The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-02-13
ST. VALENTINE.

Ahen beheaded for which reason ne was raiseu
NV tho Holv Father to the dignity of sainthood.
The greater portion of his remains, it is said,
oro stiu preserved in Rome, in the Church of
~ praxedes. Near this point is gate,
which once passed by the name of the POrtd
del Popolo, but which, in other days, was
known as the Porta VaIentini.
THE ORIGIN OF VALENTINES.
But the modern customs which especially
Dartain to this day have no connection what
ever with the life or death OF the martyr to
,vbose memory it has been set apart III the
saIondar of Rome. The origin of these GUS
toms. however, is very ancient, and involved
i'm considerable obscurity. The only rational
theory that has been advanced concerning
tbou is that they are the continuation OF the
Roman ceremonies in honor of Pan and Juno,
which were celebrated in the month OF Febru-
arv. under the title of L1percdttd. One OF the
several customs by which this festival was
distinguished was the placing of the names OF
yOung women in box from which they were
drawn by Young men, as chance directed. 10
such practices, however, the early Chris
tian pastors were opposed because they
aavored too strongly of the old idolatry.
Knowing it to be quite impossible to eradicate
the custom at once, they endeavored to lmpart
70 il an orthodox character, by substituting
saints. ~ ,
The drawing was fixed upon the l4th of
February-which happened to be st. Nalen-
tine's Dav-because it was the middle OF the
month which had been devoted to the heathen-
ish L,tpercaIa. The Saints did not long re-
main in favor, however, their places soon being
nsurped by the maidens whom they had dis
placed; and this feature of the old Roman rites
once restored, the transition to the next step
was easy and natural. The practice of thus
choosing mates became reciprocal, as far as
the two sexes were concerned, all who
were thus chosen being termed Valentines,
from the day on which the ceremony took
place.
ST. VALENTINES DAY IN oLDEN TIMES.
In accordance with the origin of the custom,
it was until within a recent period nothing
more nor less than a kind of lottery, the draw
ing being followed by those ceremonies which
render the game of forfeitS so extremely agree
able to young people of the opposite sexes.
The sentimental and ludicrous poetry of the
present day was then almost unknown.
In the time of Charles IL, it seems that the
names of married persons, as we'll as those of
the unmarried, were placed in the wheel of
fortune on st. Valentines Day. Thus, we
find in "Pepys' Diary the following entry for
the 14th of February, 1867
''This morning came up to my wife's bed
side q being up dressing myself) little Will
Mercer to be her valentine and brought her
name written upon blue paper in gold letters,
done by himself, very pretty. But l am also
this year my wite's valentine, and it will cost
me f5.n
u was common in these days for the per-
son drawn as a Valentine to make the person
drawing him or her a handsome present.
This was done to ''relieye' the donors OF the
obligations under which they were placed by
being drawn as Valentines. Miss Stuart,
celebrated belle, who afterwards became the
Duchess of Richmond, drew as her Valentine,
in 1867, Lord Mandeville and the latter was
glad to relieUe himself by presenting her with
a ring costing G300. On one occasion the
same fortunate lady relieved the Duke of York
from the decree of fate on receiving from him
Jewel valued at fS00.
The festival, as celebrated by the young
people of England and Scotland in the early
part of the last century, is thus described by a
careful observer of domestic customs:--
"On the eve of ST. Valentines day, an equal
number of maids and bachelors get together;
each writes their true or some feigned name
upon separate billets which they roll up and
draw by way of lots-the maids taking the
mems billets, and the men, the maids so thai
each of the young men lights upon a girl thai
he calls his 'Valentine,' and each of the girls
upon a young man whom she calls hers. By
this means each has two Valentines: but th1
man sticks faster to the Valentine which ha
fallen to him than the valentine to whom he /
pany into so many couples, the Valentines Civ
J balls and treats 10 their mistresses. wear tn
z billets several days upon their bosoms orsleeve'
and this little sport often ends in love-"
In these times, the common people believe
that on this day the birds were accustomed I
select their mates; and, owing to the strane
influences which pervaded the air, it W;
maintained that young person on wallliI
abroad would first encounter the one wit
whom his or her lot was to be cast for lif
The poet Gay gives currency to this harmle
superstition in the following lines, which
places on the lips of a rural dame:-
aLast Valentine, the day when birds of kind
Their paramours with mutual chirping find,
i early rose just at the break of day,
Before the sun had chased the stars away
A-field went amid the morning dew,
To milk my kline (for so should housewives do
Thee first spied-and the first swain we see,
In spite of fortune shall our true love be-"
sHAKEsPEIARAN VALENTINES.
That the observance of st. Valentines d.
is of very ancient origin is proved by the ia
that both Shakespeare and Chaucer allude TO
as well as the poet Lydgate who died in l44
Duke Charles, of Orleans, who was captur
by the English on the field of Agincourt,
14l5, was the earliest known composer of tho
amorous stanzas for which st. Valentines D.
has been distinguished. Drayton one of t
minor lights OF fShakespeare's time, thus ushe
an the day
"Muse, let the morn awake,
Sad winter now declines
Each bird doth choose mate,
This days Saint NalenJineSl
For that good Bishops sake
Get up, and let us see
What beauty IL shall be
1naJ fortune us assigns"
The anxious poet, after few more flourish,
discovers the beauty of whom he is in one