The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1867-11-07
For the Palladium.
care these Things SOP"

are t0cSS lungs Sos
Eos PALLaDIuM:-A correspondent in your
paper Of 3lst, asks this question in reference to
some statements said to have been made by the
writer at the late Christian Convention held q,
Indianapolis. The reporter for the Cincinnati
Gazette, has not, in several respects, correctly
represented my remarks but the FACTS are
such as to raise the inquiry in every Christian
heart, "Are these things sop and if so, what
can do to remedy them?" l am not surpris-
ed that many honest and worthy persons, (pro-
fessed Christians, too,) whose attention has not
been called to the wickedness and irreligion
which abounds. should doubt its existence; and
the calm and temperate style Of your cores
pendent gives evidence that he, in common with
large mass of the religious professors, have
but little idea of the actual state Of things
around them. If the inquiry set on foot by my
remarks, should cause this class of persons to
turn their attention to the subject and serious
ly and prayerfuly to ask Lord what wilt thou
have ME- to dog the writer will feel that his
remarks have not been in vain.
The remarks at the Convention were made
in the course of an interesting discussion, as te
the religious condition Of the country, and the
writer distinctly stated that Richmond no doubt
contained as large proportion of religious pro-
fessors and as high standard as to morality
and virtue, as any other city in the State, but
that here, after an examination, out Of about
1000 families enquired of, there was found not
quite 600, the heads of which were members of
some Christian church. The writer has the
hoe IN hall k{,ot A.
is substantially correct; at least the facts were
learned from actual inquiry and careful account
kept of the result. The question is not as to
DUTY of joining some religious society, but as
to the fact whether or not such connection does
exist.
I'd. In reference to the supply Of Scriptures,
out Of the families inquired OF, including ALL
in the city suburbs, without regard to wealth
or position, 279 were found without a copy of
the Bible. THAT THIS Is FACT THERE CAN BE
SO DOUBT. The exact residence of those dsst.
tute, was furnished to the writer and 274 have
been supplied with Bibles and Testaments;
very few have purchased and paid in full;
few in part, and the remainder have been sup
piled gratuitously by the Bible Association of
= AiSuoo. a. JOuA iCSPOhOcub VIII Gall Ou
the writer, he can be supplied with such facts
as will set this beyond doubt. Nor is this so
remarkable as your correspondent imagines; the
result of such inquiries by the Agents of the
American Bible Society in different parts of the
land, would show an average restitution quite
as great. 1t may be added that in the exami-
nation in Richmond, all who had Catholic
Rih1a cd hainp crpnlia6 bo Oh;
not being to excite UNCONVENTIONAL prejudices,
but to learn facts.
Sd. In regard to the number of persons "who
attend church," the statement was not as TO the
number "who are in the habit, more or less. of
attending church services" but as to the num-
Der who actually do attend on given Sab
bath. The writer stated that the AvERAGE at
tendance at all our places Of worship, Sab
bath morning, was not over 5000. Is not this
correct? If your correspondent will take his
pencil and learn from some reliable person the
ACTUAL AVERAGE attendance, at each place of
worship. and add all together, he will find that
it will fall short Of rather than overrun 3OGO.
do not propose in this article to discuss the
question as to the cause of this; if your cores
pondeut had been present at the Convention he
would have heard this subject fully canvassed,
and one object Of the Convention was to devise
remedy. Richmond is not worse than other
places in this respect-probably bstter-but the
facts are incontestable.
The writer in the course Of his remarks in
the Convention, in order to show that class
of persons who do not attend religious meetings.
and some even who are far in SIM may be reach
ed by personal effort, mentioned some striking
cases which had occurred in Richmond-t the
reporter has not correctly stated them-and
your correspondent asks very doubtfully "who"
they are. If he is. as take him to be, can
did and honorable person, and will call on the
writer, he can take him to the persons and they
will agree to all the facts which were really
stated.
I regret that my good friend should feel,
"that the reputation of our city has been wan
tonly stabbed" although not "the place of
BIRTH of the writer. for more than 33 years it
has been his place Of residence-his love for it
is strong, and he yields to none in earnestness
of desire for its prosperity and rowth, both in
numbers and ''in religion and morals, but the
first step towards Improvement, either in indi-
viduals or communities, must be discovery of
their actual condition. If in such research,
matters are found not to be in good condition,
let all who love the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, labor earnestly for improvement, and
with the blessing Of God, the existence Of so
muct evil may be removed, and the statistics
improved. G. F. C.
11th mo-, I'd, 1867.
s'ANoTHER RICHMOND IN THE FIELD"-
Since Judge JOHNSON has been. spoken
of as probable candidate for Congress
in this District, we have heard several
of the friends of LurHER Nj MERING of