Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-11-20

mlAlhttu according 10 the provisions ol
the charter; nor can be be acknowledged
as, or permitted to I'LL the Office Of Grand
Master until he has taken the precedeni
degrees. This is Masonic landmarkism,
and consistent Baptists act on h vcry
same principles. And do the editors who
have inauguraied this warfare upon Bap-
fists canfess to any but duly appointed
priests?
We leave the religious editors of the
APPEAL this week with this wholesome
advice; IL they are fully convinced that
they mistook their calling in attempting
TO conduct q h~igh-Joned, secular and rell-
giOus paper, and that polenic theology Is
their forte, aud they intend TO use their
paper for this purpose, let them insert
" Cdth0te" before APPEAL, and sail under
their true colors.
We publish the above from the
Baptist Of this city, because especially
requested TO do so by DR.. GRAVES,
and because we are willing the public
should Judge fairly between Us. lie
seems rather over-sensitive to the fact
that the APPEAL should be one of a
thousand Journals TO publish a news
item which was found going the
rounds Of the press, and which the
editors Of the APPEAL had no
more thought of endorsing, than DIR.
GRAVES; and not quite so good a right
to dispute. If he had desired to do
that, he was fully aware al opportu-
nifty would have been afforded him to
do so in the APPEAL. In our
view, nothing was required by
the interest of his church, but to cor
rect the statement, if facts were incor-
rectly stated in the little flying para
graph; and that, We should quite
cheerfully have given him the oppOr-
tunity to do. What good reason,
therefore, can be assigned for his pre-
sumption of bad motives on our part,
and for the use of abusive epithets to-
ward the editors of the APPEAL, who,
it 50 happens, never even knew Of the
Objectionable paragraph until after it
had been selected and published by
an editor then acting, and who was
raised and educated by Baptists? II
II Il mAoAOLluuc Nndb Hc oAtouAN hdhG
corns, and that secular journals
must be so wary in selecting
items Of the current news of
the day lest they should tread
unwittingly on his toes. 1t is said
that on one occasion when STURGEON
was slandered, he replied by saying
that he had found the correction of
ISLANDERS often tended to circulate
them, so as to make il do more harm
than good, and that, instead OF prose-
cutting for or defending against them,
he preferred to do as did the little
bird when pursued by the hawk
"just gy up." We would commend
his example to the Reverend Doctor,
and advise him just to fly up" If
it is proper he should defend his
church, il is equally so that he should
have as much charity and give as lit
tie Offense to others in doing it as pos
sible. The editors of this paper pro-
test, with one voice, that they are not
inimical TO the Baptist church; and
vet it seems he would have the public
believe they are 20; and for that pur-
pose states that some of them are con-
uected with Episcopal and Catholic
churches! Does be then think that
Episc0palians and Catholics are such
4" enemies" Of the Baptist Church as
to aSsaii it with "mendacious" "Ealse-
h0Od?" Does he think the fact of cOn-
nection with one OF those churches
pribld Jaeie conclusive that malice"
IS entertained by Il secular editor?
Does he find any authority in the
law Of charity for suppOsing
such a fact sufficient to warrant the
charge that a Catholic would seek to
gTatiiy a priest, or an Epise0palian
a bishop, by the statement of a SIAN
derous fsisehood; or hat the priest or
bishop would be gratiied by the COM
mission Of such al outrage? Nothing
less is implied in the above mcalled
for and abusive illumination. We tell
him this may be the way to get up a
controversy, out Of which to raise a
cry Of persecution. and a capital way
to make enemies both to his church
and himself. But it is not the way To
make friends to either. The APPEAL
will not be forced into that kind Of
antagOnism. DIR. GRAVES has been
fully informed that the paragraph at
the head Of this article was not an ed
i%t0rial, hut punished as a news clip
ping, without even the knowledge of
the responsible editors. They now
viRdicate the inadvertent publication
as a news item, subject to correction
at will, and without affirming cor de-
nying its truthlulness. The response
bility for that rests with its author,
whaeyer that may be, or with SPUR
GEON and the san Francisco paper.
WedOubt whether eithHr would defend
the last sentence of the obnoxious par
agraph as expressing the truth. No
one would think Of saying that Rap-
fists refuse 10 recognize a Pedo-
baptist as a Christian" anywhere.
What the author intended to write Is
more likely TO be that "the days of
old landmarkism, which does not"
admit "a PedObaptist at the table,"
etc, "afe numbered" That is the
only assertion which could have been
intended. And whether that aecoIds
with the fact furnishes a proper sub
of denial or dispute, as well as the
question whether other afiirmatiOns of
the paragraph were made as stated;
which we have nothing TO do.
DIR. GRAVES should see that the Bap-
list church is not misrepresented. lie
should also take some slight care not
to misreprerent Others, or falsely and
unjustly inIpugn their motives, when
he comes TO its vindieatlon. While
he is "wise as a serpent" we believe
It is also a lesson of Christianity that
he should be "harmless as a dove"