Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1882 — The Popularity of Kissing. [ARTICLE]

The Popularity of Kissing.

In former years the practice of saintmg ladies with a kiss seems to have bepn very general, and many amusing' anecdotes of this social custom are on record. It was, however, severely commented on as open to abuse. Thus, for instance, John Banyan, in hp “Grace Abounding,? speaking of it,' straggly condemns it. “The common salutation of women,” he savs, “I abhor; it is odious to me in whomsoever I see it. Whten I have seen good mfen salute those women that they - have visited, or that have visited them, I have made my objections against it; and when they have answered that it was but a piece of civility, I have made my objections against it; I have told them that it was not a comely sight. Some,' indeed,have urged the holy kiss; but then I have asked them why they made balks? why they did salute the most handsome and let the ill-favored go?” In spite, however, of the censure poured on this old fashion by even conscientious moralists of the time, there can be no doubt that it found favor in the eyes of the ladies of our own and other countries. It has been often remarked, with more or less truth, that there are few of the fair sex who are, in their inmost heart, indifferent to the paid to them in daily life, and who would regard with disfavor a kiss politely offered to "them by some gallant swain, whom, it may be, they have captivitated by their countless charms. History, we know, is daily repeating itself, and it is difficult to believe that human nature is different nowadays from what it was in years gone by, although the manners of society may have undergone certain changes. It is easy to criticise in unmeasured terms’ the social usages of our predecessors, but, after all, it must not be forgotten that in the present age theisame customs are as popular as ever, the only difference being that, instead of having public recognition, they find a tacit acceptance. It may be remembered how Cavendish, in his “Biography of Cardinal Wolsey,” dwells on this custom, when describing his visit at Mous, Crequi’s castle: “I being in a fair great dining-chamber,” he tells us, “where the table was covered for dinner, and there I attended my lady’s coming: and after she came thither out of her own chamber, she received me most gently, like one of noble estate, having a train of gentlewomen. And when she with her train came all out, she said to me, ‘For as much,’ quoth she, ‘as ye be an Englishman whose custom it is in your country to kiss all ladies and gentlewomen without offense, and although it be not so in this realm (France), yet will I be so bold to kiss you, and so shall all my maidens.’ By means whereof I kissed my lady and all her Uiaidens.” Chaucer frequently alludes to tlii3 old custom, and our readers may recollect how, in the “Sompnour’s Tale,” he notices the zeal with which the holy father performs this act of gallantry. When the mistress of the house enters the room, where he is busily engaged in “groping tenderly” her husband’s conscience, we are told how— He riseth up full curtlshlj And her embracetli in his arms narrow, And kisseth her sweetb, and chirketh as a sparrow With his lippes. * Shakespeare again introduces it, as in the “Merry Wi T .es of Windsor," where to kiss the hostess is indirectly spoken of as a common courtesy of the day. In Lupton’s “London,” too (1632), an established attraction of a country inn, we are told, was a pretty hostess or Her daughter to salute the guests, without which, it would appear, there was small chance of its becoming a popular yesort for the customers of that period. —Belgr vvia.