The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-06-20
NOT SINFUL TO DANCE.
Rev. John 1. Scudder Says
Dancing Is Proper at
Certain Times.
IT IS 4 GRACEFUL AMUSEMENT
But Certain Restrictions
Should Mark Indulgence
in the Terpsichor-
can Art.
IT IS 4 GRACEFUL AMUSEMENT

John l.. Scudder preached a sermon up
holding dancing. His text was Eccles. iii;
IA Time TO Dance He said in part
Dancing has existed among all nations
and there Is a psychological basis for this
amusement. 1t is The outward expression
of internal exhilaration of spirits; A
happy child skips to school. for walking
is too prosaic for her state of mind
Nature was the first dancing master. II
an organ grinder appears on the street,
little children. who know nothing OF a
two-step or a waltz, originate dances Of
their own. They dance because they love
music and are happy The word dance
IN Hebrew means to leap for JOY. The
praised God at the same time. Miriam led
off in tho dance when the Israelites
crossed the Red Sea and escaped from
Fharoah. When David killed Goliath
Cuba Is free from Spanish tyranny l shah
feel like dancing myself. After a good
revival meeting, fruitful in conversion,
Lyman Beecher used to dance about his
house to the music of his own violin.
When the prodigaI son repented and re-
turned, they celebrated the occasion with
at Cana / have no dou our Saviour
looked upon the dancing of the young
people with a ~favoring smile. Jesus was
no ascetic like John the Baptist.
II can see no sin in dancing. On the
contrary, 1T is a graceful amusement and
perfectly proper, if Kept within reason
able bounds. | see no reason why Chris
tians should not dance, if they dance
with proper company, in proper places,
at proper times and in a proper manner
We have Biblical sanction for this diver
sion, Let the children of Zion be Joyful
in their King; let them praise his name
in the dance From which | deduce this
principle, namely, that If your dancing is
of such 4 character that you can glorify
God in it's performance, dance all you
please. Dance so as to maintain your
self-respect and purity of heart.
Some good people take ultra ground
on this amusement, and dispose Of the
whole question by one bold stroke of
sweeping prohibition. To me this savors
of fanaticism, and it certainly puts them
out of joint with popular Christian sem
timent and demonstrates their influence
with young people. Under reasonable re-
strietions, the great body of Christians
believe in and dancing among
their children. This is natural, sensible
and just. True religion never objects to
the young people having a good time,
They will have cares and sorrows later
on in life. Why not let them frisk when
the feel like it.
Now, having admitted thai dancing is
a harmless diversion, when kept within
certain limitations, l proceed now to
name these limitations. The first relates
TO time. Young people should observe
proper hours. The best time to dance is
in the day time and in the open air. This
is why I believe in dancing at a Sunday
School picnic, where the breezes of heav-
Gil ldl lH6 C1ftthS I'll lis ptLlOIlltIo diiQ
supply their lungs with pure oxygen.
This dancing after midnight and in a
suffocating atmosphere IS u~nhygienic and
contrary to nature. We are not bats and
day, and day into night, There is time to
dance, and in my judgment not later than
eleven p. M. l see no reason why parties
cannot at eight p. M, instead
of nine or ten o'clock at light. We are
growing too stylish for our own good,
The BELLE that retires at three or four
A. M. acts like a she bear the next day.
It is plain to all in the house h has
daneed too much Before many people
learn to dance they ought to take a few
lessons in physiology.
1.-The second limitation concerns the
manner of dancing. This IS of paramount
speech. There is proper ard an improper
way of dancing. a man should hold his
partner at a respectable distance, using his
arms to steady and guide her, and the
are adhered to by the men. No greater
liberties should be allowed upon the floor
crates into peripatetic hugging, it be
comes a disgraceful and sometimes a dam
gerous pastime. Public embracings are
disgraceful, and no true woman will allow
her partner to hold her too closely. Her
natural sense of propriety will tell her
where to draw the line. The manner in
which many women dress nowadays a;
sary and unjustifiable. Some full dress
receptions are wrongly named. Some of
the ladies are only three-qaarters dressed.
Her costumes might pass muster in CEN
trail Africa or the Garden of Eden, but
they are sadly out of place in a Christian
civilization.
The third limitation is: be careful
where and with whom you dance. Con-
fine this amusement as much as possible
to the home circle and personal acquaint-
ances. PubH balls and dancing pavilions
at irresponsible picnic grounds, where
young w0me trust themselves to the
arms of men they never met before and
whose antecedents are unknown, are per-
nicious in the extreme, and have occa-
stoned the ruin of many innocent but
foolish maidens. Behind many a diamond
studded shirt bosom stands a moral leper.
The sale of liquor at such popular re-
| sorts is a snare, and upon it the libertine
depends for the accomplishment of his
fiendish purpose. If any of these safe
guards are neglected, dancing, indeed. be-
comes a questionable amusement. Diver
sions we must have in this care-worn
world, but let us make them harmless
and live up to our high ideals. Pleasure
Is a legitimate pursuit. but beware lest
the love of pleasure drive out the love Of
God, Amusement is not the chief end in
life. 1t is a side issue, it prepares US for
tho real work of life. Let us not let in
cidentals take he place of the eternal.