910 



GLEANINGS TN BKE CULTURE 



leged removal were, of course, as has been custom- 

 ary in most newspaper comments on Mr. Comstock 

 during the past ^'fineration, sharply to his discredit. 

 As the Canadian paper editorially said: "He has 

 been more laughed at, more anathematized, than al- 

 most any man of our times. . . Now that he has re- 

 ceived his first real defeat it is well to pause and 

 realize that his faults are those which invariably go 

 ■with high qualities and frequently make high quali- 

 ties effective. The achievements of this ruthless vice- 

 hunter far outweigh his mistakes, and his retirement 

 from any of the activities would be something of a 

 public calamity, not a cause for exultation." 



But, fortunately for the public, this "first real 

 defeat" of Anthony Comstock is like many another of 

 the " real defeats " that have been heralded as bowl- 

 ing him over during the past forty years; it turns 

 out to have been the defeat of his enemies, not the 

 defeat of Anthony. 



As some of the newspapers have already announc- 

 ed, Mr. Comstock's oiificial appointment as Post- 

 cifice Inspector has not been revoked, and it is not 

 likely to bo. In a recent personal letter to the 

 editor of Tke Sunday School Times he wi'ote : 



[ had a very delightful interview with the 

 Postmaster-General and Chief Inspector at 

 Washington yesterday, and I am still a Post- 

 office Inspector, and expect to remain so for 

 some time to come. I do not think there has 

 been any change contemplated by the Chief In- 

 spector. 



Anthony Comstock hates vice, and lovers of vice 

 hato Anthony Comstock. But he is loved by many 

 others for tlie enemies he has made, and that he 

 will continue to make as long as his invaluable life 

 is spared to do to the death the ghastly and soul-de- 

 stro> ing traffic against which, in the strength of God, 

 he has for almost half a century flung himself and 

 all his God-given resources. 



The present newspaper flurry reminds one of the 

 attempt made a few years ago to end Mr. Comstock's 

 ofTicial activities when he had stopped a certain art 

 organization in New York city from its promiscuous 

 circulation of objectionable matter. In December of 

 that year an effort was made to have him removed as 

 Postoffice Inspector. The following account of the 

 incident is given in his authorized biography:* 



When he learned of this attempt, Mr. Com- 

 stock went on to Washington in person to see 

 Mr. Cortelyou, then Postmaster-General. Mr. 

 Cortelyou was silting at his official desk when 

 Comstock's name was brought iu by an attend- 

 ant. Instead of sending for his caller, the Post- 

 master-General arose from his desk, walked out 

 to the reception-room, and took Mr. Comstock 

 heartily by the hand. Walking back together 

 to the private office they talked the matter 

 over, and Mr. Cortelyou said: 



" Mr. Comstock, I have never had a thought 

 of not reappointing j ou. But you're a veteran, 

 and I have a right to appoint you under the 

 Civil Service rule. I am going so to appoint 

 you, and now I am going to give you a salary 

 whether you want one or not." Mr. Comstock 

 had, it will be recalled, served since March 5, 

 1873, as an officer of the Federal Government 

 without pay, this having been done at his own 

 request. It is a question whether any other 

 man living has any such record. At Mr. Cor- 

 telyou's iiisistaiice he now consented to receive 

 a salary from (he government, the first that he 

 had ever taken. And the newspapers published 

 the statement (hat the Postmaster-General had 

 refused to reappoint Mr. Comstock! 



The vindicated lover of purity has said 

 quaintly, in comment on fViis experience: 



"You fellows who are sowing seed don't know 

 what the rays of the sun are on the back of 

 the weeder." 



* Anthony Comstock, Fighter : Some Impressions 

 of a Lifetime of Adventure in Conflict with the 

 Powers of Evil." By Charles Gallaudet Trumbull. 

 To be had from the Sunday School Times Company, 

 1031 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, at $1.25 net. 



Because Anthony Comstock is alive and at work 

 the young people in high schools and boarding-schools 

 are prevented from receiving through the mails read- 

 ing matter and pictures of a sort so vile that many 

 readers of The Sunday School Times have never im- 

 agined such things could be in existence. 



Because Comstock is alive and at work, decent 

 persons on the street and in stationeo' stores are 

 saved from the insult of having thrust before them 

 unspeakably vile pictures and books that a genera- 

 tion ago were a common matter of sale in such 

 places. And young men and others who are easily 

 appealed to and dragged down by the infamy of 

 tliis sort of vice traffic arc saved from that attack 

 upon their lives and souls. 



His relentless and long-continued warfare against 

 this traffic has made Mr. Comstock a mark for as- 

 sassinating attempts upon reputation, character, and 

 his physical life during all these years. But he 

 has quietly rested upon the word of God: " No 

 weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper ; 

 and every tojigue that shall rise against thee in 

 jud'-'ment tliou shalt condemn. This is the heritage 

 of the servants of Jehovah." 



.As showing his continued and successful ac- 

 tivity, even at seventy-one years of age: Since the 

 first of this year the New York Society has made 

 67' arrests, and has seized 1583 obscene books. 13,- 

 51'2 obscene pictures, 123 negatives for making pic- 

 tures, 445 advertising circulars, 7233 articles of 

 illicit traffic, 942 lottery schemes, 34,650 lottery 

 tickets, and 452 lottery prizes. Some years ago 

 his total work represented the destruction of nearly 

 50 tons of vile books, over 25,000 pounds of stereo- 

 type plates, 2,050,000 obscene pictures, and over 

 12,000 negatives. 



A beautiful expression of the simple-hearted faith 

 in God that has been Anthony Comstock's safekeep- 

 ing and victory is found in the following statement 

 of his personal experience that he once made to the 

 Editor: 



" You are in the surging billows, and all you 

 liave got to hold on to is a little thread anchor- 

 ing you to the pier, and it's very frail, and 

 you're afraid it will break. And then it does 

 break — it is self, and you're about to go down. 

 Just then you hear, ' Fear thou not, for I am 

 with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God;' 

 and you see a strong calsle thrown out, and you 

 lay hold on it, and feel sate again. And when 

 your hands grow numl), and you fear that you'll 

 have to let go, you find that some one has put 

 it under your arms and around your body, and 

 you cannot sink." 



That is Mr. Comstock's idea of God's keeping as 

 he has tested it. 



Just a word in closing in regard to our 

 last text. During the past winter Mrs. 

 Root's only brother was taken away. I 

 wrote to the sister-in-law, offering her some 

 words of consolation, and asked her if she 

 Avas clinging closer than ever to God's pre- 

 cious promises. She wrote back and quoted 

 the words, " l^^ear not, for I am with thee ; 

 be not dismayed, for I am thy God," etc. 

 She said she found the words in a newspa- 

 per at the very time when she needed them 

 most ; but she said she had searched her 

 I>ible in vain to find them, and asked me if 

 1 could tell her where to look. I found them 

 in Tsainli 41, and the circumstances brought 

 cut this wonderful promise in a new and 

 liitherto undiscovered beauty and grandeur. 

 Xo wonder Anthony Comstock has " pre- 

 vailed" and kept up, for he is resting his 

 life and faith on such promises. 



