The Texas Republican. [volume] (Marshall, Tex.) 1849-1869, 1853-04-16

: raj charge. and many OF them, Nom con
. scie"tious n'osiyss. having declined 70 At
. tend their absenes was attributed, ersone
. "osly. to the influence and Interference o
. their pastor. WIN in consequence, rsesivst
! tho follow v anonymous note:
ISIS; Obey the voirs Of holy Scrip
turca Take the following fvr your text
and contradict 1t. show in Whist consist,
thu evil Of that innocent amusement o
da"cing. EeIss. g. 4: a time to weep and
= time to lsuah time to mourn, and 4
time 10 dance"
rxux cmHisriA~. NO nyrocxrrs.
Tho minister Immediately wrote the fol-
lowing reply. which. ~ the note WAS anon.
ymsua and without address, remained in
his own posssss.o" for soms time. when he
communicated il to the public. thinking il
might meet the eye aud correct tho opin.
ions of the writer OF the note and Others
MY DgAx Sra: Your r~qas., hat |
would preach from EcI-s. 3: 4, / cannot
comply with At present, since there are
some Christian da,i~s more important than
dancing. which part Of my people seem
dispos~d to neglect. Whsnsvss I perceive,
however. .hat the duty Of dancing 10 too
much neglected, I shall not fail 10 sniss .
warning voies against 90 dangerous an
omission. In the mesusinsA ihssv are Ger.
tain difficulties Ia the tsxt. which you com.
mend to my notice, ~ solution to which
should receive with gratitude from . " true
Christian"
My first difficulty r-'pects the time for
dsnring; Tor although the text declares
that Their" is \ lime To dance, yet when that
time IL, il does not determine N"w this
point | wish I" ascertain. exactly. before |
preach upon the Auhject; Tor it would bs
NJ criminal. ] conclude. 10 dance At the
wrong time, NJ 10 neglect to dance At the
right time. ] have been able to satisfy
MY selI IN some particulars. when il Is not
"a time TO dance" We shsll agree, |
presume. that on the Sabbath day. or Vt n
funeral. or during the prevalence Of n pes
thence. or the rocking 81 an earthquake.
or the roaring OF N thunderstorm. il would
he no time TO dance. II we were con
demned to die. and were whiting in prison
the day Of execution, this would bs no
tine for dancing; aud il our feet stood Oh
\ slippery place, beside = prscipice. We
would not dare to dance.
hu, suppose tho very day to BE- ascer,
tanned - iI,s whole das. or o. ly y part, I"
10 devoted 10 this amusement Aud II n
part oil tho day only, then which par; ol
tue day il "the time 70 danced" From
the no,o'iously pernicious effects Of might
msetings." IL all ages, both upon morals
and health, no one will pretend that tue
evening IL the time ~ dance" and per.
hnps il may not be- in,nsterisl which por.
ton OF the daylight is devoted to that in
nucent amusement But allowing the lime
to liz msc-rtain~,i, there is still M obscurity
IN the text l. il command to dance, or
only n permissioai Or is it merely a dec
tuled. there is also tune whem all the
events sliuded to in tho text do, IN the
providence ui God. come II pass tf the
text 10 n conr and, 10 il Of universal obli>
CATION; aud must "old men aud nlsid-"s,
Young men aud children" dance obed,
vncvt u u permission, does il imply n
permission also 10 refrain from dancing, IL
Any are dispposedi o. il the text bs merely
n declaration that there - time when men
do dance. a. there 10 n time when they die.
then NIGH. NJ well hs requested 10 take
the tir.t eight verses ot the chapter. aud
.how in what c0nsists the evil III those ia.
noceut practices Of hating. aud mxking
war, and killing men. for which. il seems
from the text, there 10 " lime w well ~
for dancing.
There il still another difficulty IN the
text. which just now occu's I" "~. What
KIND Of dancing DIES the text intend for
IL 10 certai'!y \ matter Of no small c"ass.
anence To ~ true Christian" 10 dance In
so,ip,u,al manner, ~ we'll - 1t = scriptu.
raj anne.
Now, to avoid mistakes on = point Of
such Importance. ! have coasvltsd every
passsgs in the Bible which speaks u da"~
cling; the moss important Of whish permit
n.s To submit TO your inspection;
E.s IS - J'ds.. u; y: jeds.s a., ssm
8, Il ."' ls., ~ !. J., ' ~" H. Y
Luke IS y, EcLs "a Matt Ai6. 'ohs'' ~
From the preceding references. IL will
sufficiently appear.
!. That dancing was . religious act.
both ~ the tree and Also II idol Worship
9 That il was prsctiseh exclusively On
ioytul occmsioas, such ~ national festivals
o. R~~at victories.
3. That Il wss performed BY msids"s
only,
4. That Il was performed ussslly in the
day time, in ~ open aW tn hsvh ways.