i
®
3
a nd to his glory, by adoring, honouring
i publish it, and so let both sides be heard.
¥
.
%
Ko A ave felt a desire that the subject should
4 "®e examined, in order to"tiy the nature of
. Cunistian ; but on the other hand, if it is
_gloly, and cur happiness.— Well, it this is
and jollity A
sight should be the last, I should be in this
Pu blish
Aaa
We give a place tothe following essay
#n compliance with (he desire of the ve-
my pious gentleman who wrote it: Bat
#ts svedt length precludes: the possibility
of our publishing it in any other way thar
in detached peices. We could wish he
Bad been less prolix. As it is, we wil
tinue it until jt is gone through with.
=
Mr, Havirron,
Sit—you was pleased ‘some time ago
%o.pub.ish a piece in your paper in favor
of dancing, in answer to some. observations
which you seen in snanuscript, written . a-
gaiost that practice; or hich the writer of
the answer sawi—batyou did not publish
he piece Gisclfs Perhaps you will now
Yours, &c. W. A.
¢ As the practice of dancing has become
Wogkumiiar, and professors of religion seem
®o be deeply involved init; and it appear-
Jig to my view, to be an immoral practice,
at. —il the pr
God, 1c ought lo be encouraged by every
wrong i itself, it ought to be suppiessedy
‘or discountenanced. Now in order to
ery this, it may be neediul to examine into]
she end for which we were made; and I
sippouse none will deny that the main de-
81:0 God had in our creation, was his own
e<iuittedy then I conceive that all our
sioughts, words and actions should be such
aud praising hing both for what he isin
hisasell and for what he hus done for us,
and in all our conduct to aim at it. Whe-
her, thevelore, “ygleat ordrink, or whatso-
ever ye do, doivall to the glory of God,”
§ Cor. 10°81. :
Now when people of both sexes, meet
pgether in the dancing room, if they
gould put the question to their own hearts,
“and to that all. piercing ‘eye of God in some
guch Words as theses Lord ! i am now in
iy presence ; and am I now aiming at thy
glory, mn thus dancing in. this house of
—can I say mowning, or must I say mirth
her, doth not my con-
science accuse’ me, as ow by this practice,
§ ani sauslying the desires of flesh and of
sho carnal mind—and that if I knew this
‘probationary world,” Oh! how would I
surink from this evil practice—and vather
_wouid sot I beat the practice of prayer (a!
~ duly expressly enjoined by" the word of
rout) that the Lord would bless me and
: AA me for Heaven. Now I think up-
* suan impartial inspection, into our con-
! fic: if our conscience condemns us; it is
* eur duty to desist immediately, for it our
peat condemus us, ¢ God is greater than
ur heart, and kneweth all things,” Join 3
. Objection—~David danced, who was one
& the best men that lived, and also’ his son
sthere dis «atime to dance,”
es, warrant for us:
DK 50, for sct the case
d's dance, was in all
‘dances now prac
a good reason or
for 805 for we should ‘hot
avi mere ‘man, a com-
lete qule, ori pattern to! walk by, seeing
that would lead us to defend murder, adil-
tery,@nd rash judgement, see 2d Sam, 12
Chat. for David was guilty of all these
nmgs. : AEE
/ jut I think David’s dance was very dil-
rent from these modern dances——his be-
ig an act of religious warship, eXpress-
fing thanks and praise to God for great fa~
yours received, and evidently aiming at
[dis glory, as you may see in 22 Sem. Chap.
6. and it was told David, saying, the Lord
hath blessed the house of Obed Edom. and
all that pertaineth to him, because of the
Ark of God—So David went and wrought
up the Ark of God, from the house of
98cd Edom. into the city of David, with
| 4 1adness; and it was soy that when they
that bore che Ark of the Lord, had gone
BiX paces; he sacrificed oxen and fatlings
And Dayid danced before the Lord, with
ull his might; —and David was girded with
a linpen Ephod. Se David and all the
house of Israel brought up the Ark of the
a
Lde
bil
nake D
ed weekly
A
practice be vight in the sight oly
BR
Pe
by.
Np
HAMILTON, in Bellefonte, Pennsy
a — TAs
Ivania.
