National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-02-13
OLD AND NEW VALENTINES.
"IH the spring the younk mans ney
Lightly turEs to thoughts OF love-

The singing of birds is come, and the voice OF the
turtle Is heard in the Iand.-Ihe song o. 1910
mon,
All natureEsings the hymeneal song,
All nature follows where the spring invites:
Gene forth, my love to US these joys belong,
Ours is the spring, and all her young delights.
For us she throws profusely forth her flowers,
Which in fresh chaplets joyful will Irvine;
Come forth, my fair oh, do not lose these hours,
But wake and be my faithful valentine.
Anon.
Tomorrow will be St. Valentines Day. 1t is
more than sixteen hundred years since the blessed
saint, full Of charity and love, was martyred,
beaten TO death with clubs and then behesded.
His remains to this day are piOusly preserved in
the Church of St. Pra1edes, in Rome, and six
teen hundred years hence the customs OF the day
will probably be as fresh and universal as they
are now. The myth with its forms and eeremo-
mics will all be preserved amid the death of ma
tiOns and the birth OF empires, for
THE SENTIMENT OF LOVE
is from everlasting to everlasting, and the laws
Of nature cannot be changed. Indeed for the
origin of the custom OF sending valentines, clss-
gieaI-scholsrs now 90 back OF St. Valentines
time and find it in the Lupercalian feasts OF Pan
and Juno. which were celebrated in Rome in the
month of February; but while such research
may crafty a scholarly PRIDE there can be little
mind from the real enjoyment incident to the oc-
easiOn.
1t is undoubtly true that both the English and
the American observance Of the day has sadly
degeRerated. 1t is no longer marked by the
authority which once governed the choosing of
valentines, or by the frequent marriages which
used to be the result. Prints and designs with
tory or saucy verses. some designed to please and
others TO wound, now sent through the mails,
and forgotten soon as sent. The better classes Of
society have almost ceased, in this country, to
honor he day with special or eI en- sincere cere-
monies of auy kind. But this fact by no means
indicates the death of the idea. 1t is sure to
yive again. In fact the custom of sending pres
eHts has already revived In old England it
used to be the practice Of ladies and gentlemen
whom the fortunes OF the day had determined as
valentines to seek relief from the obligation by
giving a present. and in old records we read how
the Duke Of York gave to Miss Stuart, who be-
came the Duchess OF Richmond, ring valued at
$1,000 and then, again,
THE OLD SUGGESTIONS
once so intimately connected with the day seem
10 have almost wholly persisted. The delivers in
old books for mCss-grOwn facts and fancies Gen.
corning St. Valentines day must Of necessity
bring to p96iTGi gaze pretty much the e. same same
superstitiOns will repay peTusAl, even If the gen.
eral reader has seen them before. From record
more than hundred and twenty i've years old
the fact is CLEANED that young lady, before 60
ing to bed St.Ealentine's eve took 1ve bay leaves
and pinned one 10 each of the four corners of her
dream of her sweetheart. to whom. If she did SO
dream, she believed she would be married within
the year. But to make the matter more sure, she
took out the yOlk from hard boiled egg, filled it
with salt and ate ii, shell and all, after getting
into bed. The record goes on to say that her best
hopes were realized.
IN old Devonshire the peasants used to believe
that If on st. Valentines eve they should go to
the porch Of a church. and wait there till l2:30,
and then take some hemp seed in their hands
and start hOmeWard, scattering the seed on their
way, and singing,
Hemp seed SOW. hemp seed NOW,
She Tor he) that win my true love be,
Come rake this hemp seed after me, -
would be sure If seeing his or her valentine
Taking up the seed in winding shirt, but why in
. costume so charming the records do not tell.
The same superstition was practieed in Asborne,
with slight variations in the song.
THE EARLY AND LATER WRITERS
Of valentines have BEEN as a rule not among the
most distinguished Of poets, though few names
add ornament to this class of literature. Shaks-
and good old Father CHANGER alludes TO the Gus
tom. As far back as 1440 we have from Lydgate,
the Monk OF Bury, valentine verses, and this is
one Of Michael DrRytOn's, q cORtempOraneOus
poet with Shakespeare:
''AIy lips III soft'ylIy
Upon her heay emily cheek,
Dyed like dawning day,
A. polished ivory, sleek;
And IN her ear III say,
'Oh. thou bright morning star,
IT'S that come SO far
My Valentine to seek -
One Of the best of the old valentines, and dated
1858. is this. We do not recollect Of ever having
seen 1t in a newspaper:
When slumbrr FIRST uurlouds nv brain
And thOuEhie Is free.
