The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1869-01-08
People win Dance.

People Will Dance.
The clerical broadside against
dancing to which We adverted few
weeks ago, might as we'll have been
fred at the man in the moon. The
light fantastic toes Of our youths
and maidens are irrepressibllc, and
if all the Puritans in Ohristeadsm
were to tread on them to-day, they
would be ready to beat time to i'm
pious iddles and unsanctified pianos
tomorrow. As soon as the Rubic-
on of Christmas shall have passed,
the ball campaign will open in earn
est, and this fast-anchored isle and
the coasts adjacent will culver
nightly beneath the flying feet of
pleasure-loving crowds. They have
no idea, poor things, as the floor Of
the ballroom vibrates beneath them,
that there is only the thickness Of a
plank between their sinful soLEs
and burning Tophct. They can't
believe that the inspiring tunes that
set their limbs in graceful motion
are from Satan's repertoire; nor
that all their PAS are registered as
FAUX PAS by the Recording Angel.
It is true, If we may credit Bobby
Burns, that Tam O'Shanter saw the
fiend at fandango, and that the.
devil once danced through Edinboro
town with an excise-man, (small
blame to him for SO doing;) but
then, on the other hand, We have
Scripture warrant for saying that
godly Hebrews Of both sexes footed
it to the music of hackbut, harp,
and psaltery in Jerusalem the Holy,
and that David, who played and
sung devotedly, went so far as to
dance before the Lord. Per Sc,
therefore, these saltatory exercises
cannot be the diabolical amuseme ent
that some fanatical preachers, whose
dancing days are over, would have
us suppose. With the Shakers dan.
cling is q form of worship, and
certainly that sect Of celibates can
not be justly accused Of licentious-
ness. Furthermore, it is a ply ysi-
illogical fact that the exercise acts
upon the passions as a sedativc, not
as an excitant. If the mistaken
zealots who deuounce it as ''grossly
immoral" will talk the matter over
with the Faculty, they will find this
to be strictly and necessarily true.
Upon the whole, We advise tho
'sanctimonious opponents Of this de-
lightful, innocent, Bible-sanctioned
amusement to retire from the con-
test. The more they rail tho more
the people dance. Nothing will
ever stop them short Of amputating
their lower limbs and putting them
on crutches. The truth is, it is
NATURAL to dance-almost as
natural, and we believe quite as
unsinful, as it is to walk or leap or
run. The leaves dance, the waters
dance, and "children dance through
the morning to school," The ten
don Achilles itself is not unlike
piece of catgut, and it twitches in
involuntary unison with the vibra-
tions of tiddle-string. Stop dan
cling, forsooth I! 1t would be as
easy to stop the twinkling of the
stars. We are told that there is
joyful music in heaven, and it may
be that tho saints made perfect
time their movements to the melody
Of golden harps, for dancing is the
visible expression Of JOY. 1t was
because he was supremely happy
that David danced before the
Lord.
Considering how luxuriaatly tan
gible crime of every description
fourishes in our midst, would it not
be we'll for the pulpit sensationists
to concentrate their energies upon
the crying evils OF the day? They
can pitch into the pastimes of the
people when they have put down
theft. swindling, murder, perjury,
and adultery. Let them do the
rough work first. Hercules, when
he broomcd out the Augeaa stables,
did not begin with the unsoiled
straa:.: Il Il .''.he The enemy Of souls is
to BE- conquered. he must be taken
by the horns.
In the meantime, .On with the
dance !" When people are dancing
they cant be doing anything worse.
Men are always made better by
pleasant social intercourse with the
virtuous of the other sex, and we
are of the opinion that rs many
yirtuous women are to be found ut
the private and public balls Of the
respec table classes as at camp-meet-
ings and blue-light convcnticles.
N. Y. Sunday Times.
-So6-
Liquor Us. Laudanum.