sinful if performed on a
Sunday. Members of congregations are entitled to object to the
settlement of ministers, says the Rev. Dr Charles Rogers, provided they
can substantiate any charge affecting their life or doctrine. Mr
Davidson, presentee to Stenton in 1767, and Mr Edward Johnstone,
presentee to Moffat in 1743, were objected to for desecrating the
Sabbath by shaving on that day. The settlement of Mr Johnstone was
delayed four years, so persistent were the objectors in maintaining what
they regarded as the proper observance of the Sabbath.

The Rev. Patrick Bronte, father of the famous novelists, was Perpetual
Curate of Thornton in Bradford Dale, from 1815 to 1820. Although a sense
of decency was sadly deficient among the majority of the inhabitants of
the district, they kept watch on the clergy, and were ever ready to make
known to the world their presumed as well as their real offences and
failings. The mistakes of some of them are well illustrated in an
anecdote related by Mr Abraham Holroyd, a well-known collector of local
lore. When Mr Bronte resided at Thornton it was rumoured in the village
that he had been seen by a Dissenter, through a chamber window, shaving
himself on a Sunday morning, which was considered to be a very serious
disregard of the obligation of Sabbath observance on the part of a
clergyman. Mrs Ackroyd, a lady residing in the parish, had an interview
with Mr Bronte on the subject. On his hearing what she had to say, he
observed: "I should like you to keep what I say in your family; but I
never shaved myself in all my life, or was ever shaved by any one else.
I have so little beard that a little clipping every three months is all
that is necessary."

Occasionally, at the present day, barbers are brought before the
magistrates for working on Sunday. They are summoned under an old Act of
Charles II., for shaving on the Lord's Day. The maximum fine is five
shillings, and the costs of a case cannot be recovered from the
defendant. Generally the local hairdressers' association institutes the
action.

FROM BARBER TO SURGEON

From the ancient but humble position of the barber is evolved the
surgeon of modern times. Perhaps some members of the medical profession
would like to ignore the connection, but it is too true to be omitted
from the pages of history. The calling of a barber is of great
antiquity. We find in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (v. 1) allusions
to the Jewish custom of