{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_59006/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_59006","id":"gutenberg_59006","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59006","summary":null,"tags":["Beards","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - Other","Category: Humour","Category: Philosophy & Ethics"],"text":"Produced by deaurider, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                              POGONOLOGIA\n\n                                  OR A\n\n                      PHILOSOPHICAL and HISTORICAL\n\n                                 ESSAY\n\n                                   ON\n\n                                BEARDS.\n\n                      ----------------------------\n\n                      TRANSLATED from the FRENCH.\n\n              -------------------------------------------\n\n             L\u2019usage nous d\u00e9robe le vrai visage des choses.\n                               MONTAIGNE.\n\n              -------------------------------------------\n\n                                EXETER:\n                          PRINTED BY R. THORN.\n\n                              AND SOLD BY\n                       T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND,\n                                LONDON.\n\n                              MDCCLXXXVI.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              To Mr. B***,\n\n                King\u2019s Counsel, Deputy Attorney General\n\n                       to the Parliament of D***.\n\nMy friend,\n\nTO load the beginning of one\u2019s work with pompous titles is an honour\nthat interest solicits and vanity easily grants; but to place the name\nof one\u2019s friend there, and dedicate the fruit of a few leisure hours to\nhim, is a homage so pure and disinterested, that modesty need not blush\nat it. Receive then this small testimony of my attachment and esteem,\nand allow me the pleasing satisfaction of publicly declaring, how much I\nam,\n\n          your friend,\n\n               J. A. D***.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                PREFACE.\n\n\n\u201cWHATEVER concerns the manners and customs of a people, says Rollin,\nshews their genius and character; and this is what may be called the\nsoul of history.\u201d I am led to think, that a picture of customs, by\npresenting mankind with objects of comparison at a nearer view,\nnaturally flatters them more, than facts or dates, the multitude or\nimprobability of which fatigues the memory, or shocks the understanding.\nThis is the reason why we prefer the private life of a hero, to the\nhistory of his great actions; the one gives us a secret satisfaction in\nwhich self-love finds its account: the other produces only astonishment.\nThe hero is too distant from us; we admire him too much to presume to\ncompare with him: \u2019tis the man we seek; his heart; his very weaknesses.\n\u2019Tis with still more eagerness we wish to examine his person; this is\nthe cause of our liking better to see the portraits of great men, than\nto read their history. We would fain touch the hero with our hand, as\none may say, we would wish to enter into competition with him.\n\nThe knowledge of customs and ancient fashions forms a branch of\nliterature which is not without its enthusiasts; this is the favourite\nstudy of antiquaries. Among the histories of these usages of our\nancestors, that of the beard holds a distinguished rank; and though at\npresent, from its little importance, it is become an object of ridicule,\nit has been held in high consideration in different ages and among\ndifferent people. Never was there any thing like that caused so many\ntroubles and so much ill blood: the cowls of the disciples of St.\nFrancis never occasioned so much noise.[1] The beard, which has been\nworn and highly respected at some periods, and despised at others, is\nbecome the sport of every witling. This mark of manhood, which was held\nsacred among the Hebrews and primitive Christians, highly condemned by\nsome popes, and particularly countenanced by others, has been\nsuccessively considered by the Roman church, as an odious heterodoxy, or\nthe symbol of wisdom and Christian humility. Like objects of great\nworth, the beard never excited petty quarrels; both its enemies and\npartisans were violent: these anecdotes, so strange in this age, will\nnot only amuse the reader, but discover the character of the people, the\nspirit of the times, and the narrowness of the human understanding.\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  During the pontificates of Clement VII. and Paul III. there were long\n  and warm disputes between the Capuchins and Observantins about cowls,\n  whether they should be square, round, sharp-pointed, oblong, &c.\n  Boverius, the annalist of the Capuchins, wrote a geometrical work,\n  containing eleven demonstrations, in order to fix the real form of the\n  cowl of St. Francis. Wigs, among the clergy, have likewise caused\n  terrible disputes. The Sulpicians alone have withstood this fashion\n  with a laudable resolution. Mr. de Thiers wrote a history of wigs,\n  which, as well as the history of cowls, evinces the narrowness of the\n  human mind, and justly exposes it to ridicule. _O curas hominum!_\n\nIt must appear a strange paradox, perfectly shocking for crazy old\nbeaus, for priests whose beards are always shaved close, in short, for\nall those that compose the effeminate part of the human species, to hear\nany one maintain, that a long beard becomes a man\u2019s dignity, and that it\nis beneficial to health and good morals; his ideas must be very\ndifferent from those of the present age. This however is what I have\npresumed to do. But whether the design of this work be serious or\nironical, it has at least the appearance of novelty; and that\u2019s a great\ndeal in this age.\n\nTo write an apology for long beards is to recall to men\u2019s minds their\nancient dignity, and that superiority of their sex which has been lost\nin Europe ever since the fabulous days of chivalry. This too is not the\nway to gain the good opinion of the ladies, seeing that it\u2019s an attempt\nto diminish their authority; but at the same time it is restoring, in\nsome respects, the sovereign power to the lawful master, and taking it\nfrom the usurper: Moliere says:\n\n             _Du c\u00f4t\u00e9  de la barbe est la toute puissance._\n             Power is on the side of the beard.\n\nThis is not very polite; but when a man is determined to speak the\ntruth, it is often very difficult to be so.\n\nTo prove clearly that our priests are obliged, not only by reason, but\nby human and divine laws, to wear a long beard, is an idea that appears\nto me as singular as new; but to employ methodically the most authentic\nand most sacred authorities, to display erudition at every moment, and\nto preserve always an air of gravity, in order to support this argument,\nmight draw on me, from my readers, the reproach of having given too much\nimportance to a subject that does not appear worthy of it. I will freely\nconfess I have been led away by my subject, and that I thought it\nnecessary to assume the tone of inquiry, because most of the proofs\nwhich I shall bring to my aid, are of a nature not easy to be reconciled\nto the spirit of irony. But this inquiry is sometimes enlivened by\ndiverting anecdotes little known; and though my chapter _Of the Beards\nof Priests_ is longer and more loaded with citations than the rest, I\u2019m\nof opinion it will not be thought the least curious.\n\nAt the conclusion I have laid aside jesting, and this perhaps may be\nthought the greatest defect; in composing it I found it impossible not\nto be serious: the gravity of the subject no doubt had an influence on\nmy ideas, and I will not attempt to say any thing in my own defence.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          _TABLE of CONTENTS._\n\n\n               CHAP.                                 PAGE\n\n                  I. _Of Fashion_                       1\n\n                 II. _Of Bearded Chins_                11\n\n                III. _Of some shaved Chins_            34\n\n                 IV. _Of Bearded Women_                52\n\n                  V. _That long Beards are             58\n                       salutary_\n\n                 VI. _Of False Beards_                 66\n\n                VII. _Of Golden Beards_                70\n\n               VIII. _Of Whiskers_                     74\n\n                 IX. _Of the Beards of Priests_        82\n\n                  X. _Of the People that wear         131\n                       Beards_\n\n                 XI. _Conclusion_                     136\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n             These changes have been applied to this text.\n\n\n\n\n                               _ERRATA._\n\n\n             Page  1 line  5 For _consider it_, read\n                               _consider them_.\n\n              ibid \u2014 10      For _and_, read _or_.\n\n             \u2014 41 note {29}  For _longuam_, read _longam_.\n\n             \u2014 56 \u2014          After the Imitation of the\n                               French lines, read\n\n                                _AGAIN._\n\n                             (BY A FRIEND.)\n\n          The reason why men should have beards on their face,\n              And that tattling women have none,\n          Is, the Devil can\u2019t shave such a chattering race,\n              But he\u2019d cut their glib cheeks to the bone.\n\n             \u2014 58 \u2014 13       For \u201cthe course of her wise\n                               operations _are_ never,\u201d\n                               read \u201cthe course of her wise\n                               operations _is_ never.\u201d\n\n             \u2014 74 \u2014 13       For _St. Clemet_, read _St.\n                               Clement_.\n\n             \u2014 83 \u2014 11       For _weairng_, read _wearing_.\n\n             \u2014 87 \u2014 22       \u2503\n\n             \u2014 88 note {55}  \u2503For _Tertullion_, read\n                               _Tertullian_.\n\n             \u2014 89 line 15    \u2503\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n           --------------------------------------------------\n\n                              POGONOLOGIA,\n\n                   Or a Philosophical and Historical\n\n                           _ESSAY ON BEARDS_.\n\n           --------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                CHAP. I.\n\n                             _Of FASHION._\n\n\nIF we were well persuaded that most new fashions are invented to hide\nsome secret imperfections of the body, or to satisfy the avidity of\nshopkeepers, it is most likely we should consider it of less importance;\nfor, if we seek the cause of these changes, we find in general it\nproceeds from the ingenious ardour of a milliner, the bad shape of some\nfine lady, the long visage of a second, and the broad foot of a beau\nparson.\n\nThe first woman that ever wore a _fardingale_ wanted to conceal the\nindiscreet fruit of her gallantry. This sort of hoop, of a cylindrical\nform, entirely concealed the waist. In a little time all the ladies\nfollowed this example; and every fashionable fair-one appeared as if her\nlover had brought her in the same situation as she that introduced the\nfashion.\n\nThe great large ruffs, which looked like a glory about the people\u2019s\nnecks, in the time of Henry IV.[2] were invented in Spain to hide the\nhernia gutturis, a very common disorder among the Spaniards. Though the\nFrench had not this disorder, they eagerly adopted the new fashion.\n\nIt is most likely the fear of being sunburnt, or else that refined\ncoquetry which conceals from public view what it means to raise a desire\nfor, determined the ladies to cover their faces with a mask of black\nvelvet. No lady was seen abroad without her mask. Tradition says nothing\nof the cause of this fashion; but there is no doubt but ugliness and\ndecrepitness invented another sort of mask, which our old tabbies still\ncontinue the use of: this is a plaster of white lead and vermillion,\nlaid on so thick, that it represents much better the ruddy countenance\nof a drunken sot, than the fine lively complexion of a beautiful damsel.\n\nIn the reign of Francis II. a tunbellied Person of high rank turned the\nheads of all the French. Every body was mad to have, not only a great\nbelly, but likewise a very large false rump. At present, our ladies have\nnot revived the fashion of great bellies; on the contrary, it has been\nremarked that they have a great dislike to them: but one of them, who\nhad a bad shape, appearing with an enormous rump and hips, all the rest\nwould have false ones; and all the well made women concealed their\nshape, as the others did their defects.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n  Henry IV. of France was the contemporary of Queen Elizabeth. T.\n\nGeffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou, one of the most accomplished and\nhandsome men of his time, had the misfortune to have a large excrescence\non the tip of his great toe; in order to conceal this imperfection, and\nwalk easy, he had some shoes made with points turned up of a sufficient\nlength not to pinch him. No sooner had he these shoes, than every one\nwas anxious to be like the count. This fashion was so much followed, and\nhad such a run, that the different degrees of rank were known by the\nlength of the points of the shoes. Those of the common people were six\ninches long, those of citizens a foot; but those of gentlemen, lords,\nand princes, were never less than two feet; from whence came the French\nproverb _Etre fur un grand pied_ (to be in easy circumstances). These\npoints to the shoes increased so in length, that it was feared lest they\nshould affect public order and the established religion: sermons were\npreached and ordinances issued against them; the clergy anathematized\nthem, and Charles V. expressly forbade their being worn.\n\nThus, every one appeared as if he had an excrescence on the tip of his\ngreat toe; so likewise, in most fashions, every one seems desirous of\nconcealing imperfections that he has not.\n\nFashions have for a long time been considered as of great importance\namong the French, and their neighbours have often reproached them with\nit.[3] If a new fashion appear, the whole nation is in an uproar: all\nare infatuated, mad: every one is in a hurry to have it; the contagion\nsoon reaches all ranks; they seem as if they could never be soon enough\nmore ridiculous than they were the day before. Taste is out of the\nquestion; \u2019tis opinion alone that decides. Were the new fashion ever so\nsilly, not a word would be said against it, because of this sole and\npowerful reason: _It is what is worn at present._\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n  Baptist Mantuan, an Italian and Latin Poet, said of the French:\n\n               \u2014\u2014_Cito mobile pectus\n               Cordaque largitus, rerum sitibunda novarum._\n\n  Another Italian said, about two centuries ago: _E Natione la Franceze\n  che mai persiste ne sta ferme in una sorte d\u2019habito, ma lo varie\n  secondo i caprici. De gli habiti antichi & moderni._\n\nThe motive that actuates people to be at the height of the mode, is the\nvanity of being thought a person of consequence. How many are there who\nare penetrated with respect at the sight of a fine coat! how many are\nthere who owe all the consideration they have to their outward\nappearance, and who might justly say: _Ah! my coat, how much I am\nobliged to you!_ Their whole merit is in their wardrobe; and there is\nmany a Frenchman, who, had he but that to his mind, would envy no one.\n\nOne sole form of a coat, let it be ever so elegant, would be\ninsufficient to preserve the veneration of so many stupid asses; their\nidol must be differently set off every day: without that precaution\ntheir admiration would soon be over; this perhaps is what most\ncontributes to keep up the love of novelty among the French. Peter the\nGreat, emperor of Russia, was struck, when at Paris, with this national\ncharacter; not being much accustomed to see a variety of dresses, he\nsaid, on seeing a lord in a different coat every day: _Surely that man\nis dissatisfied with his tailor._\n\nWhy should we not have a dictionary Of Fashions? Surely it would be of\nas much use as many others. The different denominations which we give\nthem would not be the least entertaining part of the work. Among the\nnames of old hoops we find the _Gourgandine_ (the flirting hoop), the\n_Boute-en-train_ (the leading-mode hoop), the _Tatez-y_ (the groping\nhoop), the _Culbute_ (the flying-top-over-tail hoop), &c. Hats and shoes\nwould likewise afford long articles. Then again there would be the great\nwigs worn in the reign of Lewis XIV.[4] and which so much employed the\nattention of the courtiers and periwig-makers of that age: not only the\nhead, but half the body was buried under this heap of curls. It was then\nonly the outside of a Frenchman\u2019s head that was ridiculous; now-a-days\nthings are changed.\n\nI would not have forgotten under the word _canon_ the blunder of a\nGerman author, who, having translated Moliere\u2019s _Pr\u00e9cieuses ridicules_,\nand intending to bring this piece out at one of the theatres of his\nnation, was confoundedly puzzled how to explain this word. It never\nentered his brain that a _canon_ was a piece of muslin worn round the\nknee. After maturely considering the passage, he resolved that\nMascarille should have a brace of pistols in his pocket, which he was to\npull out when he asks: _How do you like my canons?_\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n  The contemporary of Charles II. of England.    T.\n\nThe article of ladies\u2019 head-dresses would fill a volume entire: we\nshould find, that, in proportion as they have taken from their heads,\nthey have added to their hips. The enormous hoop and the large high\nhead-dress have alternately succeeded each other; these last have lately\nsunk under their own weight, if I may be allowed the expression, in\norder to let the great hips and false rumps be in vogue. The ladies are\ndetermined not to lose any of their bulk, so much are they persuaded\nthat their merit is in proportion to the space they occupy in the world.\n\nIn one of those revolutions which ladies\u2019 heads have suffered, a lady\nwrote to her friend as follows.\n\n         Many a short beauty complains and grows hot;\n         And to add to her height, on consulting the stars,\n         Learns from them that by raising the pattens she wears,\n         She\u2019ll recover the loss felt by low\u2019ring her top.\n                     So much for the mode\n                     Which (however absurd)\n             Sets all Paris Ladies in motion,\n                     But the men\u2019s heads are still\n                     The same (if they will)\n             As they were: not the least variation.[5]\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n  Letter from the Lady of Lassay to the Duchess of \u2014\u2014.\n\nFashion and etiquette are nearly allied; but they must not be\nconfounded: etiquette is as stable as the other is changeable. The\nmotives that produce them are not the same; the one springs from\nself-love, the other from affectation. Etiquette seems to have been\ninvented by a desire to govern, and fashion by a wish to please.\nTherefore, the former is much better observed by people of ripe years,\nand the latter by young ones. If etiquette is lasting and fashion\nunstable, this definition comprehends probably the sole cause of it.\n\nPeople change the make and colour of their dress twenty times in a year;\nfashion may be looked upon as their play thing; but the laws of\netiquette return as constantly as the season. Though it is often cold at\nWhitsunday, taffeties must be put on; and at All-saints day, though it\nis sometimes very hot, every body puts on satins and velvets, and no one\nis seen without a muff.\n\nAt court, among the great, etiquette reigns despotically; and its power\ndiminishes according to the distance from the centre of sovereignty. The\nunambitious man, living at his ease on a moderate fortune, has only a\nsufficient acquaintance with etiquette to turn it into ridicule; while\nthe man who aims at consideration, or any kind of power, submits to its\nlaws, and often sacrifices his reason to it.\n\nThere are several states of life in which etiquette gives a consequence\nto him who follows it. A tradesman, for instance, to appear as he ought,\nshould have his head shaved and wear a round wig; physicians and\nsurgeons too should do the same. Who, in this enlightened age, would put\nthe least confidence in a physician who wears his own hair, were it the\nfinest in the world? A wig, certainly, can\u2019t give him science, but it\ngives him the appearance, and that is every thing now-a-days.[6]\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n  Strip a physician of his wig, gold headed cane, ruffles, and diamond\n  ring: what will he have left?\n\nFashion, while it vivifies commerce, encourages luxury. These are the\ntwo sides on which it should be politically viewed; it brings together\nthe different conditions of society, which birth or opinion had\nseparated. This is a moral good perhaps; but it confounds ranks, (which\ncommon honesty is interested in distinguishing,) by not leaving the\nsmallest difference between a woman of virtue and a frail sister. In\ndays of yore these two conditions so very different were kept distinct\nby sumptuary laws. In 1420, prostitutes were forbidden, by a sentence of\nthe parliament of Paris, to wear gold girdles, which was the\ncharacteristical ornament of good morals. I\u2019m led to think, it would be\nimpossible now-a-days to put such a law into execution, because it is as\ndifficult to distinguish a virtuous woman, by her manner, from a frail\nsister, as to draw a just line of demarcation between two states.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. II.\n\n                          _Of BEARDED CHINS._\n\n\nWHEN I take a review of the most respectable relations of antiquity, of\nthose celebrated heroes, and the number of wise and learned men that\nhave made Rome and Greece famous, I feel myself penetrated with that\nadmiration and respect which things sacred inspire; but when I figure to\nmyself the noble aspect of these great men, when I perceive on their\nvenerable faces that air of gravity, that character of virtues, which\ntheir long beards express, my imagination catches fire; they no longer\nappear to me as men, but Gods to whom we should bow down. Such is the\nmarvellous effect which this ornament of manhood has produced in all\nages. Even now, that our effeminate customs so justly paint the\nfaculties of our souls, the sight of a long beard still commands\nrespect.[7]\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n  At the last procession of Captives, at Paris in 1785, the manly, noble\n  air of those that wore long beards was greatly admired; nevertheless,\n  these were slaves.