soothed or pleased with the inconsistencies of Christ's friends; yet the result is that their estimate of such professors is lowered, and the religion of the gospel, the great salvation, is more readily neglected or undervalued by them.

We would now address you, who love the light, feel the plague of sin, and believe the doctrine of human depravity; who pray to be searched and led in the way everlasting,-and who are deeply sensible that the soul is of inconceivable worth, and that unless you are kept by the mighty power of God, through faith, your ruin is certain;-And we would, with affectionate interest, ask whether the words of the Holy Spirit, which have been presented, relating to the necessity of crucifying the natural man-and those others which teach that the attainment of life eternal is exceedingly difficult-and those actions or operations of the selfsame Spirit to which your thoughts have been directed-and the ENLIGHTENED, UNBIASED dictates of the conscience given us of God -do not unitedly afford such indications of the divine mind and will, with respect to the amusement under consideration, as to leave but little, if any, doubt, that the Lord would have you avoid it, turn from it, and pass away? Do they not, in fact, bear the conviction to your minds, that the resolves passed by this church in October, 1838, are in harmony with the views of your Savior?

But some may say, "Why not give us a few specific points?" We will endeavor so to do, in the spirit of kindness, and fervent good will. We ask, then, does not the amusement of dancing, as usually practised, render more prominent those traits of the mind which dislike salutary checks and restraints? Does it not cherish an undue love of dress, display and admiration? Does it not nourish levity, vanity, pride, envy, and other feelings of the same character? Does it not employ time, absorb thought and emotion, vastly disproportionate to its value and importance? Does it not dissipate the thoughts and lead them and the soul farther from God? Does it not disqualify for intimate, solemn communion with the Father of Spirits? Does it not increase the obstacles to conversion and sanctification-foster the spirit of self indulgence, self pleasing, and strengthen the disposition to gratify the flesh, with its affections and desires? Does it not increase the natural aversion to the duties of religion, and the indisposition of human beings now to remember their Creator, now to repent and turn to Him with their whole hearts?

On the other side-Does it make things eternal appear like realities, and impress persons more deeply with the conviction that their souls are in jeopardy? Does it naturally give rise to profitable reflections upon the shortness and uncertainty of time, the certainty of death and retribution? Does it lead any to forego personal gratification, momentary pleasures, for the sake of promoting the everlasting good of others? Does it either form or enlarge holy desires after spiritual blessings? Does it either mor

tify or crucify the natural distaste of the human heart to the holiness of God's law? Does it produce a tender regard for the spiritual welfare of weak believers, of such as are thoughtful and enquiring, and of those over whom a special influence is exerted? Is it attended with a dread of injuring the cause of the Redeemer, and the feelings of his friends? a dread of giving occasion to the enemies of the Gospel to speak reproachfully?

Till the first portion of these interrogatories can, for the most part be answered in the negative-and the second, for the most part, in the affirmative-and till many others of similar import can receive different replies from what we believe they can, it seems to us, that the resolutions on our records should remain unchanged, should meet with a cordial reception in the heart, and be uniformly exemplified in the conduct of each professing christian.

We now ask permission to state, that we have a very strong impression, that the same truths and facts which point out the path of safety and duty to professing christians in general-the way in which they should go in order to advance in holiness, to avoid injuring their neighbors and win them to the service of Christ-establish the principle, that christian parents should employ all suitable instrumentalities, to restrain their children from engaging in that amusement, as it is generally practised. To this they seem to us to be bound, not merely by a regard to consistency, and to what has been presented, but also by the ties of natural affection and the obligations flowing from the relation they sustain to their offspring. Have not the experience and observation of thousands, and tens of thousands, of those who loved Zion, and labored diligently for the salvation of their descendants, jointly declared, that that amusement has a fascinating, exciting, absorbing power, a deleterious moral influence, which but few others possess? And can it be supposed that what is attended with danger to christian parents, will not affect unfavorably their children? that what impedes spiritual growth in the former, will not increase the obstacles to salvation in the latter? that what dampens or extinguishes holy emotions in the one, does not nourish aversion to holiness in the other? that what impairs the energy of spiritual life in the renewed, will not invigorate the sinful propensities in the unrenewed? that what is fraught with difficulty to the mature in age, can be entirely harmless and salutary for the young and inexperienced? Is there no need of extreme caution, lest such parents give the sanction of their authority to that, which rapidly augments devotedness to worldly pleasure? Can they be too vigilant and watchful, lest, directly or indirectly, by words or actions, or even by silence and indifference, they set the seal of their approbation to what is eminently adapted to enchant youthful minds, to engross their thoughts and feelings, and banish serious and anxious regard for the welfare of their immortal spirits ?

