Litchfield enquirer., 1835-01-01

l DANCING. will probably create some surprise 10 find such caption for an edito- rial article in the Courier, and more still, to find us an advocate for that accomplish ment. We mean something else, however, by that term, besides simply kicking the feet front and back, right aBd left. We consider it the means of creating graceful manners, and giving the person those be- coming attitudes aud motiOiIs, with which none but 0scetics should be allowed to dispense. That we have good authority for our opinion of DGncing, and its con- comitants, we subjoin the opinions of great and good men.
 For ages past. 1'erpsicore has had innu- merable votaries aud dancing will, doubt- less, ever be a source of pleasure to nsan- kind while graceful motion is admired, aud joy enlivens the earth with even brief and distant glimpses ofsises7aceS Vari- ous enlineHt authors have Writt0n in its praise. not merely us an accomplishment, but as graceful and beneficial exercise. Tue great Locke, in his Treatise on Education, says, !" Dancing, being that which gives graceful motion to all our lives, and above all things, nianliness, and be- coming confidence to young children, l think, cannot be learned too early. Noth- ing appears to me to give children so much confidence and behaviour, and so to raise them to the conversation of those above their years, as dancing"
 |. Lord Herbert, of Cherbury, to whom the world is indebted for some excellent remarks on the advancement of youth. states, that those who have properly lear- ned to dance, appear to understand more what to do with themselves, and to have more freely and elegantly the. use of their limbs, and command of their carriage than others, who, laborilg under a stiffness in their motions, seem as though they were taken in the joints, and appear notlo be capable either of sitting down, rising up, standing, or walking, in a manner that is agreeable to the eye oftaste. He also ob- serves, that those who have been taught ('by the more accurate dancing masters, enter and quit room where company is, and address themselves to persons, both above and below their own stations,- with far more grace and propriety, than those who have not had similar advantages.
 In Fordyce's Sermons to Young Women, the author observes, that Ii6' must acknoWl- edge he can see no reason for dcciamation against the moderate and discreet use of dancing. s.I freely confess" he adds, " that I am one of those who can look on sed sl-, to see a company of sooag people. joy full will innocence, and happy m each other. Han exefciss so sociable and en- livening, were to occupy some part ot that time which is lavished on cards. woold the youth of either sex be losers by it? think not. It seems to me, there can be no im- propriety in it, any more than in modula- ting the voice into tho most agreeable tones in singing; to which none, ! think, will object. What is dancing. in the most rigid sense, but the harmony of motion rendered more palpable Awkwardness. rus,icity, ungraceful gestures, can never surely be meri.orious." a The Spectator is also an advocate for dancing; he says, in one of his papers, "It may appear odd, that !, who set up for mighty lover, at least. of virtue. should take so much pains to recommend what the soberer part of mankind look upon to be irife; but under favour of the soc bSrer part of mankind, think they have not enough considered this natter, and for that reason only esteem t so lightly. must also, in my own justification, say, thai ! I attempt to bring into the service of hon. o0r and virtue, every thing in nature that can pretend to give clegant delight. II may probably be proved, that vice is in it- self destructive of pleasure, and virtue iH 1 itself conducive to it. If the delights of free fortune were, under proper regulation, this truth would not want much argument to support it; but it would be obvious that there is strict affinity between al. things that are truly laldable and beautiful, from the highest sentiment of the soul to the most indifferent gesture of ihe body: the business of dancing is to display beauty 1 and for that reason all distortions and llli- micries. as such, are what raise aversion instead of pleasure" a,
 Mrs. Chapone very justly remarks, that dancing is nov SO universal, that it canIo, be dispensed with in tiiee educaiion of gen. tlewoanan; that it isyin1eeds both Iseiu and ornamental. AagastG COayssr. <,
 LONDON SUNDAY. | Betty is good girl; and whats more good looking and moreover dresses well and f0rtlef, is we'll shaped; and ,eke re- spcctable and, in addition. is beloved by every body, especially by the handsome | :. seraof xuhfA i'd Rin0l8. and Itl