\n\nIt has always been esteemed in all nations; those people, to whom\nnature, too sparing of her favours, has denied this characteristical\nmark of our sex, the Laplander, the Japonese, and especially the\nAmerican, whose beardless chins made people doubt a long time if they\nwere men, are sensible of the imperfection of their constitution and\ntemperature of body. The Chinese regard the Europeans as the first\npeople on earth, on account of their thick beards; and though nature has\nbeen so sparing to them in this mark of virility, yet they are\nparticularly attentive in cherishing what little they have. Both the\nLacedemonians[8] and Egyptians have considered it as a mark of wisdom.\nIn order to obtain a favour among the Greeks, it was only to touch the\nbeard of him that could grant it, to insure success.[9]\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n  Nicander replied to some-one who asked him why the Lacedemonians wore\n  long hair and let their beards grow out: _Because_, said he, _it\u2019s the\n  finest ornament that a man can wear, and which costs least and becomes\n  him most_.\n\n                                                               PLUTARCH.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n  _Antiquis Gr\u00e6ci\u00e6 in supplicanda mentum attingere mos erat._\n\n                                                 PLIN. lib. ii. cap. 45.\n\nThe beard was not solely the mark of philosophy, but became likewise the\npledge of the most sacred oaths and promises. It has been sometimes the\nobject of the gravest discussions and most particular attention of a\nnumber of learned men; nay, most of the legislators of the world have\nnot thought it beneath their notice.\n\nThe most celebrated ancient writers, and several modern ones, have\nspoken honourably of the finest beards of antiquity. Homer speaks highly\nof the white beard of Nestor and that of old king Priam. Virgil\ndescribes Mezentius\u2019s to us, which was so thick and long as to cover all\nhis breast; Chrysippus praises the noble beard of Timothy, a famous\nplayer on the flute. Pliny the younger tells us of the white beard of\nEuphrates, a Syrian philosopher; and he takes pleasure in relating the\nrespect mixed with fear with which it inspired the people. Plutarch\nspeaks of the long, white beard of an old Laconian, who, being asked why\nhe let it grow so, replied: _\u2019Tis, that, seeing continually my white\nbeard, I may do nothing unworthy of its whiteness_. Strabo relates, that\nthe Indian philosophers, the Gymnosophists, were particularly attentive\nto make the length of their beards contribute to captivate the\nveneration of the people. Diodorus, after him, gives a very particular\nand circumstantial history of the beards of the Indians. Juvenal does\nnot forget that of Antilocus, the son of Nestor. Fenelon, in describing\na priest of Apollo in all his magnificence, tells us, that he had a\nwhite beard down to his girdle. But Perseus seems to outdo all these\nauthors: this poet was so convinced that a beard was the symbol of\nwisdom, that he thought he could not bestow a greater encomium on the\ndivine Socrates, than by calling him the bearded master, _Magistrum\nbarbatum_.\n\nSeveral other writers have treated of this subject. Voltaire often\ntouches on it in his voluminous writings. The author of the _Modes\nfran\u00e7oises_ has bestowed many pages on it; the learned Don Calmet has\nnot thought this subject beneath his attention, on which he has written\na particular work, intituled _Histoire de la barbe de l\u2019homme_. The\nItalians have a modern work, intitled: _Barbalogia del Caval. Valeriano\nVanetti_, 1760. This Vanetti, after giving an account of the revolutions\nwhich beards have undergone, enters into a very learned and serious\ndissertation on the various manners in which they were worn among the\nHebrews, Greeks, and Romans; but the most obscure and least\nauthenticated part of his work is that where he warmly maintains,\nagainst _Van-Helmont_, that Adam was created with a beard on his chin. I\nreadily confess I have not carried my inquiries so far into remote\nantiquity. In the 16th century there were a great number of works\npublished on the beard, of which I shall have occasion to speak in\nanother place.\n\nBut the most extraordinary account in the history of beards is that\ngiven by Titus Livius. Infinitely better than the eloquence of a\nDemosthenes or the courage of an Alexander could have done, did the\nbeard suspend on a sudden the ferocity of a people of barbarians thirsty\nof the blood of their enemies.\n\nThe Gauls, commanded by Brennus, had just taken Rome by assault.[10] The\nsenators, sitting, each at the door of his house, in their curule\nchairs, awaited death with that coolness and resolution so natural to\nthese high spirited republicans. Their majestic looks and long white\nbeards so astonished these fierce conquerors, that their rage for\ncarnage gave place to admiration: all of a sudden they were struck\nmotionless with astonishment; their arms fell from their hands. The\nRomans however continuing to preserve a grave and silent countenance, a\nGaul, enraged to see the slaughter suspended by the sight of a long\nbeard, boldly advanced, (as if to break the spell which deprived his\ncountrymen of their wonted fierceness) and laid hold of that of an old\nman, who, shocked at the soldier\u2019s audacity, knocked him on the head\nwith his ivory rod. This stroke of the ivory rod destroyed the illusion,\nand became the signal of the massacre.[11]\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n  _Anno_ 365.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n  _Ex Livio, Decade_ 1^o. _lib._ 5.\n\nThe beard was likewise very much esteemed among the old Romans; and even\nwhen they adopted, through effeminacy, the custom of shaving, they\npreserved the most religious respect for this mark of manhood. The first\nshaving of a young man was done with the greatest ceremony, and these\nfirst fruits of the chin were carefully collected in a gold or silver\nbox, in order to be afterwards presented to some God, as a tribute of\nyouth; this pious offering was mostly made to Jupiter Capitolinus.\n\nWhile the Gauls were under the sovereignty of the Romans, none but the\nnobles and Christian priests were permitted to wear long beards. The\nFranks having made themselves masters of Gaul, assumed the same\nauthority as the Romans: the bondsmen were expressly ordered to shave\ntheir chins, and this law continued in force \u2019till the entire\nabolishment of servitude in France. So likewise, in the time of the\nfirst race of kings, a long beard was a sign of nobility and freedom.\nThe kings, as being the highest nobles in their kingdom, were emulous\nlikewise to have the largest beard: Eginard, secretary to Charlemain,\nspeaking of the last kings of the first race, says, they came to the\nassemblies in the Field of Mars in a carriage drawn by oxen, and sat on\nthe throne with their hair dishevelled, and a very long beard, _crine\nprofuso, barb\u00e2 submiss\u00e2, solio residerent, & speciem dominantis\neffingerent_.\n\nTo touch any one\u2019s beard, or cut off a bit of it, was, among the first\nFrench, the most sacred pledge of protection and confidence. For a long\ntime all letters, that came from the sovereign, had, for greater\nsanction, three hairs of his beard in the seal. There is still in being\na charter of 1121, which concludes with the following words: _Quod ut\nratum & stabile perseveret in posterum, pr\u00e6senti scripto sigilli mei\nrobur apposui cum tribus pilis barb\u00e6 me\u00e6_.\n\nOf all the people in the world, the Orientals seem to be those who have\nthe most constantly worn long beards: several nations shaved when in\nmourning, such as the Syrians and Persians. Beards were, and still are\nat this day, under the controul of religious usages. Zingzon affirms,\nthat the manner of wearing the beard is an essential point in the\nreligion of the Tartars; that they call the Persians schismatics,\nbecause they have abated their rigour to such a degree as to arrange\ntheir beards in a manner directly contrary to the rite of the Tartars;\nhe adds, that this dangerous heresy was the cause of a bloody war\nbetween these two nations.\n\nAll the world knows that the most dreadful oath among the Mahometans is\nto swear by the beard of their prophet. It is said in baron Tott\u2019s\nmemoirs, that the first care of an Ottoman monarch, on his ascending the\nthrone, is to let his beard grow out: the Tartarian princes follow the\nsame custom. The same writer observes, that sultan Mustapha III. was not\nsatisfied with letting his grow out, but that he stained it black, in\norder that it might be more conspicuous the first day of his going out.\nThe princes, kept prisoners in the seraglio, wear only whiskers, as\nlikewise all the young people, who don\u2019t think themselves fit to wear a\nwhole beard \u2019till the age of maturity, and this is what they commonly\ncall _becoming prudent_.\n\nSeveral great men have honoured themselves with the surname of\n_Bearded_. The emperor Constantine is distinguished by the epithet of\n_Pogonate_, which signifies _the Bearded_. In the time of the crusades,\nwe find there was a _Geffrey the Bearded_: Baldwin IV. earl of Flanders,\nwas surnamed _Handsome-beard_;[12] and, in the illustrious house of\nMontmorenci, there was a famous _Bouchard_, who took a pride in the\nsurname of Bearded: he was always the declared enemy of the monks,\nwithout doubt because of their being shaved.[13]\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n  This Baldwin, in a charter of Robert king of France, in the year 1023,\n  is called _Honesta Barba_.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n  The singular quarrel which he had with the monks of St. Denis is given\n  at length in my _Description des environs de Paris_, under the article\n  _Isle St. Denis_. This quarrel was the occasion of this family\u2019s\n  changing their name from _Bouchard_ to _Montmorenci_.\n\nIn the tenth century, we find, that king Robert (of France) the rival of\nCharles the Simple, was as famous for his exploits as for his long white\nbeard. In order that it might be more conspicuous to the soldiers, when\nhe was in the field, he used to let it hang down outside his cuirass:\nthis venerable sight encouraged the troops in battle, and served to\nrally them when they were defeated.\n\nWilliam of Tyre relates an adventure, which proves how much a long beard\nwas valued, and how disgraceful it was for a man of honour to be without\none.\n\nBaldwin, count of Edesse, being in great want of money, had recourse to\na stratagem as new as the success of it appeared to him certain. He went\nto his father-in-law, Gabriel, a very rich man, and told him, that,\nbeing greatly pressed for money by his troops, to whom he owed thirty\nthousand michelets,[14] and not being any way able to raise so large a\nsum, he had been obliged to pledge his beard for the payment of it. The\nastonishment of the father-in-law was so great at what he heard, that,\ndoubting if he had well understood the count, he made him repeat the\nterms of this strange agreement several times; but being at length too\nwell convinced of his son-in-law\u2019s inability to raise the cash, the\ncredulous Gabriel bewailed his misfortune, saying: \u201cHow is it possible\nfor a man to find in his heart to pledge a thing that should be so\ncarefully preserved, a thing that is the proof of virility, wherein\nconsists the principal authority of man, and is the ornament of his\nface. How could you possibly consider as a thing of little value,\ncontinued this wise old man, what cannot be taken from a man without\nloading him with shame.\u201d[15] The count replied, to these just\nreproaches, that having nothing in the world that he valued so much, he\nhad thought it his duty to pledge it to satisfy his creditors, and that\nhe was determined to fulfill his promise, if he could not immediately\nfind the money he so much wanted. The father-in-law, alarmed for the\nbeard of Baldwin, instantly gave him the thirty thousand michelets,\nrecommending him at the same time never more to pledge a property, on\nwhich the honour of a brave knight depended.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n  A Greek money of Michael Paleologus, emperor of the East.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n  \u2014\u2014_Qu\u00e6rit iterum: Quare rem tant\u00e2 diligenti\u00e2 conservandam, argumentum\n  viri, vult\u00fbs gloriam, hominis pr\u00e6cipuam autoritatem, ita obligasset,\n  tanquam rem mediocrem & ab homine sine confusione separabilem?_\n  Historia Belli sacri, lib, ii. cap. 2.\n\nA celebrated painter in Germany, called John Mayo, had such a large\nbeard that he was nicknamed _John the Bearded_: it was so long, that he\nwore it fastened to his girdle; and though he was a very tall man, it\nwould hang upon the ground when he stood upright. He took the greatest\ncare of this extraordinary beard; sometimes he would untie it before the\nemperor Charles V. who took great pleasure to see the wind make it fly\nagainst the faces of the lords of his court.\n\nIn England, the famous chancellor, Thomas More, one of the greatest men\nof his time, being on the point of falling a victim to court intrigues,\nwas able, when on the fatal scaffold, to procure respect to his beard in\npresence of all the people, and saved it, as one may say, from the fatal\nstroke which he could not escape himself. When he had laid his head on\nthe block, he perceived that his beard was likely to be hurt by the axe\nof the executioner, on which he took it away, saying: _My beard has not\nbeen guilty of treason; it would be an injustice to punish it_.[16]\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n  Bullart\u2019s elogy of More.\n\nIn France, the wise and learned bishop of Bellai, John Peter Camus, one\nof the greatest men of his time, and one of the greatest enemies of the\nmonks, was likewise famous for a long beard. When he preached, he used\nto divide it into two or three tufts, according to the number of heads\nhis sermon was divided into.\n\nA bishop of Grenoble was famous in his time for the length of his\nbeard.[17] Mol\u00e9, the lord keeper of the great seal, who had likewise a\nvery long one, having seen the bishop of Grenoble\u2019s, said, _Now, God be\nthanked, my beard is under shelter_.\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n  One day, this bishop let fall something, when he was at table, on his\n  long beard. One of the servants said to him: _There is a bit of meat\n  on your excellency\u2019s beard_. The servant was answered: _Why dost thou\n  not say on the excellency of your beard?_\n\nWhat a number of beards should I have to celebrate, if I had resolution\nenough, to do it! what a crowd of names of heroes and philosophers would\ncome to embellish this precious enumeration! You would be banished from\nit, sages of the age, who wish only to appear so in your writings;\nshaved philosophers, whose effeminate appearance always belies the\nglorious title under which you conceal the pusillanimity of your souls.\nBut you would have an honourable place there, divine men, the pride of\nRome and Greece! You, adorable Anacreon, the _patriarch of gallantry_,\nyou, worthy to rank with the longest bearded of the ancients, who took\ncare to let posterity know your pleasures and the beauty of your beard;\ncome and convince our age that this mark of virility is not the enemy of\ngallantry. And you, O Adrian![18] who, of all the Roman emperors, were\nthe first that brought in vogue this ornament of masculine faces, your\nexample is a proof that the introduction of a like usage is not beneath\nthe greatest prince: I would place on your head an everlasting laurel,\nand by your side a French monarch, your wise imitator: the friend and\nprotector of arts and sciences. He thought the revival of the majesty of\nlong beards was still wanting to his glory; and, in order to insure more\ncertain and general success to this noble enterprize, he, as the first\nof his kingdom, let grow out on his royal chin that hair which\ncharacterises vigour and majesty. In this manner did chance favour the\nwise projects of Francis I. to restore an usage as ancient and natural\nas it was respectable.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n  Adrian was the first Roman emperor that wore a beard, to hide, as it\n  is said, some cicatrices which he had in his face. His successors\n  imitated him down to Constantine, who shaved. Beards came in again\n  under Heraclius, and all the Greek emperors afterwards continued the\n  usage.\n\nThis prince being at Remorantin at the count of St. Pol\u2019s, twelfth day,\n1521, amused himself with several of his courtiers in attacking with\nsnow-balls a house which the count, with a party of noblemen and\ngentlemen, defended in the same manner, as is it had been a strong\ncastle. The national courage was equally conspicuous on both sides. The\nvigorous attacks of the one party were followed by a still more vigorous\ndefence from the other: victory seemed to hang suspended between the\nGreeks and Trojans, when all of a sudden _ammunition_ failed in this\nsecond Troy. The besieged were filled with despair, and the enemy took\nadvantage of their confusion to storm the place. The Trojans were on the\npoint of being overcome by their courageous assailants, when captain de\nLorges, having a little recovered himself, resolutely laid hold of a\nfire-brand, and, Hector like, boldly advanced toward the enemy, and\nthrew it at random among the besiegers. The French monarch, who was\nclimbing up among the foremost, unfortunately received it on his head.\nBoth Greeks and Trojans threw down their arms immediately; an end was\nput to the play, and every one was taken up with the wound of Francis I.\nwho, by this accident, was obliged to have his head shaved; and being\ndesirous to recover on his chin what he had lost from his head, he let\nhis beard grow out, and every body did the same.\n\nThe best establishments always meet with traducers: the beard was not\nwithout opposers; it had to fight at one and the same time against the\nusage, against the prejudice and bad taste of the age, and especially\nagainst the fury of the clergy and parliaments, who, as we shall see\npresently, wanted in those days to make every body shave. But the great\nand powerful enemies of this mode, far from setting bounds to its\nconquests, gave additional splendour to its triumph. In a little time,\nevery body submitted to the yoke of the victorious beard, and, in the\nsequel, a shaved chin was looked upon as a sign of turpitude and\ndebauchery.\n\nHenry III. king of France, furnishes us with an example of the horror in\nwhich a shaved face was held in those days. Amidst the debauchery in\nwhich this prince was plunged, like a second Heliogabulus, he carried\nthings so far as to appear at a ball close shaved. Some verses of a\nsatire of the poet d\u2019Aubign\u00e9 have preserved us this fact, with the\nindignation it inspired. They may be thus rendered in English:\n\n         Henry was well versed in judging the dress\n         Of the w\u2014\u2014s of his court: of an intrigue not less:\n         His _chin shaved_; his cheeks pale; effeminate manner;\n         Sard\u2019napulus eye; so much woman all over\n         Was he, that one twelfth-day, this doubtful animal,\n         Without brains or consequence, such appeared at a ball.\n\nLet us turn our eyes on a more flattering object, and admire the beard\nof the best of kings, the ever precious beard of the great Henry IV. of\nFrance, which diffused over the countenance of that prince a majestic\nsweetness and amiable openness; a beard ever dear to posterity, and\nwhich should serve as a model for that of every great king; as the beard\nof his illustrious minister should for that of every minister.\n\nIt was in this golden age of bearded chins that those different fashions\nof wearing the beard called, _sharp-pointed_, _square_, _round_,\n_fan_,[19] _swallow\u2019s-tail_, _artichoke-leaf_, _&c._ successively\nappeared. There were even _ligue-beards_. Art was often successfully\nmade use of to give them graceful forms; and the keeping of the beard in\norder was more expensive to the beaux of those days, than that of the\nhair of our fribbles is now.[20] But what dependence is there to be put\non the stability of the things of this world? By an event, as fatal as\nunforeseen, the beard, which was arrived at its highest degree of glory,\nall of a sudden lost its favour, and was at length entirely proscribed.\nThe unexpected death of Henry the Great, and the youth of his successor,\nwere the sole cause of it.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n  At the time that _fan-beards_ were in fashion, says Mr. de St. Foix in\n  his _Essais sur Paris_, they were kept in that form by means of a wax\n  preparation, which gave the hair an agreeable odour and any colour\n  that was desired. The beard was set in order at night, and in order to\n  prevent its being put out of form before morning, it was done up in a\n  sort of purse made on purpose.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n  We read in the _Menagiana_, that a man very fond of his beard paid\n  three half-crowns a month for keeping it in order: on which cardinal\n  Campege wittily observed, _That his beard cost more than his head was\n  worth_. The same thing might be said now-a-days of a number of\n  head-dresses.\n\nLewis XIII. mounted the throne of his glorious ancestors without a\nbeard. Every one concluded immediately, that the courtiers, seeing their\nyoung king with a smooth chin, would look upon their own as too rough.\nThe conjecture proved right, for they presently reduced their beards to\nwhiskers, and a small tuft of hair under the nether lip.\n\nThe people at first would not follow this dangerous example. The duke of\nSully never would adopt this effeminate custom. This man, great both as\na general and a minister, was likewise so in his retirement: he had the\ncourage to keep his long beard and to appear with it at the court of\nLewis XIII. where he was called to give his advice in an affair of\nimportance. The young crop-bearded courtiers laughed at the sight of his\ngrave look and old fashioned phyz. The duke, nettled at the affront put\non his fine beard, said to the king: \u201cSir, when your father, of glorious\nmemory, did me the honour to consult me on his great and important\naffairs, the first thing he did was to send away all the buffoons and\nstage-dancers of his court.\u201d\n\nThe tuft of hair under the nether lip insensibly diminished, and at\nlength entirely disappeared. This resolution caused much grief; several\ncomplained bitterly, and obstinately resolved not to follow the new\nmode. _Le Mercure_ of that period bears honourable testimony of the\nesteem in which the long beards were held, even after their disgrace.\nThe following sort of funeral elogy is taken from that work: \u201cThe beard,\nwhich is natural only to man, is the mark of his virility, and gives him\nprecedency among his species; \u2019tis this token of manhood which adds a\ndignity to his features, and gives him an air of gravity and modesty,\nwhich makes him look full of wisdom.\u201d[21]\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n  _Mercure of_ \u2014\u2014, A. D. 1678.