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4 Jf adex and Jfaptist Bey. D. E. BUTLEB, Managing Editor. Editorial Cokthibutorr : Dr. J. S. LAWTON Forsyth, Georgia. Key. J. S. BAKER. D.D Huitmati, Georgia. Rev. N. (i. HILLYKR, D.1)., Forsyth, Georgia. Rev. T. G. JONES, D.D Nashville, Tennessee. Ret. li. G. MANAKD Bristol, Tennessee. THAT “ UNIFICATION SCHEME. Rev. Attieus G. Haygood, a promi nent Methodist minister, and one of the leading minds of that denomina tion in Georgia, in a terse and able article published in the Atlanta Con stitution, denies the feasibility, or pro priety, of Dr. Clark’s “ College Unifica tion Scheme,” and afiirins that the Methodists of Georgia have no desire whatever to merge their denominational college with the State’s college at Ath ens. In this Dr. Haygood, no doubt, speaks for the great majority of the thinking men of his Church. It, is evi dent, that this pet scheme, for the sup port and aggrandizement of Franklin College, at the expense of colleges in stituted by the various denominations, and supported by thorn iti behalf of their own peculiar interests, will never be crowned by success—nor should it be. All the casuistry —all the alluring word-painting of the “unification ” ad vocates, exercised to prevail upon the separate church powers of the State to assist in centralizing the educational means of this Commonwealth, at Ath ens, will fail, for two reasons—namely : There is no real necessity for such an innovation ; secondly, the parties most effected by this plan of the “ unifica tionists,’’forgood and sufficient reasons, do not desire any such change. Memorials and committees are pow erless, when they presume to urge any pet scheme whatever, which is at vari ance with practicability, and obnoxious to the common sense and business sa gacity of tbe people. VIII I'II,PIT. One of the most attractive features •of The Index we hold to lie “ Our Pulpit.” Under this head will be found, from week to week, some of the best, pulpit efforts of our leading min isters of the Gospel, “ thoughts that breathe, and words that burn ” with the hol< inspiration of the Gospel of truth, and which shall make this spec ial department of The Index sought for by all who delight in Divine lessons, draped in the beautiful garments of human eloquence. The sermon on “ Truth, Mercy, Righteousness and Peace,” by Rev. W. N. Reeves, of Eufaula, Alabama, in this issue of The Index, will address itself with peculiar force to the intelli gent thousands of our readers. Logical Inferences. —The late Dr S. D. Baldwin, says in his Armageddon : “It is a received maxim, that the best form of any government for any peo ple, is the best that its present moral and social condition renders practica ble. A democracy cannot exist with out a high state of morals aud intelli gence blended together; we repeat it, they must both exist together.” An inference might logically be drawn from the latter of the two sen tences above, altogether favorable to the morals aud intelligence of Baptists ; as they constitute a pure democracy, and have existed from the days of the apostles. One not so favorable, Metho dism, might be drawn from the first of the above two sentences; but, mark ye, to avoid giving offence, ice draw them not. We call attention to the communi cation by Bro. Irwin, “Vital Question Again.” Ho suggests how something is to be done for our relief in the pres ent financial distress. The plan is a good one. If executed promptly and with a zeal, inspired by the love of truth as it is in Jesus, God will bless every effort, and every one who gives. We repeat, the work must be done, or Ba; list faith is in great jeopardy. Brethren in the ministry, begin at your next conference, and gather any sum, however small, and on every oc casion when at all proper, bring the ne cessities of our Zion before your con gregations. Ir your school is taking no Sunday-school paper, send on for Kind It'orde ; for the young should !>v all means have a paper. Beside tho Sunday-school Lessons in Kind llonis are a groat help in conducting the school. The paper I is now issue.) regularly and promptly, and is, we are glad to learn, on a permanent, self-sustain ing basis. Tho terms may be seen in our ad vertising columns. THE CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. INFANT BAPTISM. m. In our first two articles upon this subject, we have shown that no argu ment in support of Infant Baptism can be founded upon any analogy supposed to exist between it and circumcision. We now propose to show that Infant Baptism is actually at variance with important passages of the word of God. We quote Jeremiah 31st chapter and 31st and 34th verses inclusive. “Be hold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my Covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord; but this be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts, and I will be tbeir God and they shall be my people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know tbe Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.” Here, we have a remarkable pro phesy, setting forth what should be the relation of God’s people to Himself under a New Covenant, which