THE REJECTED OFFEHINC. S E R M 0 N BEFORK THF. FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF NEW-YORK AND BROOKLYN, REV. M. S. HUTTON, D. U.. PASTOR or THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH OX WASHINGTON PEACE, NEW- YORK. WITH THE EKPORTS OF THE SECRETARY AND TREASURER. }^EW-YORK ; ALMO.X MKKAVIX, BIBLE HOT'SE, Ai^TOU PLACE. THE REJECTED OFFERING. A SERMON f DI-M.IVKRKI) nKKol'F THE F0EEI6N MISSIONARY SOCIETY or NEW-YORK AND BROOKLYN, MARCH 27 AND APRIL 3, 1853. BY REV. M. S. HUTTON, D. D.. PASTOR OF THK REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH ON WASHINGTON PLACE, NEW-TOKK. bs tf)e ^octets. NEW- YORK : ALMOJf MERWIN, BIBLE HOUSE, ASTOR PLACE. 1858. JOHN A CRAY. P R I N T K n , 95 and 97 (;ii(T Street, N. T. S E R MON. UALACEt I. 10. “ I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I acccjit an offering at your hand.’’ These words immediately precede one of the richest promises of the grace of God to the Gentile world. They are addressed to the Jewish Church, and are a prediction of their abandonment by God as his peculiar people. “ Neither will I accept an oifering at your hands. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles.” It is thus throughout the prophetic writings. We find the predicted casting ofi“ of the Jews generally, if not always, followed by a promise respecting the future call of the Gentiles. It would seem as if God intended by this to provoke his people to jealousy, in order that he might arouse them to repentance, and to return to him. But these threatenings were not heeded, and at length they were executed. God would no more ac- 4 cept an offering from his ancient people ; and, as Paul expresses it, the fall of the Jews became the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles. These events are here predicted under the figure of the sacrifices which God had ordained ; and as the acceptance of the Gentile ofterings was the greatest blessing which could be bestowed on them, so the re- fusal to accept the offering of the Jews was the greatest calamity which God could inflict on them. The pesti- lence and the famine which He sent upon his ancient people were indeed sad and fearful inflictions ; but they were the chastisements of a kind Father. It was a fearful judgment to allow the tread of an hostile barbarian to pollute the courts of their sacred temple, to permit him to desecrate and rob the altar of God, and to carry the people into captivity. We wonder not that they sat down and wept by the waters of Babylon ; but there was hope in that punishment ; God allowed his exiled children to offer their morning and evening sacrifices, and to observe the solemn fasts. But in the sentence, “ I will not accept an offering at your hands,” there v'as no hope ; this was a calamity and a woe, than AV'hich notie could be greater in this world. It is in this light that I desire to consider the text, and to apply the thought to the efforts and the sacri- fices which the Lord Jesus calls upon his people to make, and allows them to present, in behalf of his cause and kingdom. The privilege, the duty, the advantages, and the noble motives which belong to the missionary cause. have been often and clearly presented ; and I have deemed that, by this negative presentation of the sub- ject, I might not only increase the zeal of the people of God, but might dispei*se from some minds the clouds of despondency which at times rest upon them. There are some who, I trust, are good men, who, moved by tlie sorrows seen around them, feel, and utter the feeliug, AVe need not to be so anxious to send the gospel to the perishing heathen ; there are sorrows and sufferings in our own land, and at our own doors, to absorb all our charities, ai;d *u^e should attend to these. This is also the common objection of infidelity, and it is certainly plausible. Othere, again, whose hearts are really in the work, and whose sympathies are enlisted in behalf of the heathen, as they have contemplated the far-off’ and lone missionaries, surrounded by the darkness and degradation of heathenism ; as they have seen them laboring for years to understand and sj^eak the language of the couhtry, and then, perchance, have seen health and strength failiug, just as they are pre- pared for usefulness — they have been ready to ask. Does not the little good done cost too much ? ISior can it be denied that there is in this, at first view, a sad mysteriousness, at which our wavering and easily dis- couraged faith is too apt to stagger. I cannot deny that I have felt, in certain cases, sympathy with such trains of thought, especially in the case of the personal friend, the refined, enlightened, and delicately trained female missionary, whose usefulness at home I knew to be great, as I have read the breathings of her fond heart, as her thoughts turned to her once-loved home 6 left for ever, and on wliicli there settled a cloud of sad- ness from the moment that the circle was broken by her departure ; and then, when I have heard of her early death, or of some peculiar trial which interfered with her usefhlness, and seemed to have made her sacrifice of no avail, I have been ready to ask. Did she do wisely in becoming a missionary ? Does God ask this ? Does the Church do right in accepting such a sacrifice? Have not parents and brothers and sisters been called on to do too much when they give up their loved one, the light of their dwelling,* fqr the benefit of the care- less, thankless heathen ? But when, on the other hand, I have thought of the sacrifice and love of Jesus for these very heathen — when I have seen how that love was shed abroad over the heart of the missionary — how her consolations abounded in the midst of her trial — how her separa- tion from early and earthly friends knit her soul the more closely to Jesus — when I llfive read of her peace- ful and triumphant death, and have thought of her pre- sent joy at the feet of Jesus, and of the glorious crown which will hereafter encircle her youthful and radiant brow — then have I realized the infinitude of her gain, and felt that these light afflictions were of no weight in comparison with the joy ; and I could almost adopt the lano:ua2:e of her who, when told that her loved and younger missionary sister slept in Jesus, exclaimed, “I wish her joy;” and then^ too, I have felt how great a deprivation and loss it would be, Avere God to say to his people, “ I need not your labors of love ; I have no pleasure in you, neither will I accept an offering at your 7 hand ” Then have I felt that no expression of the anger of my God would he more terrible than to forbid his people’s ofterings — that the most overwhelming mark of his displeasure would be to shut up my heart from giving to his cause and kingdom, and thus say to me : “ No stone shalt thou lay in my temple ; thy ofter- ings shall not beautify heaven, nor make its music louder and sweeter by bringing souls into it.” This, then, is my position drawn from the text : The greatest curse in this life which God could injiict would he to deny his 'people the pleasure and the privdege of advanciny his cause and Jdngdom. For, 1st, Such a prohibition would prevent them from conferring any real favor upon their fellow-men. The missionary enterprise associates us with the des- tinies of an immortal existence ; the results at which it aims lie above and beyond this world, and reach on- ward through the ages of eternity. It does, indeed, effect, more than any other instrumentality, the im- provement of men’s condition in this life ; but this is only an incidental good — the great, the ultimate, the only desirable object, is to bring them under an influ- ence for heaven which will enlighten and purify their souls, restore them to the knowledge and friendship of God, and prepare them for a deathless existence beyond the grave. Now, were we excluded from exerting any favorable influence upon men, as immortal and overliv- ing beings, even supposing we did confer temj)oral good, it would necessarily be short-lived and transitory, and therefore of but little real value in itself. But even this might be esteemed a privilege if there were not 8 evils connected with it ; but, my bearers, a gift which is forbidden to lead to God, which is not allowed to make the receiver grateful to God, which is to exert no good influence upon the eternal destinies of men, neces- sarily exerts an opposite and baleful influence upon creatures constituted as we are. It would lead away from God, and would thus produce eternal unhappiness in return for any temporal good which it might bestow. Trade and commerce are important elements in human happiness ; but if the bestowal of them cause men to lose their souls, could they be regarded as real bless- ings ? It is a blessing to prolong a man’s life ; but if prolonging life increase the woe of eternity, can it be called a real good ? Education is a great blessing ; but suppose that our teacJiing leads away from the know- ledge of God and of Jesus Christ, whom he has sent, will not the intellectual and moral cultivation only make the recipients more susceptible of suffering here- after, and more obnoxious to the displeasure of a neg- lected God and Saviour ? And can we call any tiling tliat does that a real good ? Or, to take one further illustration, perhaps the strongest that I could find, the case of a mother’s affection for her beloved child. We cannot overrate its importance, and the greatness of the blessing. Aow, suppose that it were told that mother that God would not accept any care which she might put forth for the salvation of her child — that nothing that she could do should forward its eternal welfare — that the better she fitted her child for this world, the more probable would be his eternal, unfitness — would slie regard her care as a blessing? AVould she not 9 ratlier follow the example of the heathen mother, and reply as she did when reproved for destroying her in- fant daughter : Why should she live ? Her life will he one of sorrow and suffering, and I have only done unto her as I wish my mother had done unto me. Yes, my hearem, the greatest eartldy deprivation with which God could afflict us would he to say, concerning our efforts for the spiritual good of others, “ I have no pleasure in you, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.” 