\n\nNeither the complaints of the one nor the elegies of the other were of\nany effect. Every body followed the court.[22] Thou, O celebrated\nMithon, whose name merits an honourable place among those of the\nillustrious men of thy country, thou alone hadst the resolution, amidst\nthy shaved countrymen, to let thy long beard remain, and to preserve it\nentire till thy last breath. May thy name, O Mithon, passing down to\nposterity, be always pronounced with rapture! may the most famous\nAcademies propose thy elogy in emulation of one another! and may it be\nrepeated there, in the most philosophical tone, that thou hadst the\ncourage to appear like a man amidst a people of beardless boys.[23]\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n  Marshal Bassompierre said, that all the change he found in the world,\n  after passing twelve years in prison, was, that the men had lost their\n  beards and the horses their tails.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n  _The last that wore a long beard in this city was Mr. Richard Mithon,\n  bailiff and criminal judge of the county of Eu, who lived at the\n  beginning of the last century, and died about the year 1626._ Mercure\n  for January, 1732.\n\nThus ended the reign of the beard in France. Notwithstanding the\nprejudice which exists at present, this mark of manhood has not lost its\ninfluence. Whenever a foreigner appears in France with a long beard, he\nnot only attracts admiration, but likewise the confidence and respect of\nthose that see him. A Genevese, called Liotard, is an example; he knew\nvery well how to make an advantage of this ascendancy, which gives an\nimposing appearance to people greedy of novelty.\n\nHe was a portrait painter, and had lived three years at Constantinople,\nwhere his talents got him to be sent for by the grand seignior to come\nto the seraglio to draw the pictures of the sultanesses: he followed the\ndress of the Orientals, and, consequently, let his beard grow out, with\nas much less reluctancy, as it hid the deformity of his face. On his\nreturn to France, he resolved to retain his Levantine dress, and after\nthis manner appeared at Paris in the year 1752. He soon perceived that\nhe had no reason to be displeased with his whim. His dress and beard\nserved him much better than his talents, to raise him above the crowd.\nIt is easy to imagine the eagerness of the Parisians for this\nextraordinary man. The infatuation was universal; his name soon reached\nthe court, where he was sent for at length to draw the portraits of the\nlate king and the royal family, and where, in a short time, he made his\nfortune.\n\nHis talents, less astonishing than his dress, did not consist in the\nbeauty of the colouring, but in the art of taking the most striking\nlikenesses. The marchioness of Pompadour was hurt at the scrupulous\naccuracy of our painter. As she gave him one day a hundred pounds for a\nportrait which he had just drawn, she made use of these precious words,\nwhich ought to be written in letters of gold in the history of bearded\nchins: _All your merit consists in your beard_.[24]\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n  This anecdote was given me by a friend of the painter\u2019s, who knew him\n  at the time he wore his oriental dress. He since adopted the French\n  usage, in order to comply with the ardent solicitations of his wife,\n  who was a Parisian.\n\nIt was likewise through favour of a long beard that a young Frenchman,\nabout ten years ago, preached a new doctrine in Arabia. He assumed the\nname of _Arphaxad Tinnagelli_: his quality was, that of _disciple of J.\nJ. Rousseau, on a mission in Arabia_. His oriental dress and prophet\u2019s\nbeard concurred particularly to gain him proselytes.[25]\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n  Mr. M\u2014\u2014, in his journey to India by land, met this enthusiast at\n  Bassora, the 15th of August, 1770, who asked Mr. Pyrault, the French\n  consul in that town, for a guide to conduct him through the desert. He\n  was returning from Surat, where he had resided sometime with Mr.\n  Anquetil de Briancourt, likewise a French consul. \u201cThis Arphaxad\n  Tinnagelli,\u201d says Mr. M\u2014\u2014 in the manuscript account of his journey,\n  \u201cis a young man of about twenty-eight years of age, of middling\n  stature, and seems to have the Lorrain accent. He gives himself out\n  for an Arabian, born at Eliatiff in the gulf of Persia; he has written\n  a romance, in which he has not shewn a more happy invention, than in\n  his Arabian name. Notwithstanding his beard and dress, we soon\n  discovered him to be a Frenchman, which he at length acknowledged.\n  Having made himself pretty well acquainted with Arabic, he has written\n  several things in that language, among others, a catechism called\n  _Tinnagellique_ which begins thus: _Who is God? The truth. Who is his\n  Prophet? J. J. Rousseau._ It was thought at Bassora,\u201d continues our\n  traveller, \u201cthat he had quitted his pranks entirely; and, on his\n  promising to return to India and live as he ought, Messieurs Pyrault\n  and Rousseau (the Persian, cousin to J. James) made him up an European\n  wardrobe: he came with me as far as Mascata; but I could not get him\n  any farther, and I left him quite disposed to go and complete his\n  mission.\u201d\n\nThere is nothing more eloquent than outward appearance, especially among\na superficial people. Why then do those, who, for the interest of their\nstate or the happiness of their subjects, are under a necessity of\ncommanding respect, neglect such powerful means? The beard presents them\nwith the most simple, most natural, and most persuasive of all. With\nthat mark of manhood our warriors would no longer look like women; we\nshould have venerable old men and priests more reverenced.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. III.\n\n                        _Of some SHAVED CHINS._\n\n\nIT is a disgrace to man to have the most conspicuous mark of his\nvirility taken off; to pretend that it becomes him to look like a woman,\nan eunuch, or a child, is the height of folly and ridiculousness. Even\nif this truth were not constantly supported by the will of nature, the\nopinion of all the most respectable characters of antiquity should be\nsufficient to establish it for ever among all nations, and this is what\nI would fain persuade my countrymen of.\n\nA shaved chin was always a sign of slavery, infamy, or debauchery.\nDiogenes asked those he saw without beards, if they had not changed\ntheir sex, and were dissatisfied at being men. The loss of the beard,\namong a great many nations, was always accompanied by banishment. All\nthe fathers of the church exclaimed against this shameful abuse, and\nalways regarded a shaved chin as the effect of the vilest\nlicentiousness.\n\nThe example of Alexander, no doubt, will be alleged against me, who,\nbefore the battle of Ardela, had all his soldiers shaved. I shall\nanswer, that he never shaved himself, but constantly wore this\ncharacteristical mark of his valour, and that, if he ordered his\nsoldiers\u2019 faces to be trimmed, it was only, as Plutarch says, for fear\nthe enemy should seize them by the beard.\n\nI know very well too, that Scipio Africanus was the first Roman who\ndaily used a razor, and that this mode was brought from Sicily to Italy\nby P. Ticinius, who brought with him a troop of barbers. But it is good\nto know, as Pliny very judiciously remarks, that, of all the nations\nthat then consented to cut off their beards, the Romans were the last\nthat yielded to this effeminate custom.[26] This proves nothing more,\nthan that luxury began to be predominant at Rome, and that luxury\nperverts every thing. Moreover, these particular cases should be\nreckoned among transient errors, which, being dissipated, give to truth\nan additional lustre.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n  _Plin._ Hist. nat. lib. vii, cap. 60.\n\nLet us take a view of a period less remote, which, interesting us more,\nwill shew the value of a beard, the disgrace of a shaved face, and the\nmischiefs that have been the consequence of it.\n\nIn the beginning of the French monarchy, Clotarius II. having a mind to\nappoint a Governor to his son Dagobert, chose Sadregesile, a man very\nlearned for his time; he loaded him with honours, and created him duke\nof Aquitaine; and the new duke spared no pains to instruct his pupil;\nbut it seemed the latter no more answered the intention of the king his\nfather, than the lessons of his governor. The wild unruly character of\nthe princes of those times must necessarily have submitted with\ndifficulty to the will of master. Dagobert would not long endure the\nconstraint which the duty of his education laid him under. He considered\nreprimands as so many outrages. Hatred and vengeance took possession of\nhis proud heart, and soon broke out to attack Sadregesile.\n\nOne day when king Clotarius was a hunting, young Dagobert invited his\ngovernor to dinner. The prince, feigning during the repast, to act\nwithout ceremony, (say the chronicles of France,) _presented him the cup\nto drink, with three_. This was a snare which the duke of Aquitaine\nnever dreamed of. He received the cup with a confident air: and this was\na crime. _And he, who was deserving of punishment, took it from his\nhand, not as it ought to be taken from a person of great consequence,\nbut as it is customary to take it from an equal._ The author of these\nsame chronicles, who was not a contemporary however, does not fail, as\nmay be perceived, to condemn Sadregesile, for having accepted the cup,\nand to justify Dagobert who had presented it to him _with three_.\nWithout doubt he did not observe, in receiving it, all the ceremony\nwhich the etiquette of the court in those days required. This slight\nwant of respect, or rather this liberty, was made a pretext by Dagobert\nfor revenge. After having called Sadregesile all manner of names, and\nhad him beaten by his servants, the young prince, hurried away by his\nrage, without regarding the age of his governor, or the authority with\nwhich he was invested, not even his title of duke of Aquitaine, rushed\nupon him and cut off his beard with his knife. Some other chronicles\nwhich relate the same affair, add likewise this bad treatment. _Prince_\n_Dagobert took him by the beard, and with his knife, which he held in\nhis hand, cut it so close, that he cut off a piece of his chin with it._\n\nThe two authors, who agree in relating the same affair, were well\npersuaded, that the abuse and the blows, which the duke of Aquitaine\nreceived, hurt his feelings much less than the loss of his beard. This\nis the reason of their laying more stress on the latter. _In those\ndays_, says one of them, _it was the greatest affront and disgrace a man\ncould receive, to have his beard cut off_.\n\nClotarius, on his return from hunting, was far from applauding his son\u2019s\nconduct. _The king was greatly enraged._ The young Dagobert, to avoid\nthe just indignation of his father, fled for refuge to the _chapel of\nthe Martyrs_, now called the church of St. Denis. In vain did the king\nsend serjeants to take him from thence: the writers, who relate this\naffair, assert that God worked a miracle in favour of this young rebel;\nthey say, that all the men the king sent were stopped on the road by a\n_divine power_. Be that as it may, this miracle had no effect on\nClotarius; for he never pardoned his son\u2019s cutting off the beard of his\ngovernor. _The king was so enraged_, say the same chronicles, _that he\nnever forgave this offence_.\n\nIt should be observed, that what was at the same time a mark of infamy,\nbecame, in other circumstances, the seal of confidence and fidelity.\nWhen a sovereign took a vassal or an ally under his protection, he cut\noff his beard. This was a sort of adoption which conferred on the person\nthe title of son. The nobles of Spoleta voluntarily submitted to this\nusage, after they had refused to succour Didier against Charlemain; they\nset out immediately for Rome, and came and put themselves under the\nprotection of the pope; and as a proof of their constant fidelity, they\nleft their beards in his holiness\u2019s hands.\n\nThis ceremony was looked upon as sacred by the contracting parties; and\nwhen any one had promised to adopt another and to cut off his beard, the\ngreatest rascal breathing would be afraid to break his word, and what\nhappened to Tasson, duke of Frejus, is a proof of it. Gregory, patrician\nof the Romans, being desirous to discharge a sum which he was obliged to\npay the dukes of Frejus, drew the young Tasson to Oderzo, a town on the\nborders of Trevisannah, under the specious pretext of adopting him for\nhis son by cutting off his beard. Tasson came without suspicion; but he\nwas no sooner entered the town with his retinue, than Gregory ordered\nthe gates to be shut, and immediately sent soldiers to attack him.\nTasson, accompanied by his little troop, defended himself with great\ncourage, and killed a great many Romans; but at length he was overcome\nby number. Then the traitor, Gregory, ordered the head of the young duke\nto be brought him; and, to prevent his appearing to have broken his\noath, he cut off his beard, as he had promised.[27]\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n  _Pauli Warnefridi Longobardi filii, Diaconi Forojulliensis, de gestis\n  Longobardorum._ Lib. vi. cap. 11.\n\nThe same usage had been observed a long time before; but, in the\nceremony, touching the beard, instead of cutting it off, was thought\nsufficient. It was then held in higher respect. Clovis, king of France,\nsent deputies to Alaric, king of the Goths, to treat with him, and\nentreat the favour of him to come and touch his beard, and at the same\ntime to adopt him as his son.[28]\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n  _Aimonius, Fragment. de Clod. & Alar. Regibus._\n\nThe beard has met with its tyrants; the Latin church furnishes a great\nnumber. Charlemain deserved this title when he absolutely refused to let\nthe Beneventians have Grimoald for duke, unless he obliged the Lombards\nto shave.[29] But no sooner was this same Charlemain emperor of the\nWest, than he adopted the Roman beard.[30] Circumstances change every\nthing.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n  Paul Diacre says, the Lombards derive their name from the length of\n  their beard. He adds, that, according to the idiom of the country,\n  _lang_ signifies longam, and _baert_ barbam. Lib. i. cap. 9.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n  His beard is carefully preserved at Spire.\n\nSince William the Conqueror, who robbed the English of their beards with\ntheir liberty, history does not furnish us with any relation of this\nkind more poignant, than that of Lewis the Young, king of France.\n\nThis king, in the war which he carried on against Theobald count of\nChampaign, having taken Vitri by storm, _burnt three thousand five\nhundred inhabitants, who had taken shelter in the church_, says Mezerai,\n_as a sacred asylum_. He soon repented of this cruelty; and, by way of\nmaking some atonement, he, at the instigation of the clergy, consented\nto cut off his beard. His austere deportment and shaved chin greatly\ndispleased his young wife Eleanor, the daughter of the duke of\nAquitaine; she murmured against this ridiculous custom, and often\nreproached her husband, with looking much more like a monk than a king.\n\nIf Lewis the Young\u2019s shaved chin had caused nothing more than the\ndislike of the young queen, the mischief would have been trifling; but\nseveral historians assert, that it was the first cause of that\ninextinguishable hatred which has so long divided England and France.\nThe following is the account they give of it.\n\nSaint Bernard, spurred on by pope Eugene III. his old disciple, took\nadvantage of the religious disposition of the king of France, to\npersuade him, that nothing but the undertaking of a second crusade could\nappease the wrath of God. The penitent monarch, who had not hesitated to\nlet himself be shaved, was as easily prevailed on to depart for\nPalestine. Eleanor, whether through curiosity, duty, or to divert the\nuneasiness of mind which the continual absence of her husband caused\nher, resolved to accompany him.\n\nAfter the misfortunes with which this war was attended, the devout\nprince met with one that affected his heart much nearer; he perceived\nthat his shaved chin had entirely alienated from him the affections of\nEleanor, and that this wife, expressing every day her liking for long\nbeards, listened with attention to the amorous assiduities of Raymund,\nprince of Antioch, her paternal uncle. They add, moreover, that a young\nTurk, called Saladin, uncommonly handsome, and endowed, no doubt, with a\nnotable beard, likewise made this princess forget the fatigues of this\nlong and unfortunate campaign.\n\nLewis the Young returned from Syria, still shaved, and, moreover,\nvanquished: too certain of Eleanor\u2019s infidelity, in the rage of his\njealousy, he assembled a council at Beaugency, where, spite of the\nprudent and pacific advice of his minister, (abbot Suger,) he had his\nmarriage set aside, under pretext of consanguinity.\n\nEleanor, six weeks after her repudiation, married Henry, count of Anjou\nand duke of Normandy, who was afterwards Henry II. king of England. The\nFrench king saw with chagrin this new monarch, his vassal, in possession\nof his wife and the provinces which composed her dowry; he declared war\nagainst him; and this is the foundation of that destructive rivality\nwhich has so long troubled England and France. Who would have thought\nthat the cutting off of a beard, six hundred years since, should have\nbeen the cause of a war the flames of which are scarcely extinguished,\nand which not long since set a great part of our globe in blaze.[31]\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n  \u201cThis woman (Eleanor)\u201d says Mezerai, \u201cconsummate in all sorts of\n  wickedness, lived more than eighty years, kept up a war for more than\n  sixty years, and left a hatred, between France and England, which has\n  lasted more than three centuries.\u201d\n\nThe Templars, that order of monks and soldiers, who had the faults of\nboth, wore their beards like the Orientals. Philip the Handsome, king of\nFrance, thought it advisable to destroy these religious soldiers, and to\nhave a great number of them burnt. Their execution was preceded by\ncutting off their beards, either to disgrace them more, or to deprive\nthem of that grave imposing air which it gave them.\n\nSoldiers and princes were not the only ones for whom a shaved chin was a\nmark of infamy: philosophers and learned men have always abhorred these\nnaked faces. Paul Jove, in his elogy of Francis Filelfo, relates a\ntrifling event which proves how much the learned of those days valued\ntheir beards. A violent dispute arose between the Italian, Filelfo, and\na Greek professor called Timothy; the question was, whether a certain\nGreek syllable were long or short. Things were carried to such a height,\nthat Filelfo waged a considerable sum, and Timothy his long beard. The\naffair was at length decided. Timothy was declared vanquished; and, to\nsave his beard, which he had just lost, he made Filelfo very\nadvantageous offers; but the latter, inexorable, would have nothing but\nthe beard he had won: he insisted on having the unfortunate Timothy\nshaved, and retained the spoils of his adversary\u2019s chin as a monument of\nhis victory.\n\nWhen, by an event which has been already related, Francis I. introduced\nthe mode of long beards into France, the parliaments and all the lawyers\nstood up against this ornament so suitable to the gravity of their\nfunctions: all the magistrates shaved, while the young men of fashion,\nand all the court, appeared with a venerable beard. This contrast in\ndress lasted longer than it ought to, through the obstinacy of the\nlawyers. The self-importance which they shewed in this sort of contest,\nis one of those lineaments of character which the philosophical observer\nshould not let escape him.\n\nThe rapid progress which this mode of long beards daily made, soon\nalarmed the members of the parliament of Paris; they thought it highly\nnecessary to stop the progress of such a dangerous usage: being\nthoroughly persuaded that it was essential towards magisterial gravity\nto be constantly shaved, they made a law, in 1535, commonly called in\nthose days _the edict of beards_, by which all magistrates and lawyers,\neven litigants, were absolutely forbidden to appear in the Justice-hall\nwith a long beard.\n\nFrancis Olivier, a man of the court, who was afterwards chancellor,\nexperienced all the hatred that the parliament had for long beards, when\nhe presented himself to be admitted to the charge of master of requests:\nhe was at first refused, for the sole reason of not being shaved.\nNotwithstanding the pressing solicitations of our candidate, the\nparliament was inflexible, and Francis Olivier was obliged to sacrifice\nhis long beard to his interest, or rather to the childish prejudice of\nthat court.\n\nThe parliament of Toulouse distinguished itself likewise, by pronouncing\na decree which expressly forbade the wearing long beards. A gentleman\nwanted to solicit in this court without complying with this\nunfashionable ordinance; the parliament replied very seriously to him,\nthat he should have justice done him when he should be shaved.[32]\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n  GENTIEN HERVET, _de redend\u00e2 barb\u00e2 oratio_.\n\n_There were neither attorneys nor counsellors in the sovereign courts of\njustice that could presume to appear in court on St. Martin\u2019s day, with\na long beard, without incurring a fine; and this was observed likewise\nin the inferior jurisdictions._ These are the words of a writer nearly\ncontemporary: he adds likewise, that it was highly necessary to be\ncareful how one came to present a request without being shaved first.\n_Such-a-one would have been finely snubbed_, says he, _who should have\ncome with a long beard to present a request, so much so, that whoever\nwanted to present one, readily put his beard in his sleeve_.[33]\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n  _Pogonologie, ou Discours fac\u00e9tieux des Barbes. I am surprised_, says\n  the author of this work, _at the ordinance of a certain magistrate,\n  who commanded all the millers of his district to cut off their\n  beards_.\n\nAn advocate at the parliament of Paris was a victim to this rigorous\nantipathy. They relate, that having presented himself in the hall to\nplead a cause with a long beard, Peter Lizet, the first president,\nordered him, in open court, to cut it off immediately, or else the\nparliament would refuse to hear him. The advocate was obliged to obey\nthis tyrannical order. _Tome 2. des Memoires de Lit\u00e9rature de Salengre._\n\nFortunately, these unmerciful enemies of bearded chins were unable to\nexercise their persecution but over the small number of people dependant\nupon them; they would have shaved all the French, if the nation would\nhave let them to. But this rage for disbearding insensibly died away,\nand, in a little time, these enemies of toleration complied with the\nusage which they had endeavoured to proscribe: so, this sort of league\namong the magistrates against the beards of the French was attended with\nno disagreeable consequences.\n\nThings are very different when similar whims enter the brain of despots.\nThe two following relations will prove what ravages a razor in their\nhands may cause.\n\nChardin relates, that a minister of the king of Persia, a scrupulous\nobserver of the law of Mahomet, wore in consequence a long beard which\nhe had very white. It was not the fashion to be so religious at the\ncourt: the courtiers were satisfied with long whiskers, which they could\nturn up under their ears; but they wore very short beards. The king was\nshocked that his minister did not follow this mode, but obstinately\npersisted to wear a long beard. In a drunken moment, he sent for a\nbarber, and ordered him to cut it off immediately. The minister, who was\nobliged to submit to this rigorous order, begged the operator not to cut\nso near the skin; but the king, perceiving that he was badly obeyed,\nfell into such a rage, that he ordered the barber\u2019s hand to be cut off\nimmediately.\n\nThe czar Peter, who had so many claims to the surname of _Great_, seems\nto have been but little worthy of it on this occasion. He had the\nboldness to lay a tax on the beards of his subjects. He ordered, that\nthe noblemen and gentlemen, tradesmen, and artisans (the priests and\npeasants[34] excepted,) should pay a hundred rubles, to be able to\nretain their beards; that the lower class of people should pay a copeck\nfor the same liberty, and he established clerks at the gates of the\ndifferent towns, to collect these duties. Such a new and singular impost\ntroubled the vast empire of Russia. Both religion and manners were\nthought in danger. Complaints were heard from all parts; they even went\nso far as to write libels against the sovereign; but he was inflexible,\nand, at that time, powerful. Even the fatal scenes of _St. Bartholomew_\nwere renewed against these unfortunate beards, and the most unlawful\nviolences were publicly exercised. The razor and scissars were every\nwhere made use of. A great number, to avoid these cruel extremities,\nobeyed with reluctant sighs. Some of them carefully preserved the sad\ntrimmings of their chins, and, in order to be never separated from these\ndear locks, ordered that they should be placed with them in their\ncoffins. Oh! Peter the Great, John James was very right, you did not\npossess true genius![35]\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n  The priests and peasants of Russia still wear their beards.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n  See _Du Contrat Social_ of John James Rousseau. Voltaire has censured\n  this assertion.\n\nExample, more powerful than authority, produced, in Spain, what it had\nnot been able to bring about in Russia without great difficulty. Philip\nV. ascended the throne with a shaved chin. The courtiers imitated the\nprince, and the people, in turn, the courtiers. However, though this\nrevolution was brought about without violence and by degrees, it caused\nmuch lamentation and murmuring: the gravity of the Spaniards lost by the\nchange. The favourite custom of a nation can never be altered without\nincurring displeasure. They have this old saying in Spain: _Desde que no\nhay barba, no hay mas alma. Since we lost our beards, we have no more\nsouls._\n\nWell, it\u2019s now a whole century since we wore beards. Have we gained by\nthe change? This well merits an investigation. The Spanish proverb,\nwhich might very well be applied to us, seems to account justly for our\nstate of abasement. If, as a modern philosopher said, _stupor reigns_,\nit is, no doubt, because we no longer wear our beards. But let us\nconsole ourselves; the source of these evils is nearly dried up. The\nfashion of long beards is on the point of being renewed, an epoch which\nI pronounce to be nearer than people think. All our present fashions and\ncustoms are nothing more than old ones revived, and which will disappear\nin their turn. The revolution is just at an end: the rapidity of our\nchanges has accelerated its course, and a new reign is at hand. You\npretty fellows of the present day, Jemmy-Jessamy parsons, jolly bucks,\nand all you with smock-faces and weak nerves, be dumb with astonishment,\nI foretel it, you will soon resemble men.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. IV.\n\n                          _Of BEARDED WOMEN._\n\n\nA Woman with a beard on her chin is one of those extraordinary\ndeviations with which nature presents us every day; as to those women\nwho, in order to pass for men, have put on false beards, it was in\nconsequence of some particular circumstance: that there have been others\nwhose character, seconded by nature, made them regard a long beard as an\nhonourable phenomenon for their sex, must seem at this time more\nextraordinary; but it would appear almost incredible that the eagerness\nof women to command should prompt them to make use of artificial means\nto have a beard on their chin, and, by this usurpation, to dispute with\nman the symbol of his sovereignty, and that, to put a stop to this\ndisorder, the laws should have interfered, if the authenticity of the\nevidence which we have left did not put it beyond a doubt.\n\nIt is Cicero himself who gives an account of this singular law,\ninstituted to prevent the women\u2019s ever succeeding to get a beard: they\nare expressly forbidden by it _to shave their cheeks_. It is taken from\nthe twelve Tables; the following are the words: _Mulieres genas ne\nradunto. Let not women presume to shave their cheeks._[36]\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n  Cicero, _de Legibus_. _Lib._ ii.\n\nIf the abuse which was the cause of this law is one of the greatest\nencomiums on beards, it presents us however with room for comparison.\nThe women of the present day are every wit as envious of commanding, as\nthose of whom Cicero speaks; but their means are very different.\n\nIt is beyond a doubt that the women of those days were very far from\ndisliking a beard. The Venus of Cyprus, (whom the ancient Greeks\nrepresented with a bushy beard on her chin,) seems to strengthen this\nassertion.\n\nAs to bearded women, and those who have done themselves the honour of\nappearing so, we have several examples.\n\nIn the cabinet of curiosities of _Stutgard_ in Germany, there is the\nportrait of a woman called _Bartel Graetje_, whose chin is covered with\na very large beard: she was drawn in 1587, at which time she was but\ntwenty-five years of age. There is likewise in the same cabinet another\nportrait of her when she was more advanced in life, but likewise with a\nbeard.\n\nIt is said that the duke of Saxony had the portrait of a poor Swiss\nwoman taken, remarkable for her long, bushy beard; and those who were at\nthe carnival at Venice in 1726, saw a female dancer astonish the\nspectators, as much by her talents, as by her chin covered with a black,\nbushy beard.\n\nCharles XII. had in his army a female grenadier: it was neither courage\nnor a beard that she wanted to be a man. She was taken at the battle of\nPultoway, and carried to Petersburg, where she was presented to the czar\nin 1724: her beard measured a yard and half[37].\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n  Russian measure.\n\nWe read in Tr\u00e9voux\u2019s dictionary, that there was a woman seen at Paris,\nwho had not only a bushy beard on her face, but her body likewise\ncovered all over with hair. Among a number of other examples of this\nnature, that of Margaret, the governess of the Netherlands, is very\nremarkable: she had a very long, stiff beard, which she prided herself\non; and being persuaded that it contributed to give her an air of\nmajesty, she took great care not to lose a hair of it. This Margaret was\na very great woman.\n\nIt is said that the Lombard women, when they were at war, made\nthemselves beards with the hair of their heads, which they ingeniously\narranged on their cheeks, in order that the enemy, deceived by the\nlikeness, might take them for men. It is asserted, after _Suidas_, that,\nin a similar case, the Athenian women did as much.[38] These women were\nmore men than our Jemmy-Jessamy countrymen.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n  [Greek: Pogonias], _sive de barb\u00e2 Dialogus Antonii Hotomanni_.\n\nAbout a century ago the ladies adopted the mode of dressing their hair\nin such a manner that curls hung down their cheeks as far as their\nbosom. These curls went by the name of _whiskers_.[39] This custom\nundoubtedly was not invented, after the example of the Lombard women, to\nfright the men. Neither is it with intention to carry on a very bloody\nwar, that, in our time, they have affected to bring forward the hair of\nthe temple on the cheeks. The discovery seems to have been a fortunate\none: it gives you a tempting, roguish, pleasing look, of which the\nladies are very fond at present.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n  Servants, and citizens\u2019 wives, who wore _whiskers_ like ladies of\n  fashion, were attacked without mercy. _See Trevoux\u2019s dict._\n\nSome wits have made themselves merry at the women\u2019s not having a beard\non their chin like the men: they pretended that it was impossible to\nshave them without bringing blood, because it is very difficult for the\nfair-sex to keep their tongues silent a moment. This thought has pleased\nso much that it has been put into Greek, Latin, Italian, and French\nverse. Here is the French.[40]\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n  See le Menagiana, tom. iv. pag. 206.\n\n                Sais-tu pourquoi, cher camarade,\n              Le beau sexe n\u2019est point barbu?\n              Babillard comme il est, on n\u2019auroit jamais pu\n                Le raser sans estafilade.\n\n                              _IMITATED._\n\n                  Know\u2019st thou why my dear companion\n                    Ladies have not beards like us?\n                  Talking always, who could shave them,\n                    Without gashing them the deuce.\n\n                                _AGAIN._\n\n                             (BY A FRIEND.)\n\n          The reason why men should have beards on their face,\n              And that tattling women have none,\n          Is, the Devil can\u2019t shave such a chattering race,\n              But he\u2019d cut their glib cheeks to the bone.\n\nWhat has been rendered sometimes supportable by circumstances, an\nextravagant taste, the desire of being distinguished from the crowd, or\nto command their attention; true taste, and especially the art of\npleasing, has always proscribed. We meet with women every day whose\nfeatures are shaded with this ornament of virility. But very far from\npriding themselves on this superfluity of nature, they regard it as a\nblemish to be ashamed of, which they endeavour to eradicate. How many\nbrunetts especially[41] are obliged, in the secret moments of their\ntoilet, to make use of!... But let us by no means reveal these\nmysterious operations; they have a right to expect our indulgence, as\nthey tend to please us: moreover, a woman may very well be pardoned for\ncorrecting this deviation of nature, since the men are not ashamed to\ndisfigure her.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n  The number is greater than people think. We have at present a heroine\n  whose dignities of warrior, juris-consult, man of letters, and\n  minister, as well as a bearded chin, concealed her sex a long time\n  from her countrymen.\n\nIt is as ridiculous for a man to look like a woman, as for a woman to\nlook like a man. However, a man without a beard would be much less\nsurprising now-a-days, than a bearded woman, which proves how unnatural\nour tastes and customs are.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                CHAP. V.\n\n                    _That LONG BEARDS are salutary._\n\n\nTHE beard has not only the advantage of giving a man a stern, majestic\nair, of preserving over the sex the empire which Nature has bestowed on\nhim, and of displaying on his face the characteristical marks of his\nmanhood, but likewise enables the attentive observer to remark, by more\ndetermined changes, the different states of human life, and gives him\nthe still more valuable advantage of being useful to his own\npreservation.\n\nNature made nothing in vain, and the course of her wise operations is\nnever opposed with impunity. Is it not natural to suppose, that this\nbushy hair which she has placed on man\u2019s face must have an influence on\nthe salubrity of the neighbouring parts that are acknowledged to be\nessential? Is it possible to think otherwise, without accusing our\ncommon mother of inconsequence, and charging her uniform conduct, (which\nso fully explains its own motives,) with folly and extravagance? How is\nit possible then for people to venture to thwart the wisdom of her\nintentions, and destroy their effects, without being afraid of drawing\non themselves a superabundance of evils, to which human nature is\nalready too much subject? This however is what we do every day, in order\nto comply with a very unnatural custom.\n\nThe beard, among men, is the sign of puberty, vigour, and weakness. \u2019Tis\nthis hair on the chin which first tells him that the time is come when\nhis organs, being more unfolded, will procure him a new existence, that\nhe is entering the state of manhood, that he is going to take his place\nin society, and that he is endowed with the valuable faculty of\nbegetting his own likeness.\n\nThis down on the chin is the same with young men, as the increase of the\nbosom with young girls. These two proofs of puberty announce, in both\nsexes, that sweet inquietude, the prelude of love and pleasure; those\nemotions, desires, and wants to be happy which nature has implanted in\nthe human breast; and at the same time the power of reason.[42] \u201cThe\nbeard,\u201d says Theodoret in his fourth discourse on the Providence of God,\n\u201cinforms these young folks, who have this downy hair on their chin, that\nit is time to leave off childish plays, in order to employ themselves\nabout more serious things.\u201d \u2019Tis then the greater or less quantity of\nbeard a man has that determines, in the same proportion, the vigour of\nhis body; \u2019tis then that Nature, steady in her course, requires its\nincrease, and there is no doubt but our perseverance in thwarting her\nwill, injures the adjoining parts.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n  \u201cIt is at the time the Devil is in a passion that the beard begins to\n  bud; and if ever a man has occasion to show some sign of courage or\n  make some sensible observation, \u2019tis then his beard begins to come.\n  _Pogonologia._\u201d\n\nIf it is evident that a long beard, by the equal heat which it\nmaintains, procures glandulous bodies a mild perspiration, and that it\ndraws away the humours intended by Nature for its nourishment, it cannot\nbe denied but that, the beard being cut off, and neither the\nperspiration nor secretion having place, the humours, which ought to\nhave produced both, take a different course and become prejudicial to\nthe parts through which they are obliged to circulate. This is the\nsentiment of a very learned writer, who has examined the beard under\nthis interesting point of view. \u201cIt is incontestable,\u201d says he, \u201cthat a\nlong beard contributes greatly to health, because, whilst it draws off\nthe superfluous humours which nourish this mark of manhood, it preserves\nthe teeth a long time from rotting, and strengthens the gums, an\nadvantage which those who shave are generally deprived of, who, almost\nall, are tormented with a dreadful pain in the teeth, and lose them all\nbefore they are any way advanced in age. The beard, in summer,\u201d\ncontinues the same author, \u201cdefends the face from the burning rays of\nthe sun; and in winter from rimes. In short, it preserves a man from a\nnumber of disorders, such as the quinsy and the decay of the palate,\n&c.\u201d[43] Adrian Junius, a physician who lived in the sixteenth century,\nin his commentary on the hair of the head, asserts that the beard is a\npreservative against several disorders. Gentien Hervet, in one of his\ndiscourses on beards, relates, that after the council of Trent, several\necclesiastics, being obliged to shave, were some time after seized with\na violent tooth ach. I may add to these authorities what I have been\ntold by very credible persons. A German gentleman, having been a long\ntime tormented with a violent pain in his teeth, was advised to let his\nbeard grow out, and he was entirely indebted to this remedy for his\ncure.\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n  Pierius Valerianus, _Pro Sacerdotum barbis_.\n\nThe ancients seem to have been more sensible than we of the particular\nvirtue of this ornament of manhood. It was not without reason that they\nrepresented Esculapius, the God of Physic, ornamented with a bushy,\ngolden beard, whilst his father, Apollo, had a shaved chin.\n\nThis symbolical beard proclaimed to the Greeks, not only that they\nshould wear their beards, but moreover, by the richness of its metal,\nhow necessary the beard was to their health. It was not with impunity,\nsay several writers, that Dionysius the tyrant took away this golden\nfleece from the God of Physic: among others, they regard, as a\nchastisement for this sacrilege, his being obliged, through his\nmistrust, to have his children burn his beard with hot nut-shells,\nrather than trust himself in the hands of the barbers of Syracuse.\n\nThe denomination which the Latins give the beard proves that they were\nthoroughly persuaded of its preserving them from defluxions and other\ndisorders to which the nudity of our chins is exposed: they called it\n_vestis_ (clothing), and _investis_ (without clothing), any one not of\nthe age of puberty.\n\nAs to us, slaves to the odd customs which we have ourselves invented, we\nare still very far from thinking that it is proper to look like a man. A\nmanly, vigorous look is not fashionable, and even health is no longer in\nvogue. I see very clearly that the beard, should it be again admitted in\nits turn, may very well cause the destruction of some disagreeable\ncustoms, among others, that of taking snuff; but, in order to give an\nidea of this loss, I will here place the sentiment of a contemporary on\nthis sternutative powder. \u201cSnuff,\u201d says he, \u201cgives a kind of slovenly\nappearance to those who make use of it, and which they are incapable of\navoiding: their breath has a disagreeable smell, their noses are almost\nalways foul, their clothes very often dirty, their faces disgusting,\ntheir tongues dry, especially after sleep, &c. But all this is nothing\nto the disagreeable disorders which the use of this powder produces; and\nafter the enumeration which I\u2019m going to make of them, people will be\nastonished still more that such a bad custom is not laid aside.\u201d He then\ncontinues: \u201cSnuff is hurtful to dry, bilious, and hot constitutions; it\nintoxicates and discomposes the functions of the brain, brings on\nvomiting, weakens the stomach, irritates the nerves, impairs the\nfaculties of the understanding, destroys the memory, takes off all sense\nof smelling, heats, disturbs the sleep, causes vapours and swimmings in\nthe head, and at length brings on an apoplexy or a lethargy.\u201d[44]\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n  Discours preliminaire des Tables n\u00e9ologique & m\u00e9t\u00e9orologiques, by M.\n  Bazoux. Mr. Buc\u2019hoz has just published a work on the use of snuff,\n  which corroborates this opinion.\n\nIf this account is just, and we may be permitted to add to it the\ndisgusting marks which this powder imprints on the beauty of the fair,\nit must be confessed that great obligation would be due to whatever\nshould cause it to be disused.\n\nIn ripe age, the beard is the sign of physical powers: in old age, the\nsymbol of veneration. What sight is there more reverend than an old man\nwith a venerable, long, white beard, receiving the caresses of his\ngrand-children, the sole consolation of his burthensome years!\nSurrounded by his family, he is the image of wisdom and divinity. Is\nthere any thing more noble than Nestor appeasing the rage of Achilles,\nlamenting the misfortunes of that division, giving advice to all the\nkings of the camp of the Greeks, and seeing himself the object of\ngeneral veneration? Where is there to be found a more striking example\nof majestic sweetness than that of the sage Mentor? Is there a more\nmoving picture than that of old Priam at Achilles\u2019s feet, kissing the\nterrible hands of the murderer of his son; and to see this venerable old\nman beg with tears the sad remains of the unfortunate Hector? All these\ndifferent sketches may give some idea of the majesty and nobleness which\na long beard and hoary locks stamp on the person of an old man. But let\nany one fancy Mentor and Nestor shaved, and old king Priam without his\nbeard and white hair, having each of them a wig with three tails; this\nallusion, at first so flattering, will disappear; ridicule will succeed\nto respect, and he will no longer see in these heroes, but the figure of\nour neighbour the churchwarden, the overseer of the poor, and the\nauctioneer.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. VI.\n\n                           _Of FALSE BEARDS._\n\n\nTHE substitutes of art are to nature what hypocrisy is to virtue: both\nare unworthy of an upright man, who is no more afraid to discover the\nsentiments of his heart, than the lineaments of his face. But if, as a\nfamous moralist said, _hypocrisy is a homage which vice pays to virtue_,\nfalse beards should likewise be regarded as a homage which luxury or\nidleness pays to natural beards.\n\nSuch impositions are more or less condemnable, according to the causes\nfrom whence they proceed. The old man whom Theophrastus speaks of, who,\nin order to plead before the senate of Lacedemon, stained his beard and\nhoary locks black, dearly merited the mortifying affront which a\nmeanness so unworthy of his age publicly drew on him. As he was debating\nhis cause, his adversary interrupted him, and addressing himself to the\nsenate, asked what confidence could be given to the words of a man who\ncarried a lie in his face?\n\nTowards the middle of the fourteenth century, false beards came much\ninto fashion in Spain, especially in the estates of Cortez of Catalonia.\nThis artifice, which procured the advantage that a beard gives a man,\nwith much ease, must appear much less strange among a people whose\ncharacter has gravity for basis. This mode was adopted with the greatest\neagerness. The same persons had beards of different forms and colours,\nand could change them as they pleased: they had different ones to wear\nholidays and working-days; so that a man might have a short red beard in\nthe morning and in the evening a long black one. Every one changed his\nappearance according to his interest. Such a commodious fashion and so\nmuch followed favoured however a great many misdemeanours; and these\nchin-wigs would soon have been as much the wear as those of the head, if\nthe abuse which was made of them had not at length attracted the\nattention of government. Peter, king of Arragon, expressly forbade all\nhis subjects to wear false beards. They disappeared, and were replaced\nby natural ones. \u2019Tis a great pity this mode never got beyond the\nPyrenean mountains: had it but reached France it would have acquired a\ndegree of pre-eminence, which the French alone are capable of giving.