The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-20


war dances.
The ancient fathers. aroused by the indecent
dances of those days, gave emphatic evidence
against any participation in the dance. ST
Chrysostom says 1.-The feet were not given for
dancing, but to walk mcdestly; not to leap i'm
2udently. like camels." One of the dogmas of
the ancient church reads: "A dance is the devils
possession; and he that entereth into dance
ena.reth into his possession. The devil is the
gate 70 the middle and to the end OF the dance
AS many passes as a man makes in dancing, so
many passes doth he make to hell" Elsewhere
these old dogmas declares Tho woman that
singeth in the dance is the princess OF the devii
and those that answer are his CLERKS; ana the
behoiders are his friends; and the music are ms
bellows, aud the iddlers are the ministers OF the
devil; for, as when hogs are strayed, IL the
hogsherd call one all assemble together; SO the
devil calleth one woman TO sing IN the oance, VI
y Ito play on some instrument, and presently All
the dancers gather together This wholesale
and indiscriminate denunciation grew out OF the
utter dissoluteness of these ancient plays. so
great at one time the offense to all decency
that the Roman Senate decreed the EXPULSION OF
all dancers and dancing masters frou Rome
IN THE LIGHT OF REASON.
Yet we are not to discuss the customs Of that
day, but the customs of the present. We cannot
let the fathers decide the question for US. Our
7eason, enlightened by the Bible, shall be the
standard. l am not ready to excommunicate all
those who lift their feet beyond certain height
would not visit our youth with rigor of crit
icism that would put out all their ardor OF SOUL
do not believe that all the inhabitants of Wales
who used to step to the sound of the rustic
pibcorn, went down to ruin. would give to all
of our youth the right 10 romp and play. God
meant it or he would not have surcharged our
natures with such exuberance If a mother
join hands with her children. and while the
eldest strikes the keys fill all the house with
Al 4 - IL e. HI o fnw
friends, gathered in happy circle. conclude to
cross and recross the room to the sound of the
piano well played, see no harm. If company
of people, all of whom are known to the host ana
the sound of musical instruments, can
see no harm l for long while tried
to see in it HARM but never
could, and probably never will. l would to
God men kept young for a greater length of
sime Never since my school-boy days have I
aoved so we'll now the hilarities of life What
If we have felt heavy burdens, and suffered
multitude of hard knocks, is it any reason why
we should stand in the path of those who, I'M
stung by lfes misfortunes, are exhilarated and
full of glee!
God bless the young! They will have to live
many day if they want to hear me say one
word to dampen their ardor, or clip their wings,
or to throw a cloud upon their life by telling
them that it is hard, and dark, and doleful. 1t
is no such thing You will meet with many
trial. but. speaking FROM my own experience let
me tell you that you will be treated a great deal
better than you deserve. Let US not grudge
the young their joy. AS we go further on in life
let US go with the remem brance that we
have had gleeful days. When
old age frosts cur locks and stiffens our limbs,
let US not block up the way, but say: 1--WE had
our good times; now let others ave theirs" AS
our children come on let us cheerfully give them
our places How glad will DO to let them have
every thing-my, house, my books, my place in
society, my heritage! By the time we get old we
will avn had lone
our children come on ard we'll have ittheir way.
For thirty. forty or fifty years, we have been
drinking from the cup of life, and we ought not
to complain If called to pass the cup along and
let others take drink.
But, while we have a right to the enjoyments
of life, we never will countenance sinful indul-
gences. l here set forth group of what might
be called the designations of the ballroom. In
some communities these designations continue
all the year, while Trey do the chief work in
summer at the watering places, and. therefore,
the subject has wide application They swing an
awful scythe of death Are we to stand idly
by and let the work go on lest in the rebuke
we tread upon the long trail Of some popular
vanityl The whirlpool of the ballroom drags
down the life, the beauty and the moral worth
of cities. In the whirlwind OF imported silks
goes out the life of many good families. Bodies
and souls innumerable are annually consumed
In this confagration of ribbons. This style OF
dissipation is the abettor of pride, the nstiga-
tor of jealousy, the sacrfcial altar of health,
the Qefllef OF the SOUL the avenue OF ana
curse of the town. The tread of this wild. in
toxicating heated midnight dance jars all the
moral hearthstones of the city The physical
ruin is evident. What will become of those who
work all day and dance all night A few years
will turn them out nervous exhausted imbeciles.
Those who have given up their midnIghts to
spiced wines and hot suppers, and ride home
through winters cold, unwrapped from the ele-
ments. will at last be recorded suicides.
DISEASES OF THE BALLROOM.
There is but short step from the ballroom
to the graveyard There are consumptions and
fierce neuralgias close on the track. Amid that
glittering maze of ball room spendor diseases
Stand right and left. and balance and chain. A
sepulchral breath floats up amid the perfume,
and the froth of deaths lip bubbles up in the
champagne. Many of the brightest homes are
being sacrificed. There are families that have
actually quit keeping house and gone to board
ing, that they may give themselves more ex-
clusivey to the higher duties of the ballroom.
Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons. finding
their ighest enjoyment in the dance, bid fare
well to books to quiet culture, to all the ameni-
tics of home. The father will, after WHILE go
down into lower designations. The will be
tossed about in society. a nonentity. The
daughter will elope with French dancing
master. The mother still trying to stay in the
glitter, and by every art attempting to keep the
color in her cheek and the wrinkles off her brow
attempting without any success all the arts of
the belle-an old firt, poor miserable butter
fly without any wings.
If anything on the earth is beautiful to nv
eyes it is an aged woman; her hair floating back
over the wrinkleu brow not frosted, but white
with the blossoms of the tree of life; her voice
tender with past memories, and her face a bene-
diction. The children pull at grandmothers
dress as she passes through the room, and al
most pull her down in her weakness; yet she has
nothing but a cake q candy, or a kind word
for the little darlings Whom she goes away
from there is shadow the table a shadow
on the hearth, and a shadow in the dwelling
But if anything earth is distressful to look at
it is an old woman ashamed of being old. What
with artificial appliances, she is too much for
my gravity. l laugh even in church, when see
her coming. One of the worst looking birds |
know of is peacock after it has lost its feath-