Francis I. gave beginning to the envy which the shaved priests bore the
bearded ones. Their jealousy had been brewing a long time, and only
waited, to show itself, for the death of that prince, whose orders
seemed still to be respected. Their animosity, already too much
increased by this obstacle, broke out at length on the person of William
Duprat, the son of the famous chancellor of that name: he was returning
from the council of Trent, where his eloquence had made him conspicuous,
and was going to take possession of the bishopric of Clermont, which he
had been given some time before. The reader should take along with him
that he had one of the finest beards in the kingdom. One Easter-day,
when he came to his cathedral church to perform divine service, he found
the gates of the choir shut; three dignitaries of the chapter were
waiting for him at the entrance: one of them held a razor in his hand,
the other a pair of scissars, and the third the book of the ancient
statutes of that church, and pointing with his finger to these words;
_barbis rasis_.
At the sight of this frightful preparation, the prelate clearly
perceived that they aimed at his beard, the dearest object of his
attention; two of these fatal enemies seemed to threaten it with the
instruments with which they were armed; and the third kept crying:
Reverend father in God, _barbis rasis_. The impatient dean had already
laid hold of this episcopal fleece, when our bearded bishop stopped him,
and being a little recovered from his fright, he endeavoured to convince
him of the impropriety of working on such a great holy-day, and that it
was better to defer this operation ’till the next day; but the
temporizing prelate’s eloquence made no impression on the minds of these
intractable men; the unmerciful dean kept his hold: full of indignation
at this mortifying insult, and terrified for the fate of his cherished
beard, William Duprat suddenly took to his heels, crying: _I save my
beard, and quit my bishopric_.[83] He immediately repaired to his
country-house at Beauregard, three leagues from Clermont, and swore he
would never more live in that capital.
Footnote 83:
William Major, a doctor of the Sorbone and canon of the church of
Clermont, in a work intituled _defence de feu M. Savaron, &c._
maintains, against abbot Faydit, that this anecdote is a story of his
invention. In order to free his old brethren from the imputation of
having designed to shear their bishop, in the warmth of his zeal, he
breaks out into invectives against his adversary; but he proves it
least, in his long refutation, that the canons saw with grief a long
beard on the chin of their bishop, and that when the latter wished to
be present at some synod, he was obliged to ask permission of his
chapter to come without being shaved. He quotes several resolutions of
the chapter, by which he was granted this permission.
It was in this place of retirement, that, being violently moved at the
affront which his beard had received, he fell ill, and died of
grief.[84]
Footnote 84:
See the 8th vol. of the _Causes célébres, a canon refused for being
too little_.
These fatal news made all the bearded clergy tremble. The standard of
the revolt was set up, and the destruction of all clerical beards
determined on; but Henry II. always took their part. Every new bishop
put his beard under this king’s protection. The letter which he was
obliged to write, the 27th December, 1551, to the clergy of the city of
Troyes, who refused Anthony Caraciole for bishop on account of his long
beard, is a proof of the interest he took in the beards of the clergy of
his kingdom; “Dear and well beloved, it is said, but which we doubt,
that you make a difficulty of receiving into your church our well
beloved and trusty cousin Anthony Caraciole, your bishop, without his
being shaved first, in consequence of some statutes which you have been
used to observe in such cases: therefore, we have thought fit to write
you these presents to request you will not stand upon this matter, but,
to oblige us, excuse his compliance, as we mean to send him for a short
time to some place out of the kingdom on business that concerns us,
where we would not have him go without his said beard. Assuring
ourselves that you will do so, we shall say no more, but that, by
complying with our request, you will greatly oblige us, and may God
continue his protection towards you. Given at Fontainbleau, &c.”[85]
Footnote 85:
This letter is taken _de veterum Scriptorum & amplissima collectio_,
vol. i. by Martenne and Durand.