\nHowever, Spain is not the only country where false beards have been in\nvogue.\n\nAbout the end of the fourteenth century there was the largest and\nthickest beard seen at Paris that ever existed perhaps in the world; in\nfact, it was the wonder of beards. The man who wore it called himself\npatriarch of Constantinople; from his having such an extraordinary\nbeard, every one was inclined to believe his assertion: so much power\nhas appearance over the mind of man! Never was there a beard that raised\nsuch a sensation. The Parisians, as may be supposed, were unceasing in\ntheir admiration of it; and it was through favour of his beard that this\npatriarch, as he called himself, received the most flattering reception.\nHe was every where loaded with honours: and this astonishing beard,\nwhich attracted the veneration of a whole people, who were enraptured\nwith it, was nothing but a false one.\n\nWhat a powerful effect of the majesty of beards! but what a subject of\ncomparison for our manners! How many revered sages, great geniuses,\nextolled heroes, and lords of high renown, are like this beard! It is\nsome consolation however, that the homage of the gulled citizens is\nalways the satire of the delusion by which they were deceived: the truth\ncomes out sooner or later; and then all the honour of it is clearly\nperceived to belong to some particular virtue or talent, or a long\nbeard.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. VII.\n\n                          _Of GOLDEN BEARDS._\n\n\nMEN have, in all ages, thought to honour the objects of their regard, or\nof their worship, by endeavouring to embellish them. But the means which\nthey have employed, whilst they do honour to their zeal, have often\ngiven a proof of their bad taste. Because gold is so much valued among\nus, we thought for a long time, that nothing else could be truly\nornamental. Luxury and devotion have both displayed it with profusion;\nbut riches do not constitute beauty. What was intended to be decorated\nis in fact debased. This abuse, which reigned particularly in the times\nof ignorance, has even exercised its power over the beard. Oriental pomp\npresents us at once with an example of this mistaken pride. Several\npotentates of those countries interwove the hair on their chin with gold\nthread and spangles. It is not without indignation that St. Chrysostom\ntells us of a king of Persia, who, in his time, followed this ridiculous\ncustom. After reproaching the extravagant luxury of the fair-sex of\nAntioch, this evangelical doctor says: \u201cIf I should give you an account\nof a sort of luxury still more absurd than that of those women, who wear\ngold in their hair, load their lips and eye-brows with it, who, in\nshort, are covered all over with this precious metal; don\u2019t think I want\nto raise a laugh: what I am going to relate to you exists at this day;\nit is the king of Persia I mean to speak of. This monarch is not ashamed\nto wear a golden beard; all the hair of his chin is covered or\ninterwoven with little plates of gold or threads of the same metal. This\nprince, with his face thus adorned, looks more like a monster than a\nman.\u201d[45]\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n  _Johannis Chrysostomi, in Epistolam ad Collossenses, Comment._ cap.\n  iii. Homilia 8.\n\nThis is not the sole example of this ridiculous ostentation: France,\nwhich, as all the world knows, has furnished models of extravagance in\nso many different lines, has not passed over this; it appears even that\nit had a tolerable long run. Several historians agree in saying, that\nthe kings of the first race prided themselves in wearing a long beard\nall interwoven and set off with ribbands, and enriched with spangles and\ngold and silver threads. Whether this mode subsisted from the time of\nthe first race of kings, or was brought from Asia during the crusades,\nit is certain, that, in the reign of Lewis XI. there is another example\nof it, which was followed only in imitation of a more ancient mode.\n\nThe continuator of Monstrelet relates, that, at the funeral of the duke\nof Burgundy, who was killed at the battle of Nancy in 1476, the duke of\nLorrain, his vanquisher, appeared with a false golden beard, in the same\nmanner as the ancient knights. \u201cHe was,\u201d says the historian, \u201cdressed in\nmourning, and had a long, golden beard that reached down to his middle,\n_in commemoration of the ancient worthies_, and of the victory which he\nhad gained over him.\u201d\n\nI am of St. Chrysostom\u2019s opinion, that a golden beard is a hideous\nthing; that, so far from the gold\u2019s heightening its natural beauties, it\nonly degrades them. Nature is like virtue, it pleases without dazzling.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAP. VIII.\n\n                             _Of WHISKERS._\n\n\nTHERE are no bounds for the objects that are subject to human\nfickleness: every thing changes, all gives way to the whim of fashion,\nthe beard is a proof of it. This ornament of man, which the Divinity\nplaced on his face to mark more particularly the different periods of\nhis life, and be the sign of the most precious faculties of humankind,\nhas not escaped the common law, but been indistinctly subject to that of\nour capricious instability. The beard, which is the honour of manhood,\nand what St. Clement of Alexandria boldly calls _the procreative beauty,\nthe ingenuous beauty_, has passed through all the degrees of increase\nand diminution. Whiskers are a sort of diminutive, one of those\nintermediate states which preceded its triumph, or defeat. This\nmodification of the beard, spite of its feeble existence, holds\nnotwithstanding a rank in history, and merits to be mentioned.[46]\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n  Some authors attribute the honour of inventing whiskers to the\n  Arabians. Plutarch, in his life of Theseus, gives the glory of it to\n  the Abantes, an ancient people of the isle of Euboe, which we call\n  Negropont, of whom Herodotus makes honourable mention, book i. chap.\n  146. As the Abantes were a very war-like people, they shaved all the\n  forepart of their head, in order that their enemies might have nothing\n  to lay hold of in fight; and at the same time they let their hair grow\n  out on the back part, to show them they were not afraid of being taken\n  in flight. _Recherches fur la barbe, par le P. Oudin, Jesuite._\n\nWhiskers have been worn in war, in order to fright the enemy by a\nterrible countenance. This is what C\u00e6sar observed formerly in the\nancient Britons. It is said likewise that the Goths and Franks shaved\ntheir beards, all except the upper lip, which they called _crista_. The\nGauls, intimidated at first by the appearance of their vanquishers,\nadmitted afterwards this custom; and, under the first race of French\nmonarchs, if we except the kings and princes, who, like the emperors,\nlet their beards grow out entirely, the people wore only whiskers. This,\nwithout doubt, is the origin of the custom which we have at this day, as\nwell as most of the nations of Europe, for soldiers to wear this\nornament.\n\nAs a beardless face is a sign of puerility and weakness, so is a bearded\nchin of virility and prudence; in like manner whiskers, which hold the\nmiddle between these two extremes, announce youth and desires. The Turks\nand modern Greeks are so convinced of this truth, that, \u2019till the age of\nthirty, they wear only whiskers, an epoch at which they let their beards\ngrow out entirely.\n\nIn every age, and among every people, it has received a different form;\nbut in whatever manner it was made use of, or were the aim of those who\nwore this mark of virility, it is beyond a doubt, that when it is\nadvantageously arranged, and gracefully turned up, it gives a stately,\nvigorous, fiery look, which characterises the young man, and is not\ndispleasing to the ladies.\n\nAmong the European nations that have been most curious in beards and\nwhiskers, we shall distinguish Spain. This grave, romantic nation has\nalways regarded the beard as the ornament which should be most prized;\nand the Spaniards have often made the loss of honour consist in that of\ntheir whiskers. The Portuguese, whose national character is much the\nsame, are not the least behind them in that respect. In the reign of\nCatharine, queen of Portugal, the brave John de Custro had just taken in\nIndia the castle of Diu: victorious, but in want of every thing, he\nfound himself obliged to ask the inhabitants of Goa to lend him a\nthousand pistoles for the maintenance of his fleet; and, as a security\nfor that sum, he sent them one of his whiskers, telling them: \u201cAll the\ngold in the world cannot equal the value of this natural ornament of my\nvalour, and I deposit it in your hands as a security for the money.\u201d The\nwhole town was penetrated with this heroism, and every one interested\nhimself about this invaluable whisker: even the women were desirous to\ngive marks of their zeal for so brave a man: several sold their\nbracelets to increase the sum asked for, and the inhabitants of Goa sent\nhim immediately both the money and his whisker. A number of other\nexamples of this kind might be produced, which do as much honour to\nwhiskers, as to the good faith of those days.\n\nWhen Philip V. ascended the throne of Spain, he found his new subjects\namply provided with beards and whiskers; he would wear neither, though\nin other respects he adopted the customs of the country; this gave rise\nto the mode of shaving. These people saw with the greatest regret this\ndear ornament disappear from their chins: even at this day they cannot\nrecollect it without emotion; this is what gave rise to this truly\nexpressive proverb, but which is a little too emphatical: Desde que los\nEspa\u00f1oles no llevan bigotes, no tienen C\u2014\u2014, that is, (paraphrasing what\nmight offend the ears of the ladies:) _Since the Spaniards lost their\nwhiskers they are no better than eunuchs._\n\nWhiskers, in France, have been the object of the most refined luxury. In\nLewis XIII.\u2019s reign, they attained the highest degree of favour, at the\nexpense of the expiring beards. In those days of gallantry, not yet\nempoisoned by wit, they became the favourite occupation of lovers, A\nfine black whisker, elegantly turned up, was a very powerful mark of\ndignity with the fair-sex. The women of those ancient times, less taken\nup with genius than the concerns of the heart, and more learned in\nlovers than books, made their glory consist in triumphing over a\nwarrior, or seeing a haughty, swaggering lover humbly at their feet:\nproud of such a conquest, and jealous to preserve it, these ladies had a\nsufficient value for their characters to continue faithful. And if a\nfavour was the reward of love, it was often of merit: in this case, a\nwoman had respect enough for a man to be sincere, and a man had respect\nenough for his mistress to be discreet; but now-a-days ... what men!\n\nThe following relation proves how much the French valued their whiskers\nin the time of Lewis XIII. Count Bouteville, the most celebrated\nduellist of his time, who was condemned to be beheaded, seeing the\nexecutioner, who had already cut off his hair, going to take off his\nwhiskers, could not conceal the anguish of mind which this dishonour\ngave him, and put his hands on these dear ornaments, as if to preserve\nthem from the outrage with which they were menaced. The bishop of\nMantes, who attended him in these last moments, seeing this new\nuneasiness, said to him: _My son, you must give over all worldly\nthoughts; what! do you still think of this world?_\n\nWhiskers were still in fashion in the beginning of Lewis XIV.\u2019s reign.\nThis king and all the great men of his reign took a pride in wearing\nthem. They were the ornament of Turenne, Cond\u00e9, Colbert, Corneille,\nMoliere, &c. It was then no uncommon thing for a favourite lover to have\nhis whiskers turned up, combed, and pomatumed by his mistress; and, for\nthis purpose, a man of fashion took care to be always provided with\nevery little necessary article, especially whisker-wax. It was highly\nflattering to a lady, to have it in her power to praise the beauty of\nher lover\u2019s whiskers, which, far from being disgusting, gave his person\nan air of vivacity; several even thought it an incitement to love. It\nseems the levity of the French made them undergo several changes both in\nform and name: there were _Spanish_, _Turkish_, _guard-dagger_, &c.\nwhiskers; in short, _royal_ ones, which were the last worn: their\nsmallness proclaimed their approaching fall. Since that period, whiskers\nhave been worn only at the theatres and by some of our troops; besides,\nthey are less liked in France than among the other nations, where it is\nvery common to see all the officers with them.\n\nThe man, who should be so bold as to wear whiskers first, would be a\nzealous citizen and a friend to true personal beauty. What glory would\nnot this courageous mortal gain, who, braving the present effeminate\ncustom, should restore our faces the ancient mark of our valour! He\nwould bring back to his country that openness and sincerity of character\nwhich distinguished it from other nations, and would merit an honourable\nplace among the worthies who were formerly the honour of France. \u201cI have\na good opinion of a gentleman curious in having fine whiskers,\u201d said an\nauthor of the last century; \u201cthe time which he passes in dressing them\nis no time lost; for the more he admires them, the more his mind will be\nfed and entertained with manly, courageous ideas.\u201d[47] Whiskers then\nhave the power of giving energy and valour to the mind. Ah! Frenchmen,\nyou lost every thing when you lost your whiskers.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n  _Elemens d\u2019education_, printed in 1640.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. IX.\n\n                      _Of the BEARDS of PRIESTS._\n\n\nAMONG the dignities that ought, by an imposing appearance, to gain the\nconfidence and veneration of the people, the priesthood holds the first\nrank. The minister of divinity, too often obliged to speak before a\ncrowd of ignorant people, has need particularly that all the delusion of\npompous raiment shall accompany him to the foot of the altar; but this\nsacred magnificence, whilst it forsakes frivolousness and vulgar luxury,\nshould approach nearer to nature, and be more like that respectable\nimage of antiquity. Is there an ornament to be found that more perfectly\nunites all these advantages? is there one that is less far-fetched, that\nbrings us nearer the first ages, that gives a man a more stern, more\ngrave, or more venerable look, and, consequently, is there one that more\nbecomes the priesthood, than the majesty of a long beard? Were I to join\nto these clear reasons a faithful history of facts, supported by\nauthentic precepts, sacred laws, the opinions and examples of a number\nof divine men, and, in short, come to demonstrate the absolute\nobligation under which our priests are, of wearing beards, I should\nunfold a truth not less interesting than unexpected. I might call to my\naid the example of the priests of foreign religions, and point out, in\nthe books of their dogmas, evidences of the honours paid to this mark of\nvirility; I could cite a number of historical monuments, which attest,\nthat all the nations of the world agree in looking on the beard as the\nornament most seemly for an interpreter of the will of heaven; but I\nhave no occasion for these foreign aids: it is our own religion that\nshall furnish me with arms against the effeminate abuse which degrades\nits ministers.\n\nIf I open at hazard the old testament, I every where find proofs of this\ntruth. It is there written how God threatened, his chosen people several\ntimes, by the mouths of his prophets, that he would have their chins\nignominiously shaved; which was then a disgrace inseparable from\nslavery.[48] _David_ saw nothing more respectable in a man\u2019s outward\nappearance than his beard: this is what made this psalmist king speak so\nhonourably of that of the high priest Aaron,[49] and think that nothing\nless than streams of blood could wash away the insult which had been\noffered the beards of some of his subjects.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n  See Isaiah, chap. vii. v. 20; _ibid._ chap. xv. v. 2: Jeremiah, chap.\n  xlviii. v. 37: Revelations xiv: Sam. xix. &c.\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n  See the cxxxii Psalm. _Sicut unguentum in capite quod descendit in\n  barbam, barbam Aaron._ Tertullian, in his book _de Pallio_, has\n  explained the expressions of this Psalm very favourably for the beard.\n  See likewise Saint Ambrose, _lib. de initiand. cap._ 6. At the council\n  of Basil, held in 1433, Henry Kalteisen made a long commentary on this\n  subject. Sauveur, archbishop of \u2014\u2014, made a speech at the council of\n  Trent, which ran almost wholly on Aaron\u2019s beard.\n\nWe read in the _Paralipomenon_, that this prince sent ambassadors to\nHanon, king of the Ammonites, to console him for the death of his father\nNaas; that this king, having been persuaded that these ambassadors were\nspies, had them all secured, and sent them back, after having had half\ntheir garments and half their beards cut off. On these news, David was\ngreatly enraged; and in order that his envoys might avoid the\ndisagreement of appearing at court in this disgraceful situation, he\nsent them word to stop at Jericho \u2019till their beards were grown out to\ntheir ordinary length; after which he marched against the Annmonites,\nand, in two bloody battles, destroyed seven thousand of their chariots,\nkilled Sophach, their general, and forty thousand foot, and thus avenged\nthe insult offered his ambassadors.[50]\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n  See the Vatable Bible, _liber Paralipomenon_, cap. xix.\n\nThis massacre, though it had no other object than the cutting off of a\npart of some beards will appear neither unjust nor cruel, if we consider\nhow much this ornament of virility was honoured among the Jews, and\nespecially when it is known that there is a law in Leviticus, which\nexpressly forbids to cut off any part of it.\n\nGod himself, before all his chosen people assembled, was pleased, by the\nmeans of Moses, to explain his intentions with regard to this decoration\nof the face of man. This law does not solely forbid shaving the chin, as\nthe vulgar translation of the bible says, which would insinuate that the\nHebrews had already made use of this effeminate custom; but, according\nto all the best versions of this holy book, we read: _Don\u2019t marr the\ncorners of your_ _beards_, that is, let them grow naturally.[51]\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n  See the same Vatable Bible, Leviticus chap. xix. verse 27. _Non\n  attondebitis in circuitum comam capitis vestri, neque dissipabitis\n  extremitatem barb\u00e6 tu\u00e6._\n\nNo precept nor other law whatsoever has since altered this. The divine\nlegislator of our religion, far from changing it, respected it so much,\nthat he submitted to it himself; the Apostles, and all the most holy and\nrespectable followers of the Christian worship, have warmly supported\nthe necessity of wearing a beard; but the purity of precepts, the\nsimplicity of manners, and humble poverty, have disappeared with the\ntimes. We have rich pluralists, short mantled Chrysostoms, and\nprig-parsons; but, divines with venerable beards, fathers of the\nprimitive church, where are you?\n\nIn the constitution of the Apostles, this precept is again repeated:\n_The smallest hair of the beard must on no account be clipped_, it is\nsaid therein: _Oportet preterea non barb\u00e6 pilum corrumpere_.[52] If I\ntrace things on, from the time of the Apostles to the entire\nestablishment of Christianity, I find, that all the fathers, doctors,\nand saints of the rising church, strongly recommended the custom of\nwearing the beard, and regarded a bald chin as the mark of infamy and\ndebauchery. Saint Clement the Roman, who lived likewise in the time of\nthe Apostles, after mentioning the Levitican law, which we have already\nquoted, says, that _God, who created us after his own likeness, will\nload those with his hatred who violate his law by shaving their\nchins_.[53]\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n  Lib. i. cap. 3.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n  This Saint, who was the disciple of St. Peter, succeeded pope Anaclet,\n  A. D. 91. See in his book _Constitutionum Sanctorum Apostolorum_, the\n  chap. entitled _Catholica Doctrina de Laicis_.\n\nSaint Clement of Alexandria, in several parts of his learned works,\ncomplains highly of this abuse so disgraceful for mankind; he speaks\nwith great warmth against the rakes of his time, who were not ashamed to\nappear in public close shaved. This saint, who was still a better\nphilosopher than a theologian, does not think it beneath him, in another\npart of his work, to write the elogy of the beard: _It contributes_,\nsays he, _to the beauty of man, as a fine head of hair does to that of a\nwoman_.[54] Tertullian, especially, says a great deal about beards, and,\nwith his usual eloquence, forcibly attacks the corrupt manners of his\nage, which had introduced the shameful custom of shaving; he supports\nhis arguments by St. Jerome and St. Clement of Alexandria, and even goes\nbeyond these two holy fathers.[55]\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n  Saint Clement of Alexandria, who is looked upon as the most learned of\n  all the fathers of the Church, lived at the end of the second and\n  beginning of the third century. See his book on theatrical\n  exhibitions, and his Pedagogue, book iii. a work which abbot Fleuri,\n  in his Ecclesiastical history, calls, _an abridgement of the whole\n  Christian moral_.\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n  Tertullian, in his book _de Cultu feminarum_, and in that _de Pallio_,\n  speaks very advantageously of beards. This learned man, whom St.\n  Cyprian called his master, was the first who wrote on the alteration\n  of a canon of the council of Carthage, which forbade priests to shave\n  their beards.\n\nSaint Cyprian has likewise expressed how much he thought a shaved chin\ncontrary to the Christian institution. In deploring the state of this\nreligion, he exclaims: _There is no longer this religious devotion and\nentire confidence in the ministers of God to be found in the priests; no\nmore works of mercy, no more order among the lower classes: the men cut\noff their beards, and the women paint their faces._ And in another part:\n_And notwithstanding it is written, You shall not cut off your beards,\nthey depilate their chins and colour their cheeks. Thus, to please the\nworld, they are not afraid to displease God._[56]\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n  _Divi Cypriani, liber de Lapsis._\n\nIt would be too long to cite the number of respectable authorities who\nhave either written in praise of beards or censured shaved faces, who\nhave not only looked upon it as an ornament conformable to Christian\ngravity, but maintained that it could not be cut away without a sin.[57]\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n  All the first fathers of the Church have strongly recommended the\n  custom of beards, or have spoken of them advantageously: such are St.\n  Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, St. Epiphanius, St. Theodoret,\n  St. Sidoin Apollinarius, &c.\n\nThis opinion of the first fathers of the Church is supported by two\ncouncils: the first is the fourth council of Carthage, the 44th canon of\nwhich runs thus: _Clericus nec comam nutriat, nec barbam radat. A\nclergyman must neither keep up his hair nor shave away his beard._ Tho\u2019\nthis canon has been entirely altered by the suppression of the word\n_radat_, as Tertullian remarks, and, after him, a number of\ncommentators, it is certain it ought to be thus, which we will prove by\nwhat we are going to say. The second is a council held at Barcelona in\n540, in the third canon of which we read: _Ut nullus Clericorum comam\nnutriat, aut barbam radat. Let no clergyman either keep up his hair, or\nshave away his beard._\n\nAfter such sacred laws, and the opinion and example of the apostles, and\nof all the fathers of the primitive church; after the decisions of two\nauthentic councils, one should not think there had existed men\nsufficiently deceitful or ignorant to maintain, not only that it is\nindifferent to shave or not, but likewise that the beard is contrary to\nthe institution of the Church. Lighted by the torch of truth, and guided\nby the most scrupulous impartiality, we will follow up the chain of the\ndifferent events which have so often changed the sentiments and beards\nof one part of Europe.\n\nI find all the popes of the earliest times of Christianity wore long\nbeards, \u2019till the first division into two Churches, Greek and Latin.\nTheir rivality had already broken out in the excommunication of the\niconoclasts. When Charlemain became emperor of the West, the popes then\nthrew off the yoke of the Grecian authority, and seized that occasion to\ndistinguish themselves from their enemies by something particular. It\nwas at this very epoch, according to fathers Henschenius and\nPapebrock,[58] that Leo III. gave the Latin church, for the first time,\nthe example of a pope shaved. The disputes soon redoubled. Photius, the\nGreek patriarch, renewed the pretensions of the clergy of the East to\nprecendency over those of the West: he excommunicated, in his turn, pope\nNicholas I. who had already excommunicated him. Never had the chins of\nthe Greeks been so bearded, nor those of the Latins so closely shaved.\nPhotius, having taken the title of \u0153cumenical patriarch, declared the\nWestern bishops heretics. Among other things, he reproached them with\ncutting off their beards. _A strange reason for setting the Western and\nEastern empires at variance_, says a great writer of our age. To think\nthis reason so strange, is making very light of beards.[59]\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n  See the _Propileum_ of fathers Henschenius and Papebrock for the month\n  of May, p. 209, vol. i. of the acts of the saints.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n  Let it be always recollected that we have nothing to do here but with\n  discipline. Some indispensable invectives against the divers opinion\n  of the popes, ought not to startle tender consciences. The dogma,\n  which we highly respect, has no part in this discussion.\n\nNicholas I. does not offer any thing in his own defence against this\nserious accusation. In his letter to Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, and\nthe other bishops of France, A. D. 867, he only says, speaking of the\nGreeks: \u201cMoreover, they endeavour to throw blame on us, because the\nclergy who are under our authority don\u2019t refuse to be shaved.\u201d[60] This\nphrase, which shews that all the clergy at that time were constrained to\nappear shaved, presents nothing in excuse for this violent conduct. If\nthe pope could have offered some reasons to palliate this looseness of\ndiscipline, he would not have failed to make use of them on this\noccasion; but he does not give one. Rivalship was the sole cause of\nthese puerile dissensions. What a number of disputes, and troubles has\nnot this ridiculous infatuation of the Latin priests occasioned! Had\nthey but let their beards grow out, they would have avoided all these\nmischiefs.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n  _Quin & reprehendere satagunt, quia penes os clerici barbas radere\n  suas non abnuunt, &c._ Acta Conciliorum.\n\nThe death of the patriarch, without destroying the schism, calmed\npeople\u2019s minds for some times, and the ignorance of the times (according\nto some) contributed greatly to extinguish the flames of this violent\nquarrel. John XII. forgetting, or perhaps not knowing the animosity that\nhad reigned between the two churches, soon appeared again with a long\nbeard according to fathers Henschenius and Papebrock.[61]\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n  See _Propileum_, already quoted, page 20.\n\nThis irregular and inconsequent conduct of the popes, and indifference\nfor the true discipline of the Church, seems to be justified in a\ncouncil held at Limoges in 1031. By the determinations of that assembly\nit is of little moment whether a priest be shaved or not. The reasons of\nthe Greeks and Latins are there weighed, and the latter are said to\nsupport their arguments by the example of St. Peter. (This assertion is\ncontrary to all truth, as all the monuments which have preserved us the\nimage of that Saint prove.) They add, in favour of those priests that go\nshaved, that they ought to be distinguished from the laity by their\noutward appearance. This reason, were it just, would be good only at a\ntime when it should be the fashion for laymen to wear long beards, and\nit ought to be an additional incitement to priests to let theirs grow\nout, among a nation who do not wear this mark of manhood.\n\n\u201cThe others,\u201d says the same council, speaking of the Greeks, \u201chave\nchosen the custom of not shaving; they ground their choice upon the\nexample of the Apostles Paul, and James the brother of the Lord, saying\nwith reason, for nothing should be concealed, that the clergy, as the\nlaity, ought to preserve on their faces this ornament of virility, as a\ndignity of the human condition, a dignity created by God himself, and\nwith which he has been pleased to honour man alone. As to the clergy,\nthey should be distinguished solely by the tonsure of the head. The\nGreeks add likewise, that our Lord of Nazareth always wore his beard.\u201d\nBy this session of the council of Limoges, no mention is made of the two\ncouncils which expressly forbid priests to cut off their beards, nor of\nthe authority of the fathers and the Levitican law; this was to suit the\ncircumstances: and the council concludes on this matter, _that if the\nGreeks have nothing to reproach us with, we have nothing to reproach\nthem with_.[62] After this declaration, though it is quite contrary to\nthe fundamental discipline of the Church, the reader will be greatly\nsurprised to learn, that the very same year, 1031, by a canon of the\ncouncil of Bourges, all the clergy were ordered to get themselves\nshaved;[63] nor will he be less so to find pope Gregory VII. (formerly\nfriar Hildebrand, a shaved monk, a turbulent, ambitious man, and the\ndeclared enemy of emperors and kings,) firmly maintain, that a priest,\nwho wore a long beard, was guilty of a high crime and misdemeanour\nagainst Christianity. This pope Gregory was a confounded shearer of\nbeards: he called a council at Gironne in 1073, where the clergy were\nexpressly forbidden to wear this mark of manhood.[64] A few years after,\nthis tyrant of the beards having learned that the archbishop of Cagliary\npreserved his in all its length, he immediately ordered him to get\nhimself shaved, and at the same time wrote (in 1080) to Orzoc, the\npodestate of the town, these orders ... \u201cWe therefore order your bishop,\nour brother, to have his beard shaved, _like all the Western clergy, who\nhave preserved this custom ever since the commencement of the Christian\nfaith_:[65] in consequence, we command you likewise to oblige all the\nclergy that are under your authority, to be shaved, and to confiscate\nthe property of those who shall refuse to obey, to the profit of the\nChurch of Cagliary: make use of severity, for fear lest this abuse\nshould increase.\u201d\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n  _Et hac in re neque illi nos, neque nos possumus reprehendere illos,\n  &c._ Concil. Lemovicense, anno 1031, sessio II, acta Concil. tom. vi.\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n  Council of Bourges, canon 7.\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n  _Synodus Gerundensis, can. vii. Th\u00e6sorus anecdotorum._\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n  _Scilicet ut quemadmodum totius occidentalis Ecclesi\u00e6 Clerus, ab ipsis\n  fidei christian\u00e6 primordiis, barbam radendi morem tenuit, &c._ Greg.\n  Pap\u00e6 vii. Epist. lib. viii. ad Orzoc, judicem Calaritanum.\n\nThis letter, wholly founded upon illusion, and which so justly\ncharacterises its author, proclaims the approaching destruction of the\nlittle beard yet left on the chins of the Latin priests. It was at this\ntime no doubt that those ordinances _de radendis barbis_, which we still\nread in several communities, were made; and in a little time the laymen\nwere the only ones that could, without a crime, wear long beard; but it\ndid not continue so long.\n\nThe German priests soon followed this example, which is proved by a\nfragment of a letter preserved in the new history of the Benedictines of\nBlack Forest, where Sigefroy of Goetz complains grievously to Papon, the\nreformer, that the Germans were beginning to imitate the French in\nseveral effeminate customs, among others, that of cutting off their\nbeards. In time, the priests saw with pain, that they were separated\nfrom other men by a mortifying distinction: what should they do to\nrelieve their offended self-love? Let their beards grow out? The\ndifficulty of ordering it, even sometime after it had been forbidden,\ndid not hinder them; but the quarrel with the Greeks was yet too recent\nfor the Latins to think of looking like those haughty, clearsighted\nenemies. In order that all might be upon a par, it was decided, that the\nlaity should be shaved: this mean had a very plausible appearance, and\nit was decided to begin with the princes.\n\nThat of Henry I. king of England, was the premier victim of the\nconjuration. Serlon of Abond, bishop of Seez, undertook the conquest of\nthis royal fleece. Easter-day, 1105, he preached before this prince and\nall his court: his sermon ran entirely on heads of hair and beards; he\nexclaimed particularly against the length of the latter, which, he\nmaintained, was contrary to the spirit of the Christian religion: his\nvehement tone and persuasive eloquence moved all the audience. The king,\npenetrated with compunction, resolved to be the first to give the\nexample of a sacrifice as holy and new as courageous: then the preacher,\napproaching Henry, drew out of his sleeve a pair of scissars, and\npiously sheared the prince\u2019s chin. All the assembly, carried away by\nthis act of religion, would fain imitate him, and the holy bishop became\nthe shearer of the whole congregation. This strange farce, which was not\nthe only one, would appear a fable, if father Mabillon did not very\nseriously relate the particulars of it in his Annals of the\nBenedictines.[66]\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n  _Moxque Episcopus, extractis \u00e8 manic\u00e2 forficibus, primo Regem, post\n  c\u00e6teros Optimates attondisse, &c._ Annal. Benedict.\n\nSome years after, Lewis the Young\u2019s beard underwent the same fate. This\nprince having burnt three thousand five hundred Champenese, who had\ntaken refuge in Vitry church,[67] was soon a prey to his stings of\nconscience. Peter Lombard, bishop of Paris,[68] assured him, that there\nwas no more effectual way to expiate this crime, than to have his long\nbeard cut off forthwith. The king clearly saw there was nothing more\nreasonable; and this pious bishop executed himself the function of\nbarber to his majesty.\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n  In the war which he had with Theobald, count of Champaign. See page 41\n  of this work.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n  Philip, the king\u2019s brother, being appointed bishop of Paris, thought\n  the place beneath him; he resigned it to Peter Lombard, who, according\n  to Zuinger, A. D. 1160, made use of his episcopal authority to have\n  all the priests and monks of his diocese shaved.\n\nFrederick I. surnamed _Redbeard_, was not exempted from the common law;\nthe colour of his beard, the example of two princes, and the strong\nsolicitations of the clergy, prevailed on him to be shaved; and this\nemperor, who had courageously refused to hold the stirrup to pope Adrian\nIV. to kiss his feet, and lead his Spanish genet by the bridle, had not\nthe resolution to withstand the priests on this occasion.\n\nWhen the clergy had succeeded to shave the principal princes of Europe,\nthey might justly expect to see a great many imitators among the rest of\nthe people. Far better than violence, the example would have triumphed\nover the remaining beards; but the priests of those days of ignorance\nwere strangers to all moderate means.\n\nGodfrey, bishop of Amiens, saying mass Christmas-day, 1105, formed the\ndesign of unmercifully stripping all the bearded chins; those, who came\nto the offering with long beards, were turned back. Frighted at this\ncruel refusal, most of the men were eager to cut off the hair of their\nchins, hastily laying hold of scissars, and even knives, in order to be\nable to present themselves immediately before their bishop with a better\ngrace.[69]\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n  See _le Mercure de France_ for January, 1732.\n\nNever was reason the motive of such indecencies. It seems as if truth\nhad revenged itself on these silly, superstitious times at the expense\nof decorum.\n\nEnvy, under the imposing cloak of religion, had just scattered its\nvenom; vengeance had its fill; every chin was shaved, and the Church\nenjoyed its triumph. Time moderates all things, even the anger of\nvotaries; they forgot that beards had been anathematized: the successors\nof those very popes, who had looked upon a bearded priest as guilty of a\nshameful sin, were in a little time no longer afraid to sin themselves,\nand publicly appeared with long beards. Such were Henry III. Alexander\nIV. Adrian V. John XX. Nicholas III. &c. &c.\n\nThis calm was enjoyed but a short time, before a new storm arose against\nsacerdotal beards, stirred up by envy and ignorance, to destroy the work\nof peace and reason. The vicissitude of human things respects nothing.\nLewis V. in Germany, Peter the Cruel in Spain, and Philip of Valois in\nFrance, had let out their beards, and the mode gained ground throughout\nEurope. Priests are not blessed with a character that shelters them from\nthe influence of fashion; several were slaves to that which brought\nbeards again in vogue. The popes themselves did not disdain it, though a\nnumber of provincial councils stood up against the new bearded chins: in\n1323, clergymen, by a synodal statute of the church of Orleans, were\nforbidden to wear long beards, under pain of excommunication. Meanwhile,\naccording to the quality and condition of the persons,[70] other synodal\nstatutes of the church of Beziers ordered the priests of the diocese to\ncut off their beards and hair of their heads, except just the crown, in\norder that they might apply themselves with more diligence to their\nstudies and functions.[71] A provincial council of Paris, and another of\nSens, ordered the same; a council of the same town of Beziers, under\narchbishop Peter Narbonne, in 1351, canon xi. forbids wearing long\nbeards; and as a punishment for such temerity, it is there said: We\ncondemn the offender, if a canon, to be deprived of his daily\ndistribution, and if an incumbent, to pay twelve deniers for the use of\nthe church.[72] The custom of wearing beards was condemned likewise by a\nsynodal statute of the church of St. Malo, in 1370, and all sacerdotal\nbeards were shorn off.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n  _Statuta synodalia ecclesi\u00e6 Aurelianensis, anno 1323. Amplissima\n  Collectio veterum Scriptorum, &c._ vol. i. by Martenne and Durand.\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n  _Statuta synodali ecclesi\u00e6 Bitteris_, 1332. Th\u00e6forus Anecd.\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n  _Alioquin, canonicum privatum distributionibus illius diei esse\n  volumus, & Beneficiatum puniri p\u00e6na duodecimorum denariorum pro tali\n  usu temerario statuimus & mandamus Fabric\u00e6 illius ecclesi\u00e6\n  applicandorum._ Th\u00e6sorus Anecdotorum.\n\nThe beards of the laity, it seems, were spared in this general\nproscription. The time, no doubt, when the priests could take the\nliberty of cutting off the beards of both people and kings with\nimpunity, began to decline.\n\nThe monks had, a long time before, settled rules for the government of\ntheir chins: in 807, at the assembly of Aix-la-chapelle, it was ordered,\nthat the monks should not shave themselves at all during lent, and that\nthe rest of the year, they should do it once a fortnight. We see in the\nstatutes and customs of different monasteries, that the monks were\nshaved, except the lay-brothers, who were called _Fratres barbati_,\nbearded brothers.[73] We find in old manuscripts the very prayers that\nwere recited when a monk in full orders had his beard shorn. Humility\nwas the motive of this custom, which was practised with much ceremony.\nAt the taking of the habit, the beard of the candidate was blessed with\ngreat ceremony; and when he was made a monk, he dedicated his beard to\nGod. This ceremony was practised likewise by the Heathens. See page 16\nof this work.\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n  Marbillon\u2019s _Annales Benedictines, lib._ 71.\n\nThis new storm was succeeded by another calm, and long beards seemed\nlikely to have a fine time; and truly they appeared again in all their\nancient majesty. Julius II. gave the signal, and was followed by all\nEurope. This pope, by his venerable look, recalled the image of the\npatriarchs of old. The cardinals, and all the Church, were eager to\nfollow an example so commendable. The age was more enlightened: the\nancient disputes were either forgotten, or only thought of to lament the\ninjustice of their cause. The orthodoxy of beards was acknowledged, and\ntruth shined in all its brightness; but gloomy envy at length came to\nobscure its splendour: some exclaimed that it was a piece of pride,\nothers a scandal; and quarrels that should have been buried for ever in\noblivion were again renewed. Jealousy, under a holy pretext, raised\nitself with more daringness than ever, and occasioned violent\nanimosities. What writings appeared! what outrages and phrenzy!...\n_Bella horrida, bella ... cerno...._ But let us not entrench upon such\nprecious matters: let us rather endeavour, with the same impartiality,\nto discover the origin of so many disturbances.\n\nBessarion, the famous Greek, first, archbishop of Nice, afterwards,\ncardinal, and, at length, patriarch of Constantinople, came into Italy\nwith the archbishop of Russia, to endeavour to bring about an union\nbetween the Greek and Latin churches. Bessarion made no difficulty of\nsubscribing to the orthodoxy of the latter; and this was what got him a\ncardinal\u2019s hat: his long beard, and that of his companion, accustomed\nthe court of Rome to this mode. Bessarion was one of the stoutest men of\nhis time; every one longed to look like this illustrious man, were it\nonly in the fleece on his chin; and his fine Grecian beard soon produced\na number of Latin ones.[74]\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n  This cardinal\u2019s beard was not so well received in France. This great\n  man being sent thither as legate, visited, through policy, the duke of\n  Burgundy before he saw king Lewis XI. This monarch was so offended at\n  the preference given his enemy, that, at the first audience he gave\n  this legate, he roughly seized him by his long beard, and gave him a\n  great deal of abuse. The patriarch took this affront so near to heart,\n  that he did not survive it above a year.\n\nSome years after, Julius II. was elected pope; his youth, which suited\nbut badly with the majesty of the papacy, determined him to let his\nbeard grow out, in order to inspire more respect: he was the first pope\nof his time who gave the Church such a holy and rational example.\nClement VII. one of his successors, did not imitate him at first; but\nhaving been detained five months in prison by the troops of Charles of\nBourbon, the general of the emperor\u2019s army, he came out as if\nregenerated and triumphant, with his face enobled with a large, bushy\nbeard, which he would never part with. This custom was eagerly adopted\nby those clergy, who, by their revenues or exploits, held a\ndistinguished rank in the Church or State. It was then that the inferior\nclergy, and especially the chapters, strongly opposed this pretended\nindecorum. We read, that, in the reign of Lewis XII. one Anthony de\nLangheac, canon of the church of Paris, abbot and canon of that of\nClermont, counsellor-clerk to the parliament, and ambassador to the\nrepublic of Venice, could not enter the choir of the church of Our Lady\nat Paris with his long beard. On account of the commission with which\nthe king had honoured him, he at length obtained permission to hear\nmatins, which were then said at midnight.[75] In a little time, they\nwere not so scrupulous, as all the clergy let out their beards, even the\nlowest among them, in order to give themselves a pontifical\nappearance;[76] when, in France, Francis I. (who might justly boast of\nhaving worn the first beard of his kingdom,) for \u0153conomical reasons,\narmed the enemies of clerical beards with destructive weapons, and was\nthe occasion of the war which we are going to speak of.\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n  These particulars are inserted in the register of the capitular\n  resolutions of the year 1505, which may be seen in the archives of the\n  metropolitical church of Paris.