{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_14183/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_14183","id":"gutenberg_14183","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14183","summary":null,"tags":["Antidance Literature","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Dance -- Moral and ethical aspects"],"text":"Note: Images of the original pages are available in the American\n      Memory Collection of the Library of Congress. See\n      http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html\n\n\n\n\n\nTHERE IS NO HARM IN DANCING\n\nby\n\nW. E. PENN\n\nWith an Introduction by Rev. J.H. STRIBLING, D.D.\n\nSt. Louis, Mo.\nLewis E. Kline, Publisher and Bookseller.\n\n1884\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\"Buy the TRUTH and sell it not; also WISDOM and INSTRUCTION and\nUNDERSTANDING.\"--PROV. 23-23.\n\n\"There is a way that SEEMETH right unto a man, but the end thereof are\nthe ways of DEATH.\"--PROV. 14-25\n\n\n\n\n\nThis little book is respectfully and kindly dedicated to all Husbands,\nFathers and Brothers, who love their Wives, Daughters and Sisters, by\n\nTHE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\nDuring the past seven years I have delivered the substance of the\nforegoing Lecture on Dancing, as a part of my work as an Evangelist,\nbefore not less than one hundred thousand people. I have been requested\nby hundreds of FATHERS and mothers, young men and girls, HUSBANDS and\nBROTHERS, and pastors of churches to publish the Lecture in the form of\na book, that its influence may be extended to fields I shall never\nvisit. It is in compliance with these requests that the little book is\nwritten, with the hope that at least some good may result in begetting\nand fostering a better state of morals in our day and generation, and in\nchecking the terrible increase of crime which is rolling over the earth\nlike a mighty wave of the ocean. If I shall ever hear that this little\nbook has had some humble part in stopping one poor soul from taking one\nmore step down the \"BROAD ROAD,\" _or that it has done any good in the\nworld_, I shall feel well paid for all the time and trouble it has cost\nme in getting it into the hands of the printer. Most of persons speaking\nor writing on the subject of the dance, are \"_hear-say_\" witnesses, but\nI profess to having been an \"_eye-witness_,\" which I propose to prove by\nall the _bad_ men, or those who have been _bad_ men, who may carefully\nread this book. Their verdict will be: \"HE HAS BEEN THERE.\"\n\nWhile I believe that hundreds of thousands of fathers and mothers,\nhusbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and pastors, and Christians,\nwill bless the day this little book was written, and will offer many\nearnest prayers for the author, I shall expect many Othellos to curse me\nwith all the bitterness of their souls, because I hope it may be said\nwherever the book is read: \"OTHELLO'S OCCUPATION IS GONE.\"\n\nTHE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\nMajor W.C. Penn, the author of the following treatise on the modern\ndance, has requested the writer to pen a few thoughts introductory to a\ntheme he has presented with such pith and power to listening thousands\nin his travels as an Evangelist.\n\nVarious inquiries have been made as to how Major Penn, a lawyer in a\nlucrative practice, and with all the attractions of wealth and of fame\nbefore him, and in a quiet, lovely and elegant home, with a wife who has\never been as a guardian angel to his pathway, was led to change his\nvocation to that of a wandering Evangelist, and how it is that he now\nstands before the world beside Knapp, and Earle, and Moody, and other\nworld-renowned Evangelists of the 19th century, in leading multitudes to\nChrist as a Savior?\n\nIt is answered and centered in the sublime truth: \"The love of Christ\nconstraineth us.\" As the stars are dimmed and lost sight of in the\nbrilliancy of the rising sun, so earthly pleasures, riches and honors\nfade and dwindle in the glory of the Cross. As God was pleased to use\nthe writer as an instrument in getting brother Penn into this work, so\nit seemed proper that a few incidents and facts which led to it, as\nremembered in our associations together, should be stated.\n\nIt was in Jefferson, Texas, where our brother then resided, that I first\nsaw him, in May, 1874, during the session of the Southern Baptist\nConvention, at that place. But it was in June, the year after, at his\nown home and during a series of meetings in the Baptist Church, that I\nbegan to know more of him, as he brought up in our social interviews a\nreview of his life religiously--as he told of the time when, in the\nardor and vigor of youth, in Tennessee, at a meeting, he sought to defy\nand brave a gospel message from the venerable brother James Hurt, by\ntaking a front seat; and then how his soul was convulsed and his heart\nmelted, as God's message wrenched the bolted door of that heart; how he\nstruggled with the agonies of conviction for sin, during the long, weary\nhours of night; and how the joys of pardoning love through Christ came\nto his soul with the brightness of the morning. As these conversations\nwere reviewed, he told of frequent backslidings, and how far away from\nGod he had been. Then he told of some things he had done in the Sunday\nSchool and in the Church, and then at times gave his opinion as to the\nbest way of conducting a series of meetings and other things pertaining\nto Christ's Kingdom. During these conversations the question was asked:\n\"Bro. Penn, are you satisfied and sure that you are in full discharge of\nyour duty?\" After a pause he replied, as if conscience was awakened:\n\n\"No Sir. I am not satisfied, and have not been for years past.\" Then\nsaid he: \"You are the first man that ever asked me that question.\" Then\nthe writer made known some impressions about him that must have been\nmade by the spirit of God, for he never had just such an interest to\nburden his heart previously, and that was that God had a peculiar and\nwonderful work for him to do. \"But,\" said Bro. Penn, \"at my age, in my\nprofession and in my condition, I cannot believe it to be my duty to\npreach the Gospel\"--his age being at that time forty-two years. Among\nother things said at this time by the writer, as he now remembers them\none was: That the Spirit of God leads and teaches us in strange ways,\noften, as to what God would have us do, and that our methods of holding\nmeetings seemed to the writer as being deficient in some things, and\nthat the good of the cause required a change from the ruts and grooves\nin which these meetings had been run, and that we were making our\nservices monotonous and chilling out spirituality by common methods of\nconducting divine service, in protracted meetings. Another thought was:\nThat he and men like himself, as lawyers, that were given to talking and\nthat knew much of men and the world, if the love of Christ was burning\nin their souls, might do a great work in going out and helping in such\nmeetings, even if they never engaged regularly in the ministry.\n\nBut it was in Tyler, Texas, at a Sunday School Institute, in July, 1875,\nthat a new era was to dawn on Major Penn.\n\nIt was a fixed impression in the mind of the pastor that there ought to\nbe a change in our manner of conducting revival services; that the time\nhad come to begin the work, and that Bro. Penn was the man to inaugurate\nsuch a change. In prayer this matter was carried to the Lord for His\ndirection. It was a settled impression in the heart of the writer, as\npastor of the Baptist Church, that the Church and community needed a\nseries of meetings at this time. There were preachers present of\nexperience, piety and ability, and he had no doubt they would remain and\naid in such services if invited to do so. But contrary to what was a\ncommon practice at the close of such meetings, and after imploring the\nLord to direct him, he could not, from his heart, ask any of these\npreachers to stay and aid in a meeting.\n\nWhile singing the last song, at the close of the service on Sunday\nnight, the writer approached Major Penn, who had been aiding in the\nsinging, and said to him: \"Bro. Penn, I am going to appoint a prayer\nmeeting at 9 o'clock in the morning, and as your train does not leave\nuntil 2 o'clock to-morrow evening, I shall expect to see you at the\nmeeting; will you come?\" To which he replied. \"I have some business with\nthe clerk of the Federal Court, and if I get through in time, I will try\nand be here.\" A prayer meeting was announced for 9 o'clock the next\nmorning. At the appointed hour a fair congregation had assembled, and a\nfew minutes after 9 o'clock Maj. Penn came in and took a seat not far\nfrom the door. The writer approached him and said: \"I want you to\nconduct this meeting.