The pacific tone which Henry II. made use of had but little effect on
the inferior clergy; the war was too much kindled; every day produced
new scenes and new attacks by the mutineers, and new attempts by the
king to quiet them. The canons of Mans refused to receive cardinal
Angennes for their bishop, on account of his long beard. The cardinal
wrote to them to prepossess them in his favour, and the king wrote to
them likewise to calm them, but they would listen to nothing, and the
prince was obliged to send an absolute order to the chapter of Mans,
requiring them to receive the said bishop without insisting on his being
shaved. Some years after, the canons of Orleans made a difficulty of
receiving Morvillier for their bishop: the king was again obliged to
write to the canons, to desire them to receive him with his beard. The
canons of Amiens likewise refused their bishop, and he was obliged to
have a famous law-suit with them to sustain the cause of his long beard.
About the same time, there was the greatest difficulty to get Peter
Lescot de Clagny received canon of Our Lady at Paris with his long
beard: he had need to join to his personal merit the qualities of
counsellor to the court, almoner to the king, &c.
Soon after, the Sorbone gravely decided, that a long beard was contrary
to sacerdotal modesty.[86] At the same time the clergy, by an edict of
the parliament of Toulouse, were forbidden to wear their beards.[87] But
persecution strengthens what it is eager to destroy: the beards
triumphed in their turn; people even went so far as to give them a more
agreeable form; they wore them frizzled, as appears by the order of the
clergy of Burgundy against frizzled beards. Anthony Hotman wrote at that
time his _Pogonias_, or dialogue on heads of hair and beards; he
concludes with the elogy of the latter. In 1576 there was a poem in
quatrains printed, intitled: _Eloges des barbes rousses_. In 1539, there
was a book published, intitled _la Pogonologie_, by R. D. P. printed at
Rennes, in 8vo. and Gentian Hervet wrote three essays on beards. We see,
by these different writings, that, in those days, people were more taken
up with their beards, than now.
Footnote 86:
The 1st of July 1561, this celebrated assembly ordered all the members
of their university, doctors, bachelors, &c. to wear their beards
shaved, &c. _Non deferant barbas & veniant tonsi._
Footnote 87:
The author of a book intituled Pogonologia, says on this occasion,
that those, who wished to take advantage of the equivocation in this
edict of the French verb _porter_ (which signifies to _carry_ as well
as to _wear_) had their beards _carried_ by their servants.
As the best things have their traducers, the beard met with one in this
Gentian Hervet, a learned Orleanese. He wrote a Latin discourse against
beards; but in a little time, being staggered by the forcible reasons of
his adversaries, he wrote a second, in which he advanced, that it was
indifferent whether a priest wore his beard or not; in short, carried
away by the force of truth, he at length wrote a third, in which he ably
maintains that a priest absolutely ought to have a long beard on his
chin.[88]
Footnote 88:
The first of these discourses is intitled, _de radendâ barbâ Oratio_;
the second, _de vel alendâ vel radendâ barbâ_; and the third, _de
alendâ barbâ_.
Notwithstanding its success, its numerous apologists, and powerful
partisans, the beard had still enemies; the provinces especially were
the theatre of secret cabals, where, far from the court and the bearded
powers, plots of vengeance were easily contrived, and their effects
often broke out in provincial councils; and most of these councils,
actuated by contrary sentiments, contradicted each other in their
decisions.
Two provincial councils, held at Narbonne the same year, 1551, ordered
all the priests of the diocese to shave themselves at least once a
month; another council, held at Rheims in 1583, only recommended the
hair of the upper lip to be cut off, in order to be able to receive the
communion without any obstacle. A council of Bagneres, of the same year,
gives the same orders. A council of Rouen, in 1581, orders the priests
to shave off their beards entirely, which it is looked upon (says the
council) as debasing for a minister of the altar to wear. A council of
Malines, in 1579, absolutely condemns the custom of wearing beards,
whilst another council, held in the same town, eight years after,
declares nearly the contrary, ordering only a little of the hair of the
upper lip to be cut away.[89] All that one can conclude from all these
provincial councils is, that the rage of party was gotten into the very
sanctuary of truth to propagate disorder and irresolution.
Footnote 89:
See, for all these provincial councils, _Acta Conciliorum_ of father
Hardouin.
