The farmer and mechanic., 1907-02-12

a..th n committing adultery. -.
IS hat sstonishes the nations IS haw
! that divorce bill got through the
( House without anF buiy'S knowing II.
and what adds TO the estnnishment i
| the ~enate.s failure - rcuqke Il meas
urc - palpabiy out Of harmony With
| the teaching of Christ
The Sermon on the Mount T. the
! On i-tian.s platfprm-the fundasuen-
tai ~ Christianity Take that sermon
ans of the \eW Testament and the
! Christian - without chart Take
everything else from the book but
I leave tae sermon and the Christian
knows how and where he stands IN
( that sermon all the essentials Of 3
godig life are clearly taught and the
salvsiti n Of men as well aS legisIa-
tors. depends anon whether or NOT
/ they stand on the platform. Hence
Jesus s.ys. AT the close Of that ser
mon: Many VIII say unto me in
that day Lord, lord. have we not
propne-}cd in Thy name? ana in thy
name cast out devils ana in thy name
done many wonderful works2' To-
which his reply win be- ''%Ct every
one THAT saith unto me Lord i. .d
shall enter into the Kingdom Of !ira-
ven, but he that doeth the Will Of Ny
Father which is heaven Therefore,
Hhosoever hcarcth these sayings Of
mime ana doeth them | wiz ljken him
unto wise man. and every
one that neareth these sayings Of
minc ana doeth them not shall he
| likened unto 4 foolish man"
From which W. learn that ones
salvation depends upon his doing the
/ things taught in that most wonderful
sermon. and that being so, it would hc
well for al Of US to read il. now and
then. and see what it does say--lesis-
satarS well as Ctharr
Next Thursday VIII be St Nalen-
tines Day. and, according 10 the old
time custom. the day TO commence
gardening-to plant onions, SOW peas
plant irish potatoes ana put out early
cabbage plants. It's the day ais,
when birds mate and the young folks
send out valentines-in other words
love tokens-Which. in so many cases.
have resulted in match making.
St Valentine WAS bishop of the
early church but on account of some
opinions which he held he was be-
! headed by the order of Claudius II
Emperor Of Rome. Some years after-
wards his name was chosen by the
Chrieuans as the patron saint Of their
festivals
Why the 14th Of February Il cele-
brated as St Valentines day. gsoWs
out Of the fact that Christians took
for 4 festival occasion the
day or which the Romans had
celebrated the feast Of the
Lupercalia. q feast of Pan, the fableG
god Of the shepherds. on that day The
young men met together and placed
names OF certain maidans in recep-
tacle. from which each in turn drew
one-thus choosing their lady-loves
for a year. The girl was supposed to
submit gracefully to this drawing,
whether or not The spread of Chris
tianity in the Roman empire revolu-
tionized the old pagan festivals. and
out Of the feast of I.uperCalia came st.
Valentines Day, but the Young people
keut ~ the old custom Of drawing for
sWeothearts Many a modest man
sighed for whole year for the com
ing of St Valentines Day when he
could have the privilege of drawing
for his girl
one of the most popular supersti-
tions, in connection with this day was
that the first unmarried man a girl met
in the morning. was decreed by fate to
be her future husband. A custom
which would not be very unpopular
with the unmarried men of this day
and time was that a bachelor had the
privilege Of kissing the first girl he met
on that day.
Another superstition was that the
girl who peeped out of the door early
IN the morning. and saw a hen and
rooster mating together would GER
pired Surprising that all the girls
want to marry. | suggest to them that,
early risin~ would very materially aid
them in getting a glimpse of that hen
and rooster.
If a love-sick maiden in the oldcn
times wi he'd to dream of her future
husband she pinned bay leaves to her
pillow and had q good dream on the
night of st Valentine day
After awhile it became the fashion
n 4
Queen Elizabeth the beauX anl
bellies ran wild in extravae ant giving
1t is recorded that Sir Waller Raleigh
received a hundred and fifty thons-
and dollars worth of Jewels from
tn ladies' Of the Queens court. IIe
must nave been a heart breaker as a
beau among the girls sure enough
Sending card valentines had bio
run in England during the eighteenth
century. and of course. the custom
came over here. and fortunes have
been made printing cards with ex-
pressive pictures and sentimental
verses.
In the country. when I was a boy
7 used to see some exquisteIy cut pa
per valentines. home made rh V
We're full of hearts and on or arouul
those hearts We're written the tend-.-
est sentiments that IOve-sick girls or
heart-hcokpn boys could manufacture
Some were intended to be humorous
as Well as ornamental and sentt-
mental.
A youth who thought he would he
funny as well as sentimental sent his
best girl a valentine which was as
round as the moon. and nearly rs
large, but of course. cut full If
hearts, around the border Of which he
wrote in a bold hand the following:
Round as the ring that has no end:
SO is my love for you. dear friend;
In answer to this valentine
| shall expect from you a line: