(_For the Mirror_.)
The earliest poetical Valentines remaining, are those preserved in the
works of Charles Duke of Orleans, father to Louis XII. of France. He was
taken prisoner at the battle of Agincourt, and remained in England
twenty-five years, and called his mistress his _Valentine_. In the royal
library of MSS. now in the British Museum, there is a magnificent volume
containing his writings whilst in England; it belonged to Henry VIII. for
whom it was copied from older MSS. It is illuminated: one painting
represents the duke in the White Tower, at a writing table. This MSS. also
contain some of the compositions of Eloisa.