Sg
the trumpet. (But'it appears to me from
he sequel of the account, that Michail,
Saul’s daughter, did not relish this spiritu-
al kind of dancing ; perhaps she woald
have been fonder of these modern, carnal
dancings— and it came to pass, as the
Ark of the covenant of the Lord came to
the city of David, that Michail the daugh:
ter of Saul, looking ourat a window. saw
Kg David duncing and playing ; and she
despised him ia her heart”) = And alse you
may see in Ist Chron. 15th and "161i Chap
wheve it appears, they were enjoined to
sanctity themselves for sosolemit a trans-
action; as moving the Ark of the Lovd.
which Moses had made, while in the wil-
derness, which sanctifying was properly
done by prayer and fasting. Now do the
carnal dancers sanctilylthemseives by pray-
ing and fasting, previous to meeting (o
gether, in‘the jovial dancing room! No,
the incopsistency would be too glaring;
so itis evident that the dancing of David
was of a different nature, and practiced
with different views from which the carnal,
flesh pleasing dancings are ; Tor at that
time David itroduced the beautiful Psalm
which follows, to praise the Lord for the
great thiags he had done for Isracl.®* And
similar to David’s dance, was that of Meri-
am, the Prophetess, together with the holy
women of Israel; for they went out with
Timbrits and danced, as you may see Eros
dus 15, 205 butia order to discern tbe na-
ture and views of Meriam’s dance read the
14th and 15th chapters, where we have an
account of the Lord displaying his mighty
power, in dividing the red sea, for the Is-
raclites to pass over, as on dry land; and
then causing the waters to return again,
which drowned all the Eyyptians, whoina
hostile manner pursued them. Then sang
Moses and the children of Israel this song
unto the Lord, &c. So that we see their
singing and. dancing ‘was with ‘a view to
praise the Lord for the great and marvel-
£N
14v
lous~—yea, miraculous deliverance they had)
just expericnced.—And then while dan-
cing, they were singing praise to the Lord,
“for be hath triumphed gloriously, the
horsc and his rider hath he thrown into the
sea.” Now docs these carnal dapcers sing
praise to.the Lord while they are thus
spending their precious time, :
And simiiar to Davia’s, was. that dan-
cing, of the holy women of Israel, when
Saul was king, and when David, slew the:
Philistine, Geliah, for we readin 1st Samu-
¢l 18th chapt, that the wbmen came out
with singing and dancing with Tabrets,
* Michal not knowing the real cause why
Dayid danced, in the manner he then did,
judged of bis conduct from what ghe knew
of to be the practice in Israel at that time.
She well knew that dancing was practiced
by ¢¢ vain fellows” only, in common and
ordinary cases; and she judged that, to
act like one of those, was a shameful and
indecent thing in the king. * It would have
been so had it been on an ordinary occasi-
ons, whether 1t was justifiable as a religi-
ous ceremony, or whether it was will-wor-
ship, shall not pretend (0 decide: but
cerfain it 1s. that David Intended to praise
God in the dance.” . Will any ofthe dane
cers, at this time, pretend to say - that they
intend to ¢ praise God in the dance 7 In-
stead of this, if arly one of the company
should attempt to praise. God during any
part of the frolic, woull he not ‘spoil tne
sport; aud after beiiig ridiculed, derided
4nd laughedat asa cracked brained fanatie,
would most probably be turned out, so that
the mirth might proceed? Those, howe-
ver, whe quote this case as an authority
for dapeing should bring themselves within
the design of it.~They should dance on-
ly with a view to 4 praise God in the
dance,” and then the only question at iskue
would be, whether this mode of worship
be warranted under the preseut dispcusa-
tion. of the covenant of grace! The ques
tion now for christians te ask their con-
sciences (for I speak as unto chrisiians) is,
do they act consistently with. their charac-
ter and profession, when they dance asthe
“ vain fellows” do? A christain in all his
actions eught either directly or indirectly,
toatm at the glory of God. Will any
christian dare to say that he goes to one
of our common dances to glorify God—
Would he even dare to ask the blessing oi
God upon what he does? Ifany one would
attempt to do so, at the = opening of the
ball, weuld it not be deemed by the most
thong hiioss present, a horrible profapaii-
Bd with shouting ahd with the souad of
a
. ; ge & . .
with joy, and with instruments of music.—
And with various instruments of music did
the people worship the Lord in these times
So that I conceive the dancings above re
cited, was of an holy rature, and that they
were aiming at the honour and glory of
God.
