THE
ART OF KISSING.
I.
Origin of kissing; the Scandinavian tradition;an old poet’s idea—Kissing inancient Rome, and among the Jewsand early Christians—Biblical kissing—Religioussignificance—Kissingin early England—Ancient kissingcustoms as described by Erasmus—Thepuritanical views of John Bunyan—HowAdam kissed Eve—A kiss defined:By the dictionary, Shakespeare,Robert Herrick, Sidney, Coleridge—Comicaland short descriptions—Agrammar of kissing—The scientificreason why kisses are pleasant.
Of kissing it has been quaintly said thatnature was its author and it began with thefirst courtship. The Scandinavian traditionwas that kissing was an exotic introducedinto England by Rowena, the beautifuldaughter of Hengist, the Saxon. At abanquet given by the British monarch inhonor of his allies the princess, after pressingthe brimming beaker to her lips, salutedthe astonished and delighted Vortigern witha little kiss, after the manner of her ownpeople.
For a long time it was an act of religionin ancient Rome and among the Romansthe sacredness of the kiss was inviolable.At length it was degraded into a currentform of salutation.
The kiss was, in process of time, usedgenerally as a form of salutation in Romewhere men testified their regard and thewarmth of their welcome for each otherchiefly by the number of their kisses. Therewas a curious law among the Romans madeby Constantine; that, if a man had kissedhis betrothed she gained thereby the halfof his effects should he die before the celebrationof the marriage; and should thelady herself die, under the same circumstances,her heirs or nearest to kin wouldtake the half due her, a kiss among the ancientsbeing the sign of plighted faith.
Among the Jews, kissing was a customarymode of salutation as we may judge fromthe circumstance of Judas approaching hisMaster with a kiss. The Rabbis did notpermit more than three kinds of kisses, thekiss of reverence, of reception and dismissal.Kissing in many religions hasplayed a part as a mark of adoration or veneration.In Hosea xiii-2, speaking ofidolatry, we find the sentence “Let themen that sacrifice kiss the calves.” Again,the discontented prophet is told that evenin idolatrous Israel are seven thousandknees which have not bowed to Baal, “andevery mouth which hath not kissed him.”The Mohammedans, on their pious pilgrimageto Mecca, kiss the sacred black stoneand the four corners of the Kaaba. TheRoman Catholic priest kisses the aspergillum,and Palm Sunday the palm.
In the works of St. Augustine we find anaccount of four kinds of kissing; the first,the kiss of reconciliation which was givenbetween enem