vour of their antiquity among the
Romans. In lib. ii. cap. 55, _De Re Rustica_, he says, that olives
gathered by the naked hand are preferable to those gathered with
_gloves_. _Athenaeus_ speaks of a celebrated glutton who always came to
table with _gloves_ on his hands, that he might be able to handle and
eat the meat while hot, and devour more than the rest of the company.

These authorities show that the ancients were not strangers to the use
of _gloves_, though their use was not common. In a hot climate to wear
gloves implies a considerable degree of effeminacy. We can more clearly
trace the early use of gloves in northern than in southern nations. When
the ancient severity of manners declined, the use of _gloves_ prevailed
among the Romans; but not without some opposition from the philosophers.
_Musonius_, a philosopher, who lived at the close of the first century
of Christianity, among other invectives against the corruption of the
age, says, _It is shameful that persons in perfect health should clothe
their hands and feet with soft and hairy coverings_. Their convenience,
however, soon made the use general. _Pliny_ the younger informs us, in
his account of his uncle's journey to Vesuvius, that his secretary sat
by him ready to write down whatever occurred remarkable; and that he had
_gloves_ on his hands, that the coldness of the weather might not impede
his business.

In the beginning of the ninth century, the use of _gloves_ was become so
universal, that even the church thought a regulation in that part of
dress necessary. In the reign of _Louis le Debonair_, the council of Aix
ordered that the monks should only wear _gloves_ made of sheep-skin.

That time has made alterations in the form of this, as in all other
apparel, appears from the old pictures and monuments.

_Gloves_, beside their original design for a covering of the hand, have
been employed on several great and solemn occasions; as in the ceremony
of _investitures_, in bestowing lands, or in conferring _dignities_.
Giving possession by the delivery of a _glove_, prevailed in several
parts of Christendom in later ages. In the year 1002, the bishops of
Paderborn and Moncerco were put into possession of their sees by
receiving a _glove_. It was thought so essential a part of the episcopal
habit, that some abbots in France presuming to wear _gloves_, the
council of Poitiers interposed in the affair, and forbad them the use,
on the same principle as th