National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-02-14
ST. VALENTINE.
Some Interesting Facts About the Day
Not Generally Known,

Not Generally Known,
ST. Valentine was priest who was mar
tyred at Rome in tho third century, being
first beaten with clubs and then beheaded.
His remains are still preserved in the church
of st. Praxedes. One of the most beautiful
gates of Rome, the Porta del Popolo, was
formerly called Porta Valentine. On st.
Valentines day, when first observed, amid a
variety of other ceremonies, the names OF
young unmarried women were put in O box,
from which they were drawn by single mon
rs chance might direct, and, IL pleased with
the drawing, the young women thus chosen
were taken as wives. II Ia not recorded
what the young women did if not satisfied
with the men who had drawn them, and the
presumption is that they bowed in silent &C.
quiescence to the decree of fate. Probably
there may have been in those primitive days
some maidens like the traditional one, who
went out in the woods to pray.
"Oh! Lord, beseech thee, send me a
husband"
"Whoo! WHO'D Whoo p hooted an owl in q
tree near by.
Anybody. Good Lord"
In early times the day seems to have been
held in higher honor in England, Scotland,
and in continental countries. Old chroni-
cles tell of st. Valentines fete in the six
teenth century at Edinburgh, that capital of
decorum and propriety, where an equal num-
Dor of maids and bachelors met. The names
of each were written on slips Of paper and
deposited in separate boxes, from which they
were drawn by lot The latter wero ex-
pected to make presents to the girl whose
name was on the slip drawn, and the girls
we're bound to grant u favor. In the times
of Charles II, st. Valentines was the
great day for making presents, which were
generally of costly character. Many of the
noble houses Of England still preserve as
heirlooms, jewels and ornaments given then.
One of the traditions of the day is that the
first unmarried person of either sex whom
one met on st. Valentines morning on walk
ing abroad was destined wife or husband.
And the first swain we see,
In spite of fortune, shall our true love be.
In Germany on st. Valentines eve the
peasant girls take Ave bay leaves, pin one to
each corner of the pillow and the fifth to the
middle; they must sleep on that pillow, and
If they then dream of their sweetheart, they
feel sure wedding chimes will be rung ere the
year closes. Another custom is to take an
egg, boil 1t hard, take out the yoik and fill it
III with salt, then, on going to bed, eat it,
salt, shell, and all, without speaking, eating,
or drinking afterward, and if you dream of
your lovor, BIO sure your love is returned and
thata wedding ring will soon bedeck your
hand. In Switzerland and Tyrol, peasant
girls and boys take bits of paper on which
are written names of friends of the opposite
sex, wrap them up in clay and drop them in
jars of water, and the first that rises to the
top holds the name of the Valentine.
One of the earliest known writers of valen-
tines was Charles, Duke of Orleans, who was
taken prisoner at the battle of Agincourt.
The day was alluded to by Shakespeare,
Chaucer, and most of the English poets, though
the most beautiful valentine on record was
by Drayton, poem in six stanzas, the fourth
of which reads as follows:
My lips I'll softly lay
Upon her heavenly cheek,
Dyed like the dawning day,
As polished ivory sleek;
And in her ear I'll say:
"Oh thou bright morning star,
IT'S that come 50 far,
My valentine to seek"
The marriage of the Princess Elizabeth of
England to Frederick Count Palatne, of the
Rhine, the marriage which gave the present
royal family to the throne of Great Bri tain,
occurred on St. Valentines day, 1614.
The barbarous custom now so much in
vogue of sending anonymously ON that day
caricatures and squibs, which are often cow
ardly insults, prompted by secret malice or
petty revenge, is of recent date and is often
source of great annoyance, principally in
dulged in by children, servants, and people
of low and Ignorant tastes. No Importance
should be attached to them, yet they some
long standing have been broken by comic
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. and suspicious have
been engendered by them that resulted in
lifelong nisery-fair names sullied.
BYRON never uttered truer words than when he
said, physicians mend or end u.s." But while
doctors disagree, all the world has agreed that
there is remedy equal to DIR, Bulls Cough Syrup,