St. Cloud visiter [sic]. [volume] (St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1857-1858, 1858-03-18
Jane Gray swisshelm. Editor.
A Sermon.

Az" aItiC'e III tHt NlSl tT. SUN dilNOupI
II showed fast, the house was crowded.
After prelimInarys exercises he read hi.
text: Prove all things, hold fast that
which is good!" He then produced q
copy Of the st. Cloud Visiter, No. 6, and
read those portions Of our article on dan.
cling which he designed reviewing. First
Our assertion that his statements in for.
mer sermon We're q absurd" Second
That the religious prejudice against dancing
has no foundation in scripture. Third
Tia. ''no family is we'll managed whore
the young FOLKS cannot dance without go.
ing to tavern, where they will be liab!e
10 witness scenes OF drunkenness and
vuarreling." 1.-THE close of his discourse
The reverend gentleman informed US he had
spoken an hour and three quarters.
We enter our solemn protest against the
entire proceeding, as derogatory to the
Holy Scripture and the Christian ministry
We were not tlattered by being carried up
into the pulpit, with Moses, the Prophets
and Evangelists, with being laid down Do.
side them, quoted verse aho.t and con.
stantly referred to as the writer of the ar
hcie. We had not, and Eeser can have,
any ]ust claim to appear in such place and
IN such company. Such use Of the put"
pit would soon reduce it So the level Of
" the stump and Mr.. human is wrong in
carrying this mat:ec, in this manner, to the
pulpit. Oar columns have been open to
MIN, OF, if he prefers a verbal correction
1t our errors, there are the Wednesday
evening lectures, where he is invited to
speak on any sn(?iect he pleases; Or, he
Can preach against dancing as long and
as much rs he sees proper, without giving
any one just Cause Of complaint, but the
fV!pst and the Sabbath are not the place
ana time tor reviewing newspaper articles,
dcensd personal.
Mr.. lnman held out The idea that We had
attacked bin, on this subject hut his me-
'''ofy must be at fault. In our fifth num-
Ter we recommended dancing as q sub IT,
tu'e ior pIomiscuous kissing at social par.
ties The paragraph was but few lines,
aHd We made no personal aliuslon to
any individual. On the following Sabbath
we attended service at Mr. Inman's place
Of worship, and was astounded TO find
ourseIt the object Of personal and pointed
repsoot His text was $: Indignation and
wrath. ,ribulation and anguish, upon every
soul ct m"n that docib evil" &c. He dis
lsAsl!y announced 1.-The Devil has been
tie; loose in St. Cloud;' aud that there
we're those, even among protesting chris
sians, who were encouraging others, the
nonprofessors and young people, to lay up
tor themselves wrath against the day Ct
wrath; after long and alarming prelude,
nc announced that he meant dancing.
True, he had stated that be did net in
tend 10 Kick anybody in particular" but at
the application, the audience, as one mar,
tarnsd to us. Ladies trod upon our toes
and plucked our dress; and there was "a
General, if not universal laugh, in which,
1ssplte OF our utmost efforts, we were
Obliged to join. According to our sense
Of hearing and that Of every ';ne Of his |;
audience with whom, we have spoken Of ii, ;
snd that is most Of them, he said dancing
n Itself was as innocent as the raising and
letting: fall Of his arm, hut that i was
connected with drunkenness
hnd fighting. He could not well have
been more emphatic on this point, as he
the assertion, said be spoke from
10 years personal experience, and hnew
that it YVES impossible to get up dance in
y respectable temperance hotel. There
could be no dancing without drinking and
fighting; and he instanced in proof Of
his proposition, co,ii|ien party of the
Friday evening previous, where he descri-
oeo HE scenes az disgracefal and wicked
IN tho last degree. he rorndly asserted
and repeated that those who had attended
that party were the Every ohscourings OF
the earth,' and made no exceptions. We
learned that some Of our best citizens vera
at that party that there were present those
who i'll point Of pie'y and moral worth,
have no superiors in this community.
In the short no,ice We felt called upon
70 give that sermon we SAID nothing Of his
attack upon lis, although, to one, who, from
the age Of sixteen, has been member OF
the strlctezt branch OF the Presbyterian
-hurch,: i could not be pleasant TO be pub
lic!y designated as one leading multitudes
to eternal death. We expressed no offence,
We felt none, as we attributed his words 10
zeal, and think NO one should
take offence at any we'll meant reproof --
In private, we used all our influence to in-
s.uce others to look upon his sermon in the
same light. |
We said the, assertions ol the reyerepd
gentleman were 6 absurd" We say still.
.hyt If we and others heard him Alright,
they were, are, and must remain absurd.
1t is absurd in fact and philosophy to say
that any innocent act is inseparaoie from
s,ross forms Of vice. More than this,
make the inevitable application Of his
statement and il becomes ridiculous. lie,
himself, cannot avoid The conclusion, for ii
dancing is inseparable from fighting and
drinking, Miriam and the Virgins had
drunken broil at ths Red Sea. But in MS
lat I sermon Nj. lnman says he never made,
-. .l.o III "a o,ol;fyy thAec oSsnrfiOnS