GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



all by the French, but he would have been so classed 

 in the United States. He was a quadroon. Fred 

 Douglass was a mulatto. Booker Washington lived 

 with and for his race. Fred Douglass married 

 white women. , 



Dr "Washington was a messenger of peace ana 

 good 'will between the races in the South. Naturally 

 he was considering his own race, but the good feel- 

 ing that he taught as necessary to the progress of 

 the blacks operated to the benefit of the whites as 



Only a few years before Booker Washington be- 

 gan to be known throughout the country no one 

 attempted to lead the negro race except in antago- 

 nism to the whites of the South. He had no prece- 

 dent for his gospel of good will, but he urged the 

 negi-o to count the southern white man as his best 

 friend. His public life extended through several 

 decades, but not one expression was ever quoted 

 from him that indicated any bitterness. Indeed, 

 his whole life was an exhibition of his confidence m 

 the southern white man, and his efforts with his 

 own race were for their advancement in moral and 

 industrial lines, and in these lines he relied largely 

 on the help of the white man of the South, and 

 his reliance was not misplaced. 



Hundreds of thousands of negroes throughout the 

 South will be better and more capable citizens of 

 the communities in which they live on account of 

 Dr. Washington's influence, and not one will be 

 worse. The record is one of which both races in the 

 South should be proud. 



The above, at several points, touches on 

 his characteristic humility— I might say 

 " Christlike " humility. At one time in his 

 religious experience he said in substance: 

 "I have finally come to a point where I 

 can tJiank God that I was born black; for 

 how could I otherwise work for the eleva- 

 tion and development of the race unless I 

 was one of them, and had shared from in- 

 fancy their toil and hardships'? " 



Does it not remind one of Moses, and, 

 later on, of Him who left his home in 

 heaven, came down to earth, was " born of 

 woman," became the carpenter's son-—" a 

 man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief ;" 

 and finally, without complaint, gave up his 

 life on the cross that ive might live — yes, 

 more than that— that Ave, through him, 

 might have " everlasting life " ? 

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THE MENACE AND ANTHONY COMSTOCK. 



On page 911, Nov. 1, I made brief men- 

 tion of the above; but from the Sunday 

 School Times of Nov. 13 T find the Menace 

 in three different issues has attacked the 

 life and character of our departed friend. 

 The Times answers seven distinct charges 

 at length, and gives proof that every fair- 

 minded reader must accept, not only that 

 the charges are untrue, but that there is not 

 a shadow of truth in any one of them. As 

 an illustration I will just quote No. 5 : 



5. The Menace states that " The least of his of- 

 fenses was that he permitted his aged parents to die 

 in the almshouse, which is a matter of public 

 record." ' '^ 



In regard to the truth of the above, I 

 quote again from the Times: 



5. Tlie following interesting letter to the Editor 

 from Mr. Comstock's widow, dated October 15, 1915, 

 states the facts as to his parents: 



" I am glad to bear testimony to the following 

 facts regarding my late husband, Mr. Anthony Com- 

 stock, and his parents. 



" His mother, whom he dearly loved, and from 

 whom he learned the principles of pure religion and 

 undefiled, died at her home when he was a boy ten 

 years of age. 



"Some years later his father went to England, and 

 little was heard from him for some time. Becoming 

 anxious for his welfare, Mr. Comstock asked a 

 friend to find out about his father's circumstances. 

 He learned that his father had married again, and 

 that four children had been born, and that they 

 were in straitened circumstances. 



" Mr. Comstock at once sent money to bring them 

 all over to this country. He took them into his own 

 home and kept them there until I was so near a 

 breakdown that it seemed advisable for him to rent 

 a home for them elsewhere. He continued to sup- 

 port them all, despite his own limited income, until 

 his father died, and then supported his stepmother 

 and her children, assisted somewhat by her eldest 

 son, till her death. One of these sons, Herbert, is 

 a respected business man in Brooklyn. Mr. Cora- 

 stock's generosity toward this branch of the family 

 was continued until the time of his death." 



The writer of the articles in the Menace said in 

 his second article: "If you will show me that I am 

 wrong, that any statement of mine is untrue, I will 

 publicly retract and apologize, like any just man and 

 gentleman." The Sunday School Times earnestly 

 hopes that The Menace will give its many readers 

 the facts as to Mr. Comstock that are here pre- 

 sented.* 



Christian people everywhere will be glad to know 

 that the continuance of the great work of the New 

 York Society for the Suppression of Vice has been 

 well provided for. Its offices are at 140 Nassau St., 

 New York. Among its founders, builders, and pres- 

 ent officers, co-workers of Mr. Comstock's who knew 

 him intimately and loved and trusted him, appear 

 such names as Robert R. McBurney, Welcome G. 

 Hitchcock, Morris K. .Tesup, Samuel Colgate, Will- 

 iam E. Dodge, Jr., Cephas Brainerd, Kiliaen Van 

 Rensselaer, William C. Beecher, and Josiah Strong. 

 In 1912, at the fortieth anniversary of Mr. Com- 

 stock as secretary of the society, the officers of the 

 society provided a larger executive force, including 

 an associate secretary, Mr. John S. Sumner, who is 

 now the acting secretary of the society. During the 

 last three years the society has taken advanced steps, 

 and in 1914 had an executive force of seven. The 

 president, Mr. Fred E. Tasker, and one of the vice- 

 presidents, James M. Buckley, D. D., issued a letter 

 last month announcing these facts, and stating: "A 

 few newspapers have expressed the opinion that 

 dealers in bad books, prints, etc., upon learning of 

 the death of Mr. Comstock, will attempt to be more 

 active in their diabolical trades, not realizing that 

 the society has been preparing to meet any emergen- 

 cy that might occur." 



Readers of the Times may remember a personal 

 word from its publisher, Philip E. Howard, in the 

 issue of October 16, 1915. Mr. Howard, knowing 

 about the hellish products that Comstock had fought 

 for forty years, had once exclaimed to Mr. Comstock, 



* My good friends, please notice in the above the 

 gentle kindness and Christian courtesy, under most 

 provoking circumstances, and this has always been 

 characteristic of the Sunday School Times. The 

 Menace has been coming to me for years, both here 

 and in Medina, although I have never ordered it, or 

 suggested exchange. First and last, it has always 

 seemed to me unchristian. 