2d. The truth of our position will he further seen when you consider that such a prohil)ition would ex- clude us from all sympathy with the plans and pur- poses of God. The only object of real interest to God and to all the heavenly inhabitants, as far as has been revealed to us, is the spread of the gospel on earth, and the salvation of the souls of men. The Bible invariably speaks of the things of this world as important only as they bear upon this subject. The fashion of the world it declares is passing away, and soon the last ray of its glory wdll rest upon the bosom of that dark cloud which comes charged with its final doom. But earth has interests connected with the councils of an eternity that is past, and with the ages of an eternity to come. Over the ruins of our apostasy the thoughts of the Son of God lingered before the foundations of the world were laid, or the heavens stretched abroad as a curtain. Imme- diately on the fall of man, he interposed his mediation to arrest the progress of the cui'se, and to bring the apostate race under a dispensation of mercy which, in 10 its final consummation, will realize all that infinite be- nevolence can desire. From that period be bas gone forward in tbe prosecution of bis plans. For tbis, tbe world bas been upheld in existence ; empires have risen and fallen ; nations bave dasbed against nations ; all bave been, under bis guidance, made to tend but to one grand object. God tbe Father, in bis love, bas given bis only-begotten Son to suffer and die. Jesus bas tra- versed our earth in sorrow and 'suffering — bas died on tbe cross, descended to tbe grave, risen again, ascended to heaven, is seated at tbe right band of God, and bas all power in heaven and earth committed to bis bands, with tbe view of accomplishing tbe great purposes of tbe love of God in tbe salvation of man. For tbis ob- ject be bas interested all tbe holy angelic throngs which surround bis throne ; all delight in being ministering spirits, sent forth to ministe*’ unto tbe heirs of salvation. Over every sinner who turns to God they rejoice ; over every saved sinner they watch ; around bis dying-bed they assemble, form bis attendant guard, and bear bis ransomed soul, at tbe moment of death, to tbe feet of Jesus, leaving it there with rejoicing song. Now, sup- pose Jesus should say to us, “ I will not allow you to aid in tbis my grand and glorious and loving work ; from you I will receive no aid, no sympathy ; you shall not join in tliese plans of my omnipotent love ; you shall not bave tbe consolation of tbe sympathy of yom* God.” Ob ! horrible supposition ! Wliat Christian would not pray with anxious entreaty, “ O Lord my God, 0 11 exclude me not from the privilege of doing something for thy cause and the advance of thy kingdom !” 3d. If God should exclude us from the privilege of aiding in the spread of religion, there is no other object on earth worth li\dng for. I need not speak to this audience of the transitory and fleeting nature of all earthly enjoyments and pleasures ; I need not dwell upon their inability to meet the wants of our immortal nature, or to sustain in the hour of trials and affliction. Take what is generally considered to bring with it the greatest amount of earthly happiness, and Avhich, if properly used, may be truly so regarded — I speak of wealth— and yet, if you will estimate all the toil, the care, the anxiety, the responsibility connected with gathering and keeping wealth, and then add all the sicknesses -and pains of body and mind which belong to life, would any wise man desire to live merely. for the sake of wealth ? Would he not be more wise to prefer the life of the twittering swallow? Would he not enjoy more the life of a petted lap-dog ? Yes, my hearers, if we cannot be allowed to enter into God’s plans and pur- poses — if eternity be not added to man’s existence — if he have no object above and beyond this life — life, the life of a man, in this world of sin, sorrow and suffering, is no real boon, no worthy gift. 4th. That a refusal, on the part of God, to allow us to aid in the spread of his cause, is to be regarded as the greatest mark of his displeasure, may be, argued from the company in which such a decision would place us. The only beings thus excluded, of whom we know any thing, are Satan and the fallen angels. To them 12 God has given no heart to desire the advance of his kingdom. True, indeed, he will make all their oj^pos- ing efforts eventually to accomjilish his own gracious purposes, and to exalt and magnify his glory ; hut this is not their intention ; they have no such design. God has separated them from himself and his cause. He has said to them, “ I will receive