THERE IS NO HARM IN DANCING

BY

W. E. PENN

WITH AN

INTRODUCTION

BY

Rev. J. H. STRIBLING, D.D.

1884.

"Buy the TRUTH and sell it not; also WISDOM and INSTRUCTION and UNDERSTANDING."—PROV. 23-23.

"There is a way that SEEMETH right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of DEATH."—PROV. 14-25

St. Louis, Mo.
Lewis E. Kline, Publisher and Bookseller

This little book is respectfully and kindly dedicated to all Husbands, Fathers and Brothers, who love their Wives, Daughters and Sisters, by

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

During the past seven years I have delivered the substance of the foregoing Lecture on Dancing, as a part of my work as an Evangelist, before not less than one hundred thousand people. I have been requested by hundreds of FATHERS and mothers, young men and girls, HUSBANDS and BROTHERS, and pastors of churches to publish the Lecture in the form of a book, that its influence may be extended to fields I shall never visit. It is in compliance with these requests that the little book is written, with the hope that at least some good may result in begetting and fostering a better state of morals in our day and generation, and in checking the terrible increase of crime which is rolling over the earth like a mighty wave of the ocean. If I shall ever hear that this little book has had some humble part in stopping one poor soul from taking one more step down the "BROAD ROAD," or that it has done any good in the world, I shall feel well paid for all the time and trouble it has cost me in getting it into the hands of the printer. Most of persons speaking or writing on the subject of the dance, are "hear-say" witnesses, but I profess to having been an "eye-witness," which I propose to prove by all the bad men, or those who have been bad men, who may carefully read this book. Their verdict will be: "HE HAS BEEN THERE."

While I believe that hundreds of thousands of fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and pastors, and Christians, will bless the day this little book was written, and will offer many earnest prayers for the author, I shall expect many Othellos to curse me with all the bitterness of their souls, because I hope it may be said wherever the book is read: "OTHELLO'S OCCUPATION IS GONE."

THE AUTHOR.

INTRODUCTION.

Major W.C. Penn, the author of the following treatise on the modern dance, has requested the writer to pen a few thoughts introductory to a theme he has presented with such pith and power to listening thousands in his travels as an Evangelist.

Various inquiries have been made as to how Major Penn, a lawyer in a lucrative practice, and with all the attractions of wealth and of fame before him, and in a quiet, lovely and elegant home, with a wife who has ever been as a guardian angel to his pathway, was led to change his vocation to that of a wandering Evangelist, and how it is that he now stands before the world beside Knapp, and Earle, and Moody, and other world-renowned Evangelists of the 19th century, in leading multitudes to Christ as a Savior?

It is answered and centered in the sublime truth: "The love of Christ constraineth us." As the stars are dimmed and lost sight of in the brilliancy of the rising sun, so earthly pleasures, riches and honors fade and dwindle in the glory of the Cross. As God was pleased to use the writer as an instrument in getting brother Penn into this work, so it seemed proper that a few incidents and facts which led to it, as remembered in our associations together, should be stated.

It was in Jefferson, Texas, where our brother then resided, that I first saw him, in May, 1874, during the session of the Southern Baptist Convention, at that place. But it was in June, the year after, at his own home and during a series of meetings in the Baptist Church, that I began to know more of him, as he brought up in our social interviews a review of his life religiously—as he told of the time when, in the ardor and vigor of youth, in Tennessee, at a meeting, he sought to defy and brave a gospel message from the venerable brother James Hurt, by taking a front seat; and then how his soul was convulsed and his heart melted, as God's message wrenched the bolted door of that heart; how he struggled with the agonies of conviction for sin, during the long, weary hours of night; and how the joys of pardoning love through Christ came to his soul with the brightness of the morning. As these conversations were reviewed, he told of frequent backslidings, and how far away from God he had been. Then he told of some things he had done in the Sunday School and in the Church, and then at times gave his opinion as to the best way of conducting a series of meetings and other things pertaining to Christ's Kingdom. During these conversations the question was asked: "Bro. Penn, are you satisfied and sure that you are in full discharge of your duty?" After a pause he replied, as if conscience was awakened:

"No Sir. I am not satisfied, and have not been for years past." Then said he: "You are the first man that ever asked me that question." Then the writer made known some impressions about him that must have been made by the spirit of God, for he never had just such an interest to burden his heart previously, and that was that God had a peculiar and wonderful work for him to do. "But," said Bro. Penn, "at my age, in my profession and in my condition, I cannot believe it to be my duty to preach the Gospel"—his age being at that time forty-two years. Among other things said at this time by the writer, as he now remembers them one was: That the Spirit of God leads and teaches us in strange ways, often, as to what God would have us do, and that our methods of holding meetings seemed to the writer as being deficient in some things, and that the good of the cause required a change from the ruts and grooves in which these meetings had been run, and that we were making our services monotonous and chilling out spirituality by common methods of conducting divine service, in protracted meetings. Another thought was: That he and men like himself, as lawyers, that were given to talking and that knew much of men and the world, if the love of Christ was burning in their souls, might do a great work in going out and helping in such meetings, even if they never engaged regularly in the ministry.

But it was in Tyler, Texas, at a Sunday School Institute, in July, 1875, that a new era was to dawn on Major Penn.

It was a fixed impression in the mind of the pastor that there ought to be a change in our manner of conducting revival services; that the time had come to begin the work, and that Bro. Penn was the man to inaugurate such a change. In prayer this matter was carried to the Lord for His direction. It was a settled impression in the heart of the writer, as pastor of the Baptist Church, that the Church and community needed a series of meetings at this time. There were preachers present of experience, piety and ability, and he had no doubt they would remain and aid in such services if invited to do so. But contrary to what was a common practice at the close of such meetings, and after imploring the Lord to direct him, he could not, from his heart, ask any of these preachers to stay and aid in a meeting.

While singing the last song, at the close of the service on Sunday night, the writer approached Major Penn, who had been aiding in the singing, and said to him: "Bro. Penn, I am going to appoint a prayer meeting at 9 o'clock in the morning, and as your