The evening times., 1900-02-14

Early Part Of the Century Recalled
All Of the young and many Of the old
folk in this city know that this is Val
entine's Day, and many are the dainty tes-
timonials Of this fact that the untiring
postman is delivering at the homes along
his route. The day is celebrated in this
city as il is IN every other one in the
country. in a quiet but eNpectant manner.
It is universally Acknowledged that the
valentine has a long look back. Il dates
from the time OF Pagan Rome. It was the
Roman custom to devote the latter p0r-
lion of the month Of February to the cele-
bration OF the Lupercalia, or feasts in
honor Of the god Pan and the goddess
Juno. the last receiving the name OF Feb
Tusta or Febrclla.
The Romas. who copied the Greeks in all
their customs. had adopted the Atheuian
habit Of a love lottery by drawing the
names Of young girls at the Lupercalia.
but when Christianity had made its mark
and Rome was couy erted from pagauism
the members OF the holy council consid-
cred how to break on this decidedly anti
Christian amusement The golden youth Of
Rome stuck to the annual lottery, and il
would not have been prudent TO close il by
order OF law.
a simple and holy monk hit upon what
was thought a splendid device Let us, %
he said substitute the names of holy
women long since gone 10 their reward.
Narrower 81 hs g. Il f..
the middle Of February. place it under the
patronage Of some holy saint whose feast
falls about February IA or l5."
Unfortunately the history Of ST. VaIen-
tine and his disciples has little or no
chronological sequence. After the saint
was made patron Of the lottery OF love 90
nothing much is heard about him until the
Middle Ages. when he is found firmly es-
tablished as the patron. not Of a lottery
of holy souls" but Of flesh and blood
people, who reverenced him with extra
ordinary devotion.
The eve OF St Valentine S feast was kept
with great honor. Good parents recon-
mended their SONS and daughters to his
care, and the maideus prayed hard that the
morrow might bring them "a valentine
that later on would turn into a husband. %
The next morning. with the early dawn
everyone was on the qui viye.
ne 'h~lhiA OF CHOOSING iNF valentine
from chance meeting sometimes eutaiIeI
awkward consequence, as In the story OF
"a royal princess. who. rising one Naleu-
tines Day at an early hour. found on en-
tering her sitting room a young mason
VINO had come TO execute some repairs t0
The chimney According to the rites of the
saint. he was her valentine for twelve
months This. naturally. caused her in
tense annoyance. but there was no getting
out of the unpleasant position Her valeu-
tine he was. and should so remain He.
however proved 10 be most discreet In
the end he discovered a plot which was
hatchcd against her and saved her life
IL was an old English belief that the
birds selected their mates on St Vaien-
tines feast and that an influence o.
potency was inherent in the day which rem
dered in some degree binding the los or
chance by which any bachelor OF maiden
was at this time led to fix his OF her at
teutiOn on a person Of the opposite sex.
Old John DuutOu i'm The British
Apollo says that il was formerly the Gus
tom for the valentines to interchange
presents. In the reigns Of the Stuarts
however. there was introduced the French
fashion Of the man presenting his vaIen-
tine with bouquets and gifts all through
the year of their temporary engagement.
A11 AFklFF1 Aut EllAh btEALAt more NdluanIH.
Pepys speaks of the jewels given by the
Duke of York as a valentine to Mistress
Stuart. and tells how Lord Vaudeville. who
Was her valentine the following year. gave
her "a ring worth 81 400 This giving Of
presents became al last a heavy tax and
later on pOetiCal valentines were in many
instances substituted for more costly gifts
The literature OF the valentine is ex-
tremely dinuse, any one possessing the
growing mania for collecting might
equip himself with a library Of pocket
books dramas gift books. poems. and let
ter writers. quizzing. satirical and virtu-
GUS
The earliest poetical valentine is ascribed
to Charles. Due dOrleans. who was taken
prisoner al the battle Of Agincourt. 14l5
and. being carried TO England. was i'm
prisOned in the Tower Of London. He was
OF romantic. imaginative turn of mind
and some Of his verses are full Of melodious
lines
Lydgate. the Monk of Bury, was also
early In the field as a valentine writer. Tn
I4io he addressed Queen Catherine. cousort
of Henry v, in some quaint verses.
Among the earlier English poets. CDau-
GER Phineas Fletcher, Raleigh. Spenser
Ben JonsOn. Marlowe. and William Cart
wright all contributed to the literature Of
St Valentines Day.
The beginning Of the century saw the in
PRODUCTION OF the pictorial valentine.
fashion which grew at once into poplar
favor. The first noticeable feature I'm the
new picture valentine was the manifest in
feriOrity Of the poetry. which at once sank
90 a bald and inartistic level. the greater
being bestowed upon the wood
cut that adorned the sheet from 1900 70
1928 These woodcuts were of all kinds
elegant. vulgar. sentimental. hearts trans
hNed by darts, turtle doves. and a prOfu
sion Of fat boys. supposed to be Cupids
The verses We're sometimes written in a
fine running hand, sometimes printed.
Later on the lace edged valentine was
and was considered singularly
elegant, being ornamented by painted bas-
kets of roses, fOrget-me- nOts. and true
lovers knots. The valentines were. how
ever. Of all kinds and prices TO suit every
the trade invenung new pat
terms every year just as is now the case
with Christmas cards.
This was the f0reshadowing of the an
preaching end of st. Valentines influence.
The world was becoming hard. practical:
money was lord of the situation and ST
Valentines vOtaries were growing gradu-
ally fewer and fewer. He struggled to
Keep his place. but the advent Of the rort |
little Christmas card, which is in no way
compromising, gave him temporary set /
back
The girl OF the period is clever onoupb |
10 make her val ntines at home She paints |
lovers knots. floating ribbons. and bleed |
ing hearts on parchment paper on which
she inScribes verse from one Of the CID |
time poets. II she is not clever enough To /
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