The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-11-20

ments He said:
II was the pastor of a city church
whose members were in the habit of
entering into many worldly amuse-
ments; some of the ladies would play
cards, and some would dance, and
not a few, of both men and women,
would go to theatres and circuses.
But dancing was the amusement most
ly INDUCED in by the young people. I
spoke to several of them about the
matter, but they paid little, if any
heed to what / said. / had to do
something to stop the dancing, or
give up discipline and let my MEM
berS go to the bad.
lone Sunday night, after l had
preached on the subject of letting
your light shine" ! took occasion
to remark, that I felt it my duty
to set such examples before my peo-
pie as they might safely follow, and
! hoped I might not do anything that
would lessen their respect, or weak
en- their faith'in me. AS many or my
congregation, / said. engage in dane
ing, and maintain there is no harm
in it, / have come to the conclusion
that, perhaps, / have been wrong in
my opposition to an innocent amuse-
ment, as they regard dancing; and so
/ have decided that / ought to learn
how to dance. And, as / wish toe
dance gracefully SO as to let my light
shine in the ball room, wife and l
have talked the matter over and we
have decided, that, instead of holding
the Wednesday night prayer-meetings
which, by the way, are but poorly at
tended, we will open the parsonage,
each Wednesday night, to those who
wish to dance; and, with the aid of
French dancing master, we hope to
make ourselves, and all who may
wish to take lessons, proficient in
the terpSichorean art. l shall invite
the Presbyterian and Baptist minis
tiers, and their wives, to be present.
and shall insist upon it, that they
join the class. / take it for granted
that the Episcopal clergyman is al
ready a graceful dancer, and does not
need the training we Methodist, Pres
byterian and Baptist preachers do. 1t
is to be church affair, and / espec-
tally desire to see the class leaders
and stewards with their wives, and
as many others, of the fathers and
mothers out as can conveniently
come next Wednesday night, when
the class will be organized. We shall
not have any wines or cordialS, there
fore there will be no danger of any
indecent or boisterous conduct; Meth
er will there be any card playing, SO
attending, for fear of being annoyed
by anything that would divert the at
tention of dancers. ] promise the
brothers and sisters that there shall
be no round dances, but we will con-
fine ourselves to those modes that are
least Objectionable 10 the most mod
est and refined tastes"
Here" said the Evangelist, 81
stopped for a minute, while the look
of CONSERVATION was on every face.
Every eye was upon me, and / imag-
ined that two-thirds of my congre-
cation We're of the opinion that / had
lost my senses. The scene was pain
full to behold. At length l said: Per-
haps / should have consulted the
church about this matter before MAX
ing the announcement; and, perhaps,
it is not too late, even now, to ask an
expression of opinion. / believe, to
be on the safe side, I'll do it. You
have heard brothers. sisters and
friends, the proposition to have a
dance, at my house, every Wednesday
night, and I wish to know whether
to be honest with me and vote your
opinions. 1 therefore ask that every
one, in the church, who thinks it
would be a proper thing, to have a
dance in the parsonage, to stand up
yes. stand until you are counted, as
/ want fair and full vote on the mat
ter"
Not a soul stood. I repeated the
question and still no one stood. I
waited fully a minute, and insisted
that all who thought it would be
proper for me and my wife to have
dance should say so by standing. But
no one moved. AT length 1 said: L in
fer from your refusing to stand you
do not approve of my having a dance
at my house; you do not think it
right for me to dance; if that's your
decision, of course / shall have to
give up my plan. l wait just a mo-
ment to see if there is not one of my
brethren or sisters who will endorse
my dancing proposition. No one stood.
Now, said l, inasmuch as you don't
think it a proper thing for me to
dance, 1 give notice that the very
first one, belonging to this church,
who dances shall be turned out If
l can't dance you shan't."
That said the Evangelist, "was
the last of the dancing in that
church.
There is a story that used to be
told of Peter Cartwright, the great
Kentucky preacher, which will bear
telling in this connection. In
one of his Journeys, as a pioneer
Methodist preacher, he stopped one
night at an inn, where there was
dance; and though tired and very
much annoyed by the boisterous
crowd, he was compelled to sit in
the room where the dancing was GO
ing on The young people frequently
said things to provoke merriment at
his expense, all of which he heard.
though said nothing. At last one
young lady danced up to him, courte-
sled and politely insisted that he
should dance with her. He hesitated
a moment; but. at length, amid the
shouts of the gay young throng, he
arose and led the young lady to the
middle of the room. The fiddler was
just in the act of striking up when
Mr.. Cartwright. still holding the
girls hand, but addressing the en-
tire company, said: l engage in
nothing on which 1 do not ask Gods
blessing. Let us all pray"
The lady, as well as all in the
room knelt down, and he prayed I'M
til the fiddler got scared and left the
room; the people began to weep, and
some cried for mercy. He arose and
began to exhort sinners to repent, then
ne sang and called for mournerS, and
men and women. who a few minutes
before, We're making game of him.
came and fell at his feet, asking what
tney should do to be saved. A re-
Vlval followed, that resulted in the
organization of a Methodist church
at that point and tho landlord who