\" He replied: \"You must excuse me, I am a lawyer,\nand do not believe in mixing things in this way. You conduct the meeting\nor get one of those preachers sitting there to do it, and I will help in\nsinging or lead in prayer, if desired.\" To which the writer replied: \"If\nall the preachers in the world were here I could not permit one of them\nto conduct this meeting, and I am not physically able. You _must_ do\nit.\" To which he answered. \"Very well, I will conduct a prayer meeting.\"\n\nThe meeting was opened as is usual, when Brother Penn arose and read a\nportion of the 20th chapter of John, and then talked about fifteen\nminutes, which seemed to awaken a very deep interest throughout the\nentire congregation. At the close of this talk quite a number of wives,\nfathers, mothers, brothers and sisters arose one after another and in\ngreat earnestness asked prayer for their loved ones. While singing the\nlast song, the writer asked Brother Penn to remain and conduct a service\nat night, which he positively refused to do, saying that he must go\nhome. Whereupon the writer publicly entered a protest against his\nleaving. Sister Penn and others of the company from Jefferson\nconsenting, he agreed to remain one more day. At night the house was\ncrowded, and great interest manifested by Christians and by many\nunconverted. A prayer meeting was announced for 9 o'clock the next\nmorning. At this meeting the house was well filled, with a decided\nincrease of interest. One or two conversions-and a number of inquiries\nwere made.\n\nAt the close of this meeting the writer said to Brother Penn, \"You\ncannot leave this meeting, it will never do, there never has been such\nan interest in this town since I have been here.\" To which he replied \"I\nam bound to go home, I have no partner and no one to attend to my\nbusiness.\" The writer then arose, and in the name of the Lord Jesus\nChrist entered another solemn protest against his leaving, saying: \"I\nbelieve before God that it is Bro. Penn's solemn duty to remain here and\ncarry on this meeting, and it is my firm conviction that if he leaves he\nwill commit the great sin of his life, and I call upon every member of\nthis church and of this congregation, who will join me in this protest,\nto stand up.\" The entire congregation were standing in a moment. He then\nsaid to the writer privately: \"I tell you I am bound to go home; I\npromised my wife yesterday that I would be certain to go home with her\nto-day, and I know that she is bound to go home.\" The writer said: \"Bro.\nPenn, you are mistaken; Sister Penn would not have you leave this\nmeeting to go home with her. She will go with the young people.\" He then\nwent to where his wife was sitting and said to her: \"I promised you\nyesterday that I would go home with you to-day, and I am going to do\nit.\" Sister Penn looked up in his face with tearful eyes and trembling\nlips, and said, as only a true, noble hearted Christian woman could have\nsaid: \"I can go home with the young people, I do not think you ought to\ngo.\" This seems to have been the last hair that broke the camel's back.\nWe have seen many striking photographs of the Major as taken by artists\nin his travels, and in various attitudes, but a picture delineating his\nfeatures on this occasion would be preferable to all others.\n\nAs he rose to respond to the protest of the pastor, Church and\ncongregation, with his head thrown back, his eyes dilated, his lips\nquivering, his voice stammering and tears coursing their way down his\ncheeks, he tried to give expression to his astonishment and the deep\nemotion of his heart; he seemed to realize that it was _God's call_, and\nthat he could not resist it.\n\nIt was circulated through the town that a _lawyer_, and not a\n_preacher_, was to conduct services at the Baptist Church. Some thought\nit a strange freak in the pastor to suggest, and in the Church to\napprove such a thing. Various opinions were freely expressed as to the\nleader in these services. Then it was spoken in low tones of voice among\nsome good people, in substance, after this fashion: \"Did you ever hear\nof such a thing? Here are preachers all over the country that we know,\ngood men, who can preach the gospel, and here they've called in a\n_lawyer to carry on the meeting_. Lord have mercy on us, what are we\ncoming to any how?\"\n\nAt every street corner and place of business, in the saloons, offices\nand homes throughout Tyler, Maj. Penn and the services were discussed,\nwhile his Satanic Majesty and his allies were busy in trying to cripple\nand crush the good effects. A mighty and irresistable attraction drew\ncrowds to the house of God.\n\nAt times it was apparent that the leader was embarrassed; now and then\nfretted and and chafed; then at a loss what to say or do; and more than\nonce was he tempted to say he would leave the meeting; and that he had\nnot remained there to be slandered and persecuted. But he was reminded\nthat the best of men had thus suffered, that God had furnaces through\nwhich we must pass, to burn up the dross, and that in the midst of this\nstate of things the Church was being revived, wanderers brought back,\nsouls awakened and converted from day to day, and that he had the\nsympathy, prayers and co-operation of many pious, devoted hearts. Again\nthe new leader, after wrestling in prayer for grace and direction, took\ncourage and was renewed by the spirit of God to go on in pulling down\nthe strong-holds of iniquity. But Satan was not yet overcome, he made\nanother powerful assault upon him.\n\nWhen the meeting had been in progress about ten days, abuse,\nmisrepresentation, lying, together with the basest and most contemptible\nslanders, were hurled at him with unmeasured severity. It was a new\nordeal, and he was tempted stronger than ever to lay off his armor and\nleave the meeting. He decided to go home, and so stated to the pastor,\nsaying: \"You have already kept me here longer than any man on earth\ncould have done, and now I am determined to go.\" \"Well,\" said the\npastor, \"I am sorry to hear it, and believe you will commit a great\nwrong, and will incur the displeasure of Almighty God in leaving here at\nthis time, and still further, I beg you to bear in mind this truth, that\nduty never points in two ways. If it is your duty to be in Jefferson\npracticing law, then it is not your duty to remain here and carry on\nthis meeting. God only can guide you aright.\" This conversation occurred\nin the afternoon. At night the Major was in his place, and said to the\nlarge congregation: \"My friends, I have heard to-day of so many\nslanderous reports about me that I determined to go home, but\nremembering that so persecuted they the prophets, which were before me,\nand that they persecuted my Master even unto death, I have only to say:\n'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do?' I shall go on\nwith the meeting, 'looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of my\nfaith,' to sustain, protect and guide me in all things.\" It was,\nperhaps, the drinking of this cup of persecution that passed our brother\nacross the Rubicon, that burned all the bridges behind him and caused\nhim to bow in humble submission to the will of Almighty God.\n\n  \"'Tis ever so thy faithful love\n  Does all thy children's graces prove;\n  'Tis thus our pride and self must fall\n  That Jesus may be all in all.\"\n\nAs the meeting continued, and as the scores and hundreds came together\n\"at the sound of the church-going bell,\" from day to day the leader\nseemed to develop in power from God to move, melt and sway the hearts of\nthe listening crowds, as he sung and prayed and talked \"of Jesus and his\ndying love.\" After more than five weeks' continuance, the services\nclosed. Scores were converted, many valuable additions were made to the\nChurch, Christians were renewed and developed in piety of heart and\nlife, and the leavening and saving power of the Gospel was extended\nthrough the town and surrounding country.\n\nThis meeting was the beginning and earnest of the blessings and success\nthat has attended Bro. Penn's labors for more than nine years past,\nwhile in his life we see that,\n\n  \"Defects thro' nature's best productions run.\n  The saints have spots, and spots are in the sun,\n  And that he, with all of Adam's race,\n  Are only 'sinners' saved by grace.