All these ephemeral ordinances had no other effect than to prolong the
reign of the beards of priests; they still flourished on their chins,
when the laity no longer wore them. Fashion brought about, in a short
time, what all these redoubled efforts had been unable to effect during
more than a century. The popes retained their beards a good while, and
the first, who appeared entirely shaved, was Clement XI. who lived at
the beginning of this century. Most of the clergy left it off
insensibly.
The Augustins, who still wore their beards, were ashamed of not being in
the fashion as usual; they sent the famous father Eustace, of the Petty
Augustins of Paris, to Rome, to obtain leave to shave their chins. They
say, this father Eustace made use of great address on the occasion.
There were however some true believers, faithful observers of the
Levitican law and the precepts of the primitive church, people on whom
fashion has no influence, who courageously preserved their beards ’till
towards the middle of the reign of Lewis XIV. A very respectable rector
was one of them: when the bishop visited his diocese, he appeared with a
venerable beard on his chin. The prelate exclaimed greatly against his
thus making himself look like a patriarch, whilst he, his bishop and
lord, was shaved; and he formally ordered him to get rid of his long
beard. In vain did the poor rector cite the example of the pope then
living, that of St. Francis of Sales, &c.; the bishop was inexorable,
and the rector did not think fit to obey. Irritated at his obstinacy,
the prelate sent him a writ to banish him from his living. By a singular
piece of inattention, the place of banishment was left blank; the rector
filled it up with _Versailles_, and immediately repaired to the
residence of the kings of France. He affected to throw himself
continually in the way of Lewis XIV.: his long beard was at length
remarked by the king, who had him called, and asked him what was his
business at court, and why he had such an extraordinary beard. The
parson related his adventure to his majesty, who as pleased with it so
much, that he sent back this grave pastor to his flock, and highly
blamed the bishop for such a ridiculous whim.[90]
Footnote 90:
See the 8th vol. of _Causes Célébres, a canon refused for being too
little_. This adventure furnished matter for a little burlesque poem,
intitled _l’Exilé à Versailles_.
Since this, beards have entirely disappeared, and have only been let
grow out on the chins of the Capuchins; and religious jealousy has
pursued them even to this last retrenchment: how many clamours have they
not caused among the other monks! and what a number of libels and
polemical productions have they had to endure![91] Such are the books
intitled _le Rasibus_ or _le procés fait à la barbe des Capucins_;[92]
_la Guerre seraphique, ou Histoire des périls qu’a courus la barbe des
Capucins par les violentes attaques des Cordeliers_;[93] _les Capucins
sans barbe_, &c. all works of envy or vengeance, which I shall be
careful how I mention on account of my great dislike to satire. Not
satisfied with writing, the enemies of the Capuchins’ beards have
employed the most violent and most unwarrantable means. The fatal
catastrophe which happened, in 1761, to the Capuchins of the town of
Ascoli, in the limits of Ancona, proves how much monkish vengeance is
cruel: we read as follows in the Utrecht Gazette of that time. “Our
reverend fathers, the Capuchins, have no longer any beards. One of their
lay brethren, a cook in the monastery, having put a good dose of opium
in their meat, unbearded all of them whilst they were asleep, and then
forsook the order. The Capuchins are so ashamed of this droll adventure,
that they no longer dare appear abroad.”[94] Is it not clear to every
body that base jealousy was what prompted this wicked brother to commit
this deed? And is it not easy to discern the vengeance of an Italian
monk in this attack on so many respectable beards? After so many
outrages, how is it possible that bearded chins can any longer stand
their ground? Without the express order to wear long beards, which is in
the _Bullarium_ of the brethren of that order, they would long ere this
have abandoned the sad remains of the ancient majesty of the
patriarchs.[95] They little thought formerly, that their long beards,
which they looked upon as a respectable ornament, would one day become
an object of public contempt; or that it would make part of their
outward humility, which they formerly made consist solely in the colour
and price of their clothes; but time perverts every thing.[96]
Footnote 91:
Several communities of Capuchins have been reproached with having
concealed their beards on certain occasions. It is said, that those of
Monpellier, about the beginning of Feb. 1731, played, in the great
dining-hall of the monastery, the tragedy of POLIEUCPE, and danced
between the acts, to celebrate the arrival of the provincial; and
that, in order to play the women’s parts, they put their beards in a
parchment thing made like a chin-cloth, painted flesh colour. The
Capuchins of the great monastery at Lyons, in 1757, likewise acted a
play before their friends and their brethren of the second monastery;
they played three days running _les Fourberies de Scapin_: the
reverend father, who played the part of Scapin, did it great justice.
