The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1867-01-02
!" Round Dances
AN ECCLESIASTICAL BLAST AGAINST THEN

A'S '1<SAhN1A0AiSAL fDLASl A0AlNST THEN
The Baltimore Episcopal Methodist ha
an article on the subject Of the condemna
ton, by the rlenary council Of the Cathc
lie church, Of certain fashionable dances
The Methodist takes sides with the couu
Gil in the discussion that has ensued. ",
qaote: 81 =
"Nor are we ignorant Of round dance
as practiced now. We have observed then
at Saratoga night after night, until W
knew all We wished to know about them
An old doctor, accustomed for many year
to see the unvarnished side of society. i
not likely to BE- overprudish and fastidiou
about corporeal exhibitions; but if Escu
lapius had lived until now, he would hay,
thought it proper to lock at, the pbe
nomena Of the polka as we saw them q
Saratoga, except as permitted study il
aplmals physiology. or moral pathology
The young ladies who were handled ant
swung about there night after night nigh,
have been. perfectly innocent Of all evil
We trust they were-but, if We were youns
aud manageable again, we would no NOR.
think ofsecking one Of them for q wife
than We would select the show.cake in {
confectioner's window for home consump
ton. ltimight be very good cakc-bu,
then the association OF the ideas Of purit,
with public exposure and irreyprent hand
ling has a natural difficulty in it, 80 erea,
that, from what we have heard fall from
gay gentlemen, even the practice Of The
polka does nat overcome il. We know
the defence against it. We are entirel,
familiar with 'Honi soft guii mai u pens
Evil be to him who evil thinks; but this
motto of the garter is said to have oriui.
mated under circumstances that contndic.
ted its philosophy, and its use is commonly
true to its origin. It is we'll to have q
pure imagination, but to have one purged
OF common sense is not laudable. The
mind that eau perceive no evil tendencies
in things not positive breaches Of the com.
mandments is not only pure, but stupid
Inc Cordellers have a legend that, when
st. Francis saw young man stealthily
kissing a maiden, he raised his hands to
heaven and returned thanks to God that
there was so much Christian charity in the
world. The saint was so pure that he
could imagine no impulse to kissing but
Christian sympathy, and discern no spirit
in it but elevated religious devotion. Now,
we confess we are not pure enough to lie
stone blind. We are not to he 'honi s0id'
out OF our senses and a knowledge Of hu-
man nature. We do not think that polka
ing has power to steady the reason, and
that wal'zlng gives paralytic vertigo to
animal nature, or that Of the German
shufles the intellect into region Of pure
elevation inaccessible to the passions.
We do not think that gross improprieties
become harmless because they are fashion
able We think ola waltz much as Byron
did, who was not a Puritan. The opinion
Of the Catholic council derives great weight
rom the fact that it is based upon the
information obtained in the confessional
rom one end Of the county to the other.
The effect OF these dances upon the mind
and morals. with us, is an inference with
Them it is disclosure and We do not know
low its weight is to be resisted by the
g0taries of the fashion. s