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n  _Beroald de Verville_, in his _Moyen de parvenir_, accounts for the\n  promptitude with which the priests imitated the popes. \u201cI will tell\n  you a remark; when the pope has a large beard, the priests will have\n  the same; if he have a shaved chin, they will likewise, because they\n  all aim at the papacy.\u201d _Moyen de Parvenir, chap. tom._\n\nThis king, in order to get money from the clergy of his kingdom, says\ndoctor Zuinger, a contemporary, obtained a brief from the pope, which\nordered all the French clergy to get themselves shaved, or else to pay a\ncertain sum to have permission to wear their beard.[77] A contribution\nfrom such a body might be of great service in a time of scarcity.\nFrancis I. experienced it; for all the tufted prelates, court\necclesiastics, incumbents, and expectant clergymen, paid the money, and\nretained their beards; but all the canons of small revenue, village\ncurates, and poor rectors, freed themselves from the impost by getting\nthemselves shaved, and this was the source of the troubles which\ndisquieted the reign of Henry II. The difference of the chins of the\nclergy of the same kingdom caused that dark, intestine war which owed\nits rise solely to jealousy.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n  _Theatrum vit\u00e6 human\u00e6 Theodori Zuingeri, lib._ 2.\n\nNow is the time to mention the discussions which, on account of a beard\naffair, began to trouble the ancient capital of the world. Some\nseditious, jealous beings secretly fomented their ruin; the alarm\nincreased; and beards were in the utmost danger, when Pierrius\nValerianus undertook their defence. This man, one of the most learned\nand most bearded of his time discussed, in a most able manner, the cause\nhe undertook; his book, intitled _pro Sacerdotum Barbis_, is dedicated\nto cardinal Medicis. A just reasoning and a strength of elocution are\nthe great qualities of his discourse; we can perceive that the author\nwas impressed with his subject; he quotes a number of authorities, both\nsacred and profane, which concur to the triumph of his cause. He\ncomplains that the respect due to the ministers of God is already but\ntoo much diminished, without endeavouring to destroy it by a debasing\ncustom; and adds, that Jesus never made any law that tended to alter the\nLevitican ones, which we have cited; and that the son of God himself,\nhaving given the example of this discipline, all Christians ought to\nfollow it. \u201cWhat a piece of folly it is,\u201d cries he, \u201cto pretend that the\nbeard, which was given by God, should be unworthy of his creatures.\u201d He\ndemonstrates, that the canon of the council of Carthage, which forbids\nclergymen to let out their beards, has been absolutely mutilated: he\ncalls to his aid the opinion of all the great men of his time, and\nseveral ancient manuscripts, among others, that which is in the elector\npalatine\u2019s library.[78]\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n  \u201cWho,\u201d says he, \u201cwill dare maintain, that the beard is not the\n  ornament of man, the symbol of probity and justice; that it does not\n  give him a grave, stern look; I mean to speak of those who are\n  determined by reason rather than opinion? If it be admitted then that\n  the beard is the ornament of an honest, just man, why should it not be\n  the most decent ornament for a priest, who ought to be an example of\n  virtue.\u201d _Apologia Joannis Pierii Valeriani belumen._ I have seen\n  three editions of this work.\n\nLet us now examine whether this canon of the council of Carthage, on\nwhich the antibearded gentry found their anathemas, deserves any\nconfidence. According to them, these are the words of the canon of that\ncouncil: _Clericus nec comam nutriat nec barbam_; and these, according\nto the sticklers for beards: _Clericus nec comam nutriat, nec barbam\nradat._ The former forbids to wear long beards; the latter orders it. So\nthe whole depends on the adding or suppressing of the word _radat_.\n\nIt seems at first, in favour of bearded chins, that the termination of\nthe phrase, _nec barbam_, should point out the suppression of a verb,\nsuch as _radat_; and indeed it would have been much more simple, and\nmore regular, in the same sense, to write, _Clericus nec comam nec\nbarbam nutriat_.\n\nThis objection, which begins to throw light on the wiles of the enemies\nof beards, would be but weak, were it not confirmed by a number of\ntriumphant proofs, and especially by the opinion of the most celebrated\nand most laborious commentators, such as fathers Labbe and Hardouin, &c.\nSavaron, in his commentary on the epistles of St. Sidoin Apollinarius,\nwarmly maintains, that the word _radat_ has been suppressed from the\n44th canon of this council of Carthage, and that the custom of wearing\nlong beards was there precisely ordered. Father Sirmond, who published\nsome time after a commentary on the same epistles, is of the same\nopinion as Savaron with respect to the suppression of this word _radat_.\nCharles Dumoulin, in his notes to the 5th chapter of the 1st record of\nthe 3d book of the Decretals, assures us that the text of this canon has\nbeen mutilated, and that we ought to read _nec barbam radat_.\n\nLet us see on what authority the opinion of these learned men is\nfounded. The greatest part of the manuscripts of the councils have the\nword _radat_. Pierrius Valerianus, in his book _pro Sacerdotum Barbis_,\nquotes several, and those are the least suspected. Father Labbe has\nadded a note to the canon in question, in which he numbers the\nmanuscripts wherein the word _radat_ is found. Father Hardouin assures\nus that this important _radat_ exists in the most authentic manuscripts,\nsuch as those in the libraries of Corbie, Giblou, Barberin, Paris, &c.\n\nFrom these modern proofs, let us pass to those which antiquity or the\ncontemporaries of this council ought to furnish us with. St. Sidoin\nApollinarius says very clearly, speaking of the time of this council of\nCarthage: _Tum coma brevis & barba prolixa; At that time people wore\nshort hair and long beards._ Tertullian says a great deal about this\nsame council; he maintains that the word _radat_ has been suppressed in\nthe 44th canon; he cries out upon the licentiousness of his age, too\nfertile in like impositions, and says, in plain terms! _Corrigendum est\nreponendumque, juxta fidem veterum exemplarium, Clericus nec comam\nnutriat, nec barbam radat. This canon ought to be corrected, and,\nconformably to the fidelity of the old copies, it should be written,\nthat no clergyman should wear his hair, or shave his beard._[79] We see\nwhat a distance our short cloke clergy keep from this edifying\nregulation.\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n  It may not be amiss perhaps to correct a chronological error that is\n  in the epochs of this council of Carthage and the life of Tertullian.\n  All the commentators and chroniclers place this council in the year\n  398, and the death of this learned man about the year 220 of our \u00e6ra.\n  According to them, he should have lived about a century and half\n  before this council. After that, one is greatly surprised to find, in\n  the works of this same Tertullian, his observations on this council of\n  Carthage, and still more so, to find him speak of it as an epoch much\n  earlier than that in which he was writing; for, when he condemns the\n  supression of the word _radat_, he says it ought to be restored\n  conformably to the fidelity of the old copies, _juxta fidem veterum\n  exemplarium, &c._ The anachronism is more than two centuries.\n\nSaint Epiphanius lived in the time of this council of Carthage: this was\na very learned Saint. Let us see in his writings if the fathers of those\ndays proclaim the proscription of long beards. With respect to the\nheretic Massalians he speaks thus. \u201cIs there any thing more contrary to\ngood morals than their customs? They cut off their beards, the mark of\nmanhood, and wear very long hair. Nevertheless, the sacred expressions\nof the constitutions of the apostles dogmatically prescribe the rules\nthat are to be observed with respect to the beard: it is forbidden to\ncut off any part of it, for fear lest men should at length get\nthemselves quite shaved, and lay hold of the effeminate manners and\nluxury of abandoned rakes.\u201d[80]\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n  _Sed deterius quiddam, ac contrarium ab illis geritur: siquidem isti\n  barbam, hoc est, propriam viri formam, resecant; capillos vero, ut\n  plurimum, prolixiores habent. Atqui quod ad barbam attinet in\n  Apostolorum constitutionbus divino sermone, \u00e0 degmate pr\u00e6scribitur, ne\n  ea corrumpatur: hoc est, ne barba ponatur neve meretricius cultus &\n  ornatus usurpetur, &c._ St. Epiphanius against the heretic Massalians,\n  sect. viii.\n\nThese reproaches, very conclusive in favour of the partisans of long\nbeards, will be much more so, and silence the adversaries of that mark\nof manhood, if it be observed, that this same council of Carthage\ncondemns as heretics those same Massalians whose shaved chins St.\nEpiphanius represents to be a crime. Is it likely that the Massalians\nshould be condemned as heretics, and that at the same time the orthodox\nclergy should be required to imitate them, and follow a custom that is\nlooked upon as the most scandalous of debauchery; such a law would be\nthe height of inconsequence. It is much more reasonable to suppose,\nthat, instead of the priests\u2019 being ordered to have their chins shaved,\nthey were forbidden to do it, that they might not look like the heretic\nMassalians. Besides, what could be opposed to the council of Barcelona,\nwhich was held some time after that of Carthage, a council that has\nnever experienced any contradiction, and in which shaving the beard is\nagain forbidden? We read in the third canon, _Ut nullus Clericorum comam\nnutriat aut barbam radat. Let no clergyman keep up his hair or shave his\nbeard._\n\nWe have demonstrated then the fraud of the antibearded priests, and\nproved that the word _radat_ has been suppressed in the 44th canon.\nClergymen therefore, by this council of Carthage, at which two hundred\nand fourteen bishops attended, are forbidden to cut off their beards,\nand the general opinion of the primitive church, on this point, is\nestablished.\n\nIf we did not know, that private interests can persuade men to\ncontradict the best founded maxims, we should be greatly surprised no\ndoubt to find learned men of distinction presume to write, that the\ngeneral opinion of the primitive Church condemned long beards. At the\nhead is cardinal Baronius (tom. i. ad. ann. 48). Let us refer the\nproselytes of this credulous writer of legends to _le Mercure_ for April\n1765; they will there find that a learned Jesuit, father Oudin in his\ninquiries concerning beards, proves, that this cardinal was a bad man,\nor that he would not read his St. Epiphanius.\n\nThe ordinances of the provincial synods and councils which have made use\nof this council of Carthage to justify their forbidding the clergy to\nwear long beards, should therefore be void of course: the edifice falls\nof itself when the foundation is undermined.\n\nBut let us return to the defenders of beards of the sixteenth century:\nPierrius was not the only champion that appeared on this occasion.\nAdrian Junius, an ingenious physician, and distinguished for his\nlearning, in his commentary on the hair of the head, says a great deal\nabout clerical beards, with as much eloquence and more erudition than\nhis predecessor; he relates every thing that had not been advantageously\nsaid before on the subject, and is not afraid to take a review of the\nopinions and examples of all the ancients; he establishes, that even\nwhen there should be neither law, constitution, nor council which\nordered the priests to preserve their beards, they ought to do it,\nbecause it gives the wearer a grave, stern, respectable look, which\nbecomes the ministers of the altar, and that their thus changing the\nnature of God\u2019s work, in order to please mankind, is, for them, a very\ncriminal piece of luxury.[81]\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n  _De com\u00e2 Commentarium Adriani Junii Honani, Medici, cap. ii. de rasur\u00e2\n  capillorum pariter & barb\u00e6._\n\nThese works produced their effect: nevertheless pope Paul III. being\ndispleased with the severe tone of Pierrius and the sharp reproaches\nwhich he threw out against the manners of the clergy of the age, would\nnot seem to comply thereto; but without issuing a formal decree against\nbeards, as was talked of, he contented himself with commanding a\ncardinal briefly to order the priests to get themselves shaved.[82]\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n  Beroalde ridicules the shaved priests of those days. He says it was\n  ordered so, _in order that the regret which they have at not daring\n  nor being willing to partake of the pleasures of this world, may in no\n  wise appear; to which you may add that they ought to be merry_ (venite\n  exultemus), _and that theirs is a state of perpetual joy, which must\n  be made appear so, though it were not; and this is the reason why they\n  wear their chins shaved, because a man thus polished up about the\n  gills is always laughing ... from thence came this canon of the\n  council of Quarante_: THE PRIESTS SHALL SHAVE WITH HOG\u2019S SWARD, _in\n  order that they may always appear laughing, dainty-mouthed, airy, &c._\n  Moyen de parvenir, chap. _Allegation._\n\nThe major part paid but little attention to this ordinance; some, more\nscrupulous, obeyed, but not without repugnancy: there were a few of the\nlatter however, according to Gentian Hervet, who had reason to repent of\ntheir exactness: among others, he speaks of one Leonicus Thomeus, an old\nman of ninety, who was no sooner shaved, according to the decree of the\npontiff, than he was seized with such a confounded tooth-ach, that he\nwas obliged to solicit the pope\u2019s clemency. Cardinal Bembe sent him\nforthwith a permission to wear his beard a reasonable length.\n\nLet us now proceed to France, where the pope\u2019s brief, obtained by\nFrancis I. gave beginning to the envy which the shaved priests bore the\nbearded ones. Their jealousy had been brewing a long time, and only\nwaited, to show itself, for the death of that prince, whose orders\nseemed still to be respected. Their animosity, already too much\nincreased by this obstacle, broke out at length on the person of William\nDuprat, the son of the famous chancellor of that name: he was returning\nfrom the council of Trent, where his eloquence had made him conspicuous,\nand was going to take possession of the bishopric of Clermont, which he\nhad been given some time before. The reader should take along with him\nthat he had one of the finest beards in the kingdom. One Easter-day,\nwhen he came to his cathedral church to perform divine service, he found\nthe gates of the choir shut; three dignitaries of the chapter were\nwaiting for him at the entrance: one of them held a razor in his hand,\nthe other a pair of scissars, and the third the book of the ancient\nstatutes of that church, and pointing with his finger to these words;\n_barbis rasis_.\n\nAt the sight of this frightful preparation, the prelate clearly\nperceived that they aimed at his beard, the dearest object of his\nattention; two of these fatal enemies seemed to threaten it with the\ninstruments with which they were armed; and the third kept crying:\nReverend father in God, _barbis rasis_. The impatient dean had already\nlaid hold of this episcopal fleece, when our bearded bishop stopped him,\nand being a little recovered from his fright, he endeavoured to convince\nhim of the impropriety of working on such a great holy-day, and that it\nwas better to defer this operation \u2019till the next day; but the\ntemporizing prelate\u2019s eloquence made no impression on the minds of these\nintractable men; the unmerciful dean kept his hold: full of indignation\nat this mortifying insult, and terrified for the fate of his cherished\nbeard, William Duprat suddenly took to his heels, crying: _I save my\nbeard, and quit my bishopric_.[83] He immediately repaired to his\ncountry-house at Beauregard, three leagues from Clermont, and swore he\nwould never more live in that capital.\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n  William Major, a doctor of the Sorbone and canon of the church of\n  Clermont, in a work intituled _defence de feu M. Savaron, &c._\n  maintains, against abbot Faydit, that this anecdote is a story of his\n  invention. In order to free his old brethren from the imputation of\n  having designed to shear their bishop, in the warmth of his zeal, he\n  breaks out into invectives against his adversary; but he proves it\n  least, in his long refutation, that the canons saw with grief a long\n  beard on the chin of their bishop, and that when the latter wished to\n  be present at some synod, he was obliged to ask permission of his\n  chapter to come without being shaved. He quotes several resolutions of\n  the chapter, by which he was granted this permission.\n\nIt was in this place of retirement, that, being violently moved at the\naffront which his beard had received, he fell ill, and died of\ngrief.[84]\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n  See the 8th vol. of the _Causes c\u00e9l\u00e9bres, a canon refused for being\n  too little_.\n\nThese fatal news made all the bearded clergy tremble. The standard of\nthe revolt was set up, and the destruction of all clerical beards\ndetermined on; but Henry II. always took their part. Every new bishop\nput his beard under this king\u2019s protection. The letter which he was\nobliged to write, the 27th December, 1551, to the clergy of the city of\nTroyes, who refused Anthony Caraciole for bishop on account of his long\nbeard, is a proof of the interest he took in the beards of the clergy of\nhis kingdom; \u201cDear and well beloved, it is said, but which we doubt,\nthat you make a difficulty of receiving into your church our well\nbeloved and trusty cousin Anthony Caraciole, your bishop, without his\nbeing shaved first, in consequence of some statutes which you have been\nused to observe in such cases: therefore, we have thought fit to write\nyou these presents to request you will not stand upon this matter, but,\nto oblige us, excuse his compliance, as we mean to send him for a short\ntime to some place out of the kingdom on business that concerns us,\nwhere we would not have him go without his said beard. Assuring\nourselves that you will do so, we shall say no more, but that, by\ncomplying with our request, you will greatly oblige us, and may God\ncontinue his protection towards you. Given at Fontainbleau, &c.\u201d[85]\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n  This letter is taken _de veterum Scriptorum & amplissima collectio_,\n  vol. i. by Martenne and Durand.\n\nThe pacific tone which Henry II. made use of had but little effect on\nthe inferior clergy; the war was too much kindled; every day produced\nnew scenes and new attacks by the mutineers, and new attempts by the\nking to quiet them. The canons of Mans refused to receive cardinal\nAngennes for their bishop, on account of his long beard. The cardinal\nwrote to them to prepossess them in his favour, and the king wrote to\nthem likewise to calm them, but they would listen to nothing, and the\nprince was obliged to send an absolute order to the chapter of Mans,\nrequiring them to receive the said bishop without insisting on his being\nshaved. Some years after, the canons of Orleans made a difficulty of\nreceiving Morvillier for their bishop: the king was again obliged to\nwrite to the canons, to desire them to receive him with his beard. The\ncanons of Amiens likewise refused their bishop, and he was obliged to\nhave a famous law-suit with them to sustain the cause of his long beard.\n\nAbout the same time, there was the greatest difficulty to get Peter\nLescot de Clagny received canon of Our Lady at Paris with his long\nbeard: he had need to join to his personal merit the qualities of\ncounsellor to the court, almoner to the king, &c.\n\nSoon after, the Sorbone gravely decided, that a long beard was contrary\nto sacerdotal modesty.[86] At the same time the clergy, by an edict of\nthe parliament of Toulouse, were forbidden to wear their beards.[87] But\npersecution strengthens what it is eager to destroy: the beards\ntriumphed in their turn; people even went so far as to give them a more\nagreeable form; they wore them frizzled, as appears by the order of the\nclergy of Burgundy against frizzled beards. Anthony Hotman wrote at that\ntime his _Pogonias_, or dialogue on heads of hair and beards; he\nconcludes with the elogy of the latter. In 1576 there was a poem in\nquatrains printed, intitled: _Eloges des barbes rousses_. In 1539, there\nwas a book published, intitled _la Pogonologie_, by R. D. P. printed at\nRennes, in 8vo. and Gentian Hervet wrote three essays on beards. We see,\nby these different writings, that, in those days, people were more taken\nup with their beards, than now.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n  The 1st of July 1561, this celebrated assembly ordered all the members\n  of their university, doctors, bachelors, &c. to wear their beards\n  shaved, &c. _Non deferant barbas & veniant tonsi._\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n  The author of a book intituled Pogonologia, says on this occasion,\n  that those, who wished to take advantage of the equivocation in this\n  edict of the French verb _porter_ (which signifies to _carry_ as well\n  as to _wear_) had their beards _carried_ by their servants.\n\nAs the best things have their traducers, the beard met with one in this\nGentian Hervet, a learned Orleanese. He wrote a Latin discourse against\nbeards; but in a little time, being staggered by the forcible reasons of\nhis adversaries, he wrote a second, in which he advanced, that it was\nindifferent whether a priest wore his beard or not; in short, carried\naway by the force of truth, he at length wrote a third, in which he ably\nmaintains that a priest absolutely ought to have a long beard on his\nchin.[88]\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n  The first of these discourses is intitled, _de radend\u00e2 barb\u00e2 Oratio_;\n  the second, _de vel alend\u00e2 vel radend\u00e2 barb\u00e2_; and the third, _de\n  alend\u00e2 barb\u00e2_.\n\nNotwithstanding its success, its numerous apologists, and powerful\npartisans, the beard had still enemies; the provinces especially were\nthe theatre of secret cabals, where, far from the court and the bearded\npowers, plots of vengeance were easily contrived, and their effects\noften broke out in provincial councils; and most of these councils,\nactuated by contrary sentiments, contradicted each other in their\ndecisions.\n\nTwo provincial councils, held at Narbonne the same year, 1551, ordered\nall the priests of the diocese to shave themselves at least once a\nmonth; another council, held at Rheims in 1583, only recommended the\nhair of the upper lip to be cut off, in order to be able to receive the\ncommunion without any obstacle. A council of Bagneres, of the same year,\ngives the same orders. A council of Rouen, in 1581, orders the priests\nto shave off their beards entirely, which it is looked upon (says the\ncouncil) as debasing for a minister of the altar to wear. A council of\nMalines, in 1579, absolutely condemns the custom of wearing beards,\nwhilst another council, held in the same town, eight years after,\ndeclares nearly the contrary, ordering only a little of the hair of the\nupper lip to be cut away.