Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-08-05
For the Yorkville Enquirer.
A DANCE.

" INV
A DANCE.
Mr.. Editor:-In your last issue July 29th)
Comus says Of me, ''our opponent has hitherto
shown such an aversion to facing the music, that
we entertain very little hope Of his doing so in fu-
ture." Ianswer. This, I take it up, is an es-
perimentheis making with his readers in witchery;
az in his s'mind," II am ASSOCIATED with witches"
I take it up, he may ultimately become q capital
wizard. Be pleased to say to Comus for me, Mr..
Editor, that he ':.face the music" q little while, and
will endeayor to accommodate him, with the
tune of Fish sr's Hornpipe, applied to the song,
"Can YOU hoe tobacco hills" whilst in q dance in
solo he cuts up a caper in the pigeou-wing; and
if he ssfeels like it," he now and then may run
about, and turn about, and do just 500; and ev.
cry time he whirl about, he jump Jim Crow. /
first will straighten his crooked place.
Comus gays of me, ''The writer seems to have
abandoned almost entirely the ground he had as
sumed in q previous article on the same subject
[dancing."1 1 reply. Not so. Comus certainly
has profted by my articles on WITcHcRART; lie
has found out the power Of assertion to beget be.
lief; and he seems disposed often here, to be ma
king some experiments on his readers in Psycholo-
~. If Comus thus keeps me in answering SO
many objections, and correcting go many Of his
plumbers, I will not find space here to make ad-
vance to new arguments in the discussion of this
subject; and this will suit him very well. In an-
swering so much of what he said before, as | had
space to do in my allotment, 1 foundI would have
room to say but little in the discussion of the sub
iect. L left the reader therefore, to compare the
balance for himself, whilst I proceeded to the dis.
~cussion. This leaving things unanswered, and
proceeding to new ground, is what he calls aban-
donment Of my "ground."
Comus speaks of my talent for evasion, and
perversion; indirect answers-fallacious reason
Observation-Disclosures of Observation-Disclosures
strained criticism, &c. To all these, if 1 reply
to each one at length, I will have no space to say
one word on the subject in debate. I only say to
these, he sdisplays q talent for evasion, and per-
version. which is not remarkably characteristic Of
a searcher after truth" All the matter and ar
pument on his part, not bearing on the morality
Of dancing.in. parties, I did forbear to NEEDLE
with much of it, farther than I needed to try his
case, by his own standard Of right action. This
I did, and convicted him of error in his standard
Of morals.
Comus still endeavors to find call classes in
Europe, in the practice of dancing, without the
exception of experimental and practical Chris
tians," even Mr.. Locke. He finds the high and
low; the rich and poor; the king, and peasant;
the Romish church entire '.prcfsssing" christians
Of the Reformation all dancing. He never men,
toned the Waldension christians as exceptions to
the Romish church: nor, the Lutherans, and
other followers of Christ after the Reformation /;
nor, the Presbyterians, nor Episcopalians, and
Others of later date in name. Does Comus think,
Mr.. Editor, that the well Informed will swallow
all this by simple assertion?
Comus stands corrected in his niseuotation of,
LIST Sam. %: and the witch at En.dor instead Of
chap. 10: to find David and the Philistines; but
l. 49,, kIWa Ill ~ot,r1 Al .o-,~l.,,o-k
by making a correction ALSO" David says he
did not return from the slaughter of the Philis.
tines (as be myself has it) for the Bible does
not record that David slew but one Philistine,
f~singular number, meaning of course Goliah."-
Mr., Editor, be pleased to read In chap. II and
find a "host' of Philistines TO be given to the fowls
aud in verse So, you will find the wounded of
Philistiues plural number) fell doon [dead] by
the way TO Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto
Enron. See also marginal reading Palestine, chap.
l8: 6. This is the slaughter of PhHistiaes from
which David here returned. Be pleased to say to
Comus for me, Mr.. Editor, that I decline his
tcompliment." Nor would I have noted this, his
blunder, but to give o tangible specimen of his in
accuracy in dealing out his subject in some other
places.
The same is the case in his showing up the
cases of ''the head of John the Baptist" as the
price which the daughter of Herodias demanded
from Herod, and which Herod paid to her, for
her dance before him. Mark 6:22-28. And
that of the saying in Job, where he says of the
wicked, "their children dance" Job 81 H.
Mr.. Editor, read these places, and see for your
sell IL these be not historical facts.
Comus exults in having found in the parable of
the Prodigal son luke l5:) what ! had given as
(be says) for a definition Of "the dance of our
day," as distinguished from "those recorded in
Scripture" viz that they ''are given in honor of
some person, or event." Mr.. Editor, read my
text, and you will find there, that when I used
the quoted words, / was running a parallelism
between sstbe dances of our day" and the komois
the r~eyelinrs of the ~votaries of Comus, and of
B.cchus, to find q ''such like" in "the dances of
our day" and not to compare these to the dances
recorded in Scripture. But, how can Comus claim
the dancing for the Prodigal sons return, to
favor the morality of ''the dances of our day."
when we have no clue to this? Moreover, that
which was in this dance a sign of joy, before eI:
istsnt in the dancers heart; Comus in his dances
transmutes into an instrument in producing joy,
viz: sdaneing.' His dances are performed, not
because the dancers do now rejoice; but in order
that in the dance they may rejoice.
But what is the main spring to action In SO
COMPANY Of ladies and gentlemen" in this enlight.
ened ace. in q dance Of our day? Even in the
most POLISHED and refined, in the highest circles Of
society It is we'll answered. 1t is ~'because
Old Cufee sits in the corner yonder "a drawing
q horses hair across some cat-gut."
Thus again all my space is consumed in strait
eping out the crooked places Comus made; and l
have but little room to say what is in reserve upon
this matter; nevertheless, l will first give atten-
fi2a to Ehat Comus said directly bearing on the
question in debate, and tlen proceed further in
my discussion.
Mr.. Editor, Comus erects his standard for
Christian morals, by which he proposes to meas
ure the quality of the dance for which he pleads
thus, viz: He says "God has given US appetites,
and desires we have also been gifted with reason,
and intellect to guide US in their government, and
there is rot, nor can be any standard whereby We
are 70 be regulated in their indulgence except the