no offering from your hands.” Were God, then, to make a similar declaration con- cerning any of us, it would he treating us as he treats this dark and disinherited spirit ; it would he placing us in spirit already with the Devil and his angels, and might, therefore, he regarded as a foreshadowing of our future doom. Yes, my hearers, the man who has no heart to give his prayers, his exertions, and his contri- hutions towards the spread of the gospel, is to he truly pitied ; for his heart is no angel nature ; no God-like spirit belongs to him. He only resemhles Satan and the fallen spirits. And is not that a curse ? May God deliver every one of us from a heart which is closed to Christian charity — a heart which could wish that in the present state of the world the calls for our contrihutions should he less frequent ! And once more: We should deprecate this exclu- sion from being allowed to give for the advance of Christ’s kingdom, because such a deprivation would not only deprive of present joy, hut also of future reward. It would deprive us of one of the greatest and purest enjoyments which is now allowed us. Tlie Christian loves God. In what other way than by imitating his God can he express his feelings of gratitude and love ? 13 “ My goodness,” says David, “ extends not to thee, O God, but to thy saints on earth.” We cannot reach God to confer any thing on him. The cattle, as he tells us — the cattle upon a thousand hills are his already ; every beast of the forest is his as much before the of- fering by us as it ■«'ould be after ; and so it is with every thing else. Could we l)ring all the gold of Cali- fornia’s mountains, streams and plains — could Ave ran- sack the heart of the earth for all its treasures, and sweep the heavens for their jewelry, to make an offer- ing for God, it would be God’s own which Ave avouUI be giving him. lie made them all, and gratitude would feel that in all this she had found no suitable expression. Is it not, then, infinite loA^e for God to come to us in our poverty, and say to ns that there is a rich gift which we may bestow upon him, and which he will prize ? Is it not a blessing and a joy which will thrill eA^ery grate- ful heart, to know that God aauII prize our love, and Avill accept its efforts to recover for him the hearts of his rebellious creatures — will accept them as testimonies of our gratitude for the gift of his Son, and the blood- bought pardon Avhich he has bestowed upon us ? Yes, my brethren, this is the great source of Christian enjoy- ment on earth, that we can do something for him who died for us. Could you have conferred a higher joy on the apostle Paul than to make him a successful minis- ter of J esus ? Will you not fill with joy, almost too much for earth, the heart of the Christian missionary, by making him instrumental in the salvation of his hearers ? I spoke a while since of the sacrifices and the early death of the 14 female missionaries — of the feelings of pity I had for them, almost leading me to doubt whether they did right in enduring so much. Pity ! they objects of pity ! Think of their love for their work ; think that they felt that all this was for Christ ; think of the joy of know- ing that they had consecrated life, health, friends, houses and lands for Christ’s sake and the gospel, and you will see that we were pitying them for what gave them their highest earthly felicity. And tell me, could you give a higher joy to the Christian parent than to see his children brought to Jesus ? No, breth- ren ; and as the strongest expression of our Lord’s love for the apostle John was that, while hanging on the cross, he gave to him the care of his mother, so the strongest expression of his love to us, next to his death on the cross for us, is in these words : “ Go, my people, and preach my gospel and the highest earthly joy is found in compliance therewith. So also is it with the future awards of the eternal world. Our joy in heaven will indeed be the reward of grace, free grace ; but still we are informed that it will be according to our works, or to what we have done for Christ. Our Saviour, in that exhibition which he gives us of the judgment-day, tells us that the sen- tence is in these words : “ Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these, my brethren, ye did it unto me and he also declares tliat a cup of cold water given in his name will not fail of an abundant reward. And even though O no judicial notice should be taken in heaven of our deeds of love, would not the consciousness that we, while on earth, devoted life and thought to Him who 15 sitteth on the throne, be a reward in view of which all earthly honors are as nothing ? Will not the mere re- flection that we were allowed to be instruments in bring- ing one single ransomed and redeemed spirit to join in giving the glory of salvation to Jesus — that we^ our- selves blood-bought, have been allowed, in testimony of our gratitude, to attune another harp to swell the chorus of the everlasting song, be a joy