The Van Buren press., 1875-02-09


days and nights preceding the great Chris
tian festival. 1t is kept in commemoration
of the forty days and nights fasting Of the
Saviour prior to His cruciixion. as well As
the pains he endured in the garden of Geth-
semane. 1t isa season of fasting. humilia-
tlon and prayer. The first day is called Ash
wednesday, because 1t Is the custom to place
ashes on the heads of the members at that
time, in order, ,thereby,to impress on he mind
the fact that we must humble ourselves In the
ashes of humiliation. In commemoration OF
the sufferings. the agony and death of the
Redeemer. The palms that were blessed on
the Palm Sunday, the year before, are burn.
ed, and the ashes used in the ceremonies OF
Ash-W ednesday. This is the mourning season
of the churchand the solemn musicas well as
all the ceremonies. are calculated to impress
the mind with the sublime lessons with which
this fast il so thichy crowded
Valentines Day comes on Sunday, this
year, but we suppose that will make no diff.
ference with the number Of mysterious love-
epstleS that will be scattered among the boys
England during the happiest period of hel
existence as a nation. On the nth of February
the "merrie" lads and lassies assembled foI
the purpose of having a love-lottery. The
names of all the girls were put in a hat, and
each one of the gentlemen drew one of them
The lady thus chosen was to be the gentle.
mans valentine for year. He could not
without an objectionable breach of courtesy
pay marked attention to any other girl for a
year. He must be her escort to all places to
which she desired to 60 under any and all
possible circumstances, nor could she accept
any other company than his. In this way
and by this lottery contract the parties were
without even their own consent. thrown into
each Others society for the year. As mat
ter of course such intimacy often resulted in
engagement and subsequent marriage. till to
be "a persons valentine was the first step to.
ward being husband or wife The custom
has changed somewhat in our day. Now the
practice is to send anonymous love epistles
of every color. design. shape, and sentiment
comic, ridiculous, absurd. Some of these
the outpourlngs Of some love-sick soul: 4" If
you love me as | love you, no knife can cut
our love in two Ga. perchance, some nit
tened" lover determines to be revenyed on
his mttener." and proc ures one of the ug-
liest-looking picturc-val"nlincs that he can
find, and writing the following pathetic verse
The rose is red. the violrt's blue. if a mig
gers pretty, then so are you." under it. sends
tito her. Ana 30 all kinds and descriptions
and qualities of valentines 90 from boys to
girls and from girls to boys. sometimes being
the cause Of happiness. aud sometimes the
opposite. IL is the source of a considerable
amusement AMONG love-sick lads and lasScs.
Our boyhOod rmembrnnccs are linked hap.
pity To the pleasures of Valentines day.
C5S- The AldiHs for February. 1873, no II
OF the current series. aS the publishers seem
to pi cfer calling it,. leaves the reader little
in doubt whether the impression created by
the previous uumber-that it was trifle bet
ter, especially in variety, than could be Kept
up aS AN avcragr-was indeed well founded.
For the February number Is quite the equal
of the January in variety. and 1t has one or
two features of even rare excellence. Artist
ically, there are few better drawings, aud
scarcely ever any better wood ngrayings,
than Keeping the Peace" a dog g-pcture by
Peter Moran, quite WORTHY of Iandseer in his
best days, with which the number opens The
late John A. Hows supplied. .jnst -hefo-o hi,
death the three exquisite =" Views of the
Concmaugh, which follow; ard net even he
ever did any better work than some of the
rock, tree and water Celebrations of these fine
pictures. Two Pleasant Occupations" and
The Fortunate Moment" are companion
pieces, after Rudaux. pleasantly telling the
conclusion of that rural lovc-story of which
the Aidiae has before given more than one
charming glimpse by the same artist Hunt
ing the Stag" is noble full page picture,
well conveying that grand sport in the cos
tunes and manner Of the olden time and a
singularly well-drawn little picture. without
name. but showing two girls rolling about on
the summer grassland three views of oddly
beautiful Peterborough Cathedral one of the
handsomcst in England,-make up the act
Soh''"'N W luc HuIlDcI, TedlIN per1tct nOugh.
well to warrant the secondary name: the Art
journal of America.
The literature Of the number meanwhile
quite keeps pace with the pictures, in excel
lence and variety. The leading paper, in
many regards, is what promises to be the first
Of a series, called Secret Facts in History. -
by Walter PleydclI Earle. of London-the
opening paper, after an introduction: .Who
was the Real Lady Macbeth?" Such n series
of papers. II pursued with the same care and
force, may make more attractive feature in
the AHme than even the publishers know,
The Aldine Company has determined to es
tahlish an Art Union. similar to the well
known Art Union in England, and distribute
its works of art, both sculpture and paintings,
which are constantly collecting. among its
subscribers Art premiums. valued at 81 800.
will de distributed among each series Of ) 600
subscribers. Subscription tickets. at SC each,
cntitle the holder to the Aidine for a wear. to
the new chrome, and to a ticket IN the dis
tribution Of art premiums. The AlpINr
COMPANY. publishers, No. IS Maiden Lane,
New York City.
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