Kanawha Valley star. [volume] (Charleston, Va. [W. Va.]) 1856-1861, 1857-02-24
Dalneips..

ing doves, and signed Fanny Light
foot" Fanny is very fond Of dancing,
but has been told thai dancing is wrong.
Fanny is in dilcmma-she don't like to
give up dancing-she wont do wha. i
wrong. The STARS opinion is asked.
We have descended from our elevated
editorial tripod" from which we are ac-
customed to look abroad over the whole
world and the rest of mankind. We have
restricted our view. usually bounded on
" BY the 1imitless horizon, 10 the mar
row walls Of a ballroom, and give to the
anxious Fanny our best opinion. ;
Far away in the East, it has been long
preached and considered TO be a heinous
sin to Kill cow. Just think of it, Fan
nv, that BY the law of Brahmin, every
time you penetrate a suceulent beefstake
with YOUR brilliant irories, YOU have COM
mitted. sin. ~-''Ah," YOU reply, 1.-The
priests Of Brahmin though good men,
are mistaken" Precisely so, young la
dy;. but apply your excellent reasoning
TO your own priests, and your CONCLUSION
viii be correct. Despite the ingeneons
arguments to the contrary; your sex are
reasonable beings, Dance ON then, dear
Fanny, with light foot and a light heart
and make this arrangement with your
phostly adviser, when he shows you
single chapter, passage OF text, IN the HI
bic that ,forhids dancing, tell him. you
will stop. .>@ +
But with the usual fondness Of your
sex for asking questions, yGuwil ] enquire
Did our preachers 'invelA tho sin ofdan-'
cling? No, not, our present preachers.
but their predecessors did, some hun
drods of years ago. At that time, there
existed in England a body of men, about
whose good and bad qualities mankind
are even now much divided, called Puri-
tans. These Puritans were of opinion
that, every thing that was pleasant,4mer
ry, gay or beautiful, was irreiigious.
Accordingly, they Numbered through the
press and pulpit, against girls erecting
a May pole, or gentlemen wearing their
hair curled and oiled, (the "unloyeliness
efzlove- locks" they called it,, } against
ladies wearing beautiful dresses. or men
having cheerful codntenapoes-in their
opinion, sourness was near akin to god
illness. Their descendants in New Eng
land, went further. Not Content with
cndcavoring to control and cramp the
beautiful and innocent gaie|y Of the hui
man heart, they endeavoled to control
the laws of nature. that govern the mate
ffisl world, they cowhided the ale barrels,
(thfse grim men were fond of ale, be-
cause their malt liquor fermented Oh Sun
day: L.: H..
In the progress Of time, these good,
though mistaken men, found that while
they were preaching against things not
forbidden by the Bible, sims that are for
hidden, were: fearfully on the increase,
such as hypocrisy, fraud, chicanery, lust
and murder. They found that in order
to wrestlc with that roaring lion, the
devil. and give him a fair fall, they must
take strong hold OH strong points, and
discard manufactured sins. The sin~ef
dancing comes down to US fossil re-
main, and almost the only entire speci-.
men of the fabrics of the Puritans. By
the time, dear Fanny, that your grand
daughter feels thc.saltatory motion..in her
heel, so natural to sweet sixteen, the sin
of dancing will be exploded. :
But, take notice, Miss Fanny, we say,
there is nothing wrong in "sioaple dane
i4g.p We do not approve of fancy
danGing. We reprobate an waltzes,
polk as, or caehoeas Now, you will rea
Oily admit" that "hugging" in the alb
stract is wrong. You would not permit
it for the world. The same objection
that you haze to sedentary, or stationary
hug ging, is sl'y~applicable to sal tta,
ny: Augging and, in addition, it IS lsSfe
public, and not SO satisfactory -
Discard then al French. Yankee and
new tangled dsnees,~and stick to the old
English eountry,dsuee. and the Old Vir-
ginih reel. And for your kindness in H.
Illuminating the dim chamber, of an old
bachelor with your sPrightiy letter. and
for recalling the innocent pleasure Of his
past dancing days, he sends your greet
ing. through the dim murkiness of his
printers ink, his gopd wishes, and may
your heart and your heels never be hea-
vier.
:.