ention of dancing, but always "as a
religious ceremony, or as an expression of gratitude and praise." As
a means of entertainment in private society, dancing was practiced
in ancient times, but by professional dancers, and not by the company
themselves. It is true that the Bible has sanctioned dancing, but let
us remember, first, that it was always a religious rite; second, that
it was practiced only on joyful occasions, at national feasts, and after
great victories; third, that usually it was "performed by maidens in
the daytime, in open air, in highways, fields, or groves;" fourth, that
"there are no instances of dancing sanctioned in the Bible, in which
both sexes united in the exercise, either as an act of worship or as an
amusement;" fifth, that any who perverted the dance from a sacred use
to purposes of amusement were called infamous. The only records in
Scripture of dancing as a social amusement were those of the ungodly
families described by Job xxi, 11-13, who spent their time in luxury
and gayety, and who came to a sudden destruction; and the dancing of
Herodias, Matt. Xiv, 6, which led to the rash vow of King Herod and to
the murder of John the Baptist. So much for the history of dancing.

The modern dance in which both sexes freely mingle, irrespective of
character, purely for amusement, at late hours, at which intoxicants, in
some form, are generally used, is, essentially, an institution of vice.
The modern dance is as different from the dancing of ancient times, and
from the dancing sanctioned in the Bible, as daylight is from dark,
as good is from bad. The modern dance imperils health, it poisons the
social nature; it destroys intellectual growth; and it robs men and
women of their virtue. Let us understand one another. To attend one
dance may not accomplish all of this in any person. One may attend many
dances, and he himself not see these results marked in his character,
but some one else will see them. For in the nature of the institution
the modern dance affects in all these particulars those whom it reaches.
The tendencies in a single dance are in these directions. In a way
peculiar to itself the modern dance imperils health. Though detestable
and out of date, as are the modern kissing games, yet no one ever heard
of one of those performances continuing until three and five o'clock in
the morning. Young people do not stay up all night, ride five, ten, and
twenty miles to play authors, or to snap caro