Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1894-10-06

while his soul rises upon some grea
harmony. While this is so in civilized
lands the red men Of the forest hav
their scalp dances, their green corr
dances their wardances- In ancien
) times the exercise was 80 utterly an(
completely depraved that the church
anathematized it The old Christian
fathers expressed themselves most vehe
mently against It, St. Chrysostom says
The feet were not given for dancing
but to walk modestly; not to leap I'm
pudently, like oamels- One Of the
dogmas of the ancient church reads
"a dance is the DEVILS possession, ant
ne that entereth into dance enteretf
into his possession. AS many PAGES as {
man makes III dancing so many pace,
does he make to hell" Elsewhere the
old dogmas declared this: 1.-THE woman
that singeth i'll the dance is the princess
Of the devil, and those that answer are
her clerks, and the beholders are his
friends, and tho music Is his bellows,
and the fiddlers are the ministers Of the
devil For, ms when hogs are strayed, II
the hogsherd 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
oil the dancers gather together. This
indiscriminate and universal denuncia-
ton of the exercise came from the fact
shat it was utterly and completely de-
PRAYED,
The Evil OF It 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
bo the standard Oh, bring no harsh
criticism upon the youngl 1 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. 1 believe God in
tended the young people to laugh and
romp and play. 1 do not believe God
would have put exuberance In the soul
and exuberance In the body II he had
not intended they should in some wise
exercise 1t and demonstrate it If
mother join hands with her children
and cross the floor. TO the sound Of
music, / zee no harm. II group Of
friends cross and reoross the room to the
sound of piano we'll played, SEQ no
harm. II 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. I
tried for long while to see harm in 1t.
I could not see any harm in 1t. l never
shall see any harm In thot- Our
need to be kept young-young for many
years longer than they are kept young.
Never since my boyhood days have l
had more sympathy with the innocent
hilarit;es Of life than have now. What
though we have felt heavy burdens
What though we have had to endure
hard knocks Is that any reason why
VIC should stand in the way Of those
who, unstung OF hfes misfortunes, arc
hIitfIy rjrig seif ocrd'ro 5neyf ftc'if
say anything that would depress their
ardor or clip their wings or mako them
believe that life Is hard and cold and
repulsive. 1t Is not. tell them, judg-
ing from my own experience, that they
will be treated great deal better than
they deserve. We have no right to
grudge tho innocent hilarities 10 the
young.
Death In Dissipation.
What are the designations Of social life
today. and what arc the designations OF
tho ballroom? III some cities and in some
places reaching all the year round; in
other places only i'll the summer time and
at the watering places There are dissl-
pations of social life that are cutting q
very wide swath with the sickle Of
death, and hundreds and thousands are
going down under these influences, and
my subject in application is as wide as
Christendom The whirlpool of social
dissipation Is drawing down some of
the brightest craft that ever sailed the
sea-thousands and tens OF thousands
Of the bodies and souls annually con-
sumed in the copfagration of ribbons.
Social dissipation is the abetter of
pride. 1t is the instigator of jealousy.
1t is the sacrihcial altar of health. 1t is
tho defiler Of the soul It is the avenue
Of lust, and it is the curse Of every
town on both sides of tho seq. Social |
dissipation 1t lnay be hard 10 draw the
line and say that this is right on the
one side and that is VT ~ on the other
side 1t is not necessary that we 90
that, for God has put throne IN every |
mans soul, and I appeal to that throne
today When man does wrong, he
knows he does wrong, and when he does
right he knows ne docs right, and to
that throne, which Almighty God lifted |
in the heart Of every man and woman.
l appeal.
As to the physical ruin wrought by
the designations of social life there can
be no doubt. What may we expect of
people who work all day and dance oil
night? After awhile they will be thrown
on society nervous, exhausted inbeclles
These people who indulge in the sup
pers and the midnight reyels and then
20 home in the cold unwrapped Of
limbs will after awhile be found to
have been written down in Gods eter-
nal records as suicides-as much suicides
as If they had taken their life with
pistol or knife or stryohnine-
Danger to Health.
How many people have stepped from
the ballroom into the graveyard? Con-
sumptions and swift neuralgias are close
on their track. Amid many Of the gilt
tering scenes Of social life diseases stand
right and left and balance and chain
The breath of the sepulcher floats up
through the perfume, and the froth Of
Deaths lips bubbles up in the cham
payne I am told that In some of the
cities there are parents who have &C
tually given up housekeeping and gone