\"\n\nYet we rejoice and praise God for what has been manifested in his growth\nand development in his work mentally and spiritually, for the life,\npower and efficiency infused into our churches by his ministrations--for\nhis rebukes, exposures and denunciations of sin, in and out of the\nChurch; for holding up Christ at all times, as the only hope of lost\nsinners; for tearing away the mask of a heartless formality in the\nprofession and practice of religion; for the thousands of all classes\nand ages in the forests and prairies of Texas, where he has pitched his\ngreat gospel tent, and in the cities of Galveston, Houston, San Antonio,\nDallas, Ft. Worth, Mobile, Memphis, Louisville, St. Louis, and in the\ncities of California, in scores of crowded places of worship; in smaller\ntowns and in the country, who have been brought to Christ as lost\nsinners through his instrumentality; and that at all times and through\nhis whole ministry he has declared \"the whole counsel of God,\" and made\nno compromises with error and heresy.\n\nAs to the disquisition of Maj. Penn, which frowns on the modern dance,\nwe ask for it a careful reading and an honest and practical application\nof its facts, arguments and illustration, as the prize, practical essay\nof the age on this subject, so far as is known. That it is clear,\npointed and overwhelming in its exposures of the evils and crimes, the\ncorruptions and abominations of the modern dance is confirmed by\nexperience and observation.\n\nLet every lover of the dance, every friend of morals and of religion,\nand each professing Christian, read and circulate this production among\nall classes of men and women.\n\nAnd may the blessings of God attend it's circulation, as it may be\nscattered into thousands of homes, and an increasing blessing attend its\nauthor and his labors.\n\nJ. H. STRIBLING,\n\n     Rockdale, Texas. October 14, 1884.\n\n\n\n\n\"There is No Harm in Dancing.\"\n\n\n     \"Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree\n     bringeth forth evil fruit.\"--Matt. 7, 17.\n\nIf \"THERE IS NO HARM IN DANCING,\" it must be a good tree, and if it is a\ngood tree, we shall be certain to find that it bears good fruit, and if\nwe find the fruit hanging on its boughs to be sound and wholesome food\nfor the _physical, mental_ and _spiritual_ man, we should strive to have\nthese trees planted in all our homes, our churches, Sabbath-schools,\nschool-houses, colleges, seminaries, or other institutions of learning.\nBut if we find the fruit injurious, to either the physical, mental or\nspiritual, to such a degree that its injurious effects are not overcome\nand destroyed by the benefits conferred upon us by the other two, it\nshould be condemned by every friend of humanity.\n\nEvery tree should be cut down, and every dealer regarded as an enemy to\nhis race. Some trees are very tall and _graceful_, and dressed in\nbeautiful foliage, but the fruit is deadly poison. Some trees are not\ncomely to look upon, but the fruit very good and wholesome. So it is not\nthe tree, but the fruit, to which we must look. Some fruit may be very\nbad but not dangerous to society, because of the very small quantity on\nthe market, and because it is not good to the _taste_, but little, if\nany, of it is used. But this is not the case with dancing, for there is\na large quantity of it on hand all the time, and a great deal of it is\nused, because it is _palatable_ to the _natural_ taste of men and women.\nThe demand is always far greater than the supply.\n\nThis fruit being so very popular, of such great demand, we must conclude\nthat, as it is bound to be either good or bad, it must be _very_ good,\nor _very_ bad. Now, reader, before we proceed to examine this fruit,\nplease do the author and yourself the justice to sign your name to the\nfollowing vow:\n\n\"I do _solemnly vow_ that I will carefully read the following pages as\nnearly as possible free from all _prejudice_ and _partiality, with a\ndesire to know the truth_, and that I will a true verdict render,\naccording to the honest conviction of my own mind and heart.\n\n\"(Here sign name.)________________\"\n\nWhen and where are the trees of dancing to be found? They grow in the\nnight and generally perish with the darkness when the morning light\nappears.\n\n     \"This is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and\n     men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were\n     evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light; neither\n     cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved.\"--John\n     3-19-20.\n\nThe trees are to be found in many private residences, dancing schools,\ndancing academies, seminaries and colleges, where our girls are\neducated; in public halls, in side shows, in some of our _so-called_\nchurches, in beer shops, beer gardens, variety theatres, music halls and\nhouses of ill-fame. In the five last-mentioned these trees grow much\ntaller, larger and more luxuriant than anywhere else, because it is\nsupposed by _naturalists_ that they are more indigenous to this kind of\nsoil. In these places those are the favorite trees, the trees admired\nabove all others, because of the fruit they bear. Why the virtuous and\nthe vulgar are so fond of the same fruit, I shall not try to explain. I\nmust leave this knotty, ugly problem to be solved by _wiser_ and more\nexperienced heads than mine. I asked the proprietors and proprietresses\nof these last-mentioned places where they procured the sprouts from\nwhich all these great trees had grown; these trees that have grown so\ntall and strong, and the bark so thick, that they do not vanish with the\ndarkness when the morning light appears, but grow and flourish in the\nbrightest day, _even better on_ SUNDAYS _than any other time_.\n\nThey all, without a dissenting voice, made answer and said: \"_The seeds_\nwere planted in the decent, respectable parlors, generally among the\npolished and refined people of the towns and cities--were watered and\ncultivated by the fathers and mothers, and then transplanted into the\ndancing schools, church festivals, and then they are removed to the\npublic halls, and here they are kept until the bark on _some_ of them\nbecomes hard enough to be carried to the beer gardens, masquerades,\nvariety theaters, music halls and other towns and cities in Sodom and\nGomorrah.\"\n\nWithout the fascination for dancing, which is _germinated_ and\n_cultivated_ in the private parlors among the _nice, respectable,\nrefined_ people, many of the largest towns and cities of Sodom and\nGomorrah would soon be depopulated. We next come to enquire who it is\nthat attends dancing parties, balls, hops, etc., and when they usually\nbreak up. But one answer can be given, viz.: young men and young women,\ntogether with young married people, with an occasional _sear and yellow\nleaf repainted_.\n\nWith a very few exceptions, dancing parties, balls and hops are made up\nof young men and girls of every grade of society, from the poorest to\nthe wealthiest in the community. Now it must be admitted that there is\nas great a desire in the hearts of the poor young men, and as great a\ndesire in the hearts of the girls of poor parentage to make a favorable\nimpression in society, as there possibly could be with the wealthier\nclasses. As a rule, it may be said that not more than one in twenty of\nall who participate in dancing parties have a sufficient \"cash balance\"\nto gratify their pride in the purchase of the supposed necessary outfits\nin clothing, jewelry, etc., without any misgivings as to the future\ncomforts and necessaries of life.\n\nWhen we consider the large number of young men, young husbands and\nfathers and mothers who are not able, in justice to themselves and those\nlooking to and relying upon them for a support, to keep pace with the\nrich in their extravagance, and that all must come together on the same\nfloor, in the same room and pass in review before the merciless critics\nalways to be found in the ball room, and find that the weakest and most\nvulnerable points in human nature are here attacked by three of the\ndevil's most powerful armies, under command of three of his most\nstratagetic and experienced generals--ENVY, JEALOUSY and WOUNDED\nPRIDE--we may at once proceed to examine the fruit of dancing. Nearly\nall of our young people are in love with some one, and not unfrequently\ntwo or three or more are in love with the same one, or the lover\nimagines that he or she has from one to a half dozen rivals, which is\nthe same to them as if it were true. It is often the case that an\nengagement exists, or there is grave suspicion of its existence. A\ndancing party or ball is in prospect. The same preparation must be made\nby rich and poor. One young man who chanced to be born of rich or\nwell-to-do parents, and one young lady the same, order their outfits,\nand they are paid for not unfrequently out of the usurious interest\nwrung from the fathers and mothers of the poorer young men and girls.