And sense refreshed renews her regime,
] thinke office.
when next in prayer TO God above
| bend my ln-e.
Then when pray for tho-e l love,
pray for thee.
And when the duties ofthe day
Demande Of NEE
To rise and journey in Iire's way,
work Tor thee.
Or fpcrchancc sing some lay,
All that the Idle verses say,
They say OF the.
For fan eye " h Ose liquid ughte
CLEANS like tine sea,
They sing, or tresses browne and brighte,
They sing Of thee.
And weary mood, or sad,
POEss sses NEE,
One thought eau all times make NEE glad
The thought 81 thee.
And when once more upon my bed,
Full YEARLY.
In sweet repGse l lay my head,
dream Ofthee.
In short, one only wish have,
% live for thee.
Or gladly, if0De pang 'twOuId save,
ia die Tor thee.
JAMES T. FIELDS.
Unquestionably the best valentine Of modern
times was written by Mr. James 7. Fields, Of
Boston. This profound essayist and most beauti-
full chronicler Of the lives OF Sydney Smith. Ten
Dyson, Wordsworth and LongfelloH thus happily
describes his valentine:
''She that is fair, though never vain or proud,
More fond OF home than fashion chan cling crowd;
Whose taste refined even female friends admire
Dress, d not for show, but rOb'd in neat attire;
To pardon frailties, hidden confessed;
True to herself yet willing TO submit,
More sway by love than ruled by worldly wit;
Though young, dlscreet-though ready, Re'er IN
Blest with no pedants, hut a woman mind,
She wins our hearts; toward h'r our thoughts in
So at her door go leave my valentine
volume might be filled with poetry Of this
class the order Il think of thee" 1t is a rea-
sonable and philosophical thing to suppose that
In Normandy the origin OF the word valentine may
be found. There ''Talentfn" is used in the sense
Of sweetheart, End 'galatinn for gallant, both
evidently derived from the Latin valens ana our
English word gallant words which women al
ways love. At the season when all nj ture is in
elined to mate the most gallant and the most.YaI-
liant win the prizes.
OF course, the Pensioners OF St. Valentine in
Washington are quite up to the mark in the way
Of excitement, and do not propose TO let the day
pass without due recognition. Our bookstores are
full OF valentines, all the way from the cheap
crimson and yellow daubs, the "Tippler, 4" Your
darling Pet "Dr. Suredeath," "You Brute"
''LOng Tongue, - "Old Maid, p "The Tilted Man"
&C., together with representations Of all the
trades and professions, all Of which are sold for
cent. The next grade costs five cents, and have
little uEuTeb Win NOTICES and verses. And
they run up in finish and design till you come TO
the pTetentiOus and elaborate ones incIosed in
boxes, and costing IS. As bits of Ornamental
work these are really worth having, and make a
very pretty present 70 any lady.
ALL OUR LOCAL POETS
have been exercising their brains for themselves
and others in writing amatory valentine verses
for the last two weeks, and the letter-carriers
to-day will be loaded down with the illusions OF
sueh marvellous poetic natures as Remand, jan
H1er, DonObue Robertson, Preuss, Young, Plat,
LIE Baron, BabcOck, Boyle, and all the Irritable
tribe VINO court the Muses.. and thereby suffer in
the estimation Of their felIOE-men. We have
seen some Of these efforts, but in mercy spare
their authors from public record. To the Nan
ctes, Carries haties, FannIes Blapches Lizzies
Nellies end sweetnesses generally Ia whom thew
will 90 they will undoubtedly seem h he All that
a mortal can desire on this earth in the rav Of
romance, poetry and love. -
But there is a man in this town by the mama oF
Cantel A. Bigly, gifted with
A sIGHT so POWERFUL
that he can stand before a Iamp-post To which a.,
iron letter box is attached and read the confents
Of every letter inside. From this wonderful man
we have been enabled TO obtain copies OF yaIsn
tines from distinguished people TO friends nf
theirs, which really ought TO be given to the pub
lie; not so much perhaps, for their intrinsic worth
as Immortal verse" as for the sentiments thew
convey. For instance, here are some of them:
GKE. BUTLER TO W. P. M'LRAN
hung man, you say-'tis true:
1ou had been hanged, had you your due.