Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1893 — Beards. [ARTICLE]

Beards.

The Moors hold by their beards when they swear, in order to give weight to their oath, which after this formality they rarely violate. The length of beard seems to weigh with them more than the stock of brains. Admiral Keppel was sent to Algiers to demand satisfaction for the injuries done to His Britannic Majesty’s subjects by their corsairs; the dey, enraged at the boldness of the ambassador, exclaimed “that he wondered at the insolence of the English monarch in sending him a message by a foolish, beardless boy.” Tl*e admiral, somewhat nettled, replied that “if his master had supposed wisdom was to be measured by the length of the beard, he would doubtless have sent the dey a he-goat.” This answer so enraged the dey that he ordered his mutes to attend with the bow-strings, saying that the admiral should pay for his boldness with his life. Nothing daunted by this threat the ambassador took the dey to the window, and showing him the English fleet said, ”If it was his pleasure to put him to death, there were Englishmen enough in that fleet to make him a glorious funeral pile.” The dey, who wore a long beard, took the hint from the man who had none.