\nNow the poorer and less able to purchase the necessary all outfits,\nwhich are always costly, _must go_. They must go, because they _love_\nthe dance. They are PASSIONATELY fond of it.\n\nThey must go, or it may be said they could not go on account of their\npoverty. They must go, in order to keep pace with their rivals, so as to\nkeep an eye on them, lest they be supplanted in their affections. These\nare three powerful inducements. Without Divine aid they are irresistible\nwhen brought to bear on the young.\n\nTHEY MUST GO!\n\nTHEY WILL GO!\n\nTHEY DO GO!\n\nHere thousands of fathers and mothers have been compelled to yield to\nthe entreaties of their daughters, and sometimes their sons, in\npurchasing costly apparel, jewelry, etc., when they knew they were not\nable, outfits that never would have been needed but for the dance.\nHundreds of thousands of young men, with small salaries, in moderate\ncircumstances, have been induced, under this heavy pressure, to resort\nto many dishonest devices in order to make the necessary preparations.\nClerks have sold goods above the market price and put the excess in\ntheir pockets. They have often _borrowed_ money from their employer,\n_without his knowledge_, small amounts, from day to day. They have\nborrowed from friends by telling them they had money coming from an\nestate, or friend or a debtor, which they knew to be false, and in the\nsame way, or by other false statements, have bought articles of\nclothing, made large livery bills, which they knew would never be paid.\nMany conceive the idea they can raise the desired amount at the gambling\ntable, and here do _their first_ gambling. Where one succeeds, at least\none hundred fail. Some raise the required amount by transferring a few\ncows, yearlings, steers, a horse or a mule, to distant pastures; some\nare caught and some are not. Those not caught are in a far worse\ncondition than those in the jail or in the penitentiary, because they\nhave been checked in their mad career, and the others are emboldened by\ntheir escape to commit other and greater crimes. \"Be sure your sins will\nfind you out.\" Yes, inexorable, unerring justice is on the track of all\nevil-doers, and will be certain to overtake them sooner or later.\nHundreds of thousands of fathers and mothers, and young married people,\nhave been brought to poverty and misery; some, within my knowledge, to\nalms-houses, by the heavy draws made upon them by their sons, daughters\nand wives, in preparing for dancing parties and balls. For weeks before\nthe ball comes off--and here let it be understood that I mean the ball\nto cover hops, dancing parties and all manner of dancing--the young\npeople are wild with excitement; they are almost wholly incapable of any\nkind of business. All manner of domestic affairs are almost entirely\nneglected by the girls and young wives. The bright anticipation of great\npleasure in the near future, turns some of their little shallow brains\nup-side-down, and they are often seen in a sort of deep reverie, wearing\na blank gaze, having very much the appearance of poor unfortunate\nidiots. If the father, mother, husband, brother or teacher speaks to\nthem, unless it be on the subject of the ball, they grin like a baboon\nand snap like a mad dog. If we run on at the rate we are now going, it\nwill not be a great while until it may be found to be cheaper to build a\nfew asylums for the sane, and let the idiots and lunatics run at large.\n\nTHE BALL. THE HOP. THE DANCE.\n\nIT IS ALL THE SAME.\n\nWell, the long looked for day has come; it is now 8 P.M., and the boys,\ngirls and young wives are in their rooms donning their new and costly\napparel, which has been bought, borrowed or _stolen_ in divers and\nsundry ways. Some have been paid for, some will be paid for, and some\nwill remain open accounts until judgment day. The wealthy and those who\nnever pay their bills will be dressed in the costliest, richest apparel,\nbecause only these classes can afford these luxuries. EXTREMES WILL\nMEET. The young men go and bring in their girls, and when they get to\nthe door, they are met by the committee of reception, who politely show\nthe ladies a side room where they will go and lay off their wraps. The\nyoung men go out into the corner of the yard or in the woods and lay off\ntheir _wraps_--in the nature of a bottle of whiskey or brandy--or they\nhave left them in a buggy or carriage, or a room has been set apart for\nthis purpose, and the WRAPS have been provided before-hand, or they are\nto be found in a convenient drinking saloon.\n\nTHE WRAPS ARE THERE.\n\nThe girls wear their wraps around them. The boys _wear_ themselves\naround their wraps. These _wraps_ are brought into requisition as the\nphysical man begins to weaken under the excessive and unnatural\nexercise. Unnatural, because the hours designed by God, our maker, to be\nused in rest and sleep are appropriated to another and very different\npurpose. Here the tempter discovers another weak point, and he makes the\nattack. The great draw made upon the physical forces makes it\nnecessary--the tempter says--to use an artificial stimulant, which is\nhere often taken the first time, and which is not unfrequently repeated,\nuntil many are so much under its influence and some get so drunk--no,\nbecome so suddenly _indisposed_, that they have to be carried home.\nThese entertainments seldom break up until the light of the morning\nbegins to appear, but I will compromise on 2 o'clock, A.M. At 9 or 10\no'clock, P.M., the performance begins, and I propose we shall _candidly_\nand _honestly_ examine this basket of fruit. Whether designed or not, it\nis simply a fact that many of the girls and women are dressed in such a\nway and manner as best and most successfully to excite the baser\npassions of men.\n\nIf the style of dress often, yea, nearly always, seen at the\n_fashionable_ balls and dancing parties is wholly without any evil\ndesign--innocently following a fashion--and if those who thus dress are\nreally ignorant of the effect it has upon the opposite sex, it is high\ntime their eyes were being opened. If this be only a fashion, and I want\nto believe it is nothing more, but when I remember distinctly that this\nmanner of dressing for balls and dancing parties has been the fashion\nfor forty years and that it has never changed, _except to become a\nlittle more so_, and that all other fashions have changed at least\ntwenty times, my belief staggers and hangs its head for very shame. This\nfruit alone has sent hundreds of thousands of men, women and girls to\npremature graves, dishonored graves, felons' cells, and to an endless\nhell. That this semi-nude condition, in which many girls and women are\nseen in the dance, has been productive of a vast deal of sin and crime,\nno honest man certainly will deny. In the whirl of the gay and giddy\ndance, we see:\n\n  Strong men and women fair\n  Are now within the tempter's snare,\n  With arms around each slender waist,\n  Each woman held in _close embrace_.\n\n  If all the _thoughts_ could be made known\n  Of seeds of crime which here are sown,\n  'Twould cause the _hardest_ cheek to blush\n  And every _virtuous_ heart would crush.\n\n  But so it is, and ere must be,\n  While men and women thus agree\n  _To tempt themselves, and others too_,\n  TO SINS AND CRIMES OF DEADLY HUE.\n\nThe following is the experience of a lady whose name is withheld, but\nwho has distinguished herself in literature, and made a world-wide\nreputation:\n\n     \"In those times I cared little for polka or varsovienne, and still\n     less for 'Money Musk' or 'Virginia Reel,' and wondered what people\n     could find to admire in these slow dances. But in the soft floating\n     of the waltz I found a strange pleasure, rather difficult to\n     intelligibly describe. The mere anticipation fluttered my pulse,\n     and when my partner approached to claim my promised hand for the\n     dance, I felt my cheeks glow a little sometimes, and I could not\n     look him in the eye with the same frank gayety as heretofore.\n\n     \"But the climax of my confusion was reached when, folded in his\n     warm embrace, and giddy with the whirl, a strange, sweet thrill\n     would shake me from head to foot, leaving me weak and almost\n     powerless, and really obliged to depend for support on the arm\n     which encircled me. If my partner failed, from ignorance, lack of\n     skill or innocence, to arouse these, to me, most pleasureable\n     sensations, I did not dance with him the second time.\n\n     \"I am speaking openly and frankly, and when I say that I did not\n     understand what I felt, or what were the real and greatest\n     pleasures I derived from this so-called dancing, I expect to be\n     believed. But if my cheeks grew red with uncomprehended pleasure\n     then, they grow pale to-day with shame when I think of it all. It\n     was the physical emotions engendered by the magnetic contact of\n     strong men that I was enamored of--not of the dance, not even of\n     the men themselves.