for improving the laws1 and cherishing their ,beards4 ,edward the #bnd's ,beard1 like his character1 was more ornamental than strong1 and his reign is chiefly memorable for the composition of that favorite old song quoted by ,shakspeare1 8',tis merry in hall1 when ,beards wag all60 ,footnote #be3 ,no true ,scotchman would pardon me if ,i omitted to note that the brave ,wallace had 8a most brave ,beard40 ,edward the #crd's bold ,beard spread terror in ,scotland and ,france1 and that of his son1 the ,black ,prince--young as he died--was an apt type of his 8prowess in the tented field40 ,richard the #bnd1 with all his faults1 was neither deficient in ,beard nor in courage--the latter shewn in his meeting with ,wat ,tyler1 and his defence against his assassins4 ,henry ,,iv1 the crafty ,bolingbroke1 had a chin cover1 in whose every curl lurked an intrigue1 of which his son1 ,henry ,v1 who was made of other metal1 was so ashamed1 we presume1 that he wore in penitence a shaven chin throughout his ten years' reign1 as may be seen by his monument in ,westminster ,abbey1 the remains of which still exist4 ,shaving continued partially in fashion in ,henry the #fth's reign1 who himself in later life was ,bearded like a ,philosopher1 accustomed to moralize over the ups and downs of life1 of which he had no common share4 ,edward the #dth shaved out of foppery2 as did that smooth-faced rascal1 ,richard ,,iii1 who 8could smile and smile and be a villain40 ,henry the #gth shaved himself and fleeced his people4 ,as may be seen in ,,mss4 illuminations1 and as we read in ,chaucer and elsewhere1 the majority of the people stuck to their ,beards1 uninfluenced by the fluctuations of court fashions4 ,the poet1 who was born in ,edward the #crd's time1 and died in ,henry the #dth's1 speaks of 8the merchant's forked ,beard20 8the ,franklin's white as a daisy20 8the shipman's shaken by many a tempest20 8the miller's red as a fox1 and broad as though it were a spade20 the ,reeve's close trimmed2 the ,sompnour's piled2 and ends by a contemptuous allusion to the ,pardonere with his small voice3 8,no ,beard had he1 nor never none should have1 ,as smooth it was as it were newe shave1 c40 ,henry ,,viii1 as you may still see on many sign boards1 for which his bluff1 bloated face is so well adapted1 had his ,beard close clipped4 ,once he swore to ,francis the #ast that he would never cut it till he had visited the latter1 who swore the same2 and when long ,beards had become the fashion at the ,french ,court1 ,sir ,thomas ,bulleyn was obliged to excuse ,henry's bad faith1 by alleging that the ,queen of ,england felt an insuperable antipathy to a bushy chin1 which1 from the known considerate conduct of ,henry to his wives1 must have been a very plausible plea6 ,sir ,t4 ,moore shaved previous to his imprisonment4 ,his ,beard being then allowed to grow1 he conceived such an affection for it1 that before he laid his head on the block he carefully put it on one side1 remarking 8that it at least was guiltless of treason1 and ought not to be punished40 ,although ,francis ,i1 and his ,court1 cherished their ,beards1 the ,chancellor ,duprat advised the imposition of a tax on the ,beards of the clergy1 and promised the king a handsome revenue4 ,the bishops and wealthier clergy paid the tax and saved their ,beards2 but the poorer ministers were not so fortunate4 ,in the succeeding reign1 the clergy determined on revenge2 so when ,duprat 7son of the ,chancellor7 was returning in triumph from the council of ,trent1 to take possession of the bishopric of ,claremont1 the dean and canons closed the brass gates of the chancel1 through which they were seen armed with shears and razor1 soap and basin1 and pointing to the statutes1 8de radendis barbis40 ,notwithstanding his remonstrances1 they refused to induct him unless he sacrificed his ,beard1 which was the handsomest of his time4 ,he is said to have retired to his castle1 and died of vexation4 ,in the same reign1 ,john de ,morillers was also objected to by the ,chapter of ,orleans2 but the cunning fellow produced a letter from the king stating1 that the statutes must be dispensed with in his case1 as his majesty intended to employ him in countries where he could not appear without a ,beard4 ,at the court of the rival of ,francis1 ,charles the #eth1 who had himself a right royal covering to his chin1 lived ,john ,mayo1 his painter1 a very tall man1 but with a ,beard so long1 that he could stand upon it2 and in which he took much pride1 suspending it by ribbons to his button-hole4 ,sometimes this mass of hair1 by command of the ,emperor1 was unfastened at table1 and doors and windows being thrown open1 the imperial mind took intense delight in seeing it blown into