Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-02-14
ST. VALENTINES DAY.
Origin Of the Custom and Its Old Time
Observanee-Prizes In the Mat
rimonial Lottery.
Escorts Bound Faithful Attendants for q
Year-Bomestio Life During the
Reign OF Charles II.
Washington Republican.

,
one Of those ancient festivals which,
though once held in very high repute, has
gradually degenersted into an occasion
of little moment and one very lightly re-
garded. Its observances, like many of
those pertaining to Christmas, Easter,
and other holy days, may be directly
traced to the ancient Romans, who, CEN
turtles before Christ, were accustomed to
held great feests in honor of Pan and
Juno during February, from which month
the latter deity derived her additional
names OF Februata, Februalis and Februl-
la. These festivities were known
as the Lupercalia, and during
their continuance, among 8 great
many other ceremonies, small tablets
bearing the names oil young women were
placed in the box and drawn out by the
young men after the manner of q lottery.
Each person drawing was in honor bound
to be the faithful attendant of her who
had fallen to his lot from that time until
| twelve months had rolled around and
brought another Lupercalia and 8 new
drawing, though 1t not unfrequently hap
pened thst long before that time the con-
slant association thus eugendered had
caused this sham engagement to termi-
nate in real one. The principal reason
for holding this matrimonial lottery dur
ing the festivities OF the Lupercali6 was
because they were celebrated at time Of
the year when, it was popularity believed,
the birds selected their mates, tradition
that still attaches to St. Valentines day.
This notion is referred to by Shakespeare
10 his midsummer Nights Dream" act
~, scene 1, where he makes Theseus
say:'
st. Valentine is pastj
Begin these wood birds but to coupe now
When Christianity shed its first Iumin-
Gus rays over the pagan hearts of ancient
Rome the early fathers encountered one
Of their hardest tasks In endeavoring to
crush out heather superstitions and in
trying to induce the people to abandon
heather festivities. They found that the
best means Of accomplishing this latter
end was to diver all such observances of
, undue solemnitY while retaining all their
social aspects and associating them either
remotely or directly with some person or
thing pertaining to the church. For the
festivities of the Lupercalis they substi-
tuted tt ose o. st. Valentines Day, the rel =
retaining the date of the ancient festival
and at the same time connecting it with
Christianity through q great salAt who
suffered martyrdom in the third century,
beng first beaten with clubs and then be-
headed While priest Of Rome, where mis-
remains now rest in the church OF ST.
HAxedes, and where gate, now known
as the Porta del Popolo, was forme' y
called, in his honor, the Porta Valentino.
When 1t is considered that this excel
| lent mSn never, either directly or In
directly, bore any relation whatever to
the observanees and ceremonies peculiar
TO the day devoted TO him, 1t seems,V cry
strange that his name should have come
to be applied to sweethearts and to the
written, printed, and painted amatory
addresses which they are annually &C.
customed to exchange, as well as to the
highly colored comical and satirical
wOodcuts, with few lines of doggered
printed beneath them, which are so
| literally displayed in the stationers' win
dows at this time. 1t has sbeen stated
that 1t was fromIthe fact that Valentine
was renowned for his universal love and
charity, that the custom of choosing
love.partners upon his day and calling
| them by his name took its rise, but this
idea was long since exploded. It is now
well known that the only reason why
these observances are..aassocisted with
St. Valentine is the one already given
that the early fathers desired to
Cnristisnizs the heather festival of the
Lupercalis, and to have it fall upon &
sacred day OF approximate date.
The good ch0rchman found 1t impossi-
BILE to persuade the common people to
entirely abandon any ceremony to which
they had become deeply attached. De-
spairing, therefore, Of abolishing the
matrimonial lottery of the LupercGlls,
they modified its form and endeayored TO
give it religious character by substitu-
ting the names OF particular saints to be
drawn as valentines instead of the names
I. of men and women. From this ancient
usage is derived the custom, still occa-
sionally observed in some Catholic coun-
tries, OF selecting on S.. Valentines Day
for the ensuing year patron saint, who
is called valentine. But the young men
ard maidens, finding little amusement in
drawing out the names of -and-gone
saints, soon relspsed into heir old Gus
tom of drawing each other and even 81
the present time in many Of the rural dis
tricts Of England and Scotland 1t ie Gus
tomarY on the eve of st. Valentines Day
for the young people Of both sexes tc
draw lots for valentine. AS the meI
draw from bag containing the names
of the maids while the latter
draw from one containing the names o.
the men, it generally happens that eaci
person has two valentines, but the youDs
men regard themselves much more
strongly bound to the valentines the!
have drawn than to the one who hal
draw them. II, as sometimes happens
a young man and woman should eacl
chance to draw the other, 1t is regarded
as absolutely certain that they are des'
tined to wed, and must not, under any
circumstances permit their attention o.
affection to centre elsewhere.
During the reign Of Charles II, as W.
learn from that most interesting snC
curious record of the domestic life o.
that period preserved for US in the disrI
of Mr.. Pepys, married people were equally
eligible with single ones for the LOTTERY
of st. Valentines Eve, and any ont
chosen as 8 valentine was IN honor bound
to give q present to the person choosing
him or her. On St. Valentines Day
1867, Mr.. Pep7s writes, "This morning
came up to my wife's bedside
Il being up dressing myself,
little Will Mercer to be her valentine, snC
brought her name written upon blut
paper In gold letters, done by himself
very pretty, and we were both wei
\ pleased with 1t. But ! am also this zeal
NV vyifeta valentine, and IL will not cos