CHAPTER VIII.

-Then, if he says he loves you,

It fits your wisdom so far to believe it,
As he in his particular act and place
May give his saying deed."

Hamlet.

"An enemy speaketh sweetly with his lips, but in his heart he imagineth how to throw thee into a pit; he will weep with his eyes, but if he find opportunity, he will not be satisfied with blood."

Ecclesiasticus xii, 16.

"Though he humbleth himself, and go crouching, yet take good heed and beware of him." Ecclesiasticus xii, 11.

"And when he was accused of the CHIEF PRIESTS and ELDERS, he ANSWERED NOTHING. Then saith Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? AND HE ANSWERED HIM TO NEVER A WORD, insomuch that the Governor marvelled greatly." Matt. xxvii, 12, 13, 14.

Tuesday evening, May 12th.

The pastor said that Judge Weston, on the last meeting, had addressed some remarks to him, to which he wished to reply. He then produced a paper which he had prepared, of which the following is a copy.

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF THE PASTOR.

"Question proposed by Judge Weston.-Why did you not make known your views, respecting the evil of dancing, and as a spiritual watchman, blow the trumpet upon this subject, sooner?

In answer to this enquiry, I would state, that it pleased God, at a very early period of my ministry, to excite by His spirit, as I humbly trust, accompanying His word, an unusual interest in the subject of religion. Several persons were convinced of sin, and converted, hopefully to God. Indeed before I was ordained, though not until I had preached in this place for a number of Sabbaths, Mrs. Weston and her sister, to whom Judge Weston alluded, before (as I believe) I had had any

particular conversation with them, were made, as is believed, the subjects of renewing grace. Hence their anxiety to secure for themselves and others, evangelical preaching.

[The paper then goes on with extracts from Mrs. W.'s account of her "experience," from which, it appears, that prior to the period alluded to above, Mrs. W. had made up her mind to join the church, (the privilege of having her children baptized, being a strong inducement,) and was received into it, together with her husband, "in May 1810, with exemption from immediate attendance at the Lord's table." Afterwards, having more just views of the magnitude of the responsibility of becoming a church member, she publicly joined the church again, in company with her sister and four others, in May 1812; and came to the communion table-from which, Mr. T. thinks it was to all an occasion of "sincere regret that anything should have occurred to keep her away."

It further appeared from the same account that, before Mr. T. preached here, Mrs. W. had come to the conclusion that she had wasted too much time in amusements, and left off going to "assemblies" for two or three years; but after that time, attended them again. Afterwards, however, in the winter of 1810-11-the first winter of Mr. T.'s preaching here-her more serious views returned and she declined attending "assemblies."

Mr. T. then goes on to make copious extracts from Mrs. Ingraham's (Mrs. W.'s sister) account of her "experience," from which it appears that her views of the injurious tendency of "assemblies" and "balls," were much stronger than those of Mrs. W.; and not only so, she speaks of "dancing" (a word which does not occur in Mrs. W. 's account) in a way to justify the conclusion that she thought it had better be abandoned entirely.]*

The portion of Mr. T.'s paper, contained in brackets, faithfully represents the substance of the extracts, taken from Mrs. W.'s and her sister's

"Thus," Mr. T.'s paper continues, "were these persons led to view the subject of dancing, when their minds were enlightened, and their hearts (as we hope) renewed by the spirit of God. Their dancing days were over then. Other minds were affected soon after in the same way, without any preaching or conversation of mine upon that particular subject. And why should. I preach upon the subject, when the spirit of God was preaching so much more effectually than I could?* For

accounts. We have chosen to give them in our own language, because there would be an impropriety in publishing statements of ladies originally intended for the eye of the pastor alone. We have taken pains to have a copy of Mr. T.'s paper, made and compared by two witnesses, and any christian friend who wishes to satisfy himself of the faithfulness of the representation here given, can have the privilege of examining it.

*The accounts of Mrs. W. and sister (which Mr. T. had hunted up, and from which he made extracts,) written under strong religious feeling, were intended, originally, for the eye of Mr. T. alone; but shortly after, at a small church meeting, held at their father's house, they were read by Mr. T. he having first obtained their consent so to do. Now if he felt himself obliged, at that time, to consult these ladies, before venturing to read their accounts, how much more should he have felt that obligation twenty eight years afterwards, when the church was not only increased, but when there were not half a dozen members who were such when they joined. But this is of small consequence, compared with the jesuitical development contained in this paper of Mr. T.'s; and the reporter earnestly begs the attention of the reader to the part of this note which follows, as it will do much to show the tortuous nature of that man's mind, and expose to the light an attempted deception, upon which all high toned minds will look with disgust.

It seems that Mrs. Weston, in her account of her personal experience, had spoken of "assemblies" as unsuitable for the christian. On this subject, her opinions have undergone no change. She still thinks their influence bad, and considers that young people whose parents allow the social and domestic dance at home, are less likely to attend them. [See page 54, where she suggests this idea to Dea. T.] Her opinions do, and always have coincided with those in the "Vindication ;" and there is nothing in her paper, which can be tortured into disapprobation of the social dance of children and young people. Of this Mr. T. was well aware. It appears, however, that Mrs. Ingraham, in her account, not only expressed disapprobation of "balls and assemblies," but went further and spoke of "danc

several years afterwards, there was very little dancing among us, and it was sometimes made a complaint against me (though the effect was, in truth, produced by an infinitely higher Power,) that I had broken up ing" in terms of disapproval. Now by connecting with the extracts from Mrs. W.'s paper, those from Mrs. Ingraham's, the impression was produced that both were opposed to all kinds of dancing when they joined the church. Is it possible that this was designed? What follows leaves this beyond a doubt. "Thus," says he, "were these persons led to view the subject of dancing when their minds were enlightened," &c. Bear in mind, that Mrs. W. was at the bar of the church for allowing children to dance; and that this portion of Mr. T.'s paper is a reply to the question put by her husband, which was in effect-why, if Mrs. W. did wrong by allowing this dance, he had not proclaimed the evil of dancing sooner. In order to make his reply conclusive it was necessary to make the church believe that Mrs. W. when under the influence of God's Spirit, was opposed to the dancing which she then allowed; and then he could say, "why should I preach upon the subject, when the Spirit of God was preaching so much more effectually than I could?"

But there is, in this remarkable document, a worse feature, if possible, than the one of which we have spoken. Mr. T. says "thus were these persons led to view the subject of dancing when their minds were enlightened," &c. "Their dancing days were over then." ("Their" and "then" being underscored in the original.) Did he not mean by this that their opinions had undergone a change? He could not have meant that they had personally, at their age, commenced dancing. He is an educated and intelligent man, and understands, as well as any body, the force of language. Must not then every honest, straight forward man conclude that he meant to imply that their views were changed? Now we have already seen that there was no ground for supposing Mrs. W.'s views to have changed. But what will be the astonishment of the reader to learn that Mrs. Ingraham's were unchanged also! She still thinks that children should be kept from this amusement, if possible, and has never allowed dancing in her house. Her views coincide with those in Mr. Dole's Report, AS MR. TAPPAN KNEW, both from his long acquaintance with her, AND FROM THE FACT THAT THE NEXT DAY AFTER THAT REPORT WAS PRESENTED, SHE WROTE HIM A NOTE, EXPRESSING HER APPROBATION OF THE VIEWS THERE PRESENTED, AND REQUESTING PERMISSION TO COPY IT.

Since writing the above, the reporter has requested Mrs. Ingraham to procure him a copy of the note referred to. She thereupon applied to Mr. T. for it, but received for answer that it had got mislaid, but that it should

the amusement. At length, however, a ball was occasionally got up; now and then a private dancing party; and by and by a dancing school was opened. Whether I have said all upon the subject, since the practice has

be sent to her as soon as it could be found. She has, however, written a note from recollection, which she says contains the same ideas, and, as she thinks, the exact language of the original, now amongst Mr. T.'s papers. Here it is :

"REV. MR. T—.

Dear Sir-I should be much obliged if you would lend me the Report on dancing, which was read in the vestry last evening, with which I was much pleased, as I should be glad to copy it (if it would not be improper) so as to have it to read at my leisure. I have no object in view, in requesting it, but my own benefit, and, it may be, that of my children. I will return it directly. Yours, &c.

A. G. INGRAHAM."

And yet, with her uniform practice through life before him, and with this additional proof in his possession, that the views of her earlier years remained unaltered, he held her up, at a full church meeting, as recreant to her former professions: and she was sometimes taunted, afterwards, by Mr. T.'s adherents, with her "change of views."

Why was this injured lady dragged into a case with which she had nothing to do, and thus misrepresented? Was it because that, though against dancing, and claiming for herself, upon that subject, freedom of opinion, she cheerfully accorded the same liberty to others? Was it because she did not hesitate to say that the present course of the church was a gross violation of the pledges given by Mr. T. and Mr. Dole, at the time of the acceptance of the Report?

Be the cause what it may, here are the facts-each of which is susceptible of proof.

In the first place, Mr. T. deliberately represented Mrs. W. as having professed in writing, at the time she joined the church, opinions inconsistent with her conduct in allowing the social dance at her house, WHEN THE

PAPER FROM WHICH HE EXTRACTED CONTAINED NO SUCH OPINIONS.

In the next place, he deliberately represented Mrs. Ingraham as false to professions made in writing at the time she joined this church, WHEN HE WELL KNEW THAT THE FACT WAS OTHERWISE. Of these facts, as well as of all others stated in this volume, the reporter is able to furnish ample proof.

The reporter dares not trust himself to comment upon these facts. Let them be carefully scrutinized by a discerning community, which will, undoubtedly, mete out the just measure of indignation demanded.