\n\n     \"Thus I became abnormally developed in my lowest nature. I grew\n     bolder, and from being able to return shy glances at first, was\n     soon able to meet more daring ones, until the waltz became to me\n     and whomsoever danced with me, one lingering, sweet and purely\n     sensual pleasure, where heart beat against heart, hand was held in\n     hand and eyes looked burning words which lips dared not speak.\n\n     \"All this time no one said to me, 'You do wrong;' so I dreamed of\n     sweet words whispered during the dance, and often felt, while\n     alone, a thrill of joy indescribable, yet overpowering, when my\n     mind would turn from my study to remember a piece of temerity of\n     unusual grandeur on the part of one or another of my cavaliers.\n\n     \"Married now, with home and children around me, I can at least\n     thank God for the experience which will assuredly be the means of\n     preventing my little daughters from indulging in any such dangerous\n     pleasure. But if a young girl, pure and innocent in the beginning,\n     can be brought to feel what I have confessed to have felt, what\n     must be the experience of a married woman? She knows what every\n     glance of the eye, every bend of the head, every close clasp means,\n     and knowing that, reciprocates it, and is led by swifter steps and\n     a surer path down the dangerous, dishonorable road.\"\n\nI read in the Scripture, in that ever memorable sermon on the Mount,\nthis significant declaration: \"Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust\nafter her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.\" Some\nmay not receive this as sound doctrine, because it is the language of\nJesus Christ; but this will not give relief, because the _corrupting_\ninfluence would be just the same if Christ had never said one word about\nit. Christ only gave the great sin a name by calling it adultery. It was\nin this way the seed was sown in the heart of the Psalmist David that\ncaused him to commit one of the greatest crimes ever committed on earth.\nSee 2 Samuel, 11 Ch. In the same way the seed has been sown in the\nhearts of thousands of men in the ball room, in the dances and in the\nprivate parlors, which has ripened into disruptions of the marital\nrelations--has ripened into husbands murdering their wives, has ripened\ninto husbands losing their wives by elopement, has ripened into husbands\nbeing murdered, has ripened into young men killing each other; and last,\nthough not least, has resulted in the utter ruin of hundreds of\nthousands of the fair daughters of our land and country. Taking the\ndeclarations of Jesus Christ as true, and no honest man can doubt it,\n_there never was and never will be a dancing party or ball that the\ngreat sin He referred to was not and will not be committed in the hearts\nof some men_.\n\nHere permit me to ask an important question, and solemnly charge every\nreader to make answer as upon oath:\n\nWITH WHOM IS THIS GREAT SIN COMMITTED?\n\nIf common honesty compels fathers, husbands and brothers to admit these\nthings to be true, will you ever again permit your wives, your daughters\nor your sisters to be found at one of these places, however decent the\npeople may be, while they are under your control? If you do, after your\nattention has been called to the hideous deformity of the dance, God,\nman and your own conscience will condemn you. Whatsoever of evil or\ncrime may be committed, unyielding justice, unmixed with mercy, will\ncertainly hold you responsible. This last objection to the dance will\nhold and be just as good against the theaters and operas, because no one\nwill deny but that a special effort is generally made at these places to\nexcite the passions of men and women by an indecent exposure of their\npersons. To say the least of it, Christians have no business at these\nplaces.\n\nA Christian has no business at any place where he cannot go in the name\nof Jesus Christ, because the Scripture says: \"They shall walk up and\ndown in His name.\"--Zach., 10 ch. 12v. Micah, 4 ch. 5v.--\"His name shall\nbe on their foreheads.\"--Rev., 22 ch. 4 v. \"Ye are my witnesses.\"--Isa.,\n43 ch. 10 v. Can a Christian, a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,\n\"walk up and down\" in a ball room in His _name_? Can a Christian go into\na ball room with the name of Jesus Christ written on his or her\nforehead? If a man has His name written on his forehead, and he goes\ninto a ball room, theater, opera, or a drinking saloon, does he not, by\nthat act, hide the name of Jesus Christ? Can a Christian be a witness\nfor God in the ball room, theater, opera, or drinking saloon? _If not,\nhis testimony is false, and he is a perjured man!_ I have no doubt some\nvery nice people--_society people_--will be terribly _shocked_ at the\ndevelopments herein made.\n\nI was raised in the country, and I remember a varmint got to visiting\nour poultry yard and carrying off those _roosting nearest the ground_,\nwhich were generally our _improved blooded (society)_ chickens, and\nwhenever we would get after him, he would run down through a _very\nmuddy_ place, and take refuge in a hole in the bank of a creek. We\nrather dreaded the task of following him through all this _mud and\nfilth_; but, as a last resort, rather than let him have all the poultry,\nor allow him to continue his depredations at pleasure, we waded through\nthe mud down to his den and dug into his hiding place; and when he was\nstruck on the head with the back of a hoe, he too was _terribly\nshocked._\n\nNow this little animal was not, as may be supposed by some, one of the\n\"common or unclean,\" but he was one of the elite, a regular _society_\nmink. He was covered with very fine fur, but had his stomach filled with\nstolen chickens. I leave the application to all to whom these presents\nmay come, GREETING. _When I want to buy a hat, I never take one unless\nit fits me_.\n\nMore or less of the girls participating in the dance are engaged to be\nmarried, and great effort is made to keep this a profound secret, so she\nvery naturally has every man for a partner except her intended. Here is\nmusic in the back-ground, if her intended is present, and he is sure to\nbe there if he is in striking distance--if he is not down with typhoid\nfever or in prison.\n\nThis music is in his heart, in the nature of clamoring for blood, by a\nlegion of different sized devils. It may be there is not one man in the\nroom that would have his girl under any consideration whatever, but he\nimagines that they all want her. The female outfit for the ball consists\nof girls and a number of young married women, and some a little older,\nand some old women, forty to fifty years old, with grown children, false\nteeth, false hair, and bloats to swell out their wrinkled cheeks, and\nthey, too, are dressed in the _fashion_ with red ribbons, and blue and\ngreen; these furnish the _disgust_ for the occasion--and one of them has\nbeen known to furnish disgust enough for a city of ten thousand\ninhabitants, and of the very best quality. Let us return to the basket\ncontaining the young married people, and examine the fruit therein.\nReader, did you ever see the young married woman watching her husband as\nhe glides up and down in the merry dance, _with an old sweetheart in his\narms?_ If you never did, the first opportunity you have, take a good\nlook at a cat's eyes in the dark and in imagination transfer them to the\nyoung wife's head, and you will have a very correct idea of how _sweet_\nand _amiable_ she looks.