the faces of his grimacing courtiers4 ,another noted ,german ,beard was that of a merchant of ,braunau in ,bavaria1 which was so long1 that it would have draggled on the ground1 had it not been incased by its proud owner in a beautiful velvet bag4#bf ,footnote #bf3 ,southey in 8,the ,doctor0 mentions the ,beard of ,dominico d',ancona1 as the crown or ,king of ,beards1 ,a ,beard the most singular ,man ever described in verse or prose2 and of which ,berni says1 8that the ,barber ought to have felt less reluctance in cutting the said ,dominico's throat1 than in cutting off so incomparable a ,beard40 ,but ,southey is outdone by a story told by ,dr4 ,ehle in his work on the hair1 where mention is made of two seven-foot giants with ,beards down to their toes1 at the court of one of the ,german sovereigns4 ,they both fell in love with the same woman1 and their master decided that whichever should succeed in putting his rival into a sack1 should have the maiden4 ,one of them sacked the other after a long duel before the whole court1 and married the girl4 ,that the pair lived happily afterwards1 as the ,novelists say1 is proved by their having as many signs of affection as there are in the ,zodiac2 and it is worthy of remark1 both physiologically and astrologically1 that the whole twelve were born under one sign1 ,gemini4 ,the promising ,edward the #fth died before his ,beard developed2 his sister ,mary's husband had one of the true ,spanish cut4 ,in the time of 8good ,queen ,bess10 when 8,the grave ,lord ,chancellor#bg led the dance1 ,and seal and mace tripped down before him10 ,footnote #bg3 ,it surely will not be denied by any ,judge of taste1 that the ,chancellor and other legal dignitaries would look more dignified in their own hair and with ,beards of 8reverend grey10 than in the present absurd1 fantastic1 unnatural and unbecoming frosted ivy bushes1 with a black crow's nest in the centre1 in which ,minerva might more readily mistake them for stray specimens of her favorite bird1 the owl1 than for learned1 intelligent1 and logical 8sages of the law40 she1 who was no prude1 and had a right royal sympathy with every thing manly and becoming1 surrounded herself with men1 who to the most punctilious courtesy1 joined the most adventurous spirit2 and the ,beard1 as might have been expected1 grew and flourished mightily4 ,hence we are not surprised at the wonderful efforts made by her subjects in arms1 and arts1 and literature1 so as to make her reign an era to which we look back with patriotic pride1 and from which our best writers still draw as from a well of deep perennial flow4#bh ,footnote #bh3 ,although an attempt was made in this reign to restrain the growth of legal ,beards by some pragmatical heads of ,lincoln's ,inn1 who passed a resolution 8that no fellow of that house should wear a ,beard of above a fortnight's growth20 and although transgression was punished with fine1 loss of commons1 and final expulsion1 such was the vigorous resistance to this act of tyranny1 that in the following year all previous orders respecting ,beards were repealed4 ,percy ,anecdotes4 ,about the same time also in ,germany the moustache was partially substituted for the ,beard1 as appears by ,berckemej's ,europ4 ,antiq4 p4 #bid1 who under the year #aefd says1 the ,archbishop ,sigismund introduced in ,magdeburgh the custom of shaving off the full ,beard and wearing instead a moustache4 ,the year in which this ,beard-reformation 7de-formation87 happened1 was contained in this pentameter-- 8,longa s,ig,is,m,vn,do barba ,i,vbente per,it40 8,sigismund commanding1 the long ,beard perished in ,,mdlvv 7 ,x7 ,,iiii4 or #aefd40 ,a feeble reflection of some of the heads of this period were exhibited on the walls of the lecture room1 as the sagacious ,burleigh2 the adventurous ,raleigh2 the rash but brave ,essex2 ,nottingham1 the ,high ,admiral who scattered the ,armada2 ,gresham the ,merchant ,prince1 who found his ,beard no hindrance to business2 and the ,poet of ,poets1 whether ancient or modern1 ,shakspeare4 ,as might be expected1 the dramatic literature of the time is full of allusions to that feature which men still honored and admired4 ,lear can find no more pathetic outburst of insulted majesty1 in addressing his vile daughter ,goneril1 than the words-- 8,art not ashamed to look upon this ,beard80 and when ,regan insults the faithful ,gloster1 the latter exclaims-- 8,by the kind ,gods6 ',tis most ignobly done ,to pluck me by the ,beard60 ,in a more mocking humour1 ,shakspeare makes ,cressida say of ,troilus's chin1 8alas poor chin6 many a wart is richer60 ,and ,rosalind to ,orlando1 8,i will pardon you for not having a neglected ,beard1 for truly your having in ,beard is a younger brother's revenue40 ,then as characteristics1 we have the black1 white1 straw-colored1 orange-tawney1 purple-in-grain1 and perfect yellow4 ,the soldier ,bearded like a pard2 the justice with ,beard of formal cut2 the sexton's hungry ,beard2 and the ,beard of the general's cut2 and that fine passage1 which you will pardon my quoting1 if only to supply an obvious correction naturally lost sight of by ,beardless commentators4 ,if instead of the puerile conceit1 stairs of sand1 we read layers of sand1 we not only restore metaphorical beauty but literal truth2 for what is more deceitful than a layer of sand1 and the ,beard is 8a layer of hair40 8,there is no one so simple but assumes ,some mark of virtue on his outward parts2 ,how many cowards1 whose hearts are all as false ,as layers of sand1 wear yet upon their chins ,the ,beards of ,hercules and frowning ,mars1 ,who1 inward searched1 have livers white as milk3 ,and these assume but valour's excrement ,to make themselves redoubted40#bi ,footnote #bi3 ,pagenstecher asks 8which was the city where ,beard and foot made the magistrate80 and then proceeds gravely to relate that the inhabitants of ,hardenberg had formerly the singular custom of electing their mayors or burgomasters by assembling at a round table1 where while some of the town council were employed in inspecting their ,beards1 others were engaged in estimating their feet--the biggest ,beard and largest foot being 8called to the scarlet40 ,and rightly too6 for the ,beard denoted authority and wisdom1 and the large foot an understanding likely to take grave steps when needed4 ,as containing a valuable hint to modern corporations to look well to the essential points of a mayor--too often overlooked--,i trust1 this note upon note will be pardoned4 ,the witty ,robert ,green1 published in #aeib1 a curious dialogue1#cj from which we get a glimpse into a ,barber's shop of ,queen ,elizabeth's time4 ,cloth-breeches complains of the ,barber's attention to ,velvet-breeches in these terms4 8,his head being once dressed1 which requires in combing and brushing some two hours2 then being curiously washed with no worse than a camphor ball1 you descend as low as his ,beard1 and ask whether he please to be shaven or no8 whether he will have his peake cut short and sharp1 amiable like an innamorato1 or broad pendant like a spade1 or le terrible1 like a warrior or soldado8 whether he will have his crates cut low like a juniper bush1 or his subercles taken away with a razor8 ,if it be his pleasure to have his appendices pruned1 or his moustaches fostered to turn about his ears like the branches of a vine1 or cut down to the lip with the ,italian lash1 to make him look like a half-faced bauby in brass4 ,these quaint terms ,master ,barber1 you greet ,master ,velvet-breeches withal1 and at every word a snap with your scissors and a cringe with your knee2 whereas1 when you come to poor ,cloth-breeches1 you either cut his ,beard at your own pleasure1 or else in disdain ask him if he will be trimmed with ,christ's cut1 round like the half of a ,holland cheese1 mocking both ,christ and us40#ca ,footnote #cj3 8,quip for an ,upstart ,courtier40 ,footnote #ca3 ,a ,ben ,jonson1 among other allusions to the ,beard1 has the following3-- ,i am heartily grieved a ,beard of your grave length ,should be so over-reach'd4 78,the ,fox407 ,in his ,alchemist ,subtle telling ,drugger's fortune says-- ----8,this summer ,he will be of the clothing of his company1 ,and next spring called to the scarlet40 ,,face4 ,what and so little ,beard6#cb ,footnote #cb3 ,lilly in one of his ,dramas makes a ,barber say to his customer1 8,how1 sir1 will you be trimmed8 ,will you have a ,beard like a spade or a bodkin8 ,a penthouse on your upper lip or an ally on your chin8 ,your moustaches sharp at the ends like shoemaker's awls1 or hanging down to your mouth like goat's flakes80 ,in the reign of ,james the #ast1 ,beards continued in fashion1 and ,i extract two out of many passages from ,beaumont and ,fletcher's plays2 the first being1 not excepting even that of ,butler's ,hudibras1 the most humourous description of a ,beard in the language4 ,a banished prince in disguise1 having been elected 8,king of the ,beggars0 on account of his ,beard2 ,higgen the ,orator of the ,troop proceeds in this fashion3-- 8,i then presaged thou shortly wouldst be king1 ,and now thou art so4 ,but what need presage ,to us1 that might have read it in thy ,beard1 ,as well as he that chose thee6 ,by the ,beard ,thou wert found out and marked for sovereignty4 ,o happy ,beard6 but happier ,prince1 whose ,beard ,was so remarked as marked out our ,prince ,not bating us a hair4 ,long may it grow1 ,and thick and fair1 that who lives under it ,may live as safe