He would make with them at s me future time. When was the prophesy fulfilled? Most assuredly under the Gospel. In proof, notice that our Saviour, when He instituted the Lord’s Supper, said: “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood which is shed for you.” Hence, these words announce the inauguration of that New Covenant. And an inspired Apostle, in his letter to the Hebrews, quotos the whole passage from Jere miah, and calls it a better Covenant, established upon better promises, aud claims that Jesus is the mediator of that better Covenant. Hence, it is clear, that Jeremiah’s prophesy is ful filled under the Gospel. We do not think any body can dispute this. Now, the candid reader will notice, the peculiar feature of this New Coyienant is, that under it, God would write His law upon the hearts of His people; and that they all should know Him, from the least to the greatest. Thus, it is manifest, that infants can not be the subjects of this New Cov enant. The language employed clearly excludes infants. Its subjects have the Law written in their hearts, i, e., they are the subjects of Divine Grace. They all, without exception, are ex pected to “kncnv the Lord-,” i.e., they are expected to be believers. Hence, the very terms upon which this New Cov enant is offered to God’s people, imply intelligent apprehension of it and be lief in it. The representatives of this New Cov enant, as a visible people, are found in the churches of Christ. Now, the practice which admits unconscious babes into those churches, subverts the fundamental conditions of the Cov enant itself ; for it introduces into the churches a very large class of members upon whose hearts the Law is not written and may never be written; and who, when admitted, cannot “know the Lord,” and many of whom never will know Him. Infant Baptism is just such a practice, therefore, it subverts the fundamental conditions of the New Covenant; and hence, is at variance with those important passages of Scripture which we have quoted. It may be objected to this argument, that the advocates of Infant Baptism .do not claim that baptism makes in fants church members. But upon this point, its advocates are not agreed among themselves. It is certainly true, that the ancient Fathers, whose author ity is so often quoted to justify Infant baptism, did teach that in baptism, children were regenerated, received re mission of sins, and were brought into the church. This sentiment prevails to tliis day in the Greek, Roman Cath olic, Lutheran, and in the Eglish and American Episcopal churches. John Calvin, however, seems to have felt the absurdity of connecting baptism with regeneration and remission of sius in this manner; and, accordingly, he has transmitted a sort of Infant Bap tism to some of the Pedobaptist organ izations, which is very indefinite as to any church relations which it estab- lishes. Hence, many who advocate this practice, may claim that it does not make the children church mem bers; and, accordingly, they may deny the minor premise of the foregoing ar gument. But the theory of Infant'Bap tism involves tbe idea of infant church membership, to some extent, whenever it is piacticed. It was certainly held by the ancient Fathers (so called,) among whom the practice originated, that baptized children were church members, and entitled to the commu nion. The Greek church holds that sentiment to-day. While other organizations do not ad mit them to communion, still, in a sense more or less definite, they are church members. But, fortunately, we are not obliged, in order to save our argu ment, to clear away the mist aqd fog which modern Pedobaptist writenMiave thrown around the relation which bap tized children sustain to the church. It is sufficient for us to make good"this point; and this is the point in the case, viz., the advocates of Infant Baptism, support it, by an appeal to the early Fathers, who practiced it, and who are said to have received it by tradition from tbe Apostles. Now, we claim that the baptism of these early Fathers was understood to involve regeneration,. remission of sins, and adoption into ! the household of faith. Accordingly, little children were immediately after baptism, confirmed by the Bishop, or Elder, if present, and were allowed to take the Lord’s Supper. Hence, they were considered members of the church to all intents and purposes. Now, if modern Pedobaptists deny that Infant Baptism makes the chil dren church members, having already denied the doctrine of baptismal regen eration, etc., then they have a baptism which Cyprian, and those who followed him, would not recognize. ‘A baptism without faith, without regeneration, without remission of sin, and with no church membership! Such a baptism tbe Fathers never knew. Such a bap tism they did not say was handed down by tradition from the Apostles. Therefore, for such a baptism, there is not one vestige of historical eviden/b, from the days of Pentecost down!), the days of John Calvin. Tbasrfge toil all Pedobaptists who deny memh.