And as to what Solomon says, that theve
is a time to dance ; Ido agree that therc is
a time to dance, a time to love and a time
to hate, and indeed there has been a long
ime since Adam’s first existence, even
some A years; and thus there has
been time for every purpose, of both = Gad
«nd man; for Cain to kiil Abel, for David
o kitl Uriah, for ‘Herod to kill John the
Baptist, yea and for the people to kill or
crucify the Lord Jesus.” Sowe see there
has been time enongh for all these things,
and shall we attemnt to defend the prac.
tice of hating and killing one another, be-
cause Solomon says there is a time: for all
tacse purposcs.
“And further, we cannot Suppose that
Solomon coutradicted himself by approv-
ing of such dancings as the custom now is;
for we read in his book called the Preach-
ery chap. 7. it is better 10 go to the house
of mourning than to the i ouse of feasting ;
and that the heart of the wise are in the
house of mourning, but the heart of fools
1s inthe house of mirth, such as these dan-
ctugs are. And James coincides with
himy for he enjoins people, in bis fourth:
chapter, to be afflicted, and mourn and
weep; let your laughter be turned to
mourning and your joy to heaviness; and is
any merry iethim sing Psalms.
But on the other hand, I suppose the
dancing, similar to these modern dancings,
we may sce an account of in the 6tn chap.
of Mark, when and where king Herod made
a supper to his Lord’s high Captains, and
chief estates of Galilee, and ‘when his wn-
fawiubwife’s daughter danced, so as to
please and e him; he ‘would murder
John the Baptist, to please and avenge
her and her moth There we sve some
of the {runs of irreligious dancing. So i
appears plain that there is no scriptural au-
thority for the kind of dancing now pracgi-
ced. And itmay be a question, whether
itis not 'n a measures, a transgression of
the seventh commandment, at least in a re-
mote senses for when both sexs are blend-
ed together in the ‘dancing floor, it is a
question whether they are so cautious and
guarded agamst @ breachiof. their chastity,
as Jos" ph was when tempted, Gen, 31, 12
And I have thought it inconsistent to sce
or hear of some respectable, and I would
fiope chaste ladies; get up and boldly face
a man, in the position practiced in dancing.
in the presence of the Great Being who
made then, and a number of spectators, in
the house of mirth and jojuty. Sich as
was Herod’s bivth day dancing ; and then
ina fev days after, approach the holy ta-
bic, or gommunion of the Lord, There it
appears to be such 2 contrariety between
the two places and actions, that I do rot
think Herod, would have dene both these
things, for { suppose he would rather have
killed both John and his Lord and master,
than to approach to bis holy table ; even if
the ordinance had then been instituted
And I think those who partake of that "ho
ly ordinance, und precious privaledgs,|
ought to renounce the dancing practice,
lest they in some sense « crucily the Lord
afresh,” and wound their own conscience:
The christian, bent of heart, cugnt notto
be, how far may 1 go, or venture on doubts
ful things, and yet escape Hell and goto
Heaven, (like, Naaman, the Syriasy when
he got his body clean ol tire leprosy, siy-
ing to the prophet Elisha, in thisthe Lord
pardon thy servant, when I bow down mv:
self, in the house of Rimmon, 24 Kings 5;
:8,) bat their pursuits and desires should
be ke Davids. Lord shew fmé thy cons:
mandmerits, and give me an heart to do
them=—Oh! that my ways wére directed
to keep thy statutes. Thy: word Hive]
bid in my heart, that [ might net sin against
thee—Open thou mine eyes, that I may
ap
or
xT
MONDAY MORNING, January 21, 1817,
L—
: .
