KIRWAN KISS. 



317 



has been called the Neptunian theory (tf the earth, in 

 opposition to that of doctor James Hutton. His death 

 occurred in 1812. 



KIRWAN, WALTER BLAKE ; an Irish divine, 

 eminent for his popularity as a preacher. He was 

 born at Galway, in 1754, and educated at the 

 English Catholic college of St Omer's, whence he 

 removed to Louvain, where he took priest's orders, 

 and became professor of philosophy. In 1778, he was 

 appointed chaplain to the Neapolitan embassy in 

 London, and attained some fame by his exertions in 

 the pulpit. In 1787, he resolved to conform to the 

 establishment, and preached to his first Protestant 

 congregation in St Peter's church, Dublin. In 1788, 

 he was preferred to the prebendary of Howth, and to 

 the rectory of St Nicholas, Dublin, and finally pre- 

 sented to the deanery of Killala. Wonders are told 

 of his attraction as a preacher, and it was often neces- 

 sary to keep off the crowds from the churches in 

 which he preached, by guards, and palisadoes. He 

 died, exhausted by his labours, October 27, 1805, 

 leaving a widow with two sons and two daughters, 

 to the first and last of whom was granted a pension 

 of .300 per annum. In 1814, a volume of his ser- 

 mons was published, which is the only work of his 

 which reached the press. 



KISS. The mutual touching of the lips and the 

 mingling of the breath is one of the most natural ex- 

 pressions of affection among men. The child ex- 

 presses its love by a kiss, and men in all stages of 

 refinement do the same. Inferior creatures express 

 tenderness in a similar manner, as the billing of 

 doves ; and many creatures touch objects of love 

 with the mouth or rather tongue. The faithful dog 

 cannot show his affection to his master more clearly 

 than by licking his hand; but man puts the restraints 

 of reason and decorum on the demonstrations of af- 

 fection, and the kiss has been subjected to various 

 restrictions among different nations ; so that, to this 

 day, a kiss given contrary to the will of the person 

 kissed, may, in Germany, be punished as an injuria 

 (q. v.), whilst, on the other hand, it has entered 

 largely into various ceremonials, civil and religious. 

 Kissing the forehead of a person, is a sign of conde- 

 scension and good-will, the parental blessing being 

 sealed with the father's kiss on the forehead of the 

 child among many nations. Kissing the shoulders, is 

 an expression of inferiority ; still more so kissing the 

 hand or the foot ; and the sign of the greatest 

 humiliation among the Poles, Bohemians, Russians 

 and Asiatics, is to kiss the ground, as a symbol that 

 the place where the foot of the honoured person has 

 trod is dear to them. The word kissing is the usual 

 expression, in Hebrew, to signify adoration ; and 

 adoratio literally means touching with the mouth. In 

 the article Adoration, mention has been made of the 

 custom of kissing the hand, among the ancients, and 

 of kissing the foot, originally of every bishop, and, at 

 present, of the pope. The stern Romans held it in- 

 decent for a husband to kiss his wife in presence even 

 of a daughter. With some nations, as the Germans 

 and French, it is customary for men to kiss each 

 other after a long absence, &c. In the most ancient 

 times, it was customary to impress kisses on one's 

 own hand, and then make the sign of throwing them 

 to the sun, moon, the stars, (Job xxxi, 26), and even 

 to Baal. Homer makes Priam kiss the hand of 

 Achilles. Among the Romans, the higher magis- 

 trates gave their hands to be kissed by the lower 

 officers, and, under the emperors, the monarch gave 

 his hand to be kissed to the superior officers, whilst 

 the lower officers paid their homage on their knees, 

 touching the gown of their emperor, or their own 

 hand, &c. Kissing the hand of the sovereign, now 

 forms part of the ceremonial of all European courts. 



It is considered a particular mark of grace. Officers 

 are allowed this privilege when they set out on 

 important expeditions, or return from them. In 

 Prussia, alone, the king's hand is never, or, at least, 

 very rarely kissed, as a matter of settled ceremonial. 

 In Spain, the grandees perform this ceremony on 

 certain court days. In Britain, it is customary for 

 certain officers to kiss the king's hand, at their first 

 audience. When the emperor of Russia dies, his 

 body is. laid out. in state, and every one who ap- 

 proaches him kisses his hand. Catholics kiss the 

 bishop's hand, or rather the ring which he wears in 

 virtue of his episcopal office. Kissing the hand was 

 formerly very customary on the European continent, 

 and still is so to a certain degree. A gentleman 

 may kiss a lady's hand ; and people of the lower 

 class, to express great gratitude, will not unfre- 

 quently kiss the hand of a benefactor. In Russia, 

 all persons have a right to kiss each other on Easter 

 day the day of rejoicing in the Greek Catholic 

 church. When the wives of European monarchs 

 appear, people generally make a motion as if to kiss 

 the gown, and they offer the hand to be kissed. In 

 Britain, on the first presentation of young ladies of 

 high families at court, the queen salutes them on the 

 cheek. In the same way, she salutes a hostess if 

 she pays a visit. Kissing the foot is a common 

 Oriental sign of respect. The later Roman emper- 

 ors, whose court ceremonial was mixed with so many 

 servile customs, first introduced this practice into 

 the West. The popes have required it as a sign of 

 respect from the secular power since the eighth cen- 

 tury. Pope Constantine I. first had his foot kissed 

 by the emperor Justinian II., on his entry into 

 Constantinople, in 710. Valentine I., about 827, 

 required every one to kiss his foot ; and, from that 

 time, this mark of reverence appears to have been 

 expected by all popes. When this ceremony takes 

 place, the pope wears a slipper with a cross, which 

 is kissed. In French, this is called le baisement des 

 pieds, the word baisement is not used in any other 

 relation. In more recent times, Protestants have 

 not been obliged to kiss the pope's foot, but merely 

 to bend the knee slightly. Even Catholic princes 

 sometimes perform only the genuflexion. When the 

 pope is elected, he is placed on the altar, and the 

 cardinals, first of all, perform the adoration. Each 

 approaches the newly elected pope, and kisses his 

 foot, then his knee, and is then embraced by the 

 pope, and saluted on the cheek. The clergyman 

 sometimes kisses the woman immediately after mar- 

 riage. The kiss of peace, in the Catholic church, 

 forms part of a religious rite. St Peter and Paul 

 end their epistles " Salute one another with a holy 

 kiss." And it was at first customary among the 

 Christians to give each other the kiss of peace a 

 symbol of concord and unity particularly at the 

 agapes. (q. v.) Many fathers of the church men- 

 tion it, as St Justin, Tertullian, St Cyril, &c., and in 

 the apostolic constitutions and all old liturgies, men- 

 tion is made of it The heathens, on this account, 

 reproached the Christians with licentiousness, as, 

 from misunderstanding, they also accused them of 

 sacrificing human victims, when the sacrifice of 

 Christ was meant. That these kisses may have had 

 an objectionable tendency, we do not deny, as we 

 know ourselves, that, in Berlin, where a certain sect 

 had reintroduced these kisses with the agapes, 

 government found it necessary to prohibit them. 

 In the Greek church, the kiss of peace is given 

 before the oblation, and after having dismissed the 

 catechumens. In the Latin church, the kiss of 

 peace is given immediately before the communion. 

 The clergyman who celebrates mass kisses tfie altar, 

 and embraces the deacon, saying, Pax tibi,/ra(cr, et 



