The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-07-17
From the st. Cloud Min Visitor.
MRS. SWISSHELM on DANCING.

| In an article in our last issue We recon
mended dancing as a substitute for promis
cuous kissing, in social parties. For this
the Rev. Mr.. Inman. in a public sermon
has administered very severe reproof. IL
takes the ground that dancing is insepara
BILE from drunkenness and quarrelling, an
that although the mere act of dancing is N
more sinful than the raising and letting fal
of his arm in public speaking, yet, the prac
tice should be abolished on account of it
indispensable accompaniments of drinkin,
and fighting; that when a lady was led ou
on the floor she was disgraced, dishonored
&C., &c.
With all due Difference, we must say tha
such assertions are simply absurd. Davit
called upon the people to ''praise God il
the dance" Did he mean for them to Ee
drunk, have knock down and dishona
their neighbors' wives and daughters,;k
way of praising God? Did David and liz
riam and the virgins of Israel have fieh
and knock down when they danced? ont
when Solomon tells US "there is time t.
dance," did he mean that that was the tim
for a general broil? All this is simpl,
ridiculous, and the religious prejudice
against dancing is without shadow O.
foundation in the Bible. The good bool
mentions dancing in twenty different places
and never once with disapprobation.
We think it is tho best social amusement
We know anything about, and that so fal
from being sin, it is a duty, as it more
than any other exercise, is calculated tc
promote health of body and mind. The
fact that it is liable to be abused is no more
argument against it, than the fact that eat.
ing is generally carried to excess, if moi
gluttony, is an argument against taking
regular meals.
Dancing wants to be regulated, not abol.
ished. Young people should not be driven
from the we'll regulated family circle to en-
joy relaxation that nature so imperatively
demands. This act, as innocent in itself as
the raising of an arm, should not be Danish
ed to haunts of vice, to add the witchery of
its attractions to the abode of the tempting
bowl. No family is we'll managed where
the young folks cannot dance without going
to a tavern, where they will be likely to
witness n scene of drunkenness and quarrel
ing. Amusement of any kind at midnight,
is sinful, because it violates the command,
"Thou shalt not kill" in that it shortens
the life by depriving the system of its natu-
raj rest. Saturday evening amusements are
seldom right, because they cannot always
be so conducted as not to hinder proper
preparation for and keeping the Sabbath.
But dancing is not necessarily connected
with midnight, or Saturday night, or any
conceivable wrong. We have been in the
habit, for full twenty years, of attending
dances, now and then, and we never saw
any other social gathering 60 off more
pleasantly, and with less of evil and more
of good. We never saw fight connected
with dancing party; but we have seen
little child, after dancing her hour, and then
saying her prayers, preparatory to going to
bed, look up and say, Smother, is not God
good to make US all so happy tonight"
Reform the mode Of dancing. Do as the
sensible Queen of England has done. Ban
ish all dances which permit personal liber-
ties, and bring to perfection tho art of grace
full and joyous motion, in harmony with in
spring music. We say "graceful' motion,
and no movements that savors of indelcacy
or coarseness can be graceful. There are
few more pleasant sights in this world than
a troop Of dancers,
0As fhnv co