They add, that one of these reverend gentlemen danced a Harlequin
dance with much grace and suppleness, and that, to remedy the
inconvenience of long beards, they put them in pink taffety bags. The
Capuchins at Grenoble and Vienne likewise acted a play, and covered
their beards in the same manner. We relate these anecdotes, which were
formerly printed by the enemies of the Capuchins, to show, that every
opportunity has been taken to attack the beards of that religions
order. These friars, at present, have no occasion to be afraid of
similar reproaches; they act no plays, neither do they conceal their
beards, and they make themselves equally respected by the gravity of
their appearance and the extent of their learning.
Footnote 92:
This is a small dialogue printed at Cologn in 1718, in 12mo.
Footnote 93:
A scarce and curious work, but badly written, on the establishment of
the Capuchins, printed at the Hague, in 1740, in 12mo.
Footnote 94:
See the Utrecht Gazette of Friday 26th June, 1761; this adventure
furnished the subject of a work intitled _Les Capucins, sans barbe_.
Footnote 95:
_Ac tam illi, quam vos barbam deferre._ §. vii, Bullarium Ordinis
Fratrorum Minorum S. P. Francisci Capucinorum, tom i.
Footnote 96:
_Quod vestimentorum vilitas attendatur in pretio pariter & colore._
Bullarium _idem_, tom. i.
Whilst several sovereigns are taken up with the destruction of
monasteries or the lessening of the number of monks, the Portuguese
minister has just distinguished himself, not by destroying, but
rendering them more respectable, by taking them from worldly practices,
and restoring them all their ancient gravity: it was ordered, in 1784,
that all the monks, of every order without distinction, should let their
beards grow out entirely.[97]
Footnote 97:
See _le Mercure de France, nouvelle politiques de Lisbon_, of the 29th
January, 1784.
Reason, the interest of religion (which particularly depends on the
respect its ministers inspire), an express law of the Divinity, the
example of the legislature of the Christians and most of the popes, a
precept of the constitutions of the apostles, the general opinion of the
primitive Church and of all the pontiffs, and the decision of two
councils, are the grounds on which the obligation, which the Christian
clergy are under of wearing long beards, is supported. What is there to
oppose against so many respectable authorities? The fashion? A heathen
emperor opposed, to those who reproached him with not shaving his chin,
the austerity of his manners, and replied: _I won’t cast sheep’s eyes
around me, embellish my phyz by making my mind hideous, and, in order to
become agreeable, cease to be a philosopher. Besides: fortunately, I
neither like to give nor receive kisses._[98]
Footnote 98:
The _Mysopogon_ of the emperor Julian.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAP. X.
_Of the PEOPLE that WEAR BEARDS._
THE Capuchins, Carthusians, all the Portuguese monks, the Russian clergy
and peasants, all the priests of the Greek Church, the German Jews, and
the Anabaptists, are the only ones that wear beards in Europe.
Most of the inhabitants of Asia wear whiskers or beards more or less
long according to their age.
All the followers of the law of Mahomet wear whiskers ’till they are
forty, when they let their beards grow out, and preserve them afterwards
all their lives.[99]
Footnote 99:
It is in Turkey, where the dignity of a long beard is of the first
importance.
All the north part of Africa is inhabited by bearded people.
Nature has denied a beard to the different nations of blacks who inhabit
the interior and but little known parts of that quarter of the world.
In most of the islands of the Pacific ocean, the men preserve their
beards, and some of them stain them different colours.
The author of _Recherches philosophiques sur les Américains_, doctor
Robertson in his _History of America_, and many other respectable
writers, maintain that all the original natives of America have
absolutely no hair on their chins; they except only the Esquimaux, (the
inhabitants of North America,) who wear beards, and are unlike the
natives of the other parts.[100] However, captain Cook says, that the
want of beard in some of the American nations, proceeds less from a
defect of nature than their custom of plucking them out by the roots to
a greater or less degree: this he observed at Nootka, in his third
voyage round the world: all the old men he saw on the west coast of
America wore thick, bushy beards, but which were sleeked in the same
manner as their hair generally is.
