The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1890-09-05

eiSSN NdtHsAoisAOAS tibAso VI AeNiN-
alton. Mrs. Phelps says:
A lady of education and culture took
trip abroad under circumstances
which required her to chapcron some
young friends 10 the French opera.
She was the object Of infinite badiaoge
when II was discovered that during
the performance of the ballet she nj
ways shut her eyes. A prominent lii-
erary man, used to the world and IFS
ways, said to the author, when see
the ease, nay, the eagerncss, with
which our Young girls attend those
plays where tine ballet is enough to
make any gentleman uncomfortable,
am confused. What does il mean r
What does II mean. indeed? IL the
sense of inodesty declining among our
women! The writer, though not a
frequcnter of the theatre, has often
shared the editors vince Mt the atti-
tude of Young ladies toward the i'm
delicacies ofthe stage. There is cool
ness, an case in the presence OF afro
cious scenes, which Is amazing. The
dropped eycIid, the mounting blush,
the protest of maiden modcsty against
sights from which any pure girl ought
10 rcvolt-when do We see these signs
of outraged womanly nature? IL re-
mains undisputed that very good pc0-
pie encourage very bad things in our
theatre and opera, and that our wom-
en- give their full share of this en-
couragement. The power of Irving.
the purity of Modjeska, do not deter
the playwright from innuendoes which
disgrace his play or prevent the dan-
se1se from indulging the public taste
with indlccencics which no matron
ought to witness; while the fathers OF
our girls pay two dollars and n half a
seat for the privilege ofexposing their
daughters to sights which ought TO be
suppressed under the law prohibiting
the exhibition of obscene pictures.
There is nm indescribsblc expression
Of the eye which distinguishes modest
girl from matron. Look for 1t in
The eyes of our girls to-day! II Is
missing SO often, IL Is replaced BY
another so worldly-wisc, so unpleasant
~ experienced. that we shrink with
the sense Of having lost the most pre-
rious thing In girlhood. Better, like
the Puritan lady. to shut the eyes when
the ballet comes. Better. thousand
fold, tho instinct Of modcsty that cua
moi see coarse sight. than the cool,
indifferent. ungirl-likc familiarity with
criminal suggestions which Is now the
fashion among us.
Probably the influence of tho stage
in coarscning the delicate instincts is
more than shared by some of the social
customs Of our homes. Take, for In
stance, the pr0miscu0us dances. One
need not be Quaker or n Puritan. 10
turn with disgust from offcnses against
refined taste accepted by dancing
people a. evidences of II. When all is
said that may be of the pure delights
afforded to irrCproachabIe people by
our dancing customs. enough remains
In the liberties of the ballroom to
starrle any disintcrcsted observer.
Any fashion which gives TO a libcrtine
the right TO clasp a pure woman in
his arms and hold her for the length
of an intoxicating piece of music, is
below moral defense. firmly believe
the time win come when our present
license in this respect will be regarded
as we now regard The practices attend
ing the worship of Aphrodite. II
might be said the naufch dance Is
modesty beside our waltz.
A lady reared In the traditions of a
generation ago has an exquisite inno-
ccncc herself which prevents her from
the periIs of her children.
She who would have thought il
moral lapse TO allow young man,
without right, to hold her hand; she
whose .lips were never touched by man
until she gave them to her plighted
lover; she who went TO her husband
ms unmarried as IN ideal In dream,
docs not readily perceive the condi-
tions OF a lowered moral standard.
Read your girls eyes, YOU lovely lady.
Question her. She may return you
the clear, heavenly look OF your own
high youth, and Heaven bless her |!
But If she has passed from under your
shelter and beyond your standards
If she has been what VIC call "gay':
If she has tossed good deal In the
foam OF young peoples frolics; If she
has had some mock of a cIapcron, or
none Mt all II shc has sat in The par
lor alone till midnight with young
man oncc too often II, In short, she
has driftcd on the current of existing
social streams-qucslion her; question
liar