\n\nWho among the living will ever forget that poor unfortunate girl, in the\nState of Georgia, who was assassinated in the ball room by a jealous\nyoung wife? The civilized world was shocked by the announcement of this\nterrible tragedy, which was purely the fruit of the ball room. These\nparties were not of the low and vulgar, but were of the society people\nof the age. How many husbands have in the same way and for the same\ncause had all the baser, brutish passions aroused to such an extent as\nto have their reasoning faculties dethroned, and have been driven by the\nraging devils within to commit many of the greatest, most shameful and\nmost disgraceful crimes that ever blackened the records of a criminal\ncourt? How many have cursed and abused their wives while on the way home\nfrom the ball room? How many, after their arrival at home, have used\ntheir superior physical strength in abusing their wives in a most\nshameful and disgraceful manner? How much of all this was the result of\na frenzied imagination, and not for any real misconduct? How many of all\nthese cruel wrongs and outrages are never known except by the parties\nthemselves? How many fathers and mothers have neglected their children\nby leaving them in incompetent and unsafe hands, while they spent the\nnight in the ball room? How many husbands have left their wives, in poor\nhealth, sometimes sick in bed, with two or three little children crying\naround them, while they have spent the night in the ball room dancing\nwith other women? How many men and women, and especially women, from\nphysical and mental causes superinduced by the effects of the ball room,\nhave been driven to madness, and have thus become inmates of insane\nasylums, or have deliberately taken their own lives? O! for the pen of a\nMilton or a Pollock! But this would not suffice, because these questions\ncan only be answered at the Judgment Bar of God, when the secrets of all\nhearts shall be made known.\n\nTHEY WILL BE ANSWERED THEN.\n\nHow many girls have innocently and _ignorantly_ killed themselves, or\nhave sown the seed of some terrible lingering disease, by checking the\ncourse of nature, by bathing or otherwise, in their preparation for the\nball room, which they would not have done to attend any other place? How\nmany women, all over the country, are suffering the pangs of death from\nthis cause alone?\n\nOne of the handsomest and most accomplished girls I ever knew, at the\nage of eighteen, ignorantly killed herself in this way. I know through\nphysicians of many others who have wrecked their health in the same way.\nLet the invalids among the women tell their physicians the _truth_, and\nthen let the physicians and the _graves_ speak out, and the world would\nbe horror-stricken at the awful report. Whiskey has slain its thousands,\nbut the ball, the hop, the dance, its tens of thousands.\n\nIn this connection I wish to give young men some wholesome advice,\nwhich, if observed, will keep them out of a great deal of trouble, and\nsave the payment of a great many bills. Whenever you hear that an old\nclock, an old carriage, an old saw-mill, an old steamboat, or a woman or\ngirl who is _passionately_ fond of dancing is on the market, be certain\nto remain in bed or get the sheriff, which is much safer, to put you in\njail until these articles are disposed of. I respectfully refer to all\nwho have had any of these articles _knocked off on them_.\n\nWhen the ball closes, the young men take the girls to their homes. In a\nlittle while the girls--darling angels--are in the land of dreams, but\nthey certainly never dream that they have been \"sowing the seeds of\neternal shame, sowing the seeds of a maddened brain.\" They never dream\n_that they are responsible for all the sins and crimes that flow from\nthe ball room_, BUT THEY CERTAINLY ARE, because if they would not go to\nthese places, there never would be another ball or hop or dance upon the\nface of all the earth.\n\nMEN WILL NOT DANCE BY THEMSELVES.\n\nIf they do, they will not injure any one but themselves, and they will\nbe certain not to keep late hours. While the girls are dreaming, the\nyoung men are assembling at some favorite room or corner down in town.\nIf Jim gets there first he waits for Bill, and then they wait for Jack,\nBob, Ben, Charlie and the balance of the club. When they are all in, one\nor two of the older ones propose to go across the way and take a drink\nat the corner saloon, which is still in blast; yes, running at a full\nhead of steam, or rather mean whiskey. Now here is a very strange thing.\nI have never heard of but one first-class saloon closing until after the\nball closed, and in this case the owner was very sick and the bar-tender\nhad skipped with the cash balance. Some of these boys have been taught\nby their old-fogy fathers and mothers that such things are not to be\nfound on the straight and narrow road, because there is no _room_ for\nthem along this road, _and no use for them either_.\n\nI have carefully examined my way-bill to heaven, and it was made out by\none who knows every foot of the way, but I find no mention made of\ndrinking saloons, ball rooms, theaters, operas, houses of ill-fame, and\n_such like_ places as being on or near this road. The same one has\nfurnished me a way-bill to hell, and I find all these places mentioned\nas being on the line of this road. Whenever you find yourself, dear\nreader, at one of these places, you may know beyond the shadow of a\ndoubt that you are not in the narrow road; and with equal certainty you\nmay know you are in the broad road. Now these boys are evidently on the\nbroad road, because the devil's sutler-shops are not to be found\nanywhere else, for the very good reason that he cannot get a permit to\nput them up on the narrow road. He would put them in the very center of\nheaven if he possibly could. His impudence and daring is only equaled by\nhis fathomless corruption. The man or woman who will dare to say that\nthese places are found on the road to heaven, certainly has a very poor\nidea of heaven and its inhabitants. If they are to be found along the\nstraight and narrow way, and the travelers along this way are to enter\nand participate in the things therein going on, then they are certainly\ndesigned of God to _aid in the salvation of immortal souls_. If this be\ntrue, on entering the narrow way the first refreshments we shall get are\nto be found in one of these places, having this sign over the door;\n\"FIRST CHANCE,\" and the last thing we pass in this life, just before we\nenter heaven, will be another one of these houses with this inscription\nover the door: \"LAST CHANCE.\" Some of these boys don't understand it\nthis way; they have been raised to think that \"_there is no harm in\ndancing_,\" but were never told that the dancing shops of all kinds are\non the same road with all the drinking saloons and other places of a\nlike character. No, the same parents told their sons that the drinking\nsaloon is next door to hell, and these are the ones we read about in the\nBible, who \"strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.\" That is to say, in\nthose days when Christ was on earth, there were some people so\npeculiarly constituted that they strained at a gnat and swallowed a\ncamel; but we live in an age of improvement, an age in which some people\nstrain at a gnat, and swallow a Jumbo with perfect ease and in the most\ngraceful manner.\n\nI know an advocate of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, who often\ndances all night, most _gracefully_, and in the morning she turneth up\nher little nose, just as _gracefully_ as the elephant turneth up his\nsnout when Peck's bad boy has thrown him a piece of tobacco, _at the\nawful drinking saloon and saloon keepers_. The private parlor dance is\nthe beginning, the first depot on the great air-line route from this\nworld to the city of destruction; here the boys and men are drawn into\nthe coaches by the general passenger agents: the MOTHERS, WIVES,\nDAUGHTERS, SISTERS and SWEETHEARTS. This line is advertised as the\nfinest and best equipped road beneath the sun. Fine sleepers; all the\nway through, without change. Special guarantee against accidents. This\nroad is laid with smooth, glass rails, and the wheels are made of India\nrubber. Drinking saloons, beer gardens, and some other places I'll not\nmention, are the wood yards and tanks, where fuel and water is procured\nwhich gets up the steam that draws the train with increasing velocity\ndown to the great city of destruction. When the train stops for wood and\nwater, all the passengers are expected to take part in the very\ninteresting and social performance. But here are same boys who beg to be\nexcused. \"Can't excuse you,\" cries the brakesman. \"Come along, you can\ntake a small _stick_ in the way of a cigar;\" and so these boys, not\nwishing to appear ugly and incur the ill will of the brakesman, walk\ninto a saloon for the first time. They first take a cigar, but soon the\nbrakesman (an old stager) laughs them to scorn and confusion, and not\nbeing able to stand the fire, they throw down the cigar and take their\n_first drink in a drinking saloon_. After the drinks have been repeated\na few times, one of the brakesmen, well under the influence of whiskey\nor wine, takes a careful look at all present, and if satisfied there is\nno relative or sweetheart in hearing, he then and there tells an\n_anecdote_ on one of the nice girls or married ladies with whom they\nhave been dancing, that certainly would bring the blush of shame to the\ncheeks of the blackest devil that inhabits the world of outer darkness.