1828.J Historical and Literary. 251 



so urgent that we cannot allow any further delay. Choose, therefore, 

 one of these alternatives pay up our arrears, or give us the pledge 

 which you solemnly promised us.' Gabriel was all astonishment at this 

 scene, and could not divine what was meant by this formal address to 

 his son-in-law. After he had been informed of the tenour of it by an 

 interpreter, the first thing he did was to ask, what it was that the Count 

 had given as a pledge to his comrades ? The Count affected to be over- 

 come with shame, and incapable of replying; but the spokesman declared 

 at once, that the Count had pledged his beard to them, and had given 

 them permission, if he did not pay them by a certain day, to shave it 

 off and leave him beardless. Now it is the custom of all the Oriental 

 nations, as well Greeks as barbarians, to nourish their beards with the 

 utmost care and anxiety, and to deem it the deepest disgrace and igno- 

 miny which men can endure, to have a single hair extracted from their 

 cheeks and chins, on any consideration, by force. Gabriel, therefore, 

 asked the Count, whether the story which he had just heard was true? 

 He replied, ' It was.' The old man was more astounded than ever at 

 hearing this answer, and appeared to be driven distracted by it. He, 

 therefore, asked again, why he had so thoughtlessly pledged that badge 

 of manhood, that glory of the face, that manly attribute of authority, 

 which ought to be guarded with the utmost care, as if it had been a 

 matter of slight value, which could be separated from the person without 

 dishonour. The Count replied, ' Because I had nothing else by which 

 I could satisfy the importunate demands of my men at arms ; but my 

 lord and father ought not to be so anxious on this account, for I trust, 

 with God's mercy, if I can get my men at arms to indulge me with a 

 longer delay, to be able, on returning to Edessa, to redeem with 

 honour the pledge which I have given them.' The men at arms replied 

 with one accord that they would immediately leave him, and threatened, 

 besides, to shave him on the spot if he did not produce the money. 

 Gabriel, who was a simple man, and unacquainted with their collusion, 

 after hesitating a short time as to what he should do, thought it better 

 to pay the sum, in which his son-in-law was bound to his men at arms, 

 than to allow him to undergo so signal a disgrace. He therefore asked 

 the amount of the debt. He was told 30,000 gold pieces. He promised 

 to pay that sum for his son-in-law ; but on this condition, that he should 

 promise upon his honour not to bind himself again to any person, for 

 any consideration, or under any emergency, in a similar penalty. After 

 the money was paid, the Count took leave of his father-in-law, and 

 returned with a full purse to Edessa, accompanied by his men at arms, 

 who were well enough pleased by the result of their journey." 



The partiality evinced by the Greeks of the lower ages for these hairy 

 symbols of manhood is the more surprising, as the Saracens and Turks, 

 who differed from them almost in every other point of policy, prejudice, 

 and religion, agreed with them in their aversion to the tyranny of the 

 razor. The beard of Mahomet, which was of a beautiful shining red 

 colour, is the theme of many an Oriental ditty, and the admiration of 

 many an Oriental dandy. Because Mahomet never shaved in his life, 

 the Arabs make the preservation of their beards a fundamental principle 

 of their religion. For the same reason the Grand Sultan's face is always 

 free from the intrusion of the razor. Selim the First deviated from the 

 custom of his predecessors, and dared to shave, alleging as a motive for 

 the innovation, that he was anxious to prevent his Vizier from, having 



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