The daily gazette., 1878-07-15
brother Mann ON Dancing.

uanclnE at the Bright House, Reh0Doth.
Rev. j. B. Mann, of Union NJ. e. Church,
yesterday morning, took for his text 1st
John, I'd chapter, latter part of the 10Th
verse: "If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him."
This fact, said Brother Me"n, is not
generally believed. Christ says, off you
love me, keep my commandments" and
we say, those only love God who do not
love the world, and who show by their
actions that they do not Many persons
when asked to make choice between love
of God and love of the world, are like
| the young man in the Scriptures, who was
told by Christ to "sell all thou hast and
follow me ;"-they go sorrowfully away.
The love of God and the love of the
world are two separate and distinct
| hings-antagonistic and hostile to each
other; they are incompatible and can
never be reconciled.
Brother Mann next analyzed the mean
| ing of the "world" as used in the Bible.
| IL has variety of meanings. First it
means the earth on which we live. Some
| times the inhabitants. Again. the uni
verse the whole creation of God, bears
| the name of the world Sometimes it
means the state and condition of the
| minds and hearts of the people, as when
, the Psalmist says, 81 have overcome the
| world" Then, again it means the evil
| that is IN the world and the state of human
| feelings. And lastly it means the wealth,
pleasure and human happiness that can
| be extracted from the world. This is the
sense in which it is used in that most
fearful passage of the Bible, "What shall
| 1t profit man if he gain the whole world
and lose his own soul ?". In this is the
sense in which 1 shall speak of it.
| There is certain class of people in
| every community who think that they
can do with perfect impunity and with
out harm, those things that it would be
sin for Others to indulge in. This spirit
| is born of recklessness and fanatacism,
| and with such people you can reason un-
| til they die without being able to change
| them. 1t is this fanatacism that causes
men to do rash things for Christianity,
but to do nothing for themselves. This
is the spirit that has prevailed in the city
| of NJ ontreal during the past week, threat
! ening so much terror and blOGdshed. And
here L would say that in my opinion the
meanesJ Mayor that ever lived is the
| Mayor of this same city of Montreal. If
/ was the ruler of England ] would trans
port him to the deepest jungles of India,
| where even the tigers would not be able
( TO growl at him. l don't believe there is
an honest Catholic in the country that
does not despise him as traitor of hui
manity, to God and to truth.
| The Reverend gentleman nextproceed-
|
| loves God less than he does the world.
He does it when he prefers the world
| to God some men become so much de-
voted to their business that they work at
it on Sunday. There are in this city
Methodists and Quakers-two denonina-
tions that, of all others, should be asham-
| ed of such practce-who not only settle
up their business affairs on Sunday, but
send for their agents and map out their
| work for the coming week.
Man loves God less when he seeks after
the world. God does not tell lis to seek
the world, but to avoid doing so, the first
duty of man is to seek the Kingdom of
righteousness, and those who seek the
world instead will soon sever their hearts
from God.
Christians love the world when they
seek its pleasures " ithout regard to the
duties and responsible God lays upon
them.
People love God less when they find
their greatest happiness in the world
They think rehgioni is to give them the
most pleasure here, and take them home
when they die. The great end of life is
not that an individual shall be happy but
that he shall do good. True religion
satisfies all the needs of the soul. Ina
glne Wesley, Luther, and other old re-
dancing in order to be happy. Dancing
is the most bowitching of ali the vulgar
amusements by which the Devil takes
young people away from Christ. 1t is a
useless waste of time, and people might
be better employed Besides, it is ridicu-
lous and senseless to see men and women
Jumping over the floor like fish in the
lsprlngtlme.
Dancing also cost great deal of money
and no single good ever resulted from it.
1t so. l would like to know It, People
will spend $500 or $500 for having their
children taught to dance, and give only
five or ten dollars to the church.
Dancing places children in company not
fit for ladies' or gentleman. 1t puts them
into intimate contact with most despi-
cable of persons, dancing master. He
is II man who would not be tolerated in
the society of colored people, he is COM
| pletely cut out; yet, people will permit
their daughters to be put under the care
OF drunken, dissolute dancing master.
| would rather bury my daughter than
place her under such company.
Then again, dancing puts your daugh-
ters into, the society fmen that you would
: not associate with in ordinary life. 1t is
| also destructive of intelligence. 1t edu-
{ Gates the heels and not the head. 1t fails
to touch the mind aud ruins the heart.
| And lastly, it is destructive OF virtue as
is eyidenced by many instances in the
best society of the largest cities. 1t is
destructive of the soul, and those who
dance, will dance themselves to hell.
: 81 never did think much of Rehoboth," /"
said Mr.. Mann in concluding his sermon,
and think less of it now. l did not feel
: much interest in it when l heard them
talking about making it stock concern
with 10 per cent, profits, don't want to
have anything to do with anything that
: will make 10 per cent off of religion,and
Christians don't want to.
"But still the Methodist Church was
thrown around this place, to make it
= all right, and now we hear the talk of
these evil practices being carried on there
= The managers themselves say 1t is SO,
D and thus we have the spectacle of the
Q Methodist Episcopal Church Of this
Peninsula keeping dancing school and
hotel. Yes, and I've been told you
A can get whiskey at the hotel, if you only
:. know how To go about it.
a "Brethren, aint it pretty near time to
!, close our church doors, when such things
l are allowed to 20 on? If had cot
a tage on Rehoboth Beach, and dancing
was allowed to go on at the Bright House
or any other house would move away