\nThe drink, and anecdotes of the same character, _only worse, if\npossible_, are repeated until interrupted by the appearance of a\nhalf-witted looking young man, entering from a back door, who seems to\nhave something of great importance to tell the bartender. He talks low,\nbut sufficiently loud to be heard by the boys, for it is really for\ntheir ears. \"Have you heard the news?\" \"No, what news.\" \"Why, about Bill\nJones; he went in back here to-night with only five dollars for a stake,\nand he has just now gone home with _five hundred dollars_ in his\npocket.\" Then the boys slide out, and as soon as out in a dark corner,\nthey begin to enquire to see if a stake can be raised among them,\nfinding none, one or two being confidential clerks, go to the store,\nbank or other place of business, and _borrow_ fifteen or twenty dollars,\nhaving no doubt of their ability to win a few hundred dollars in a\nlittle while, and then replace the _borrowed_ money without it ever\nbeing known. Soon the _borrowed_ stake is in the hands of the dealer.\nThey repeat the drinks, and then _borrow_ some more in the same way,\nwhich goes into the same hands as the first, and thus they continue\nuntil the appearance of day-light, and then reeling to and fro under the\ninfluence of the mean whiskey they have been drinking, and the ponderous\nweight of their sins and crimes, they go to their rooms, cursing the day\non which they were born.\n\nTHEY HAVE LOST ALL SELF-RESPECT.\n\nThey are now at sea without chart or compass. When a man or woman loses\ntheir self-respect, they are moral wrecks. \"WANDERING STARS.\" There is\nnothing left to build upon. It is from this cause that thousands commit\nsuicide, both men, women, and girls. It is the continual gnawings of the\nconscience over the secret sins and crimes they have not the moral\ncourage to confess. Like the hidden spark of fire in a bale of cotton,\nit continues its ravages until the whole bale is reduced to ashes. This\nwill account in great measure for the hundreds and thousands of\n_unaccountable_ suicides of to-day, which are principally confined to\nthe young of both sexes.\n\nI do not mean to say that all the young men go to drinking saloons as\nsoon as they carry their girls home, or as soon as the ball or dance is\nover. No, many of them go to other places, such as are described in the\n5th chapter of Proverbs. _Men will not deny this_. Who caused these men\nto go to these places? Shall I answer? Shall I tell the truth? If I do,\nI must say it is the virtuous wives, daughters, sisters and sweethearts,\nwho have been participating in the dance. _Every man knows that this is\ntrue_. Let every honest physician send in a report of all his male\npatients, giving the disease of each and the cause, and then let us have\na correct report from the dead of the same kind, and I am confident that\nno husband, father or brother would ever permit his wife, daughter or\nsister to be seen at a ball or dance. HUSBANDS, FATHERS, BROTHERS, your\nwives, daughters and sisters do not know these things, _but you do know\nthem_, and now that your eyes are open, will you, can you, as a husband,\nfather or brother, ever permit the females under your care to even take\nthe chance of being RECRUITING OFFICERS for these sinks of perdition,\nTHESE ANTE-CHAMBERS OF HELL. These places, dripping with the blood of\nhundreds and thousands of young and middle-aged men, who, but for their\nenchantment, might have been good and true men, and have filled\nhonorable graves. These places have broken the hearts of thousands of\nwives, mothers and: sisters, when they have seen their loved ones bound\nin the fetters and chains of eternal death. These funnels, through which\nthousands and millions of souls of both men and women have been poured\ninto an endless hell.\n\nI have tried to furnish fair samples of the fruit of dancing, if I have\nfailed, it is an error of the head and not of the heart. It may be said\nby some that I have occupied forbidden ground in writing a book to be\nread by the public generally. In reply I can only say that I have simply\n_followed the varmint to his hiding place_. I have not used any stronger\nor more indecent language than was used by Jesus Christ, and God forbid\nthat I should ever be guilty of the sacrilege of saying or even thinking\nthat Jesus Christ was _vulgar_ or wanting in _refinement_; that ever I\nshould say of and concerning Him: \"_I am holier than Thou_.\" If the\nthings I have herein mentioned have flowed from the ball room, if I have\nstated FACTS, and _I know that I have_, you should not get mad at me,\nbut get mad at the _facts_. If a man lends a helping hand in removing a\n_dead dog_ from the yard, it is not the man that is indecent, _it is the\ndead dog_. The man shows his decency and kindness by condescending to\ngive aid in removing the stench from the premises, and no one but a\ncontemptible _snipe dude_ would stand off and turn up his nose and call\nthe man indecent and vulgar. If I am wrong, I rejoice to know that I am\nin the best company on earth, for the whole religious world, with a\n_few_ exceptions, regards dancing as an enemy to good morals, and as\n_destructive to all spirituality_, because it is productive of so much\nevil and NO GOOD. Who upon all the earth has the opportunity of knowing\nthe true inwardness of dancing like the Catholic priests and bishops?\nWho ever held and used such a _probing instrument_ as the CONFESSIONAL?\nWho on this earth can come as near knowing all the acts and deeds, yea,\nand the very _thoughts_, that do pass through the minds and hearts of\nmen, women, boys and girls, as the Catholic priests and bishops can know\nof and concerning those under their charge? Arch-Bishop J. Henry William\nElder, Co-Adjutor to the Arch-Bishop of Cincinnati, has issued a\ncircular letter to the clergy in his Diocese, from which I take this\nvery significant clipping:\n\n\"THERE MUST BE NO ROUND DANCING AT ANY TIME, AND NO DANCING OF ANY KIND\nAFTER DARK.\"\n\nWhat meaneth then this blating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing\nof the oxen which I hear? Why does Arch-Bishop Elder inhibit the round\ndance even in _day-light_? Mr. and Mrs. ECHO and their girls and boys\nwill please answer _why_? And why has he inhibited _all kinds_ of\ndancing after dark? Will some member of the same family please rise and\nexplain?\n\n  \"Oh wad some power the giftie gie us,\n  To see oursels as ithers see us.\"\n\nWhile this circular letter has an existence upon earth, let all\n_so-called_ Protestants and their friends, who say \"_There is no harm in\ndancing_,\" and who participate in dancing of _any kind at any time or\nplace_, or who simply attend such places, or who remain at a place after\nit has been turned into a dance, (for the aiders and abettors of crime\nare just as guilty as their principals), hang their heads for very\nshame, as poor old dog Tray hangeth his head when caught in company with\nsheep-killing dogs, and especially when some wool is found in his teeth.\nPaul was present when Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was put to\ndeath; he only held the clothes of those who cast the stones, but he was\njust as guilty of murder as though he had cast the fatal missile, _by\nhis presence, and making no objection he was consenting to the crime_.\nTo have relieved himself of the blood of Stephen, he should not have\ngone to the place where the murder was committed, if he knew, or had\ngood reason to know, that a crime was to be committed. If he had gone\nthere with the belief that it was an _innocent, harmless_ gathering, and\nafter getting there he saw their murderous intent, he should at least\nhave left immediately and thus have withdrawn all his influence and\nsupposed sympathy with the criminals. The holding of their clothes did\nnot make him guilty, but was only _cumulative_ evidence of the murderous\nintent in his heart.\n\nReader, if you go to a ball or dance, knowing it to be such, you are a\nparticipant in all the sins and crimes which would not have been\ncommitted, if such ball or dance had never been. So if the gathering be\nfor a _sinless, harmless_ purpose, and you find, after arriving at the\nplace, that there is to be a dance, and you do not leave immediately,\nyou will be just as guilty as though you had gone with full knowledge of\nwhat was to be. The encouragement and endorsement of your presence makes\nyou just as guilty as those who join in the dance. There is no\ndifference, except in degree, between the select parlor dance and the\nmasquerade ball, because the one is the stepping stone to the other. Not\none in ten thousand have done their first dancing at the masquerade\nball, just as not one in ten thousand ever took their first drink of\nwhiskey in a drinking saloon. But let it be remembered that hundreds of\nthousands have taken their first drink of wine or whiskey at a ball or\ndance.