Show valentines DAY wednesday last boro alio above appellation and m the buiso of a lovers day doubtless brought joy and chopo to the hearts of many of our our young unmarried friends who that day received iberio atud in lauy cases highly artistic tokens of regard from their ad of tho opposite sex whilo others again not so fortunate acro tho recipients of hideous caricatures of tho analo or fonalo eguro 03 an principally of the of or moro properly speaking of tho vulgar lack of lasto of boino of their escudo friends alio custom of lending these missives sentimental ur otherwise had its origin in tho misty ages of a pagan antiquity wo nrc told that the ancient llo roans during tho celebrated in abo month of february acro wont among other things to put tho names of young women ill a box from which they were drawn by tho men as chanco directed thou we aro told again that tho custom of choosing valentines is a relic of that nature religion which was undoubtedly the primitive form of religion iu western europe as elsewhere and that it arose from tho peculiarity of alic season henso tha explanation that about this time of the year tho birds choose their mates aul thence probably iame the custom of tho young men and maidens choosing valentines or special loving friends on that day the custom seems t have attained its height during the century the of february beisig then accounted one of the most important daya of the year among all classes of society on the avo of st Val cutino n number of young folks maids and bachelors would assemble together und inscribe upon little billets the names of an equal number if mails and bachelors of their acquaintance t hiow the whole into a receptacle of ron and then draw them lottery care of course being cauca tauca that each should draw ono of alio op tox tho person thus drawn becoming anoa valentine those imaginary engagements often lodato real ones because one necessary consequence of them was that for a whole year a bachelor remained bound to the service of his somewhat after the fashion of a medieval knight of t his lady lovo these somewhat riu antic customs have been principally substituted in this malter of fact generation by the demling between pantios of either sex of delicately perfumed artistically stamped and decorated paper mementos these sentimental and in man cases costly missives arc ut times by the sending of ridiculously colored caricatures of the human figure that serve mainly to shiow that tho thereof are of alio class with whom vulgar edite and malice are the most prominent traits of character happily this last description of mi valentines i re largely on the decrease the education and consequent refinement of the masses being undoubtedly a potent factor in removing such tastes |