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Article RISE AND FALL OF BEARDS. Page 1 of 3 →
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Rise And Fall Of Beards.
RISE AND FALL OF BEARDS .
VARIOUS have been the ceremonies and customs of most nations in regard of the beard . The Tartars , out of a religions principle , waged long and bloody war with the Persians , declaring thern infidels , merely because they would not cut their whiskers after the rite ofTartary ; and we find ,, that a considerable branch of the
relig ion of the ancients consisted in the management of their beard . The Greeks wore their beards till the time of Alexander the Great ; that prince having ordered the Macedonians to be shaved , for fear it should g ive a handle to their enemies . According to Piiny , the Romans did not begin to shave till the year of Rome 4 ^ 4 , when P . Ticiiiius brought over a stock of barbers from Sicily . —Persons of
quality had their children shaved the first time by others , of the same or greater quality , who , by this means , became godfather , or adoptive father of the children . Anciently , indeed , a pei ' son became godfather of the child by barely touching his beard : thus historians relate , that one of the articles of the treaty between Alaric and Clovis was , that Alaric should touch the beard of Clovis to become his godfather
, As to ecclesiastics , the discip line has been very different on the article of beards ; sometimes they iiave been enjoined to wear them , from a notion of too much effeminacy in shaving , and that a long beard was more , suitable to the ecclesiastical gravity ; aud sometimes again they were forbid it , as imagining piide to lurk beneath a venerable
beard , The Greek and Roman churches have been long together by the ears about their beards : since the time of their separation , the Romanists seem to have given more into the practice of shaving , by way of opposition to the Greeks ; and have even made some express constitutions de ' radendis barbis . The Greeks , on the contrary , espoused very zealously the cause of long beards , and are extremely scandalized at the beardless images of saints in the Roman churches .
By the statutes of some monasteries it appears , that the lay-monks were to let their beards grow , and the priests among them to shave ; and that the beards of all that were received into the monasteries , were blessed with a great deal of ceremony . There are still extant the prayers used in the solemnity of consecrating the beard to God , Vvhen an ecclesiastic was shaven . '
Le Compte observes , that the Chinese affect long beards extravagantly ; but nature has baulked them , and only given them very little ones , which , however , they cultivate with infinite care : the Europeans are strangely envied by them on this account , aud esteemed the greatest men in the world . Chrysostom observes , that the kings of Persia had their beards wove or matted together with gold thread ;
and some of the first kings of France had their beards knotted and buttoned up with gold . Among the Turks , it is more infamous for any one to have his beard cut off , than among ' us to be publicly whipt or branded with a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Rise And Fall Of Beards.
RISE AND FALL OF BEARDS .
VARIOUS have been the ceremonies and customs of most nations in regard of the beard . The Tartars , out of a religions principle , waged long and bloody war with the Persians , declaring thern infidels , merely because they would not cut their whiskers after the rite ofTartary ; and we find ,, that a considerable branch of the
relig ion of the ancients consisted in the management of their beard . The Greeks wore their beards till the time of Alexander the Great ; that prince having ordered the Macedonians to be shaved , for fear it should g ive a handle to their enemies . According to Piiny , the Romans did not begin to shave till the year of Rome 4 ^ 4 , when P . Ticiiiius brought over a stock of barbers from Sicily . —Persons of
quality had their children shaved the first time by others , of the same or greater quality , who , by this means , became godfather , or adoptive father of the children . Anciently , indeed , a pei ' son became godfather of the child by barely touching his beard : thus historians relate , that one of the articles of the treaty between Alaric and Clovis was , that Alaric should touch the beard of Clovis to become his godfather
, As to ecclesiastics , the discip line has been very different on the article of beards ; sometimes they iiave been enjoined to wear them , from a notion of too much effeminacy in shaving , and that a long beard was more , suitable to the ecclesiastical gravity ; aud sometimes again they were forbid it , as imagining piide to lurk beneath a venerable
beard , The Greek and Roman churches have been long together by the ears about their beards : since the time of their separation , the Romanists seem to have given more into the practice of shaving , by way of opposition to the Greeks ; and have even made some express constitutions de ' radendis barbis . The Greeks , on the contrary , espoused very zealously the cause of long beards , and are extremely scandalized at the beardless images of saints in the Roman churches .
By the statutes of some monasteries it appears , that the lay-monks were to let their beards grow , and the priests among them to shave ; and that the beards of all that were received into the monasteries , were blessed with a great deal of ceremony . There are still extant the prayers used in the solemnity of consecrating the beard to God , Vvhen an ecclesiastic was shaven . '
Le Compte observes , that the Chinese affect long beards extravagantly ; but nature has baulked them , and only given them very little ones , which , however , they cultivate with infinite care : the Europeans are strangely envied by them on this account , aud esteemed the greatest men in the world . Chrysostom observes , that the kings of Persia had their beards wove or matted together with gold thread ;
and some of the first kings of France had their beards knotted and buttoned up with gold . Among the Turks , it is more infamous for any one to have his beard cut off , than among ' us to be publicly whipt or branded with a