-rshq*, ;i’. i .J. .illy renounce, entirely, the meat in support of the. institution which they defend. On the other hand, those who admit that infants are made church members by baptism, are fairly amenable to the argument above set forth; and are convicted of upholding a practice which subverts the fundamental principles of the New Covenant a.i foretold by Jeremiah, and expounded by Paul. Our friends may choose the horn upon which to fall. — "T- ♦ Easy and Hard. —lt is an ease thing to knock down one’s reputation, by circulating evil reports about him ; but a difficult thing indeed, to build up again a reputation that has been thus knocked down. It is an easy thing to detect blemish es in the articles that appear in our columns, but we rather think the most acute of our critics would find it diffi cult to write for us better articles than are some (even many) of those that have appeared in our weekly issues. We would be glad to have them over come our superstition on this point, however, by sending us articles supe rior to any that we have hitherto pub lished. Come, ye critics, step up with your superior articles, that they mav serve as copies, alike to our correspon dents and our editorial corps. Light.— ln the Sacred Scriptures, this term is often used to signify knowledge, especially the knowledge of Divine truth. It is also used as ex pressive of joy or comfort. Thus the promise of light in obscurity, is equiv olent to the promise of comfort in a dark season of adversity. He who se cures the light of Divine truth, will, at the same time, secure the light of the joys of salvation. , It is as natural for the light of Divine truth shed into the heart, to impart the joys of salvation, as it is for a flame of fire to yield heat. Be it remembered, that the Bible is alike the repository of Divine truth, and the medium through which the light of the joy of salvation is im parted. Considerable sectional feeling agita ted the Conference of the Presbyterian church during its recent session in Louisville. A JESFIST’S DEFENSE OF JESUTISSI. A Jesuist, C. Tanguerv, pastor of the Catholic church in Dalton, Georgia, in an article addressed to the Constitu tion of this city, indulges in a charac teristic rhodomondate in reply to cer tain strictures made by Rev. Dr. Left wich, of the Central Presbyterian church, on the vicious principles of Jesuitism, and the abominable ends aimed at by the Order of Jesus, so called. The disciple of this order in Dalton, takes upon himself the impos sible task of denying the affirmations of Dr. [Leftwich, as he says, “in the name of two hundred millions of Ro man Catholics.” He makes the asser tion, (disproved by all history,) that “ the Jesuists are the true disciples of Him who said : “ You are not of the world, therefore tbe world hates you. No, they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” And he “lays the flattering unction to his soul ” that this Scripture quotation truly applies to those Janizaries, first armed to make war upon the civil and religious liberty of the world by tbe shrewd imposter, Ig natius Loyola. It is superfluous to quote, at any length, the most unimpeachable authori ties of modern history—not Protestant only, but tbe testimony of Roman Catholics, and acknowledged Jesuists to prove the flippancy and perversion of facts, so apparent in the fulmina tions of the Dalton disciple of Loyola. Does Mr. Tanguery consider it a “ malieions insinuation ” to say, that the abominable practices and criminal acts of the Order he defends culminated in such an outrageous fashion, as to calf forth the denunciations of even the Popes; that bull upon bull was hurled upon them from the Vatican throne ; that they were outlawed, and driven from their seats as the most dangerous foes of the Catholic hier archy ? Do not millions of Catholics even now execrate them, and deny them the right of speaking as representa tives of Catholicism ? Surely Mr. T. presumes too much upon his own igno rance, or the assumed ignorance of the age. The Christian Index offered a rrizc of j. 7 dollars for Hie best sermon received certain tiimv ThiiTy-oue sermons JMfeLzjved. The prize d!is awarded by ■Lttec to Rev. S <l. llillyer, III). HTh. Georgia. Theme—•• The Rest ■Pcs of ( hristiunity " Our good hmih ■BWlyer wrote (rood sermons even in his youthful days. We are not surprised at the decision; but what bothers us is, to guess how and by whom those thirty-one sermons were read. The exploit was" worthy of a martyr. — St. Louis Central Baptist, Fefnj 4. In order to relieve our Central Bap tist brother of the “ botheration ” he is laboring under, we will state that the names of the awarding committee were published in The Index with the issue containing the successful sermon— namely: Rev. J. H. DeVotie, Rev. E. W. Warren, Rev. F. M. Daniel. As to how the offered sermons, were read, the names and standing of the awarding committee supply the only answer necessary. Could the publishers have entertained the idea that the writer of the above extract was capable of appreciating the merits of a good sermon, or even “ how ” to read one, they might have included his name iu the committee of awards. Let him rest assured that the offense given to his vanity was unpremeditated —he should not have expected us to act on an improbability. Rev. Alfred Webb.