unspeakable and full of glory ? Of this, be it remembered, we should be deprived were we not allowed to aid in spreading the kingdom of Christ in this woifld. All such pleasures would be denied us were God, in his wrath, to say, “ I will accept no offering at your hands ; I will accomplish my great end without your aid.” I have yet one further illustration and proof of the truth of this position which I cannot avoid mentioning ; a proof of fact most clear and most terrible. The prediction in the text Jias been fulfilled; the curse here pronounced has descended on Israel as a nation : an offering from them, as the people of God, has been now for eighteen hundred years refused ; and you have but to look at their history during all this period to see what is the result. That nation, the most honorable of all the nations of antiquity, whose founder was that Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth have been and still are to be blessed — what has she done for man? What influence has she exerted for good on the rest of the world ? Since she was rejected of God, how has she ceased to be a blessing from the hour in which God said, “ Henceforth I accept no offer- ing at your hands !” Then were her defenses gone ; • 16 the pagan soldier, with the clank of his iron heel, trod her streets and her temple, once hallowed by angels’ tread, and by the footsteps of the Son of God ; her people, driven from their land, have no home, but are scattered over the globe, and seem, like the broken fragments of some mighty shipwreck, strewed on every shore. God hath not, indeed, taken entirely away from them his revelation : they have the portion once given them ; but no longer to them are committed the ora- cles of God : they have not the volnme complete ; they have no desire or power to spread the knowledge of Jehovah’s name ; their presence confers no blessing ; and as they bestow no favors, they receive none : they have become a hissing and a by-word, a scorn and a reproach ; and if you ask the reason of this, you can find no answer, save that God has refused to accept an offering at their hands. The only way in which, as a nation, they have benefited mankind, is by standing as a dread beacon proclaiming God's truth, while they themselves receive no benefit from their own proclama- tion. Yes, to have God refuse to allow us to spread the gospel of Jesus is to be disowned of God as his people, and to be almost disowned of man as belonging to the common brotherhood. How different, how veiy different would have been the history of the Jews, had not this curse fallen upon them I And now, brethren, though I have had time only to glance at these varied topics, and a wide field yet re- mains un traversed, have I not made manifest the truth of my position, that the greatest curse which God could inflict in this life upon his people would be to deny 17 them tlie pleasure aud tlie privilege of advancing his cause and kingdom? AVe have seen that it would pre- vent us from conferring upon our fellow-men any real blessing — that it would exclude us from all sympathy with the plans and purposes of God, making us enemies of God and of man — that it would render this life com- paratively worthless and aimless — that it would place us on the same terrible and malevolent platform with Satan and the fallen angels — that it would deprive us of much present joy and all heavenly rewards, and « would send us out upon the world like the Jews, a dis- honored people, on whose once glorious banners Icha- bod was written. Yes, truly would our glory be departed were God to refuse our missionary offerings. Think for a single moment of the consequences which would ensue at this moment were God to say, in his wrath, to his Church, “ I have no pleasure in you, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. Call home your missionaries, close your churches ; I ask no song, I will hear no prayer, I will bless no exertions.” AVould it not be like forbidding the sun to rise and shine upon the labors of men ? AA^ere God to forbid us to labor for the support of our bodies, the human family would perish ; and were he to forbid the spiritual efforts of his Church, his Church would die, and all the hopes and blessings which she brings would perish with her, and our earth become what the Bible describes hell to be— a place whence love, hope, joy, and peace have departed evermore. I close with one or two suggested thoughts. AVe learn from this subject that the minister of the 2 18 gos]5el who does not give his people full and frequent opportunities to forward the cause of Christ is, in fact, his peojde’s enemy, and robs both them and himself of a great blessing. 2d. We learn that they who neglect to pray for the perishing heathen and the coming of Christ’s kingdom, and who find fault with the multiplicity of the calls made on their benevolence where the soul’s salvation is involved, are finding fault with their privileges, are preferring Barabbas to Christ, and refusing one of the greatest blessings which God can bestow. 