as under ,beggar's ,bush1 ,of which it is the thing--that but the type4 ,this is the ,beard--the bush--or bushy ,beard1 ,under whose gold and silver reign 'twas said1 ,so many ages since1 we all should smile6 ,no impositions1 taxes1 grievances1 ,knots in a state1 and whips unto a subject1 ,lie lurking in this ,beard1 but all combed out40 ,in his ,queen of ,corinth we learn that-- 8,the ,roman ,t1 your ,t-,beard is the fashion1 ,and twifold doth express the enamoured courtier ,as full as your fork carving doth the traveller40 ,the last line alluding to ,coryate the traveller's recent introduction of the dinner-fork from ,italy4 ,of this ,roman ,t-,beard another writer humorously says-- 8,the ,roman ,t1 ,in its bravery1 ,doth first itself disclose3 ,but so high it turns1 ,that oft it burns ,with the flame of a torrid nose40 and then adds-- 8,the soldier's ,beard ,doth match in this herd ,in figure like a spade2 ,with which he will make ,his enemies quake ,to think their grave is made40 ,in #afaj1 died ,henry ,,iv1 of ,france1 whose ,beard is said 8to have diffused over his countenance a majestic sweetness and amiable openness20 his son ,louis ,,xiii1#cc ascending the throne while yet a minor1 the courtiers and others1 to keep him in countenance1 began to shave1 leaving merely the tuft called a mouche or royal4 ,sully1 however1 the famous minister of ,henry1 stoutly refused to adopt the effeminate custom4 ,being sent for to court1 and those about the king having mocked at his old-fashioned ,beard1 the duke indignantly turned to ,louis and said1 8,sire6 when your father of glorious memory did me the honor to hold a consultation on grave and important business1 the first thing he did was to order out of the room all the buffoons and stage dancers of his court60 ,about this time also1 ,marshal ,bassompierre having been released from a long imprisonment1 declared the chief alteration he found was1 8that the men had lost their ,beards and the horses their tails40 ,footnote #cc3 8,in this reign1 whiskers however attained to a high degree of favour at the expense of the expiring ,beard1 and continued so under ,louis ,,xiv1 who1 with all the great men of his court1 took a great pride in wearing them4 ,in those days of gallantry1 it was no uncommon thing for a lover to have his whiskers turned up1 combed and pomatumed by his mistress2 and a man of fashion was always provided with every necessary article for this purpose1 especially whisker wax40 ,percy ,anecdotes4 ,under our first ,charles1#cd the sides of the face were often shaven1 and the ,beard reduced to the moustache1 and a long chin-tuft1 as in the portrait of that monarch1 retaining however still some of its former gracefulness4 ,as the contest grew hotter between ,cavalier and ,roundhead1 doubtless some of the latter cropped chin as well as head2 though others are said to have been so careful of their ,beards1 as to provide them with pasteboard night-caps to prevent the hairs being rumpled4 ,footnote #cd3 ,d',israeli quotes an author of this reign1 who in his 8,elements of ,education0 says1 8,i have a favourable opinion of that young gentleman who is curious in fine moustachios4 ,the time he employs in adjusting1 dressing and curling them1 is no lost time2 for the more he contemplates his moustachios1 the more his mind will cherish and be animated by masculine and courageous notions40 ,d',israeli also states1 that the grandfather of ,mrs4 ,thomas1 the 8,corinna of ,dryden10 was very nice in the mode of that age1 his valet being some hours every morning in starching his ,beard and curling his whiskers1 during which time he was always read to4 ,in one instance it was worn long for a sign1 as we see by the following verse-- 8,this worthy knight was one that swore ,he would not cut his ,beard1 ',till this ungodly nation was ,from kings and bishops cleared3 ,which holy vow he firmly kept1 ,and most devoutly wore ,a grizzly meteor on his face1 ',till they were both no more40#ce ,footnote #ce3 ,taylor1 the ,water ,poet1 who lived from the end of ,elizabeth to nearly the end of the ,commonwealth1 thus humorously describes the various fashions of this appendage4 8,now a few lines to paper ,i will put1 ,of men's ,beards strange and variable cut1 ,in which there's some that take as vain a pride1 ,as almost in all other things beside3 ,some are reaped most substantial like a brush1 ,which makes a natural wit known by the bush2 ,and in my time of some men ,i have heard1 ,whose wisdom hath been only wealth and ,beard3 ,many of these the proverb well doth fit1 ,which says bush natural more hair than wit3 ,some seem as they were starched stiff and fine1 ,like to the bristles of some angry swine2 ,and some1 to set their loves' desire