ther we would not abstain from it, as the
scriptures enjoins christians to abstain from
all appearance of evil.) I doubt not-but
there has been, and still is, a considerable
combating, or conflict, in the minds of ma-
ny young people about the practice of dana
cing, stch as the richest, the "most
creditable, polite and fashiorable young
people, yea old people, nay full members
of the church do attend the dancings-~and
if I abstain {rom it, I will be locked pon,
and treated with contempt ; and as one
chat knows nothing in the vorld, I will
not acquire those polite and fashionable
salutations, and genteel addresses 3 which
the world abounds with. And yet there is
something within, as a elicck, which agi-
tates my mind, so that am halting Letween
two opinions; indeed I Know net what”to
do, To such I would say, “quench rot
the spuit, my spirit shall not always strive:
with man, and grieve not the it of
God; turn ye at my reproot’; behold 1 will
pour out my ¢pivit unto yous 1 will felis
known my words unto jou Beware of
refusing, disregarding agéieting at naught
his counsul and reproofy fest the following
awful threatnings, be reali: you «1
will laugh at your calamity vill mock |
where your icor cometh ; when your feap
cometh as disclation, and your destruction
cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish cometh upen you.” Then you
may call and he will not answer, you may
seek him early but you shall pot find him,
~—and why all this? because you wor lis-
ten, now they would bave none of my
counsel, they despiscd my reproof. Thete-
fore shall thicy eat ef the fruit of their own’
way, and be filled with their own devinés,"
—but whose harkeneth unto me, siall
dwell safely, aud shail be quiet from fear
of evily Prov: 1 chap. fd
And besides, shortly, the irvesistable
messengers Death, will arvest vou ; and ge
you must. And it your affections gre fasts
ened on the dancing, and such practices 3.
how awluai will the cogitations of your mind -
be. But perhaps you wall say, these ébe
servations and advices ought to ‘influence
and check old people, whose natural ¥ie
gout, and strength of body, is deciining'se
that they have lost their relish for such
gaicty and levity 5; and co ate expecting
shortly to die. And besides they huve'find
their time ol pleasure, wien they were
young ; and they ought to dow thé pre
sent youtiy people the game privileddes
they enjoyed theraseives I admit the ree
marks appears plusible ta corrapt nature 3
but as the praciice of these modern’ dane
cings, dre no where sanctioned in the hay
scriptures, by either precept or example 3
as Lihipk has been shewn above; it is
destittite of any force. © And thir althoeld
people hive had their time of carnal pleas
sure; it is sd much the worse foi them, and
for which they have cauge to miouri, when
thoy reflect on Such past conduct, Ane
therefore, ought to warn and caution youhg
peopledromn the like, lest woe and Litters
ness be the eid thereof. 5
And besides, the young. know nét that
they will be spared to grow old, for thire
is comparatively few that do. Thereibre
they ought to « remember their creaior in
the ‘days of their youth, while the evil
days come not, northe years ‘draw nigh,
when thon shalt say, © have ‘no pleasure
inthem,” BEcls. 1%. - i
. ¥% Wherelore come’out from among tle
and be’ ye scperate saith ‘the Lord; #nd
tuch not the unclean thing, ‘and { wiles
ceive you——and will be’ a father unto youy
and yeshall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty,” 2 Cor. 6.117.
The Apostle Paul appears to have cited
this ‘promis from the Prophets Isaiak
and Jeremiah, and seers to have esteems
éd them Jery highly, and therefore tool
occasion to exhort the Corrinthian church,
icliding himself, to” cleanse themselves,
frog all fleshly and carnal evils; and te .
preds on for more holiness. 6 Having
therefore these promises dearly. beloved,
let us Cleanse ourselves from all fithinese
ofthe flesh and spirit, perfecting in beliness
ot 2
bY ad
nely Spu
Nn
ad
<
wy
_—
¥
behold wondrous things cut of thy law
Make me io go inthe paths ef thy com
mandments, for therein do I deliohp—!
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vani |
ty, aud quicken oie In thy way—I wil
delight myself in thy commandments,
which I have loved—I hate vain thoughts;
but thy law do I love, Psalm 119,
New I should think if these were the
exercises of our minds, that the dancing
room would not be pleasant” to us; but 4
in the féar of God.” But how can you
expect to cléanse yourselves from all fil-
thiness of flesh and spirit, while youqgare,
i . ze PEA bid mvows 3
as it were, phinging yourself into the ith,
1 those promiscuous dances of Maic¢iand
Yemuie together, But perhaps you will
ack, what do we mean by those words,
fleshand uncicanness,——Ans: perhaps the
terms are derived froma the variow: we le
ings, that we read of in the M.saickwBise
pensation. But I think the Aroste Paul
s Fee
very disagresuble esieriainment ; and whe-gives us (he
plamest definition & hed
@ 4
Ree yy