3d. We see that no Christian should be deterred from aiding in the advance of Christ’s kingdom by the consideration that he can do but little : that little is too great a privilege to be despised, even though it may be but a cup of cold water. It has sometimes been asked when contributions are being made for the kingdom of Christ, Shall this or that poor man, who is, perchance, himself an object of charity, be requested to give of his penury ? I reply in the light of our theme : What has he done that he should be deprived of this privilege ? Why should we say to him, “ God will not accept an offering at your hands ?” Suppose, when that poor lone widow of whom we read in the gospel, who cast into the treasury of the Lord two mites, being all her living — suppose some kind-hearted friend had met lier and said, “You are too poor to contribute,” and had turned her away; would it have been a kind act, however kindly intend- ed ? Wiiat an injuiy would he have done her ! Slie would have lost the Saviour’s blessing and commenda- 19 tion — lost her honorable place in the Bible — lost the untold influence of her example — lost an inestimable source of satisfaction and eternal joy, long as she shall sit yonder at her Saviour’s feet. Yes, those two mites ungiven would have taken a jewel from her crown of glory, and a note of joy from her harp. And lastly : If the Church of Christ prize not as she oimht the blessing of being allowed to make her offer- ings to the Lord, may not our offended God say to her now, as he did to Israel, “ I have no pleasure in yon, • neither will I accept an oflfering at your hand ?” Israel fell because of unbelief. Bemember that we stand only by faith. It is possible — nay, my brethren, if we despise our mercies and neglect our privileges, it is certain that God will reject us, as he did Israel of old : if we refuse to preach the gospel to every creature, God will take from us the privilege, and bestow it upon others. REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. Wb chronicle to night the passage of the twenty-sixth year of the history of the Foreign Missionary Society of New-York and Brooklyn. By the good hand of God upon us, none of the officers of the Society have been removed by death. The usual monthly meetings at the Tract House have been held, with no abatement of interest. The Directors of the Society have been active and successful in obtaining and distributing missionary intelligence; and efforts have been constantly made to increase the zeal of the churches and of indi- vidual Christians in the divine work it has undertaken. By the Treasurer’s Report we learn that the contributions of the several churches have reached the sum of twenty-three thousand dollars. It is not a little encouraging to remark the increase from year to year since 1849. In the year 1850 the amount in round numbers was $14,200; in 1851, $16,300; in 1852, $18,100; this year about $23,000 — an increase during the past year of nearly $5,000. It is our pleasure also to record the success of the Society in securing the appointment of a full Secretary of the American Board to reside and labor among us. This was deemed essential to the prosperity of the cause of missions in our churches. The fact, that during the years subsequent to the decease of the Rev. Dr. Armstrong, the receipts of this Society made no relative advance whatever, while those of kindred institutions were increased from twenty to eighty per cent in the same field, was urged before the Board, and afterwards before the Special Committee to whom the matter was referred, as one of com- manding importance in its bearings upon this appointment Besides, the peculiar advantages and difficulties of this field — the' immense resources of the churches, so imperfectly developed — the prospective and almost indefinite enlargement of Christian power in this emporium of commerce and capital city of our land — the existence and full representation among us of Benevolent Societies, whose spirit so animates and blesses the churches — the fact that we had once enjoyed the services of a Corresponding Secretary of sacred and precious memory — these and other like considerations were the basis of an appeal to the Parent Society for the appointment of another whose official position and confidential relations to the Prudential Committee would give him every advantage in his labors among our churches. Tlie Board yielded to our wishes, and appointed a person. Rev. George W. "Wood, of the Fourth Presbytery, New-York, to occupy this post peculiarly prepared in Provi- dence for it. It would be out of place here to speak of those mental and Christian qualities which commend him to our esteem and sympathy. But there are one or two things which can be mentioned, and which ought to be 22 known. He has for many years labored with honor and success in the mis- sionary cause, and was about to return to his place — temporarily vacated on account of the illness of his wife — when