ry to turn it from darkness to
light, from the power of Satan unto God. God will wink at our sin, if we
be indeed guilty, for we have not been enlightened on this subject."

I answer. Does ignorance of the laws of any nation excuse those who
transgress those laws; or is it not considered to be the duty of all
subjects to inform themselves in respect to the laws of their country?
And should it not be so in the kingdom of Christ? The requirements of
Christ in their full extent are contained in the New Testament, and are
expressed in language that need not be misunderstood. If any one has
mistaken their import, is it not on account of a self-seeking,
money-getting, or slothful disposition? Let such a one search his own
heart, and inquire with concern, "Did I desire to know my duty? Was not
my blindness a matter of choice; no infirmity, no misfortune, but my
guilt? If there had been a desire, nay, even a willingness to be
instructed, could I have mistaken such plain and unequivocal precepts of
the Gospel?"

The condition too of the heathen, their guilty and wretched condition,
is fully made known in the New Testament, especially in the first
chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans. Besides, accounts of their
guilt and wretchedness have been presented before the Christian
community in Heralds, Chronicles, reports and newspapers, till they have
become too familiar to make an impression. Can ignorance at this day be
any other than a criminal ignorance--an ignorance of fearful
responsibility?

And, I ask again, Can it be an excuse to many Christians that they are
laymen and not preachers of the Gospel? Can they make it appear that
many of their number were not called to the office of preaching the
Gospel? Did they take the proper means to ascertain that point? How, I
anxiously inquire, did such persons determine so readily, when a world
was sinking to perdition for want of preachers of the Gospel, that they
were called to be lawyers, physicians, statesmen, merchants, farmers and
manufacturers? Can it be fairly shown that hundreds of laymen have not
rejected an office to which they were _called_--SOLEMNLY CALLED, by the
woes and dying groans of six hundred millions of their fellow men? Is
there not reason to fear, that it was from a carnal choice and selfish
inclination, rather than a sense of duty, that so great a majority slid
so easily into their present occupations?

Besides, how does it appear that only preachers of the