The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-02-14
ST. H4LENTINFS DAY.

For centuries the true story OF 81. Vaien-
tine, his life, his acts and his Influences, mas
remained untold. The time has now come for
telling 1t. and this shall be done, briefly, oy
the present writer, but boldly, without reserve.
It has been widely stated over the oreao
and butter and tea of ladies' boarding schoois
that St. Valentine was bishop haillng from
Rome. ST. Valentine, gentle reader, was no
more bishop than you are tthat is, supposlng
that you are no more bishop IMAM ne WAS }
Long before he became saint, the young man
Valentine was cook, setting forth bis single
in by-street of Rome as provider OF suppers
and attendance for balls and parties. Fame
spread her wings over his lobster salads. he
had a secret for chowder that would Impart
fits to a Charleston gourmet, ana IL was Ae
who originated Roman punch. Later IN lie,
when he had made little money by his cralt'
he laid away his lobster, sold his patent for
cbowder to a smart Yankee, who Infested
Rome with selfacting pumps for sale, ana,
having set up private postofice, augmented
the gains of it by adding thereto matrimo'
NAL agency and depot for the exchange OF
love tokens and such sweet idiotc sentiments
as they are meant tc seal.
To amass wealth was the main object with
old Valentine; for he was now well advanced
In years. 1t naturally occurred to him, then,
that the surest way to compass this was 10 In
crease the business of his postofice to the
greatest possible extent. February had set in
with unusually bland sunshine. Birds were
caroling their love-songs on every bush, and,
influenced BY his fondness for nature and
money, Valentine hit upon happy thought.
he remembered how it once occurred to him,
when he was q cook, that one OF the most
charming emblems of love possible to be
imagined could be manufactured from Inc
simple circumstance of q sleeps heart roast
ed upon spit. Procuring paint.box, then,
Valentine, who possessed strong instinct for
art, painted with vermillion heart of the
truest and most loyal kind, with an
arrow from Cupid's quiver run through
1t Instead of a spit. To supplement this,
he proceeded to a neighbori4g .ibeer.shop, in
which he captured semi-intoxicated poet,
who, fred at the sight of the sangulne heart,
Immediately knocked off to it couple OF STAN
zas of the most exotic, not to say ineXtinsuish-
able, fire. That was the first valentine. Send
ing forth into the highways and byWays or
Rome for all the scribes and artists out OF
work, the protector of the valentine had five
thousand copies of it made and distributed
gratis throughout the city on the l4th day OF
February, A. D. 7o4. The thing spread Ike
wildhre. The Pope of the period was so fasci-
mated with the device that he sent at once for
Valentine, and very appropriately offered to
furnish him with a-cardinals crimson hat.
The good old postman, however, didn't see It..
His; remark was, that there wasn't 30 much
money in a cardinals hat as he had zen seen
In showman's. Finally, however, nu consent
ed to be made saint of, and was hoisted on
to the calendar, accordingly, in the following
wear. when the anniversary was formally kept
at Rome as St. Valentines day, and has been
more or less observed under that name ever
since.
It is sad to think that the good old postman
should not be with Gus to-day to view the
allurlDg valentines displayed in the grocery
windows. For it is q fact that, In these latter
days of irreyerence and spurious beverages,
valentines have come to be ranked as gro
cer!es. They are Invariably to be found mis-
cegnatIng in windows with bars of yellow
soap, fly spotted papers Of pins, cakes OF
maple sugar, and all the other popular delica-
cies to which the voluptuaries of this efete
and lasclvious period are so ins1tiably addict
ed. But if good St. Valentine is not with us
in the flesh, we feel that he Is with US In the
spirit. The teachings Of his heart and spirit
are here They were lowering around when
Oliver Goldsmith hourished, no less a poet
than he having indited valentine, with
spltted heart annexed to 1t, and addressed 1t
10 his cousin Jane. The wings of the blessed
St. Valentine will be heard to-day mystically
fiappipg In the breeze. Look out, good peo-
pie all, for such loose plumes as may come
whiring down from them. They are precisely
the same as gopse-quills, and will approprl-
ately inspire your verses when you come 10
write