Democratic messenger., 1894-10-06

had the festal dance. the military
dance, the nicdiatorial dance, the bac
chanllian dance. and queens and lords
swaycsl to and fro III the gardens, and
the rough backwootisman with this cx
ercise awakened the echo of the forest.
There is something i'll the sound of live
" music 10 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 dcpravcd that the church
mathematical il. 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 camels. One of the
dogmas of the ancient church reads:
he that cntereth into 4 dance entereth
into his possession. AS many PAGES as a
man makes III dancing, 81 many PAGES
does he make TO hell" Elsewhere the
old dogmas declared this: The woman
that singeth in the dance is the princess
of the devil, and those that answer are
her clerks. and the bcholders are his
friends, and the music is his bellows,
and the fiddlers are the ministers of the
devil. For. rs when hogs are straycd, if
the hogsherd call one, all assemble to-
gctlicr, so when the devil calleth one
woman to sing III the dance. or to play
OH some musical instruments, presently
all the dancers gather together. This
indiscriminate and universal denuncia
tiOn 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 oltlen times, but customs now.
We are not to take the evidence of the
ancient fathers, but our own conscience,
enlightened 10y the word of God, is to
be the standard Oh. bring no harsh
criticism upon the young! | 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. i believe God in
tended the young people TO laugh and
romp and play / do not believe God
would have put cxnberance i'll the soul
and cxuberance i'll the body if he had
not intended they should i'll some wise
exercise il and demonstrate il. If
mother join hands with her children
and cross the floor to the sound of
music l see no harm. If group of
friends cross and rccross the room To the
sound of piano well played, l SEQ no
harm. If company, all of whom are
known to host and hostess rs reputable,
cross and recross the room to tho sound
of musical instrument, / see no harm. i
tried for long while to see harm i'll 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 tho innocent
hilaritics 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
we should stand i'll 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 deprcss their
ardor or clip their wings or make 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 the innocent hilarities To the
young.
Death In Dissipation.
What are the dissipations of social life
today, and what are the dissipations of
the ballroom? In some cities and i'll some
places reaching all the year round; in
other places only in the summer time and
at the watering places. There are dissi-
pations of social life that are cutting
very wide swath with the sickle of
death, and hundreds and thousands are
going down under these influences, and
my subject i'll application is rs wide rs
Christendom. The whirlpool of social
| dissipation is drawing down some of
the brightest craft that ever sailed the
sea-thousan(ls and tens of thousands
of the bodies and souls annually con-
sumed in the confiagration of ribbons.
Social dissipation is the abetter of
pride 1t is the instigator of jealousy.
It is the sacriticial altar of health. 1t is
the dealer Of the soul. 1t is the avenue
of lust. and il is the curse of every
town OH both sides of the sea- Social
dissipation, 1t may he hard to draw the
line and say that this is right on the
one side and that is wrong on the other
side. 1t is hot necessary that we do
that, for God has put Il throne i'll every
mans soul. and appeal to that throne
today. When n man does wrong, he
knows he does wrong. and when he does
right he knows he does right, and TO
that throne. which Almighty God lifted
i'll the heart of every man and woman,
l appeal.
As to the physical ruin wrought by
! the iissirations of social life there can
be no doubt What may we expect of
people who work all day and dance all
night? After awhile they will be thrown
Oh society nervous, exhausted imbecilcs.
These people who indulge i'll the sup
pers and the midnight revels and then
70 home in the cold unwrappcd of
limbs will after awhile be found to
have been written down i'll Gods eter-
nal records as suicilcs-as much suicides
as if they had taken their life with n
pistol or knife or strychninc.
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