[89] All that one can conclude from all these\nprovincial councils is, that the rage of party was gotten into the very\nsanctuary of truth to propagate disorder and irresolution.\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n  See, for all these provincial councils, _Acta Conciliorum_ of father\n  Hardouin.\n\nAll these ephemeral ordinances had no other effect than to prolong the\nreign of the beards of priests; they still flourished on their chins,\nwhen the laity no longer wore them. Fashion brought about, in a short\ntime, what all these redoubled efforts had been unable to effect during\nmore than a century. The popes retained their beards a good while, and\nthe first, who appeared entirely shaved, was Clement XI. who lived at\nthe beginning of this century. Most of the clergy left it off\ninsensibly.\n\nThe Augustins, who still wore their beards, were ashamed of not being in\nthe fashion as usual; they sent the famous father Eustace, of the Petty\nAugustins of Paris, to Rome, to obtain leave to shave their chins. They\nsay, this father Eustace made use of great address on the occasion.\n\nThere were however some true believers, faithful observers of the\nLevitican law and the precepts of the primitive church, people on whom\nfashion has no influence, who courageously preserved their beards \u2019till\ntowards the middle of the reign of Lewis XIV. A very respectable rector\nwas one of them: when the bishop visited his diocese, he appeared with a\nvenerable beard on his chin. The prelate exclaimed greatly against his\nthus making himself look like a patriarch, whilst he, his bishop and\nlord, was shaved; and he formally ordered him to get rid of his long\nbeard. In vain did the poor rector cite the example of the pope then\nliving, that of St. Francis of Sales, &c.; the bishop was inexorable,\nand the rector did not think fit to obey. Irritated at his obstinacy,\nthe prelate sent him a writ to banish him from his living. By a singular\npiece of inattention, the place of banishment was left blank; the rector\nfilled it up with _Versailles_, and immediately repaired to the\nresidence of the kings of France. He affected to throw himself\ncontinually in the way of Lewis XIV.: his long beard was at length\nremarked by the king, who had him called, and asked him what was his\nbusiness at court, and why he had such an extraordinary beard. The\nparson related his adventure to his majesty, who as pleased with it so\nmuch, that he sent back this grave pastor to his flock, and highly\nblamed the bishop for such a ridiculous whim.[90]\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n  See the 8th vol. of _Causes C\u00e9l\u00e9bres, a canon refused for being too\n  little_. This adventure furnished matter for a little burlesque poem,\n  intitled _l\u2019Exil\u00e9 \u00e0 Versailles_.\n\nSince this, beards have entirely disappeared, and have only been let\ngrow out on the chins of the Capuchins; and religious jealousy has\npursued them even to this last retrenchment: how many clamours have they\nnot caused among the other monks! and what a number of libels and\npolemical productions have they had to endure![91] Such are the books\nintitled _le Rasibus_ or _le proc\u00e9s fait \u00e0 la barbe des Capucins_;[92]\n_la Guerre seraphique, ou Histoire des p\u00e9rils qu\u2019a courus la barbe des\nCapucins par les violentes attaques des Cordeliers_;[93] _les Capucins\nsans barbe_, &c. all works of envy or vengeance, which I shall be\ncareful how I mention on account of my great dislike to satire. Not\nsatisfied with writing, the enemies of the Capuchins\u2019 beards have\nemployed the most violent and most unwarrantable means. The fatal\ncatastrophe which happened, in 1761, to the Capuchins of the town of\nAscoli, in the limits of Ancona, proves how much monkish vengeance is\ncruel: we read as follows in the Utrecht Gazette of that time. \u201cOur\nreverend fathers, the Capuchins, have no longer any beards. One of their\nlay brethren, a cook in the monastery, having put a good dose of opium\nin their meat, unbearded all of them whilst they were asleep, and then\nforsook the order. The Capuchins are so ashamed of this droll adventure,\nthat they no longer dare appear abroad.\u201d[94] Is it not clear to every\nbody that base jealousy was what prompted this wicked brother to commit\nthis deed? And is it not easy to discern the vengeance of an Italian\nmonk in this attack on so many respectable beards? After so many\noutrages, how is it possible that bearded chins can any longer stand\ntheir ground? Without the express order to wear long beards, which is in\nthe _Bullarium_ of the brethren of that order, they would long ere this\nhave abandoned the sad remains of the ancient majesty of the\npatriarchs.[95] They little thought formerly, that their long beards,\nwhich they looked upon as a respectable ornament, would one day become\nan object of public contempt; or that it would make part of their\noutward humility, which they formerly made consist solely in the colour\nand price of their clothes; but time perverts every thing.[96]\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n  Several communities of Capuchins have been reproached with having\n  concealed their beards on certain occasions. It is said, that those of\n  Monpellier, about the beginning of Feb. 1731, played, in the great\n  dining-hall of the monastery, the tragedy of POLIEUCPE, and danced\n  between the acts, to celebrate the arrival of the provincial; and\n  that, in order to play the women\u2019s parts, they put their beards in a\n  parchment thing made like a chin-cloth, painted flesh colour. The\n  Capuchins of the great monastery at Lyons, in 1757, likewise acted a\n  play before their friends and their brethren of the second monastery;\n  they played three days running _les Fourberies de Scapin_: the\n  reverend father, who played the part of Scapin, did it great justice.\n  They add, that one of these reverend gentlemen danced a Harlequin\n  dance with much grace and suppleness, and that, to remedy the\n  inconvenience of long beards, they put them in pink taffety bags. The\n  Capuchins at Grenoble and Vienne likewise acted a play, and covered\n  their beards in the same manner. We relate these anecdotes, which were\n  formerly printed by the enemies of the Capuchins, to show, that every\n  opportunity has been taken to attack the beards of that religions\n  order. These friars, at present, have no occasion to be afraid of\n  similar reproaches; they act no plays, neither do they conceal their\n  beards, and they make themselves equally respected by the gravity of\n  their appearance and the extent of their learning.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n  This is a small dialogue printed at Cologn in 1718, in 12mo.\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n  A scarce and curious work, but badly written, on the establishment of\n  the Capuchins, printed at the Hague, in 1740, in 12mo.\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n  See the Utrecht Gazette of Friday 26th June, 1761; this adventure\n  furnished the subject of a work intitled _Les Capucins, sans barbe_.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n  _Ac tam illi, quam vos barbam deferre._ \u00a7. vii, Bullarium Ordinis\n  Fratrorum Minorum S. P. Francisci Capucinorum, tom i.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n  _Quod vestimentorum vilitas attendatur in pretio pariter & colore._\n  Bullarium _idem_, tom. i.\n\nWhilst several sovereigns are taken up with the destruction of\nmonasteries or the lessening of the number of monks, the Portuguese\nminister has just distinguished himself, not by destroying, but\nrendering them more respectable, by taking them from worldly practices,\nand restoring them all their ancient gravity: it was ordered, in 1784,\nthat all the monks, of every order without distinction, should let their\nbeards grow out entirely.[97]\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n  See _le Mercure de France, nouvelle politiques de Lisbon_, of the 29th\n  January, 1784.\n\nReason, the interest of religion (which particularly depends on the\nrespect its ministers inspire), an express law of the Divinity, the\nexample of the legislature of the Christians and most of the popes, a\nprecept of the constitutions of the apostles, the general opinion of the\nprimitive Church and of all the pontiffs, and the decision of two\ncouncils, are the grounds on which the obligation, which the Christian\nclergy are under of wearing long beards, is supported. What is there to\noppose against so many respectable authorities? The fashion? A heathen\nemperor opposed, to those who reproached him with not shaving his chin,\nthe austerity of his manners, and replied: _I won\u2019t cast sheep\u2019s eyes\naround me, embellish my phyz by making my mind hideous, and, in order to\nbecome agreeable, cease to be a philosopher. Besides: fortunately, I\nneither like to give nor receive kisses._[98]\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n  The _Mysopogon_ of the emperor Julian.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                CHAP. X.\n\n                   _Of the PEOPLE that WEAR BEARDS._\n\n\nTHE Capuchins, Carthusians, all the Portuguese monks, the Russian clergy\nand peasants, all the priests of the Greek Church, the German Jews, and\nthe Anabaptists, are the only ones that wear beards in Europe.\n\nMost of the inhabitants of Asia wear whiskers or beards more or less\nlong according to their age.\n\nAll the followers of the law of Mahomet wear whiskers \u2019till they are\nforty, when they let their beards grow out, and preserve them afterwards\nall their lives.[99]\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n  It is in Turkey, where the dignity of a long beard is of the first\n  importance.\n\nAll the north part of Africa is inhabited by bearded people.\n\nNature has denied a beard to the different nations of blacks who inhabit\nthe interior and but little known parts of that quarter of the world.\n\nIn most of the islands of the Pacific ocean, the men preserve their\nbeards, and some of them stain them different colours.\n\nThe author of _Recherches philosophiques sur les Am\u00e9ricains_, doctor\nRobertson in his _History of America_, and many other respectable\nwriters, maintain that all the original natives of America have\nabsolutely no hair on their chins; they except only the Esquimaux, (the\ninhabitants of North America,) who wear beards, and are unlike the\nnatives of the other parts.[100] However, captain Cook says, that the\nwant of beard in some of the American nations, proceeds less from a\ndefect of nature than their custom of plucking them out by the roots to\na greater or less degree: this he observed at Nootka, in his third\nvoyage round the world: all the old men he saw on the west coast of\nAmerica wore thick, bushy beards, but which were sleeked in the same\nmanner as their hair generally is.\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n  It has been proved, not long since, that the Esquimaux are descended\n  from a colony of Danes and Norwegians who came through Iceland, and\n  landed in this part of America, several centuries before Christopher\n  Columbus discovered it. This is supported by the history of the times\n  and by monuments of the arts and religion of the Europeans found in\n  that country. See _Histoire des decouvertes & de la navigation dans le\n  Nord_, by _J. R. Forster_. I have read a French manuscript by Mr. P.\n  D. L. C., in which the European origin of the Esquimaux is proved in\n  the most incontestable manner.\n\nIn the inner parts of America, Captain Carver met Savages with long\nbeards on their chins. The following is his answer to those who have\ndenied their having any. \u201cAfter the age of puberty, their bodies, in\ntheir natural state, are covered with hair in the same manner as those\nof the Europeans. The men, indeed, esteem a beard very unbecoming, and\ntake great pains to get rid of it, nor is there any ever to be perceived\non their faces, except when they grow old, and become inattentive to\ntheir appearance....\n\n\u201cThe Nawdowessies, and the remote nations pluck them out with bent\npieces of hard wood, formed into a kind of nippers; whilst those who\nhave communication with the Europeans procure from them wire, which they\ntwist into a screw or worm; applying this to the part, they press the\nrings together, and with a sudden twitch draw out all the hairs that are\nenclosed between them.\u201d[101] _Carver\u2019s Travels, page 225._\n\nThe mask of Montezuma\u2019s armour, (the last king of Mexico,) preserved at\nBrussels, and on which there are very long whiskers, seems to confirm\nthe observations of captains Cook and Carver: it is evident that the\nAmericans would not have imitated this ornament of man, if nature had\nnot presented them with the model.\n\nTherefore, the observations made by captain Cook on the west coast of\nAmerica, those of captain Carver in the inner part of the continent, and\nthe monument of the ancient customs of Mexico, which present us with\nMontezuma\u2019s whisker\u2019d mask, prove that the assertion of the historians\nagainst American beards is at least doubtful, is it is not destitute of\nfoundation.\n\nAccording to the observations of all travellers, it is certain that the\nmen who inhabit the temperate zones, and are most advantageously\nfavoured by nature, are likewise most bearded: it may likewise be\nremarked, that those, who bestow most attention to shaving, are the most\nsubject to petticoat government, and consequently the vainest.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n  The islanders of Sumatra pluck out their beards in the same manner.\n  (See Cook\u2019s third voyage, vol. iii.)\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. XI.\n\n                           _The CONCLUSION._\n\n\nWILL reason, and the constant desire of nature at length determine the\nmen of the present day to adopt the custom of long beards? I don\u2019t\nbelieve it. The power of working such a revolution is reserved for\nopinion and fashion. But there are men in society who ought to be\nindependent of these two wavering powers: these are those that govern\nthe people, and whom religion and the state have entrusted with their\ninterests and powers. These mediators between God and man, between the\nlaw and the citizen, who are not of the ordinary class, should be\ndistinguished from those that are so. Regularity of conduct is not their\nfirst duty; it is the art of giving themselves, by means of their dress,\nan air of wisdom and gravity: all the virtues which their state requires\nare not sufficient, they must likewise have the appearance. People see\nonly by their eyes; it is only physical objects that have the power of\ncaptivating their veneration or exciting their contempt. If a man, who\nwishes to gain the respect and confidence of the public, does not\nforsake the manners, customs, and fashions of the world, he will soon\nperceive the respect and confidence he enjoyed disappear. Not only the\nman, but the character with which he is invested, will lose its\nconsideration; he will be like the wooden king which Jupiter sent to the\nfrogs: his want of dignity drew on him the contempt and insults of his\naquatic people.\n\nOf all the exterior means that can attract the admiration of the people,\na long beard is beyond a doubt the most powerful, the only one that is\nnot sought after, the only natural one, and which cannot be reasonably\ntaxed with vanity or pride. Our forefathers always thought, that both\nreligion and morals were interested in the support of this ornament of\nman\u2019s face. And truly, what priests were ever more respected than those\nold white bearded ones of the ancient religions, especially the\npatriarchs of the Israelites? In the beginning of Christianity, what\nveneration did not the grave, stern faces of the fathers of the Church\ncommand? Where are these divine men? and where the respect due to the\nministers of God?\n\nIf the constant seeing of objects, which have the appearance of grandeur\nand majesty, stir up the soul and give it a spring; the sight of objects\nwhich have the appearance of weakness insensibly enervate and degrade\nit. The soul appears in the face: the man, who beholds in another, only\nthe picture of effeminacy, soon learns to withdraw his esteem from him,\nand to no longer respect him; pious veneration, sincere consideration,\nand cordial friendship, are replaced by politeness and decorum, which\nare only the gloss of interest and egotism; people no longer fulfill the\nduties of society, nor do good for their own satisfaction; and if men\u2019s\noutward, effeminate appearance is not the sole cause of all these evils,\nit greatly contributes towards them.\n\nIn the vast regions of the East, where long beards are highly esteemed,\nhospitality, filial piety, and fidelity in engagements are the premier\nvirtues: men respect one another there. Let us take a people whom the\nsame law subjects nearly to the same morals as ours, the Greek or Latin\nChristians who are under the Mahometan government: adultery, among them,\nis almost unknown, and yet the women are not confined; but they respect\ntheir husbands, and these husbands wear long beards.\n\nWhere is filial piety now-a-days? will the sad wrinkled faces of our old\nmen, which incite our disgust and contempt, prevail above the sweet\nmajesty of a long, white beard? Where is conjugal fidelity? was it ever\nless observed than at the time, and in the countries where men appear\nbefore a sex, that ought to be under their subjection, in an effeminate\ndress? How many are there, in this shameful age, the sad victims of this\ntruth!\n\nI repeat it; outward appearance is one of the great movers of a\nmonarchial state, especially among a superficial nation. Deprive\nsubjects of their popular notions of decorum, and of their customs, and\npeople in place of their ornaments, manner, plausibleness, and grave\nimposing appearance: you will destroy most of the social virtues; there\nwill be no more energy nor spirit in the people; all their mental\nfaculties will become languid, if you cease to feed their imaginations\nwith this aliment.\n\nAn extravagant turn of mind has produced many a hero; reason, by\nanalysing every thing, has discouraged and slackened the course of our\nactions, and luxury, &c. &c. have completed the work. But what a\ngeneration is ours!\n\nIn times of yore, Diogenes, with a lantern in his hand, went through all\nthe streets of Athens in broad day to seek a man: what could he find now\nin our great capital? breathing skeletons, women, children, horses, and\nthat multitude of wheel carriages, the incommodious use of which crushes\nsome to pieces and deprives others of the little strength they had left.\nWould he find men among these reverend gentry, whose toilet is their\nchief employment? Their chief merit is a mind fraught with borrowed\ntrifles. Look at this modern Chrysostom, powdered and close shaved,\nrepairing to an old coquet\u2019s, a girl\u2019s of the town, or the minister\u2019s.\nEvery where he repeats the same flattering phrases. With the one, an\nintriguer or base flatterer; with the other, an absolute libertine or a\nridiculous puppy, he becomes every where necessary animal; in short, a\ndownright plaything and piece of toilet furniture. Nothing gives this\ncharming fellow any uneasiness; he is any thing they will have him, and\nwill think just what they please: in a word, he performs the dapper\nparson admirably.\n\nWould our wise Athenian have found men among our Parisians? The children\nare men, and the men, old men, and they persist in fleeing from nature,\nwhich begins to be tired of pursuing them. By their weak, frivolous\nminds, and pale effeminate looks, one would take them for women in\ndisguise. Cloyed with all sorts of enjoyments, they know no other virtue\nthan the talent of being agreeable, nor other vice than its reverse.\n\nWould he at length find men in these delicate warriors who daily give\ntheir subalterns the example of effeminacy?\n\nBut do you, French soldiers, the precious remains of patriotism and\nnational valour, always preserve the outward appearance of it; be\nparticularly attentive to keep in your countenances this sign of valour,\nvigour, and intrepidity; retain those fierce looking whiskers which are\nthe attribute of heroes; and remember that they were the ornament of\nTurenne, Cond\u00e9, &c.\n\nIt would therefore be advantageous for those, who, by their situation or\ndignity, are intended to command others, to instruct them, or to merit\ntheir confidence, to let their beards grow out quite, whilst the soldier\nshould only wear whiskers, which give a man a martial, brisk look.\n\nShould the example of some great men, or some political event, at length\nrevive the mode of long beards, our delicateness and urbanity might\nagain be reconciled with the majesty of man. Would it not be possible\nfor people of good taste to give the beard an agreeable form, in the\nsame manner as was done some centuries ago? This attention, employing\nthose who take a great deal of pains about adorning their pretty\npersons, would divert them perhaps from a more dangerous luxury. Besides\nthe respect of one man to another, and of one sex to that which is its\nsuperior; this custom would produce another advantage. The resemblance\nof the two sexes seems to incline men to those shameful debaucheries\nwhich formerly soiled the glory of Greece and Rome, debaucheries that\none hardly dares mention, and which a more particular distinction\nbetween men and women would greatly contribute to destroy.\n\nIt can never be denied; a man should appear what nature made him: this\nis the opinion of an illustrious philosopher and profound moralist.[102]\nI cannot better conclude than with his own words. \u201cA perfect man and a\nperfect woman should no more be alike in mind than in face: these silly\nimitations of sex are the height of folly; they make the wise man laugh\nand the lover run away.... In short, I take it, that, unless one be five\nfeet six inches high, have a firm, tenor voice, and a beard on his chin,\nhe should not pretend to be a man.\u201d\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n  John James Rousseau.\n\n\n                               _THE END._\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n \u25cf Transcriber\u2019s Notes:\n    \u25cb The changes listed in the ERRATA have been applied to this book.\n    \u25cb Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Typographical errors were silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only\n      when a predominant form was found in this book.\n    \u25cb Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).","title":"Pogonologia; Or, A Philosophical and Historical Essay on Beards","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":30221}