on edge1 ,are cut and prun'd like to a quickset hedge4 ,some like a spade1 some like a fork1 some square1 ,some round1 some mow'd like stubble1 some stark bare1 ,some sharp1 stiletto-fashion1#cf dagger-like1 ,that may1 with whispering1 a man's eyes outpike4 ,some with the hammer cut or ,roman ,t1 ,their ,beards extravagant reform'd must be2 ,some with the quadrate1 some triangle-fashion1 ,some circular1 some oval in translation2 ,some perpendicular in longitude1 ,some like a thicket for their crassitude4 ,the heighths1 depths1 breadths1 triform1 square1 oval1 round1 ,and rules geometrical in ,beards are found40 ,footnote #cf3 8,the stiletto ,beard ,it makes me afeard ,it is so sharp beneath3 ,for he that doth wear ,a dagger in his face1 ,what must he wear in his sheath40 ,old ,author4 8,who make sharp ,beards and little breeches ,deities40 ,beaumont and ,fletcher4 ,under ,charles the #bnd1 the ,beard dwindled into the mere moustache1 and then vanished4 ,and when we consider the ,french apery of that un-,english court1 it is no wonder the ,beard appeared too bold and manly an ensign to be tolerated4 ,it went out first among the upper classes in ,london1 and by slow degrees the sturdy country squires and yeomen also yielded their free honors to the slavish effeminate fashion1 which1 by the force of example1 descended even to the working classes1 on whom it imposed new burdens and some bodily diseases from which their hardy frames had been hitherto exempt4 ,it is to be hoped1 that when any one for the future talks about the ,beard being a foreign fashion1 he will be reminded that it is a good old ,english natural fashion1 and that the present custom of shaving was borrowed from ,france1 at a time when we had no credit to borrow anything else1 seeing that king1 courtiers1 and patriots1 were all the pensioned dependents of the ,french monarch6 ,the sooner therefore we cease to shave1 the sooner shall we wipe out the remembrance of a disgraceful period of our history6 ,one amusing proof that the ,beard continued to be worn by the country people after its decline about the court1 is afforded by an anecdote of the notorious ,judge ,jeffries1 who1 in his browbeating way1 thus addressed a party before him4 8,if your conscience be as large as your ,beard1 fellow6 it must be a swinging one40 ,to which the witness replied1 8,if consciences be measured by ,beards1 ,i am afraid your lordship has none at all40 ,in #agjj1 ,charles ,v ascended the throne of ,spain1 with a smooth chin2 and his example was gradually followed1 though the popular feeling has been condensed into the proverb--8,since we have lost our ,beards1 we have lost our souls20 and no one can question that loss of ,beard and empire in that country have singularly coincided4 ,two brief anecdotes will shew the sense of honor which formerly resided in ,spanish and ,portuguese ,beards4 ,cid ,rai ,diaz dying1 a spiteful ,jew stole into the room to do what he durst not when ,diaz was alive--pluck the noble ,spaniard's ,beard6 ,as he stooped for the purpose1 the body started up and drew the sword lying in state by its side4 ,the ,jew fled horror-struck2 the corpse smiled grimly1 and resumed its repose2 and the ,jew turned ,christian4 ,when the brave ,john de ,castro had taken the ,indian fortress of ,dieu1 being in want of supplies1 he pledged one of his moustaches for a thousand pistoles1 saying 8all the gold in the world cannot equal the value of this natural ornament of my valour40 ,the inhabitants of ,goa1 especially the ladies1 were so struck with this magnaminous sacrifice1 that they raised the money and redeemed the pledge4 ,the last ,european nation to lay aside the ,beard was the ,russian1 in whose ancient code it was enacted that whoever plucks hair from another's ,beard shall be fined four times as much as for cutting off a finger4 ,peter the ,great1 7who always remained a semi-savage71 like many other half-informed reformers1 sought to accomplish his objects by arbitrary measures rather than by moral persuasion4 ,having1 when in the west1 seen unbearded faces1 he jumped to the conclusion that absence of ,beard was a necessary part of civilization2 forgetting that a shaven savage is a savage still4 ,he therefore ordered all his subjects to shave1 imposing a tax of one hundred roubles on all nobles1 gentlemen1 tradesmen1 and artizans1 and a copeck on the lower classes4 ,great commotions were the result2 but ,peter was obstinate and made a crusade with scissors and razor1 much resembling a ,franco-,african ,razzia1 which you know means a clean shave of everything with very dirty hands6 ,some1 to avoid disgrace1 parted with their ,beards voluntarily1 but all preserved the hairs to be buried in their coffins2 