_"The Dance is the spur of lust--a circle of which the Devil himself
is the centre. Many women that use it have come dishonest home, most
indifferent, none better."_--Petrarch.
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ut," says the worthy reader who has honored me by perusing the preceding
Chapter, "what manner of disgusting revel is this that you have shown
us? Have we been present at a reproduction of the rites of Dionysus and
Astarte? Have we held high revel in the halls of a modern Faustina or
Messalina? Have we supped with Catherine of Russia? Or have we been
under the influence of a restored Lampsacene?
Don't delude yourself, my unsophisticated friend, you have simply been
present at a "social hop" at the house of the Hon. Ducat Fitzbullion--a
most estimable and "solid" citizen, a deacon of the church, where
his family regularly attend, a great promoter of charities, Magdalen
Asylums, and the like, and President of the "Society for the Suppression
of Immorality among the Hottentots." The fair women whom you have
somewhat naturally mistaken for _prêtresses de la Vagabonde Vénus_, are
the pure daughters and spotless wives of our "best citizens;" their male
companions, or accomplices, or whatever you choose to call them, are the
_creme de la creme_ of all that is respectable and eligible in society;
and, finally, the dance which you have pronounced outrageously indecent,
is simply the Divine Waltz, in its various shapes of "Dip," "Glide,"
"Saratoga," "German," and what not--the King of Dances "with all the
modern improvements."
And this, my dear reader, is the abomination that I intend to smite hip
and thigh--not with fine words and dainty phrases, but with the homely
language of truth; not blinded by prejudice or passion, but calmly and
reasonably; not with any private purpose to subserve, but simply in
the cause of common decency; not with the hope of working out any great
moral reform, but having the the sense of _duty_ strong upon me as I
stick my nibbed lancet into the most hideous social ulcer that has yet
afflicted the body corporate.
That the subject is a delicate one is best shown by the fact that even
Byron found himself reduced to the necessity of "Putting out the light"
and invoking the longest garments to cover that which he was unable to
describe--hear him:=
```"Waltz--Waltz alone--both legs and arms demands;
```Liberal of feet, and lavish of her hands;
```'Hands which may freely range in public sight
```Where ne'er before--but--pray "put out the light.'=
* * * *
```"But here the muse with due decorum halts--
```And lends her longest petticoats to Waltz"=
It should not, then, be a matter of surprise, when one so gifted in the
use of his mother tongue and writing in a far less prudish age, failed
to describe the "voluptuous Waltz" without shocking his readers,--if I,
sixty-three years later, with so much more to describe and such limited
capacity, do not succeed in rendering the subject less repulsive.
Many will urge that a practice indulged in by the "best people" of every
country--seemingly tolerated by all--cannot be so violently assailed
without some motive other than a disinterested desire to advocate a
correct principle--but such are reminded that much more than one-half
the male adult population of every American city are addicted to the use
of tobacco. Is its baneful effect upon the nerves of man any the less
severe on this account? So in the case of alcoholic beverages, is it
open to debate that the great mass of our population are constantly
consuming this "wet damnation"? And is it not known to all that it is
the direct source of desolation to hearth and home, the destroyer of
happiness and character,--that this has broken more hearts, filled more
dishonored graves than any other of man's follies? Does, I say, the fact
of its universality render its destroying influence less potent? I think
not. Neither do I believe the fact of society permitting itself to be
carried by storm into the toleration of the "modern" dance, obliterates
the fearful vortex into which its members are drawn, or compensates
for the irreparable loss it suffers in the degradation of its chief
ornament--woman.
And here is one great difficulty in my self-imposed task, for to
lovely and pure woman must I partly address myself. Yet even a partial
reference to the various considerations involved, entails the presenting
of topics not generally admitted into refined conversation. But in order
to do any justice at all to the subject, we must not only consider the
dance itself, but we must follow it to its conclusion. We must look
at its direct results. We must hold it responsible for the vice it
encourages, the lasciviousness of which it so largely partakes. And
in presenting this subject, I shall steadfastly ignore that line of
argument based upon the assumption that because "it is general," it must
be proper. Says Rochester:--=
````"Custom does often reason overrule,
````And only serves for reason to the fool."=
And Crabbe:--=
````"Habit with him was all the test of truth:
````It must be right--I've done it from my youth."=
No, neither the use of tobacco, the indulgence in alcoholic beverages,
nor the familiar posturing of the "Glide" can be justified or defended
by proving that they are common to all classes of society.
I repeat that the scene I have attempted to describe in the foregoing
chapter is no creation of a prurient imagination--would to God that it
were--but is a scene that is enacted at every social entertainment which
in these days is regarded by the class for whose benefit this work is
written as worth the trouble of attending. I repeat that the female
portion of the "class" referred to is not composed of what are commonly
known as prostitutes, whatever the uninitiated spectator at their orgies
may imagine, but of matrons who are held spotless, and of maidens
who are counted pure--not only by the world in general, but by those
husbands, fathers, and brothers, whose eyes should surely be the first
to detect any taint upon the character of wife, daughter, or sister. And
I repeat, moreover, that the social status of these people is not that
of the rude peasant whose lewd pranks are the result of his ignorance,
but that of the most highly cultivated and refined among us. These are
the people who are expected to, and do, lead the world in all that
is elegant and desirable; and the Waltz, forsooth, is one of their
arts--one of the choice products of their ultra-civilization--brought
to perfection by the grace with which God has gifted them above
common folk, adorned by their wealth, and enjoyed by their high-strung
sensibilities. The boor could not dance as they do though he were
willing to give his immortal soul to possess the accomplishment, for
the waltz, in its perfection, is a pleasure reserved for the social
pantheon.
Said one to me, stooping forward in the most confidential way "Do you
see that young lady to the left? How exquisitely the closely drawn silk
discloses her wasp-like form! and those motions--could anything be more
suggestive? Every movement of her body is a perfect reproduction of
Hogarth's line of beauty. Look man! Remove just a little drapery and
there is nothing left to desire--is'nt it wonderful? But then," added
he, "it is a perfect outrage nevertheless."
Not so, I answered. Can aught be said against her reputation? no!--a
thousand times no--and as for her dress, is it not the perfection of
what all others in the room are but a crude attempt to accomplish? Does
it not disclose a form intrinsically beautiful, and admit of a grace and
"poetry of motion" quite unknown to those encumbered with petticoats?
Yes, look at her backward and forward movements--see how she entwines
her lithe limbs with those of her enraptured partner as they oscillate,
advance, recede, and rotate, as though they were "spitted on the same
bodkin."=
```"Thus front to front the partners move or stand,
```The foot may rest, but none withdraw the hand."=
This, sir, is but one of the many _improvements_ on the waltz.
And pray, sir, are not this lady to the right and that one in the
center, vainly endeavoring to achieve the same feat? The only difference
is that this lady is better dressed, more ably taught than either; is
she to be censured because she has the talent and industry to do
well, that which they have neither the courage, energy, nor ability to
perform?
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