Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-09
FAIRPLAY.

D. C. Williams Is but another lament
able evidence of the decadeuce of the
Christianity and the Christian spirit of
the Ninateenth century, and is in
tended (though futile and peurile
it may beg to bring into contempt
the mission of which Mr.. w. is a fear
less, honest aud conscientious exponent.
The truth is too apparent that many, too
many, of the spiritual advisers and
teachers of the present day cater to the
personal feelings and caRrices of those
who, without a precedent and
without any evidence to justify
them, have marked out a line
of policy and framed for themselves
and the rest of mankind a code Of
morals, that no one can dare call into
questi on and beyond whose bounds no
one can dare venture without bringing
down upon his or her devoted head the
wicked and wanton vItuperations of q
mind unrestrained. except of the selfish
instincts of a carnal, lirentious and sor-
did nature. Again, "Fairplay' calls
into question the motives, purposes and
lntents of Mr.. Williams mission here,
by constituting his language as having a
EANSh W NOtthPS Il hlbi us "
the scale OF virtue and instill into
the minds of the youths and maidens OF
Fort Worth a love of lust, righteousness
and immortality. 20! conscrIpti patris. -
Ye shades of the mighty. Would the
fathers and mothers of the sons ana
daughters Of this city permit such a 1end
though clothed in the garb of righteous
ness, TO remain among them for a single
moment, to disseminate the vile
thoughts, which, permeatiug the whole
moral system, would have a tendency
to degrade and reduce to a level
with the brute creation, the noble son
and the fair daughters of this favored
metropolis? Consistency, thou art a
Jewell Nearly If not all the orthodox
churches are opposed 10 dancing. and
every applicant for admission into any
of these churches Is aware of the fact
that dancing is forbidden, and everyone
admitted into the church promises
before witnesses and high heaven
that they will obey the behests
of the church. Now is there any
consistency in anyone, after volunta rily
assuming such al obligation, to ass ert
that there ls no harm IN dancing, or that
it will not lead TO harm? because, it
may be, perhaps, that some good minis
ter possessed of n stlf-constituted au-
thor!ty, had asserted that there was no
harm in dancing But "~FairplaY''
claims (and II is the only reason ad-
duced to prove his position, tnat
it is not altogether for the love
OF the dance, but ''love tor the poetry
OF m%otiou.h We beseech thee, o Muse,
breathe a little of thy heaven-born in
SEPARATION into the monotouous and reaIis-
tic motion in the usn OF a buck-saw and a
jack plane, that more of US may realize
and enjoy a love for 1.-The poetry Of mo-
ton Let the votaries of the dance use
either the saw or jack-plane, and Glove
for the poetry of motion" would sub
side, while the reality of motion would
materialiZe.
None know better han ftFairplay"
that Mr.. Williams could not with any
propriety reply to his article-then why
should he become a target for the shafts
of envy ana the darts of malice and
hatred which have been so ruthlessly
thrown at him2 cit is hardly possible
that a man Ga direct reference to Mr..
W. who has been raised in a filthy, un-
clean atmosphere, offspring of a decayed
tree, p%erhapS,' etc. He even dares in
vale the sacred chambers of the .Omb to
vent HIS SIlSSH duu " SIh6 COlOEiIe 10
this wanton attack upon the character
aud reputation Of a Christian gentleman
and an honest man.
Mr.. Williams argument against dane
ing was not from an assumed standpoint,
but was based and sustained by intelli-
gent reasoning. Mr.. ''Fairplay, on
the other hand, only attempted to in
fame and prejudice the mind OF the
populace against Mr.. w. by unfair and
Legitimate means, Notwithstanding the
fact that he (''Fairplay') has been
confirmed in the church. Heaven forbid
that the church, to which ne
belongs, should be held responsible for
such fanctIcal Inc bombastic %pedantIcy,
arriving at conclusions, from no stand
point OF reason or logic. els the servant
a dog, that he should be ostrarized, his
purposes and intentions tradured, his
character and reputation assaIled aud
slandered, and held up to the public
gaze, not only of the people of this city,
but to the people of every hamlet and
tow wherever THE GAZETTE is read?
Who are the custodians of the boosted
hospitality, accorded strangers by the
city of Fort Worth and her citizens?'
1t is n lanentable fact that theoretical
religion or Christianity and the worship
of the material church do to q greater
or less extent control the actions INC
absorb the minds of & large majority of
the communicates, thereby alternating
their minds, rendering them less devo-
tionaI, less earnest and less Jealous in
the cause they have ~espoused, careless
and negligent in the duties that they are
called upon to perform, and are forget
full of the sacrifices and self-denisls that
are parts of Christianity itself.
Let the sad traditions of the past, the
imperative duties of the present aud the
fond n cherished hopes of the future
beget and engender a more liberal and
Christian spirit, binding more closely the
bonds of Christian brotherhood, the ties
of %sociability, a feeling of charity and a
mutual spirit of forgiveness. Throw off
the garb Of hypocrisy, unveil the masks
of ~selfishness, deceit and arrogance, aud
let the calcium light of eternal truth
shine in upon the dark labyrinths of the
soul radiating, as it were, from center
to circumference and splicing theoretical
religion and Christianity with a little of
the spiritual n practical. P.
Russian Morganatic Marriage.
Edmund Yates in the New York Tribune.