News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1894-10-04

nAu the ltstal AAlCts tuo AlAAtstAg
dance, the mediatorial dance, the bac-
chanalian dance, and queens and lords
swayed to and fro in the gardens, and
the rough backwoodsman with this ex-
ercise awakened the echo Of the forest
There is something in the sound of live
IL music to evoke the movement Of the
hand and foot, whether cultured or un-
cultured. Passing down the street we
unconsciously keep step to the sound Of
the brass band, while the Christian
in church with his foot beats time
while his soul rises upon some great
harmony. While this is so in civilized
lands, the red men of the forest have
their scalp dances, their green corn
dances, their wardances. In ancient
times the exercise was so utterly and
completely depraved that the church
mathematical it. The old Christian
fathers expressed themselves most vehe-
mently against it. st. ChrysOstom says,
1.-The feet were not given for dancing,
but to walk modestly; not to leap i'm
pudently, like camels. " One of the
dogmas of the ancient church reads:
"a dance is the DEVILS possession, and
he that entereth into dance entereth
into his possession. As many PAGES as a
man makes in dancing, so many PAGES
does he make to hell" Elsewhere the
old dogmas declared this: 1.-The woman
that singeth in the dance is the princess
of the devil, and those that answer are
her clerks, and the beholders are his
friends, and the music is his bellows,
and the fiddlers are the ministers of the
devil. For, as when hogs are strayed, if
the hogsheld call one, all assemble to-
gether, so when the devil calleth one
woman to sing in the dance, or to play
on some musical instruments, presently
all the dancers gather together" This
indiscriminate and universal denuncia-
ton of the exercise came from the fact
that it was utterly and completely de-
PRAYED
The Evil of 1t Today.
But we are not to discuss the customs
| of the olden times, but customs now.
| We are not to take the evidence of the
ancient fathers, but our own conscience,
enlightened by the word of God, is to
| be the standard. Oh, bring no harsh
criticism upon the young! l would not
| drive out from their soul the hilarities
of life | do not believe that the inhab-
itants of ancient Wales, when they
stepped to the sound of the rustic harp,
went down to ruin. l believe God in
tended the young people to laugh and
romp and play. l do not believe God
would have put oXuberanca i'll the soul
| and exuberance in the body if he had
not intended they should i'll some wise
exercise it and demonstrate It, II q
mother Join hands with her children
and cross the floor to the sound Of
music l sec no harm. If group OF
friends cross and recross the room to the
sound of piano we'll played, l SEQ no
harm. If company, all of whom are
known to host and hostess as reputable,
cross and recrOss the room to the sound
of musical instrument, see no harm. |
tried for long while to sec harm in it.
could not see any harm i'll it. never
shall see any harm in that. Our men
need to be kept young-young for many
years longer than they are kept young.
Never since my boyhood days have
had more sympathy with the innocent
hilarities of life than I have now. What
though we have felt heavy burdens
What though we have had to endure
hard knocks! Is that any reason why
we should stand in the way of those
who, unstung Of life's misfortunes, are
full of exhilaration and glee? God bless
the young They will have to wait
many long year before they hear me
say anything that would depress theil
ardor or clip their wings or make then
believe that life is hard and cold anC
repulsive. 1t is not. l tell them, judg
ing from my own experience, that they
will be treated great deal better THAI
they deserve. We have no right K
grudge tho innocent hilarities to tht
young
Death In Dissipation.
What are The designations of social life
today, and what are the designations 0
the ballroom? In some cities and in SOM
places reaching all the year round; il
other places only in the summer time ant
at the watering places. There are dissi
pations of social life that are cutting {
very wide swath with the sickle o
; death, and hundreds and thousands ar
going down under these influences, ant
my subject in application is as wide a
Christendom. The whirlpool of socia
; dissipation is drawing down some 0
the brightest craft that ever sailed tn
sea-thousands and tens of thousand
of the bodies and souls annually con
sumed in the confagration of ribbons
Social dissipation is the abetter Q
pride 1t is the instigator of Jealousy
1t is the sacrifcial altar of health 1t
the defiler of the soul. 1t is the avenu
=, of lust, and it is the curse OF ever
town ON both sides of the sea. Socia
dissipation! 1t may be hard to draw til
line and say that this is right ON tn
one side and that is wrong on the othe
side. 1t is not necessary that we d
. that, for God has put a throne in ever
;, mans soul, and l appeal to that thron
- today. When man does wrong, b
knows he does wrong, and when he doe
y right he knows he does right, and
. that throne which Almighty God LITE
- = in the heart of every man and woman
:, 1 appeal.
= AS to the physical ruin wrought /
the destinations of social life there ca