—Correspond ents of this most estimable aud be loved brother, so long the moderator of the Hightower Association, will please address him in thef uture at Yellow Creek post-office, Dawson county, Ga., aud not at Hightower post-office, Forsyth county, Ga. He has not changed his residence, but receives his mail at the new office. Brother Webb, in a letter to one of The Index company, dated January 15th, says : “ I love The In dex.” Speaking of the health of him self and wife, he says the infirmities of old age come on very fast, “but, thank God, we are able to get about yet.” Father Webb has devoted about fifty years, to the great work of preaching the blessed gospel of the living God, few men living have done so much for the cause of truth. A glorious reward awaits this faithful laborer. S. A sacred concert at the Savannah Baptist church, on the night of the 26th ult., was a delightful entertain ment and largely attended. The pro gramme, which was varied with good taste, embraced quite a number of rare pieces of music. The Georgia University Magazine is to be revived. OUR HYMN BOOK. Is received with great favor everywhere ! Compiled by Bevs. E. W. Warren and F. M. Daniel, of the First and Fourth Baptist churches of Atlanta, with a view to meet the requirements of general worship, it contains nothing but that which is choice aud familiar. It is the Cheapest Book on record—Ten Cents per copy. Send for specimen copies. Address JAB. P. HABKISON 4 CO., _ Atlanta, Ga. NEWS FROM OCR CHCRCHES. Bro. A. J. Kendrick, a prominent and highly esteemed member of our church, died at West Point, Ga., last Monday week. He bequeathed one thousand dollars to the church at West ••Point. His end was peace. Bro. W. M. Clark was ordained a minister of the Gospel at Holly Grove church, Monroe county, Ga., on the fifth Sabbath in January. Asa deacon ißro. Clark has, for a long time, been a tower of strength in our Zion. May our Heavenly Father give him useful ness and strength commensurate with the new and broader field of labor into which he has now entered. Blackwood Springs Baptist church is situated east of the State Road, be tween Adairsvilie and Calhoun, and is beautifully located. Before the war it was a notable Methodist camping ground. The church was founded about a year ago, aud under tbe effi cient and faithful pastorate of Bro. A. S. Tatum, is now in a prosperous con dition. The new house of worship is nearly completed. It speaks well for the energ;. and devotion of the member ship. Some means are still necessary to finish the building, aud all brethren disposed to help in the good work, can do so by addressing the pastor, who will cheerfully acknowledge the aid given. At a recent general meeting of the Baptist church, at Benevolence, Ran dolph countv, Bro. L. Culbreath was elected chairman, and Bro. M. Page, secretary. It was resolved to hold two meetings within the bounds of tbe Bethel Association, to begin on Friday before the fifth Sabbath in May. One will be held at Shady Grove church, Stewart county, the other at New Bethel church, Randolph county. All are invited to be present. On Sunday, January 31st, a pres bytery consisting of Rev. A. L. Mon ifoff, Her. E. M. Hooten, and "YV. J. Morecock, met at the request of Holly Grove Baptist church, in Monroe coun ty, Ga., to ordain W. M. Clark, a mem ber, and for several years licentiate of that church, to the full work of the Gospel ministry. The examination, on his Christian experience, call to the ministry, Bible doctrine, etc., was held ou Saturday evening at the candidate’s house, and conducted by the pastor, A. L. Moncrief. It was entirely satis factory. The sermon was preached by W. J. Morecock, ordaining prayer, by E. M. Hooten, charge and presentation of the Bible, by A. L. Moncrief, charge to the church aud congregation, by E. M. Hooten. The hand was then ex tended to brother Clark by the pres bytery of the church amidst many tears. Bro. G. R. McCall, Thomasville, Ga., writes to The Index for information concerning the statistics of our church in Georgia. He wants a collect : on of the minutes of Associations, and says: Of the Associations which are mem bers of the Couvention, I need the fol lowing, viz : Bethel, Cave Spring, Cen tral, Clarksville, Coosa, Fairburn, Friendship’s, Georgia, Liberty, Mercer, Middle, Mt. Vernon, Noonday, North Georgia, Oostanaula, Tugals and Western. Of those Associations which are not members of the Convention, I need all the minutes except tbe Tallapoosa, Hightower, Carrollton, Nollton, New Ebenezer, Upsatoia and Pulaski. Of the Colored, I have the Middle Georgia, Shiloh, Southeastern, Thom asville, aud Union. I need the Calvary, Colored Baptist, Ebenezer, First Afri can, Mt. Moriah, New Hope, Pilgrim, Rehoboth, Walker, Western, Zion, and any other which may be in existence. A Mal-practice. —lt is supreme folly for one to attempt to white-wash himself by blackballing another; and yet there is, probably, no mal-practice more prevalent then this. Charge one with having committed an error, and nothing is more common than to see him engage, forthwith in hunting up your errors and parading them before the public. By the way, to do