Thomas S. Gowing

“ Every school-boy recollects the awe inspired to the invading Gauls when, on entering the Senate-house, they saw the conscript Fathers sitting calm and immovable as the gods, for which the Barbarians at first view took them, till one bolder than the rest plucked at the Beard of the noble Marcus Papirius, who by indignantly raising his staff, unconsciously gave the signal for the murder of himself, and his venerable compatriots. ”

“ During all the best ages of the Republic, while the old Roman virtue retained something of its original vigour, and before it had been sapped and undermined by the imported vices and effeminate customs of conquered nations, Rome's statesmen, heroes, priests and people all wore, and all reverenced, the virile glories of the Beard! ”

“ As might be expected from the inspired Lawgiver, whose sublime books start with the grand assertion, that man was made "in the express image of God," any attempt to alter the natural features of the "human face divine," was denounced and emphatically interdicted. Twice is the commandment issued-first to the whole people, "thou shalt not mar the corners of thy Beard," in other words, thou shalt not alter the form thereof, which I thy God have appointed! Then to the Priests, with the addition, that they should not make baldness upon their heads. ”

“ Having seen that the Beard is a natural feature of the male face, and that the Creator intended it for distinction, protection, and ornament, let us turn lightly over the pages of history and examine the estimation in which it has been held at various times among the leading people, ancient and modern.
The first nation which suggests itself is the Egyptian, and very peculiar forms of Beard were assigned by them on their monuments to their gods, kings, and common people. ”

“ There are many who, though told that certain diseases to which the more active of the clergy are specially liable, might be prevented and may be cured, by simply wearing the Beard, will still insist upon their ministers paying the penalty invariably attaching to a violation of God's laws, because their prejudices lead them to fancy a smooth face rather than a manly one. ”

“ Some have supposed the forms alluded to, to be mere symbols of the male sex on the monuments; but this notion is disproved by male persons being represented without them. That they were occasionally so used, however, is clear from the kingly Beard on that symbol of royalty the Sphynx.
The priests of this ancient nation are stated to have removed every hair from the body thrice a week; and they ultimately compelled the people to shave both their heads and faces; and all slaves and servants, though foreigners, were obliged to do the same. ”

“ Plutareh, after mentioning the bushy hair and Beard of the Spartan commander Lysander, says, "that Lycurgus was of opinion that abundance of hair and Beard made those who were fair, more so, and those who were ugly, more terrible to their enemies." Regarding shaving as a mark of slavish servitude, they compelled their chief magistrates to shave their upper lips during their term of office, to remind them that though administrators of the laws, they were still subject to them. ”

“ Even when disease or accident renders necessary the removal of the whole or part of the Beard, it is only at the last extremity that an Arab will yield; and then he lives secluded, or if obliged to go out, wears a thick black veil, until his chin can reappear "with all its pristine honours blushing thick upon it." ”

“ That in Mahomet's time, the Jews still held to their primitive custom, is evident from that lawgiver's command to his followers to clip the whiskers and Beard, in order to distinguish themselves from the Jews. Indeed the latter, in every way most remarkable people, have clung to the prescribed custom with all the force of religious feeling and firm conviction. ”

“ That this arose from some superstitious notion of cleanliness, is confirmed by the remark of Herodotus, "that no Egyptian of either sex, would on any account kiss the lips of a bearded Greek, or make use of his knife, spit, or caldron, or taste the meat of an animal which had been slaughtered by his hand."
In times of mourning, however, the Egyptians allowed the hair of the head and Beard to grow in token of grief. ”

“ And I possess an engraving from one of Raphael's Vatican Cartoons, where one soldier is represented in the act of cutting down another whom he has seized by the Beard. He must be a poor master of his weapon, however, who in modern times would allow a man to grasp his Beard without being hewn down or run through in the process. ↑ Besides shaving, the Romans as they progressed in luxurious effeminacy, used depilatories, tweezers and all sorts of contrivances to make themselves as little like men and as much like women as possible ”

“ The Assyrians and Babylonians, as we know from the researches and discoveries of Layard and others, wore highly ornamental Beards, in which they were followed by the ancient Persians, and the bands appearing on them were of gold.
Persians. Arabs, and Turks. ”