Footnote 100:
It has been proved, not long since, that the Esquimaux are descended
from a colony of Danes and Norwegians who came through Iceland, and
landed in this part of America, several centuries before Christopher
Columbus discovered it. This is supported by the history of the times
and by monuments of the arts and religion of the Europeans found in
that country. See _Histoire des decouvertes & de la navigation dans le
Nord_, by _J. R. Forster_. I have read a French manuscript by Mr. P.
D. L. C., in which the European origin of the Esquimaux is proved in
the most incontestable manner.
In the inner parts of America, Captain Carver met Savages with long
beards on their chins. The following is his answer to those who have
denied their having any. “After the age of puberty, their bodies, in
their natural state, are covered with hair in the same manner as those
of the Europeans. The men, indeed, esteem a beard very unbecoming, and
take great pains to get rid of it, nor is there any ever to be perceived
on their faces, except when they grow old, and become inattentive to
their appearance....
“The Nawdowessies, and the remote nations pluck them out with bent
pieces of hard wood, formed into a kind of nippers; whilst those who
have communication with the Europeans procure from them wire, which they
twist into a screw or worm; applying this to the part, they press the
rings together, and with a sudden twitch draw out all the hairs that are
enclosed between them.”[101] _Carver’s Travels, page 225._
The mask of Montezuma’s armour, (the last king of Mexico,) preserved at
Brussels, and on which there are very long whiskers, seems to confirm
the observations of captains Cook and Carver: it is evident that the
Americans would not have imitated this ornament of man, if nature had
not presented them with the model.
Therefore, the observations made by captain Cook on the west coast of
America, those of captain Carver in the inner part of the continent, and
the monument of the ancient customs of Mexico, which present us with
Montezuma’s whisker’d mask, prove that the assertion of the historians
against American beards is at least doubtful, is it is not destitute of
foundation.
According to the observations of all travellers, it is certain that the
men who inhabit the temperate zones, and are most advantageously
favoured by nature, are likewise most bearded: it may likewise be
remarked, that those, who bestow most attention to shaving, are the most
subject to petticoat government, and consequently the vainest.
Footnote 101:
The islanders of Sumatra pluck out their beards in the same manner.
(See Cook’s third voyage, vol. iii.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAP. XI.
_The CONCLUSION._
WILL reason, and the constant desire of nature at length determine the
men of the present day to adopt the custom of long beards? I don’t
believe it. The power of working such a revolution is reserved for
opinion and fashion. But there are men in society who ought to be
independent of these two wavering powers: these are those that govern
the people, and whom religion and the state have entrusted with their
interests and powers. These mediators between God and man, between the
law and the citizen, who are not of the ordinary class, should be
distinguished from those that are so. Regularity of conduct is not their
first duty; it is the art of giving themselves, by means of their dress,
an air of wisdom and gravity: all the virtues which their state requires
are not sufficient, they must likewise have the appearance. People see
only by their eyes; it is only physical objects that have the power of
captivating their veneration or exciting their contempt. If a man, who
wishes to gain the respect and confidence of the public, does not
forsake the manners, customs, and fashions of the world, he will soon
perceive the respect and confidence he enjoyed disappear. Not only the
man, but the character with which he is invested, will lose its
consideration; he will be like the wooden king which Jupiter sent to the
frogs: his want of dignity drew on him the contempt and insults of his
aquatic people.
Of all the exterior means that can attract the admiration of the people,
a long beard is beyond a doubt the most powerful, the only one that is
not sought after, the only natural one, and which cannot be reasonably
taxed with vanity or pride. Our forefathers always thought, that both
religion and morals were interested in the support of this ornament of
man’s face. And truly, what priests were ever more respected than those
old white bearded ones of the ancient religions, especially the
patriarchs of the Israelites? In the beginning of Christianity, what
veneration did not the grave, stern faces of the fathers of the Church
command? Where are these divine men? and where the respect due to the
ministers of God?