\n\nOne of the greatest sins committed by children and young people is\n_disobedience to parents._ It is one of the greatest, because it is one\nof the first, and because if cultivated it becomes a cesspool of\niniquity. It is a pandora box, out of which ten thousand troubles,\ntrials, difficulties, sins and crimes will come. I claim that the _love_\nof dancing is the most fruitful source of _disobedience to parents_ to\nbe found beneath the sun, because it becomes a _ruling passion_. If\nanything will cause a child to disobey its parents, it is to forbid them\ngoing to a ball or dance when their heart is set upon it. _They go and\nthen deny it_. For all the disobedience brought about in this way, the\nparents are generally far more to blame than the children because it is\nthe parents' fault that they have ever learned to dance. Some parents\nhave an idea that dancing is a necessary branch of education, that it\nmakes their children _graceful_, but never look far enough down the line\nto see that they are opening the way to _graceful_ disobedience,\n_graceful_ liars, _graceful_ thieves, _graceful_ gamblers, _graceful_\ndrunkards, _graceful_ prostitutes, _graceful_ whoremongers and to every\nsin and crime that men and women can commit beneath the sun. They are\nopening the very gates of hell to their own children.\n\nMANY, if not all, of the following sins and crimes are committed at\n_every dance, hop or ball,_ and every one present, whether participating\nin the dance or not, is equally guilty with the perpetrators of all the\nsins and crimes, which would not have been committed if there had been\nno such gathering:\n\n\nSAMPLES OF FRUIT FOUND ON THE TREE OF DANCING:\n\nENVY.\n\nJEALOUSY.\n\nPRIDE.\n\nDECEIT.\n\nDISOBEDIENCE TO PARENTS\n\nBACKBITING.\n\nSTRIFE.\n\nHATRED.\n\nLASCIVIOUSNESS.\n\nEMULATION.\n\nSEDITION.\n\nLYING.\n\nTHEFT.\n\nDRUNKENNESS.\n\nSABBATH BREAKING.\n\nGAMBLING.\n\nEMBEZZLEMENT.\n\nSUICIDE.\n\nVULGARITY.\n\nFORNICATION.\n\nADULTERY.\n\nOBSCENITY.\n\nEXTRAVAGANCE.\n\nDIVORCE.\n\nLUNACY.\n\nWANTONNESS.\n\nCRUELTY.\n\nIDOLATRY.\n\nPERJURY.\n\nSEDUCTION.\n\nPROSTITUTION.\n\nABORTION.\n\nINFANTICIDE.\n\nASSASSINATION.\n\nMURDER.\n\n\"AND SUCH LIKE.\"\n\nEvery honest man is compelled to admit that these sins and crimes are\nthe _natural fruit of dancing_; THAT THESE THINGS DO FLOW FROM THE\nDANCE. I frankly admit that all these sins and crimes may and do come\nfrom other sources, but I challenge the world to point to any _one_\nthing that produces as many of these sins and crimes as the dance. The\ndrinking saloon is a prolific source of evil, but not one-half as much\nas the dance, for it must be borne in mind that _men only_ attend the\nsaloons, and that many of them are sent there _from the ball room_, and\nmany, who never would have seen the inside of a drinking saloon but for\nthe ball or dance. _The ball is a feeder for drinking saloons, gambling\nsaloons, and houses of ill-fame._\n\nI have delivered this lecture on dancing in seven States, before about\none hundred congregations, numbering from three hundred to ten thousand\npeople. I have called on all the men, old and young, saint and sinner,\nat nearly every place, to give an expression of opinion from what they\nhad seen themselves, or what they had heard from those who had attended\nballs, hops, and such like places, as to the correctness or\nincorrectness of my charges against the dance, and out of I think not\nless than fifty thousand men, I have never found but SEVEN who stood up,\nthereby saying they did not believe that the sins and crimes I had\nmentioned had ever flowed from the ball room, while nearly all the\nbalance stood up before their wives, daughters, sisters, and\nsweethearts, saying that they do believe, from what they _know, and have\nseen_ and have heard from those who attend balls and hops, that these\nsins and crimes are the natural fruit of all kinds of dancing, where the\nsexes dance together. A few, perhaps one in twenty, kept their seats,\nnot expressing their opinion either way. Of this class I think I may\nsafely say that _four-fifths_ failed to understand my proposition, or\nthought it not necessary to rise; but if they had stood up, they would\nhave been with the affirmative. While I am not an apologist for saloon\nkeepers and gamblers, I want to record the fact right here that I have\nhad more or less of them in my congregations, at nearly every place\nwhere I talked on this subject, and I have never known one, no, not one,\nto keep his seat when an expression of opinion was called for, and not\none was found among the _immortal seven_.\n\nThere are many men worse at heart than gamblers and saloon keepers. If\nthey and their families were treated by the Christian people with more\nkindness, and less like they were outcasts, hundreds and thousands of\nthem would become Christians. I do not claim that all who attend dancing\nparties, balls, and hops are ruined, but I do claim that _all who attend\nsuch places take part in the eternal disgrace and ruin of others._ There\nis not a man or woman among the living, or the dead, who has made a\npractice of attending such places, but that has the blood of one or more\n_lost souls_ upon their garments, _and there it must remain throughout\nthe ceaseless ages of_ ETERNITY, _unless it be washed away_ BY THE BLOOD\nOF JESUS CHRIST.\n\nMy sainted mother and my wife have attended and participated in the\ndance, but, like hundreds and thousands of girls and women of to-day,\nthey never had the most distant idea that the dancing party or ball was\na cesspool of iniquity, for, had they known the things brought to light\nin this little book, they never would have made one step in that\ndirection. I believe that God has forgiven them, because, like Paul,\nthey did it ignorantly. \"I obtained mercy, because I did it\n_ignorantly_.\"--I. Tim. 1-13. Reader, if you ever go to one of these\nplaces after your eyes have been opened, as they must be now, you cannot\nplead _ignorance_, but you will sin _wilfully_ and _knowingly._ See Heb.\n10: 26, 27.\n\nThose who are turned into the paths of shame, of vice, and of crime, are\ndescribed in the Bible in the following terrible language, and where\ncould a better description be found? \"Woe unto them! for they have gone\nin the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for\nreward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are _spots_ in\nyour feasts of charity when they feast with you, _feasting themselves\nwithout fear._ Clouds they are without water, _carried about of winds_,\ntrees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by\nthe roots. _Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own_ SHAME;\n_wandering_ STARS to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness\nforever.\"--Jude, 11, 12, 13.\n\nMothers, wives, daughters, sisters, if there is a doubt left in your\nminds as to the charges made against dancing, will you do yourselves,\nand those under your influence, the justice to ask your husbands,\nfathers and brothers to read this little book, and give you their\n_honest opinions_?\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nVERDICT.\n\nThis is to certify that I have carefully read this little book, and give\nit as my honest conviction--from what I have seen and what I have heard\nfrom those who have attended dancing parties, balls and hops--that the\ncharges and specifications are true, and believing them to be true, I\nhere promise to use all my influence against _all kinds_ of dancing,\nwhile I live on earth.\n\n(Here Sign Name.).............................\n\nTry and get four others to sign with you.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIf this little book should be of benefit to any one, I would like to\nknow it. As it is my intention to get out a second edition, I desire to\ncollect all _the facts_ I can in support of the charges and\nspecifications against dancing. Ministers of the Gospel, physicians, and\nfathers and mothers, can render me great assistance if they will.\n\n_Names of correspondents will not be published without special\npermission_.\n\n\nThere is No Harm in Dancing.\n\nSingle Copy, Paper Cover,     25 cts.\nSingle Copy, Cloth Cover,     30 cts.\n\nLiberal discount to Pastors and Dealers.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHARVEST BELLS, No. 2.\n\nA New Sabbath School Song Book, just published.\n\nSuitable also for Revivals.\n\nThe _most popular_ Song Book ever offered to the public.\n\nSingle Copy,        $ .30.\nPer Dozen,           3.00.\n\nLIBERAL DISCOUNT TO DEALERS.\n\nAddress:\nW. E. PENN,\nPALESTINE, TEXAS.","title":"There is No Harm in Dancing","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":12310}