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Saint Valentine after whom Valentine's Day is named was a Roman bishop, living about the third century of our era. He was made a saint, since he died a martyr at the hands of a mob. The old gate once called Flaminian was afterward made a monument to his memory, being called the “Porta Valentina,” by Pope Julius I.

We cannot, in brief space, give a history of the observances of this saint’s day. Lydgate, the English poet, about the middle of the fifteenth century sent a poem in true valentine fashion to Queen Katherine, the French bride of Henry V. Charles, Duke of Orleans, however, had sent a poetical valentine even earlier. Within two centuries afterward it had become the fashion to send presents instead of verses, but in the eighteenth century the fashion changed again, and the sending of verses has been customary ever since.

because books are the instruments with which teachers work in educating children, young students are very likely to have an idea that the main object in reading a book is to acquire information. They may, perhaps, be surprised to learn that all the best critics believe that information is only, at best, secondary as a purpose for reading; and this is true even if one reads only for self-improvement. Of course, much of one’s reading out of school hours should rightfully be looked upon as recreation, but always without forgetting the derivation of this word. There are two things that we may mean by recreation for the mind. The soul is recreated, not only by amusement or a pleasant change of occupation, but also by being inspired. The word “inspire,” too, has a suggestive meaning. It comes from the old idea of drawing in new life by breathing pure, fresh air; and just as this recreates the lungs, so the taking in of fresh, pure ideas inspires the mind. For this reason, the right reading of good poetry may be considered the best and the most improving form of pleasure derivable from books. Just as facts help us when thinking, the ideas given us by the poets help us when feeling, which is the more important in one’s life.

Though no line can be drawn strictly between the two sorts of reading, schools must give most of their attention to teaching you facts, and therefore you should see that your outside reading contains plenty to supply the other more imaginative element,

that books are to be had in every form, at every price, and on all subjects, we must each of us find some way of judging what books are worth while. No doubt many of us are guided by the opinions of friends; some judge by reviews published in various periodicals; possibly there are those who choose by chance, and never know beforehand whether a book is worth the time they must spend on it.

If there is any one of our readers who can give a valuable bit of advice to help in this most important matter of choosing good reading, it would be a kindness to all who desire not to waste their time upon inferior work.

one will deny for a moment that the printing-press has brought as many good gifts as the most benevolent fairy; but while giving due credit to the movable types for beneficent work, we may also say a word of warning in regard to those losses which are brought about by the abundance of printed books. One of the most serious of these is the disuse of tradition—the handing down by word of mouth of the legends, customs, folk-lore, and even the harmless superstitions, of the past. It is nol quite fair to say that these are utterly lost through printing, for scholars are taking care that material of this sort shall be gathered into store-houses of information—that is, into volumes meant expressly to preserve facts such as these. The loss to which we refer is, rather, a disappearance of these matters from every-day life. Before a child is old enough to read, there is a great mass of baby lore heard from the lips of