the more superstitious believing that unless they could present theirs to ,st4 ,nicholas1 he would refuse them admission to heaven as ,beardless ,christians4 ,one of the most difficult tasks was to deal with the army2 in this1 ,peter proceeded with characteristic cunning4 ,through the agency of the priests1 the soldiers were told that they were going to fight the ,turks1 who wore ,beards1 and that their patron saint ,st4 ,nicholas would not be able to protect his beloved ,russians1 unless they consented to distinguish themselves by removing their ,beards6 ,you see how stale are the ,czar's late tricks6 ,convinced by this pious fraud1 the credulous soldiers obeyed the imperial mandate4 ,the next war1 however1 was against the ,swedes1 and the soldiers1 who had suffered severely from shaving1 turned the tables upon the priests1 and said1 8the ,swedes have no ,beards1 we must therefore let ours grow again1 lest1 as you say1 the holy ,nicholas should not know us60 ,it is a note-worthy historical fact1 which shews the danger arising from discarding the natural for the artificial1 that as ,beards died out1 false hair came in4 ,a mountain of womanish curls rested on the head1 and was made to fall in effeminate ringlets over neck and shoulders1 while the whole face was kept as smooth1 and smug1 and characterless as razor could make it4 ,this renders it so disagreeable a task to look through a series of ,kneller's portraits1 who1 clever as he was1 could not impart the freedom and vigour of nature to this absurd fashion4 ,a portrait of ,addison1#cg was shewn as an illustration1 because1 as has been seen1 though he complied with the mode1 he was occasionally favored with visions of better times1 past and to come4#ch ,footnote #cg3 ,i cannot refrain from alluding in a note to a curious fact4 ,on the day this ,lecture was given1 a little boy was brought to look at the portraits just after they were hung4 ,i said to him1 8,edward1 which face do you like best80 ,he instantly touched the portrait of ,addison1 and said1 8that's the best woman10 and 8that's the best man60 pointing to the well-bearded face of ,leonardo da ,vinci4 ,footnote #ch3 ,that ,southey had the same compunctious visitings as ,addison1 appears clearly enough1 for while in his ,doctor he compares 8shaving at home0 with 8slavery abroad20 states that 8a good razor is more difficult to meet with1 than a good wife20 denounces the practice 8as preposterous and irrational10 as 8troublesome1 inconvenient10 and attended with 8discomfort1 especially in frosty weather and ,march winds20 places it on an equality with the curse pronounced on ,eve2 and concludes with the opinion that 8if the daily shavings of one year could be put into one shave1 the operation would be more than flesh and blood could bear20 he has nothing to say in favour of shaving1 but that it encourages ,barbers1 compels the shaver to some moments of calm thought and reflection1 and enables him to draw lessons from the looking glass that nobody with razor in hand ever thought of4 ,these words in another place give a key to his real opinion4 8,if ,i wore a ,beard10 he writes1 8,i would cherish it as the ,cid ,campeador did his1 for my pleasure4 ,i would regale it on a ,summer's day with rose-water1 and without making it an idol1 ,i should sometimes offer incense to it with a pastille1 or with lavender and sugar4 ,my children1 when they were young enough for such blandishments1 would have delighted to comb and stroke and curl it1 and my grandchildren in their time would have succeeded to the same course of mutual endearment40 ,see also ,leigh ,hunt's humourous paper on ,lie-abeds in the ,indicator1 where he calls 8shaving a villainous and unnecessary custom40 ,to the reign of false curls1 succeeded that still more egregious outrage--that climax of coxcombry--powder1 pomatum1 and pigtails6 ,the former to give the snows of age to the ruddy face of youth2 the latter being1 ,i suppose1 an attempt of some bright genius to outdo nature1 ,by hanging a stiff black tail behind1 ,instead of a flowing beard before1 ,as if1 by this ensign1 the world to remind1 ,how wise it had grown since old father ,noah4 ,this was the period when every breeze was a ,zephyr1 every maid a ,chle1 every woman a ,venus1 and every fat squinting child a ,cupid6 ,later ,german critics even christen the writers of this school1 8the ,pigtail ,poets40#ci ,footnote #ci3 ,seume1 a ,german poet of a better school1 in his travels says1 8,to-day ,i threw my powder apparatus out of window1 when will the day come that ,i can send my shaving apparatus after it60 ,the first ,french ,revolution made an end of all this trumpery1 and though ,alison and other professed historians have not classed the event among the good things flowing from that fearful flood of blood and blasphemy1 it was not one of the least1 and society cannot rejoice too much at being delivered from the example of systematic frippery1 frivolity1 and tricked-out vice of the later ,french ,sovereigns1 imitated as they were by most of the petty puppet ,princes of ,germany-- ,each lesser ape in his small way1 ,playing his antics like the greater4 ,about the rise of the first ,napoleon to power1 a more simple1 severe1 and classic taste1 was beginning to prevail1 and this dictated a return to the ,beard4 ,under the military despotism1 however1 of that ,emperor1 moustaches were forbidden to civilians1 and the ,beard restrained to that petty1 hairy imitation of a reversed triangle--called after its reviver1 who never personally wore it--the imperial1 as if to denote to the people that they were to have the smallest possible share in the empire4 ,with every attempt at freedom on the ,continent1 the ,beard re-appears2 it was one of the most effective standards in the war of freedom1 when ,germany rose against ,napoleon4 ,in #ahcj1 it was partially revived in ,france1 and later still it has made many a perjured continental monarch#dj 8quake and tremble in his capital10 and reminded him that in spite of neglected promises and false oaths1 the reign of injustice 8hangs but on a hair10 of which the police will not always be able to check the free growth4 ,footnote #dj3 ,one hardly knows which is the most detestable1 the canting hypocrisy of ,prussian constitutional pretence1--the more open poltroonery of ,neapolitan despotism--or the paternal care to prevent even the buddings of free thought as in ,austria1 where ,i can state from my own knowledge that ,schiller's works were seized as contraband on the ,hungarian frontier1 and a party in the ,austrian service who had attempted to defend the conduct of the government at a ,table d',hte was sent for by the head of the police1 and when to excuse himself he alleged he was speaking for the government1 was replied to--8,young man1 the government want no defence--no discussion--and your wisest course is to be silent60 ,i have now merely to notice very briefly1 four modern objections to the ,beard4 ,i4 8,that it is less cleanly than shaving40 ,to this1 the answer is1 that depends upon the wearer2 and it will take less time to keep clean1 than to shave1 especially where1 as in ,england1 every one washes the face more than once a day4 ,besides1 if this were an argument1 we had better shave the head and eyebrows as well4 ,,ii4 8,that it would take as much time to keep the ,beard in order1 as to shave40 ,supposing even it did1 still there is a most important difference both in the two operations and in their results4 ,for the process of combing and brushing the ,beard1 instead of being tedious1 uncertain1 and often painful1 like shaving1#da confers a positively delightful sensation1 similar to that which one may imagine a cat to experience1 ,footnote #da3 ,there is something in the operation of shaving which1 besides its painfulness1 ought to make it repulsive to those who do not shave themselves--such as having the face bedaubed with lather and rubbed with a brush1 which has done the same office for hundreds of chins4 ,it is amusing to hear a knot of free and independent ,englishmen roaring 8,britons never will be slaves20 most of whom will give their chins to be mown and their noses to be pulled by any common ,barber1 and pay him too for the pulling4 ,even when the party is a self-shaver1 to say nothing of the waste of time1 what a number of petty annoyances and exercises of temper does it involve6 ,notwithstanding the boasts of cold water shavers1 depend upon it in rigorous weather most people prefer hot to cold water1 which renders them slaves to their servants2 next1 razors1 as we know from puff advertisements and our own experience1 are the most uncertain of articles2 then there is the state of the nerves1 that even the strongest cannot always control1 causing the unsteady hand to gash and hack the chin1 or cover it with blood from the beheading of those pimply eruptions of which the razor has been ofttimes the originator4 ,when smoothing gently down its fur1 ,it answers with a purr1 purr1 purr2 ,and in its drooping half-shut eye1 ,a dreamy pleasure we espy4 ,and while the result of shaving is a mere negation1 depriving us of a natural protection1 and exposing us to disease1 the other process1 consume what time we will1 is natural and instinctive1 and attended with the satisfaction of adding the grace of neatness to nature's stamp of man's nobility4 ,,iii4 8,that the ladies dont like it60 ,this ,professor ,burdach and ,dr4 ,elliotson1 pronounce a foul libel4#db ,ladies by their very nature like every thing manly2 and though from custom the ,beard may at first sight have a strange look1 they will soon be reconciled to it1 and think1 with ,beatrice1 that a man without1 8is only fit to be their waiting gentlewoman40#dc ,i have already mentioned one instance of a queen despising her husband1 because he was priest-ridden enough to shave2 and here ,i present you with a second in this veritable portrait 7shewing it7 of a painter in the reign of ,george ,i1 of the name of ,liotard1 who having returned from his travels in the ,east1 with this fine flow of curling comeliness1 was irresistible4 ,he followed his fate1 and married1 but then1 alas1 unhappy wretch6 took one day the whim to shave off his ,eastern glory4 ,directly his wife saw him1 the charm of that ideal which every true woman forms of her lover1 was broken2 for instead of a dignified manly countenance1 her eyes fell upon a small pinched face1 with nose celestial and mouth most animally terrestial1 ,footnote #db3 ,old ,burton in his ,anatomy of ,melancholy adds his quaint testimony4 8,no sooner doth a young man see his sweetheart coming1 than he smugs up himself1 pulls up his cloak1 ties his garter points1 sets his band and cuffs1 sticks his hair1 twires his ,beard10 c4 ,d',israeli also says1 8when the fair sex were accustomed to behold their lovers with ,beards1 the sight of a shaved chin excited feelings of horror and aversion2 as much indeed as in this less heroic age would a gallant whose luxuriant ,beard should #8,stream like a meteor to the troubled air4'0 ,footnote #dc3 ,the whole dialogue from whence this phrase is taken1 is suggestive of the contempt with which the ladies of ,elizabeth and ,james the #ast's time regarded a hairless chin4 ,and there are numerous passages in our old ,dramatists which might be quoted to the same effect1 but that some of the allusions do not square with modern notions of delicacy4 ,and such a little perking chin1 ,to kiss it seemed almost a sin6 ,,iv4 8,that a ,beard may be very comfortable in ,winter but too hot in ,summer60 ,the better races of the sons of torrid ,africa wear ,beards1 as did the ancient ,numidians1 and ,tyro-,african ,carthaginians before them4 ,the ,arab in the arid parching desert cherishes his6 ,are we afraid of being warmer than these in an ,english ,summer8 ,besides1 as we have already shewn1 the ,beard is a non-conductor of heat as well as cold4#dd ,footnote #dd3 ,it is scarcely conceivable what strange remarks have been made to me on the subject of the ,beard4 ,one party very gravely enquired whether ,i really thought that ,adam had a ,beard8 ,another was remonstrating with me on the first manifestations of my moustache2 against whom ,i wickedly urged the argumentum ad feminam--you don't object to it in the military8 when the daughter naively chimed in1 8why you know1 ,sir1 it is natural to them60 ,two or three acute persons1 one of them a lawyer1 have objected1 8but you have your hair cut60 ,to which ,i have replied1 8yes6 but ,i don't shave it off2 and ,i trim my ,beard instead of removing it4 ,you also pare your nails2 but you don't think of plucking them out1 do you80 ,having now1 ladies and gentlemen1 offered proofs that the ,beard is a natural feature of the male face1 and designed by ,providence for distinction1 protection1 and ornament1 and shewn you historically1 that while there was never any sufficient reason alleged for leaving it off1 unless a heaven condemned superstition1 or the capricious dictates of fops and profligates1 afford to any sound mind reasonable motives of action1 need ,i ask you not to oppose the efforts of those who1 reverencing the ,creator's laws as above the dictates of man1 conceive themselves justified in returning to the more natural course4 ,on our part we will1 notwithstanding all that we have said1 freely allow any one to continue the practice of shaving1 who will be content with the same plea as a certain ,duke de ,brissac1 who was often overheard uttering the following soliloquy while adjusting his razor to the proper angle4 8,timoleon de ,cosse1 ,god hath made thee a ,gentleman1 and the ,king hath made thee a ,duke2 it is right and fit1 however1 that thou shouldst have something to do1 therefore thou shalt shave thyself60 -------------- ,,haddock1 7,,late ,,pawsey17 ,,printer1 ,,ipswich4 ,illustration ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,some of the text on the title page was illegible1 and was omitted4 ,missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected4 ,typographical errors were silently corrected4 ,inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book4 ,text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores 7italics74