Morning journal and courier., 1883-12-10
Can't Keep it Square.

The Modern Dance Will Become Round
 Its Nature and Tendency-Denth to
 Spiritual Activity.
 The announcement that the Rev. Spencer
 H. Bray was to preach a sermon upon the
 Modern Dance" attracted 8 congregation to
 his church on Humphrey street last evening
 that completely filled that attractive sdifice'
 The clergyman said by way of introduction
 to his sermon that it was always more pleasas
 ant to preach a sermon when he knew that
 most of the congregation would assent to
 what he said and go away saying "Insts
 so. than when he was aware that most or his hearers would not agree with him. But he felt that the subject was one upon which earnest words needed to be spoken, ana
 he felt the promptings of the holy spirit
 leading hlm to preach upon 1t. lie said: When I was twenty-one years ot age 1T
 had heard what you are about to near
 would have said that ministers should not
 preach about what they know nothing aoout' J was perfectly fascinated with dancing then.
 But after was converted I gave up my square and round dancing. want to read few words from the fourteenth chapter or
 Matthew and eighth verse s'Give me hero
 the head of John the Baptist in charger
 The speaker then told the story of the dance
 before King Herod which so captivated him that he made the rash promise l which was taken advantage Of by l Herodias and which led to John belEg \ beheaded He said further: II have se- lected this little scrap of history partly because we are so often met with the asser- l tion, 'The Bible says there's a time to dance People do not alIude to the other passages in the chapter. As to the declara- l tion made by Solomon. is it promise. command? When is the time to dance and l what dancing is referred to? Solomon says. 1 There is time to mourn and time to dance,' describing the two contrasting emo tions He might have used other figures or other language. But if it be true, what dancing is meant ? It is fact that dancing was on joyous occasions indulged in by one of 8 sex as an act of religious worship. When Jeptha returned from victory his 1 daughter danced, when the ark of God re- turned David was so overioyed that he danced. Other instances are chron- | icled in the holy book. But the | sexes never mingled in the dance, Somebody has said that the spirit of the l dance is sex. Take that away and compel 1 men to dance together and dancing would 1 cease to be popular l "We are asked what harm is there in danc- | ing? That is one of the big guns of the devil That is what the young man says when he takes his first quarter of dollar ] from his employer, when he takes hls first drink don't stand here to say there 8 any sin per SC in the movement of the body in a dance. If man feels joyous and wants to ! go up to his attic or out to his barn and l whistle and dance there's no harm in 1t. It l IS the environmentj of the dance. It IS true that at public balls men dance with those ] they would not introduce into their families, IoIi Tyhi rl | hall in the embrace of men they would not entertain in their parlors. The | principal question is, IS he or she l good dancer. young man once said to a l young lady to whom he was engaged, after | seeing her waltzing with man not above 1 suspicion: Would you dance with the devil | if he were here ? and she replied, Yes, 1 l think I ould.'
 1.-The modern dance is destructive of good ! morals, modesty, chastity. l can quote to ! you opinions of men which will bear up my | statements. It is not long since the chief of | police of New York said large percentage \ of the fast girls of his city were ruined by l dancing. The Journal of Education says \ three-fourths of the wrecked women of | the cities took their first downward | steps at the ball. Mrs. Sherman, of ! Baltimore has inaugurated an open warfare ! against the dance. Rev. Matthew Hale 1 Smith says dancing hall is as mischievous ! | It is diseracefuI for Christian women to dance. Bishop Coxe, of Ohio, says:
 ] To the Rev Clergy and Laity of the Dio- ceses of Western and Central New York: ! Brethren beloved in the Lord-The solem- mites of Lent, now about to begin, justify \ me in calling on you, as myself also, to re- | newed repentance, meditation and sincere confession with prayer. The late pastoral ! letter of the house of bishops suggests those ! practical matters to which attention should | be particularly directed, and I need add lit | tie to my request that you may heed these ! admonitions and study the holy scriptures, I "whether these things are so."
 The enormities of theatrical exhibitions | and the lasciviousness of dances too common ! ly tolerated in our times are there so special I ly pointed out as disgraceful to the age and ! irreconcilable with the gospel of Christ that \ feel it my duty to the souls of my flock to warn those who run with the world to the | same excess of riot' in these things that they \ presume not to come to the holy table. \ Glasses preparing for confirmation are in \ formed that I will not lay hands ! knowingly on anyone who is not prepared to renounce such things with other abominations of the world, the flesh and the devil" Let all such choose deliberately whom they will serve: and if salvation be worth striving for, let them be persuaded to a sober life, to self-depials and to the pure \ and innocent enioyments which the gospel not only permits but which 1t only can cre- ate. It is high time that the lines should be | drawn between worldly and godly living, and see no use in Lent that is not sancti1ed to such ends.
 ! I have heretofore warned my flock against
 the blood -guiltiness of ante natal 1infanticide. ! If any doubts existed heretofore as to the l propriety of my warnings on this subject, they must now disappear before the fact that ! the world itself is beginning to be horrltied by the practical results of the sacrifices to | Moloch which defiIe our land. q ask atten- | ton to an article on Population" :" which ap- pears in the periodical called Harpers Maga-
 zine for February, 1869) Again I warn you that they who do such | things cannot inherit eternal life. If there be a special damnation for those who' shed inno- cent blood.
 "Captain Williams, captain of large pre- cinct in New York where most of the dlsso- lute women are congregated, says that he has learned from observation and personal con- versation that most of those abandoned crea- lures took their first downward steps In the dance. An Irish policeman on the corner of Chapel and Church streets said to friend: Dancing is what ruins many girls. Public balls are great evil Some plead the ex- cuse that they might be doing something worse, but that is very fra1l one. Ihe thlef when he goes to steal might say the same thing or the murderer when he fires the fatal shot.
 Dancing imperils the health. It is almost impossible for any young girl to go to ball with the light ball dress and escape talk ing cold in some way. Thousands have died
 of quick consumption from colds contracted at balls.
 ''What good is there in it {? If there is any good let's have it. If conducted in proper
 place, at proper hour, in proper dress and
 in proper company it may be harmless, but in majority of cases these conditions
 not secured They say it is good exercise
 Perhaps it is. I can remember the time
 when could dance double shuttle. I
 might do it now in my barn or kitchen if 1
 felt disposed, but I should not call in the
 servant girl to dance with me. If you want
 exercise there are plenty of far better ways
 to get it. such walking, horseback riding,
 rowing, club swinging, etc. How
 many ladies there who
 so delicate that they cannot walk
 and must have carriage, but
 are able to dance all night We hear great
 deal about dancing school. We must send
 our children there to make them graceful.
 We must remember that some can never be
 graceful, and many fine dancers don't know
 how to walk gracefully. There's plenty of