Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-02-13
From the Washington Star.
SAINT VALENTINE.
Something About the Patron of the Four
teenth of February.
HE MAY NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
CUSTOM OF SENDING VALENTINES, FOR
THE PRACTICE is SAID TO HAVE HAD ITS
ORIGIN IN AN OLD PAGAN FESTIVAL.

Saint Valentine. according to some &C.
clesiastical writers, was bishop, while
others assert that he was prestyter. but
they agree that he was bebeaded at Rome
in the year 270, during the reign of the
Emperor Claudius, aud was soon after can
on ;zed. A Star man. in looking up the
history of this venerable saint, has found
that he was said to have been a man of
eminent piety and $50 famous for his love
and charity that the custom of choosing
Valentines on his festival took its rise from
thence" If the practice of exchanging
valentines, or messages of affection, arose
from the observance OF the festival of this
saint, the old gentleman is responsible for
much blighted affection ana many blasted
hopes. True he can comfort himself in the
knowledge that many happy pairs have
| been mated through the medium of valen-
| tine, and have lived thereafter long and
useful lives. But they are like the good
| who need no repentance, while those who
have had their dispositions sOured and their
lives made barren waste by the failure of
some one to send them tender valentine,
or by the receipt of one of those caricaiur-
istic mOsstrosities known as cpmic vslen
tine, even though the sender Intended only
harmless fun, are the black sheep who
need repentance but never recent. A the
pondero-ity of evil is create than good, the
| lid saint must feel that he is having a sac
ond edition of purgatory when be contem
plates the vast amount of misery thst has
had its origin on the 14th of February.
IN JUSTICE TO ST. VALENTINE.
hoWever, who from all accoua ats was a very
worthy 1t should be said that although
his name has been given to the one day in
the year when the postal revenues are
greatly Increased by the transmission Of
messages of love or evidences Of hate, the
custom probably took it's rise from prac-
tice prevalent in ancient R rme at the festi.
val Of the Lupercalia during the month of
February, when, among other ceremonies,
the names of young women were placed in
box fr,m which they were taken by
Young men as chance directed. THIS
uisiana lottery way Of disposing of the
surplus young women OF Rome worked we'll
In some cases and in some it did not turn
out so we'll. The Augurs insisted that this
method of procedure was directed by the
gods, but the young men who drew women
With shrswish or vixeuish dispositions be
ieveo that the neither deities directed the
selection. Whether the young men who
drew the names from the box were chosen
by lot or whether they were drafted for
that purpose as young men are DOW con
scripted for the army is not known, bot it
is reported that those who got bad bargains
used to aLathematze the box, and that
from this arose the expression which is used
even in these times.
Tin BAD BOX"
The early fathers of the church looked
upon this method of marrying as a sort of
free-love affair, and of course could not
countenance it. They tried at first to extr-
pate this pagan ceremony, but finding that
IMPOSSIBLE, they proceeded to change its
form. They arranged it that on the eve
of the 14Ih of February the names of a &C.
leot number of one sex should be put into
some vessel by an equal number of the
ether sex, and then every one drew name,
which, for the time being, was called his
or her valentine. This, it will be seen,
gave those preparing the rames an oppor-
tunity to select those particularly pleasing
to them, aud as the coupling was but for a
day, it could not lead to any uncomfortable
results. It was sort of mock betrothal
and the pairs made by chance furnished
great amusement to those who witnessed
the drawing The drawing was always
supervised by the local maguates of the
place where the festival vas celebrated, and.
as will readily be understood, every ticket
was pr'za, like the grab bag Of church
fair. Indeed, some historians insist that
this was the origin of the church fair, al
though this transaction was much more
fair than many that have been witnessed
st some of the fairs in recent days. The
young people ~ho drew AID who were
drawn were greatly euvied by their assoc
ates and high honors were paid to them
Frequently these valentining couples be-
came genuinely attached to each other, and
| then they toDk the chances of married life.
Sometimes when a young man's luck WAS
against him and he dtdo't draw the name
of ihs girl that be wanted, he would trade
IF the one ha did get for the one whom he
desired, aud then all would be well l. is not
i'm possible that the modsru 4ctce Of trad
ing cand dates on the day Of election had lts
origin iu the ab we practics.
ANOTHER ALLEGED ORIGIN
of Valentines day is said to DO that birds
were supposed to select their mates on the
14th of February. Shakespeare gives hint
of this in ''Midsummer Nights Dream"
when he says: saint Valentine is pas;
begin these wood birds but TO con pie now "
The Poet Walton gracefully refers to this
tradition as follows: ''N,w all nature
Seem d 10 love, aud the birds had drawn
The ir valentines"
Whatever its origin the celebration of ST..
Valentines day is very ancient, and the OBJ
servancs has INCREASED with the advance in
Intelligence and culture. 10 Shaksspeare's
time it was the custom to send presents of
gloves, garters and jewelry, and he recog
uized the sway that Cupid had on that day
by making poor Ophelia in her insanity tell
hsr affection for Hamlet as follows;
Tomorrow Is ST. Valentines day
ALI In the morning betime.
And ! a maid at your wndoT
To be your Valentine.
In doing this Shakespeare followed the
scientilic theory that the uppermost
thoughts in the mind always flnd extrava-