world standeth; lest I make my brother to offend." "It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." This is the Bible rule. And against those who disregard it, a fearful malediction has been uttered by the Great Head of the Church. "Whoso shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

The dancing professor of religion, by his inconsistent example, paralyzes the energies of the Church. He is a false witness against Christ and his cause. He does not recommend but disgraces the Christian name.

The people of the world do not esteem him more highly on account of his conformity to their peculiar practices; on the contrary they do not believe that he is any better than themselves. They have no confidence in such members of the Church; they look upon them as hypocrites or mere professors of religion; they do not believe that they are converted and refer to their example only by way of excuse. They may applaud their beauty, they may admire their wit, they may emulate their accomplishments, they may envy their wealth, they may copy their manners, and they may imitate their style of dress—but they never speak respectfully of their religion. Not unfrequently they make their inconsistencies a subject of satirical remark. "See, that Church member!" say they, "to-day he is the star of fashion, and the leader of the midnight dance—to-morrow he occupies the chief seat in the sanctuary, and is in appearance a most devout and humble worshipper."

Experience and the word of God, teach but one method by which the gay, frivolous, wicked and proud world, can be won over to the service of the Redeemer; and that is to hold up to its view the truth, through the medium of an irreproachable example; on the one hand rebuking its follies and sins, and on the other, showing it a more excellent way.

It cannot be denied, that the people of the world are often strongly tempted to skepticism by the conduct of the Dancing professor of religion. They are led to inquire—is there any reality in the work of the Holy Spirit? Here is a man that asserts that he has been born again, but where is the evidence? What does he do more than others? With his lips he declares that God is his portion; that religion is his chief concern, and that Heaven is his home. But by his actions he says more plainly than words can indicate, that his supreme happiness lies in the world, that Christ is a hard task-master, and that his anticipations of religious comfort have been disappointed.

It is no wonder, that unconverted men with such stumbling-blocks in their pathway, turn a deaf ear to the Gospel. Amid the perplexity of mind too often produced by the glaring inconsistencies apparent between Gods truth, and Gods professed people; nothing short of the Almighty power of the Holy Spirit, can persuade unconverted men to believe, "that godliness is profitable for all things." On these carnal members of the Church, must rest, therefore, the larger portion of the guilt incurred in a congregation by grieving the Spirit of God, and by infecting the minds of sinners with an uncontrollable degree of levity. To their worldliness must be attributed in a great measure, the check which is given to the progress of the glorious Gospel in converting perishing souls from Satan unto God. And it is a question which they must settle with their consciences, "how can they meet these charges at the bar of the Final Judge?"

The dancing professor of religion robs the Church of the benefit of his services. His moral influence in the community where he resides and is known, is destroyed. Like Samson shorn of his locks, he is destitute of strength. He has not only lost the spirit of prayer, but he has no power at a throne of grace, "The prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." His approaches to the Mercy Seat become lifeless and heartless. And it is no marvel, that eventually he deserts the closet, the social meeting for Prayer, and the House of God.

Such a professor of religion is a contrast to the prevailing spirit of the age, which is characterized by efforts to enlarge the borders of the Kingdom of God in the conversion of sinners. He lives devoid of spiritual consolation himself, and by exciting prejudices against vital piety, keeps others away from the fountain of life. He leads thoughtless sinners down to Hell, whilst he tells them that he is conducting them to Heaven. With one hand he pulls down the kingdom of Christ, and with the other he builds up the kingdom of Satan. He betrays his Master with a kiss. He grieves the souls of all the well wishers of Zion. He brings down the displeasure of a righteous God on his holy heritage. He is far worse than an open enemy, for he strews the path that leads to perdition with tempting flowers, and he whispers peace in the ears of sinners who are walking in the ways of death. He is a traitor among the soldiers of the cross. He is an Achan in the camp of Israel.

And the same inconsistency and guilt which are chargeable on the dancing professor of religion, rest in a great measure on those members of the Church, who, although they do not indulge in this gay pleasure themselves, yet grant permission to their children to attend this kind of assemblies. The danger, whatever it is, certainly is as great for the members of the household, as for its head. And the word of God lays down the principle, that it is the duty of Parents, to use their authority to prevent their offspring from following any amusement in which they think it would be wrong to engage themselves. Fathers and Mothers, therefore, who consent that their children shall learn and practice this art, are sadly neglecting their parental duties, and are to no inconsiderable extent partakers of this sin of their sons and daughters.

It is an act of cold blooded cruelty to the souls of those whom they ought to love most tenderly. And we would ask, how can they approach the Mercy Seat for prayer in faith, with the petition on their lips, "lead us not into temptation,"—whilst they have thrown the tender lambs of their little flock into the very jaws of the lion? They certainly are not so destitute of sensibility or understanding, that they would tempt their poor confiding little ones to dance, amid the rocking of an earthquake, or the roaring of a thunder storm, or whilst standing on the edge of a slippery precipice. How then can they with any claim to the feelings of common humanity, cast their children into the vortex of worldly pleasures, where they are momentarily exposed to the infinitely greater evil of having body and soul dashed to pieces on the rocks of eternal damnation?

In view of such considerations, every Christian parent ought to come to the unalterable determination of bringing up his family with the understanding that they are neither to know nor practice this fashionable amusement.

The just application of the principles introduced into this discourse, destroys this worldly pleasure root and branch. Their true interpretation is the language of total abstinence,—"touch not, taste not, handle not." They allow no compromise with this social evil. And in cases which admit of doubt, and where it is hard to draw the line, because the impropriety is not so manifest, they utter their interdict. It is wrong, therefore, for Christian families, among themselves or with a few friends, to practice dancing as an amusement. It is their duty to refrain from it, if for no other reason, because it is one of the distinctive badges of the ungodly world; and because they are bound to make the line of demarcation between the Church and the world plain and visible. In opposition, to this sacred obligation, it is a