National Republican., 1888-02-05

It. Valentines bay, February II, which |
falls this year ON next Tuesday week, is one
of those ancient festivals which, though once
held in Srry high rrputc has gradually dr-
generated into an occasion of little moment |
and one very lightly regarded. Its ub>cry- |
anrcS, like many of those pertaining lu
Christmas, Faster, and other holy days, may |
hr directly traced tO the ancient Romans, |
who, centuries before thrist, were accustomed |
to hold great feast ia hunuruf IAN and Juno |
during Fcbrunry from which month the lat |
ter deity derived her additional names Of
fcbruuta. fchluulS. and frbrllIa. ThcS,
festivities were known ns the Lupcrraiia, nnd
during their continuance, among great
MANY other ceremonies, small tablets bearing
the names of young women were placed III
Il box and drawn out by the young men after
the manner of lottery. Each person draw
ing was in honor bound to be the faithful at
tcndunt of her who had fallen To his lot from
that time until twelve months had rolled
around and brought another Lupcrcalia and
new drawing, though it not unircqucntly
happened that long before that time the CON
slant association thus cngCndcrc,l had caused
this sham engagement To terminate in Il real
one. The principal reason for holding this
matrimonial lottery during the festivities
of the Lupcrculu was because they were
celebrated ut II time of the year WHEN, II was
pupulurly believed, the birds'. selected thclr
mates "A tradition that still attaches To ~.
VALENTINES Duy This notion is referred to
h,. Shukrsprurc in his Midsummer Night
Dream" act ~, scene |, where he makes
ThcscuS say,
"St. Valentine l. past
Bcpin these wOud birds hut to couple now''
When christianity shed its first luminous
rnys over the pagan hearts of ancient Rome
thn early fathers encountered one of their
hardest tasks in cndcavoring to crush out
hcathcn SupcrsttionS and in trying to induce
the people to abandon hcathcn festivities.
They found that the best means OF accom-
plishing this latter end was To divert all such
obseryunccS of undue Sulcmnity while re-
tanning all their social aspects and asS"clatlhg
them either remotely or directly with some
person or thing pertaining To the church.
For the festivities of the LupcrraIia they sub
stitutrd those Of 1t. Valentines Day, thereby
retaining the date of the ancient festival and
tinuity through great saint who suffered
martyrlom in the third century, being hrSt
beaten with clubs and then hchcadcd while II
nriost of Rome, where his remains now rest
in the church of St. IIaXcdcS, and where Il
gate, now known rs the Porta del Popolo,
was formerly called, in his shonur, the Porta
Nalcntin.
When il is considered that this excellent
man never. either directly or indirectly, bore
any relation whatever To the hcob,crvanccs and
ceremonies peculiar to the day devoted To
him, it seems very strange that his name
should have come to be applied to sweet
hearts and to the written, printed, ana
paintcd amatory addresses which they ar,
annually accustomed To exchange, as well H.
to the highly-colorcd comical and satirlca
woodcuts, with few lines of doggere
printed beneath them, which are 50 libcrallS
displayed in the stationcrS' windows ut tliS
time. 1t has been stated that ii was from tn,
fact that st. Valentine was renowned for his
universal love and charity; that the custom
of choosing lovc-pnrtncrS upon his day and
calling them by his name took its rise but
this idea was long since exploited. II is now
well known that the only reason why thCs,
obserynnccs are associated with St. Nacn
tine is the one already givcn-that he early
fathers desired to thriStianizc the heather
festival of the lupcrcalla' and to have it tal
upon a sacred day of approximate date.
The good churchman found IT imposSibI,
To persuade the common people to entirely
abandon any ceremony To winch they la,
become deeply attached. DcSptiring, there
fore, of abolishing the mntrimonial Lottery
of the Iupcrcalia. they modified its form
and cndcavurcd to give it Il religious char
nctcr by substituting the names of particula
saints to be drawn aS valentines instead q
the names of men and women. From thi
ancient usage is derived the custom, still
occasionally observed in some atholic coln
tries hf selecting, ON st. Valentine Day, 10
the /nsuing year, Il patron saint, who /
calkt II valentine. But the young men an,
madcns, nnding little amusement in draw
ing out the names of dcad-and-gonc saints
soon rclnpscd into their old custom of draw
ing each other, and even ut the present tim
in many of the rural districts of Emglan'
and Scotland il is customary on the eve u
St Valentines Day, for the young people u
both sexes to draw lots for II valentine \
the men draw from II bag containing tin
names of the maids, while the latte
draw from one containing the names q
the men, il generally happens that each per
son has two valentines but the young mel
regard themselves much more strongly boun
TO the valentines they have drawn than {
the one who has drawn them, II, rs som,
times happens, Il young man and wOina
should each chance To draw the other, II
regarded uS absolutely certain that they al
destined to wed, and must not, under an
circumstances, permit thclrhltchlloh urhllrI
tion To centre elsewhere.
During the reign of Charles II, rs we lear
from that most interesting and curious rccOr
of the domestic life of that period preserve
for us in the diary of Mr.. Pcpys, marie
people were equally eligible with single one
for the lottery of st, Valentines Eve, and an
one chosen nN valentine was III llohor bonn
To give Il present to the person choosing hil
or her. On It. Valentines Day, 1867, NJ
Pcpys writes, This morning came up to m
wiic's bedside Il being up dressing myself
little viii Mercer to be her valentine, AN
brought her name written upon blue pap,
in gold letters, done by himself very prctl.
and we were both well pleased with it. l5t
am also this year my wiic'S valentine, an
il will not cost me t5 but that | must haN
laid ont If We had not been valentines. q
Feb Ii of the same yrar-tWo days later
he again writes: IL find that Mrs Pierce
little girl is my vacutinc, she having draw
me, which was not sorry for, it casing III
of something more that | must have given
others but here do first observe tnc ijlsl
ion of drawing mutO"s II, well rs names, ;
that Pierce who drew my wife, did draw ais
Il motto, and this girl drew another for IN
What mine was | forget. but my wiiCS VI
Most courteous and most fair which, Us
may be used uS an ,nugrlm upon each nam
might he very pretty Again, aluding
the Obligation resting upon II chosen waller
tine to give a present to the person chOOSin
hc writes of the celebrated Miss Stuart, attc
ward duchess of Richmond; The Duke
York, being once hcr valentine did give IN
,,.l ..,.lA A. 4