Much more might be advanced, but we wish to conclude by merely saying, that if there be any fellowship of the Spirit, let us ponder these things in our hearts, earnestly praying to be taught of God, humbly yet firmly resolving to walk in the straight and narrow path, whatever self denial it may cost. May we, through grace, be enabled so to believe and walk as to please Christ, manifest his spirit, benefit our fellow creatures, please our neighbors for their good to edification, and thus save our own souls and the souls of those whose characters shall have been formed under our influence.

The foregoing Report, after being fully discussed, during several evenings, was adopted-Yeas 25, Nay 1."*

Upon the acceptance of this report a spirited and protracted discussion arose. It was opposed by the minority on two grounds; first that this amusement was proper, on suitable occasions, for children and young peopleand secondly that as there was an honest, conscientious difference of opinion upon the subject, the majority had no right to coerce the minority; and that this attempt so to do, was an unjustifiable usurpation of power

Many gentlemen observing that the majority were bent upon this Ecclesiastical Legislation, staid away from the meetings in disgust.

There were others who, though coinciding with the views of the report, were unwilling to impose any yoke upon their brethren. But as it was considered important that the vote of acceptance should be as unanimous as possible, these last were told by the pastor, and Carleton Dole, the chairman of the committee, in presence of the church, that the acceptance of the report bound them to no particular course of action-that discipline for non conformity was by no means involved; and that it was merely an expression of the convictions of the chuch. With these pledges-pledges that were violated almost as soon as given, and forgotten as soon as their object was accomplished--the report was accepted in March 1840, by the nearly unanimous vote of the

*The above is a copy of this instrument as published by the church. The words in italics were thus marked by its author.

1

members present (comprising one half of the whole number.)

The report was considered so able and conclusive that it was ordered to be printed, so that every member of the church could have the privilege of reading it; and it was supposed that even if it failed to convince (a very remote contingency in their opinions) no one would have the moral courage to run counter to views put forth with all the solemnity of a Papal Bull.

CHAPTER II.

"He that telleth a tale to a fool, speaketh to one in a slumber: when he hath told his tale, he will say, what is the matter?" Ecclesiasticus xxii, 8. "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." Acts iv, 19.

"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines."

Heb. xiii, 9.

"Turn not to the right hand nor to the left." Prov. iv, 27. "Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy word, and not such as without the warrant thereof, are devised by man out of BLIND ZEAL, or upon any PRETENCE of GOOD INTENTION."

"CONFESSION OF FAITH."

After the publication of the above report, members, of course, had an opportunity of examining it; and the result was some diversity of opinion as to its meaning.Several who voted for it said that it went farther than they intended. Others declared that though it seemed to make the amusement penal under all circumstances, yet that Mr. Dole had expressly stated that it was to have no application except to balls, assemblies, and great miscellaneous parties. The majority, however, boldly declared (what no person of ordinary discernment who had attended the discussions could doubt) that the report opposed dancing of every kind "except the old Jewish method of dancing in the open air in the daytime."*

Perhaps they would not object to the common muster-field dancing, which comes up to this description.

If there were any who still doubted, their doubts were destined to be speedily and summarily removed.

It so happened that there was a sewing society called the "Winter-circle," composed of Misses between the ages of ten and fifteen, that met once a fortnight for the purpose of plying their needles for some benevolent object, in the afternoon, and of spending the evenings in plays, among which dancing was included. This Society on the eighth of April, within a month after the acceptance of the report, met at Mrs. Weston's; and the eyes of the pastor and of those who acted with him were upon her, to see if she could have the hardihood to allow this amusement and thus run counter to their published views.

The Society met and was allowed to dance as usual for a short time, Mrs. C. M. Fuller and D. C. Weston, a daughter and son of Mrs. W. playing, the one upon the piano and the other upon the violin.

This was a trying time with the church. If they passed by in silence, and without rebuke, this infraction of their report, they feared that after all their toil they would have accomplished nothing, and that others would be prompt to follow this example of disobedience. But on the other hand Mrs. Weston was one of the oldest members and a lady of distinguished piety,-and they feared the ridicule that would inevitably attach to the dragging her to the bar of the church for infringing not a Divine law, but one that had been enacted some few weeks before by men who could advance no just claims, that we are aware of, to infallibility.

It is somewhat uncertain whether common prudence or unbridled fanaticism would have ruled their counsels, had nothing else occurred to rouse their passions and stimulate them to the performance of what cool reflection must have rendered them ashamed.