this af fords strong presumptive evidence of three things: 1. That he is guilty of what is charged against him. 2. That he is conscious of the fact; and, 3. That he lacks the moral honesty neces sary to lead him to confess his error. ■•A victory o'er himself, ho must have winned. Who dares to say, peccavi—l have sinned." THF. COLORED PEOPLE OF GEORGIA. The following are some of the closing remarks of Bishop Ward’s sermon, de livered in the Methodist church at Al bany, on the 26th ult., and seem to be at variance with the reports of outrages that are told to our Northern brethren, by unscrupulous men, for political pur poses. We commend this extract to such as may desire to know the real feeling that exists between the two races in Georgia, hoping that the truth may be speedily established, despite the efforts continually made to make falsehood and error triumphant. Hear what this colored Bishop savs : “The power of the Gospel is evidenced by its fruits, destroying the works of Satan and overthrowing the kingdom of darkness. The power of this glorious Gospel is seen every where in the hearts and the lives of the peo ple of God. You have been told that this land was not the place for the colored man; that the white man aud the colored man could not live iu peace’, and that you would have to leave the country. You have been told that you must leave tbe graves of your fathers and loved ones behind you, and seek other shores, for that the white men were hostile to your interests and that thev were your enemies. Bat the falsity of such teach ing is seen by our gathering this morning. Here is your Bishop —a black Bishop, preaching to you iu a white man’s pulpit. The white people are friendly to you; the country needs the black man, and if you live and exemplify in your lives tbe power of the Gospel of Christ, you will be recog nized as ,the children of the same God, and members of that family of which Christ is the elder brother. As’ God led Israel by a way they knew not, so He is leading you, and He will lead you into the right way. A better day is dawning for the colored man, as well as the white man, aud to you He says as He said to Israel, “stand still and see the salvation of God! ” The colored people look to the white men of the South for protection and instruc tion. They were bom and reared together; some nursed’ at the same breast. Notwithstanding all that has been said and done, the two races are getting nearer to each other iu spite of themselves. Not as politicians but as Christian breth ren. TO THE SUBSCRIBERS OF THE MONTHLY MES SENGER. For different considerations, we have determined not to renew the pub lication of the Messenger. In doing so, you are not to sustain any loss, but gain by it. Hence, we have engaged The Index and Baptist, a leading eight-paged paper, published in Atlanta, Georgia, to fill out all unexpired time. By this means, all subscribers will get value received for money advanced in the interest of the Messenger, and, also, have an opportunity of becoming ac quainted with the merits of a Baptist paper that is seeking their patronage, and destined to become their organ; and which, we trust, they will patron ize when the time of the Messenger has been filled out. Our connection with the press for several years, justifies us in saying that The Index and Baptist is the peer of any paper South. It is just the paper for you to patronize, able, sound in the faith, and enterprising. We take pleasure in commending it, and the firm that publish the paper, as in every re spect worthy of your confidence and patronage. B. G. Manard, Editor Monthly Messenger. Bristol, Tenn., Feb. 4, 1875. YTRITE TO THE POI.\T. The maxim in rhetoric, that the elo quence which “speaks to the point.” incisive, direct, void of excessive eu phonism, is always the most effective, applies with equal strength to the art of writing for newspapers. A great many writers, when they slowly “take their pen in hand,” seem to forget that life is short, and that “time is money aye, r.,ore than money—the golden thread by which the soul is connected with the awful mysteries of Eternity and the hopes of heaven. We say, these dilatory and prosy contributors to con temporaneous literature, religious and secular, forget that brevity is wit, and that words, words, words, in linked dullness long drawn out, are as little appropriate to the wide-awake, busi ness-like spirit of our age, as the pow dered wigs and silver shoe buckles of our grandfathers would be to the fashionable “make up” of a modern Wall street broker. If you havn’t anything to say, don’t say it; if you have something to say, say it tersely ; don’t carry the church all around the town, but go to the church by the nearest practical route. You have no right to claim the valua ble time of any man longer than may be absolutely necessary; therefore, be brief, u-rite to the point, aud, rest as sured, editors will rise up and call vou “blessed.” J A Correction.— ln our late notice of Rev. Edward Stevens, D.D., we stated that he was the brother-in-law of Rev. H. J. Ripley, D.D. He is the nephew of Mrs. Ripley, the Professor’s wife. We erred through inconsidera tion, while writing .