408 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



and lascivious pictures are influences which are too 

 important to be unnoticed. Evil men, agents of the 

 arch-fiend, have adopted all sorts of devices for put- 

 ting into the hands of the boys and youth of the rising 

 generation pictures calculated to excite the passions, 

 to lead to vice. Thousands of these vile pictures are 

 in circulation throughout the country, in spite of the 

 worthy efforts of such philanthropists as Mr. Anthony 

 Comstock and his co-laborers. In almost every large 

 school there are boys who have a supply of these in- 

 famous designs, and act as agents in scattering the evil 

 contagion among all who come under their influence. 



Under the guise of art, the genius of some of our 

 finest artists is turned to pandering to this base desire 

 for sensuous gratification. The j^ictures which hang 

 in many of our art galleries, that are visited by old 

 and young of both sexes, often number in the list views 

 which, to those whose thoughts are not well trained to 

 rigid chastity, are productive of evil. A plea may 

 be made for these paintings in the name of art; but 

 we see no necessity for the development of art in this 

 particular direction, when nature presents so many and 

 such varied scenes of loveliness in landscapes, flowers, 

 beautiful birds, and graceful animals, to say nothing 

 of the human form protected by sufficient covering to 

 satisfy the demands of modesty. 



Many of the papers and magazines sold at our 

 news-stands, and eagerly sought after by young men 

 and boys, are better suited for the parlors of a house 

 of ill-repute than for the eyes of pure-minded youth. 

 A news-dealer who will distribute such vile sheets, 

 ought to be dealt with as an educator in vice and 

 crime, an agent of evil, and a recruiting officer for hell 

 and perdition. 