the Board retained him in this country to occupy this position. We have thus a guaranty in regard to his spirit — his love for the came of missions. We may be assured that his mind and heart are imbued, enlarged, and quickened by no ordinary zeal for the work. Then, too, his sphere of labor abroad was at the centre and capital of the most interesting and promising missionary operations on the face of the earth — I refer to the Armenian missions : no other section of the heathen world embraces so many and such thrilling elements of success. To no other are the thoughts, and prayers, and hopes of the American Board so earnestly directed. Our Secre- tary has lived and labored on that field. Its geography — the character of its social and civil institutions — the capabilities of its population — its relations to Asia on the one hand, and to Europe on the other — the character, localities, and prospects of the missionaries now employed on that territory, are known to him as they could not be known by any mind, however gifted and compre- hensive, who had not enjoyed the same advantages. These are circumstances which give a special interest to the appointment ; and the Society would cor- dially introduce and commend him to the sympathies and support of the churches. He comes as a stranger to us. Ilis long residence in Constantinople, while it has so emineirtly qualified him for the oflice, has also imposed the obligation upon us to open wide our hearts, 'and houses, and churches to him, to endeavor to make his difficult labors among us the more pleasant and cheerful and successful. As this Report is printed and circulated with the annual sermon, and reaches nearly every family connected with the chm-ches represented in the Societyi the Directors would take this opportunity of suggesting two or three subjects of practical duty to the churches and ministers they represent: (1.) The first relates to a more general and united system in the churches, both as to the mode and time of taking up collections. It is exceedingly important, not only that there should be a regular and thorough, but a simulta- neous effort in all the churches; and Mr. Wood is about to undertake to secure such an arrangement. We trust that in this attempt he will have the hearty and intelligent cooperation of all the pastors and officers in the churches. In a circular letter, issued eighteen months ago, and extensively distributed, we used the following language on this general subject, Avhich has lost none of its signi- ficance since that time : “A system of contributions in each church which shall operate universally and steadily; which shall search out all the members, and create an interest and a sense of responsbility in all ; which shall honor the offering of the poorest as well ns that of the richest; such a system, we feel, is absolutely essential to the future success and progress of the American Board. If this institution is to be what the inward w'itness of the Spirit of God in every Christian declares it ought to be ; if it is to occupy fields that are now 23 open and ripe for the harvest, and which, unless occupied, will be found to have been open to the ingress of infidelity and athe'sm, there must be a marked and prompt improvement in the spirit and offerings of the churches it represents. And in what part of the land should such an improvement be commenced sooner than in this ? The example of what locality would tell more beneficially upon the country than that in which this Association is planted f’ (2.) The second relates to the monthly concert for prayer. Wliile it is the common testimony of those who statedly attend it, that no service of the Church is more useful and blessed, the lamentable fact remains that there is none in which the Church, as a body, has less real interest. There is something wanting in regard to it It is earnestly hoped that this meeting will receive the special attention of the pastors, and that whatever can bo done to enlist the pra}'er3 and sympathies of the members of the churches will be done. The future vigor and enlargement of the Board in no small degree is dependent upon an improvement in the attendance upon the monthly concert for prayer. (3.) The other subject has reference to the meeting for prayer in the afternooif of the first Monday of every montli. It is not designed that this should be in any degree a substitute for the concert of the evening. On the other hand, its object is to subserve and magnify this latter. The latest intelligence from all parts of the missionary world is received by the Secretary from the Missionary House in Boston, and communicated at that meeting for the benefit of the eve- ning services. And its principal end is secured when each church has its repre* sentative there, who shall report its details at the monthly concert. AVe hope that such churches as have not ertjoyed the benefits of this meeting will no longer be deprived of the pleasure and profit they might thus receive. We enter upon another year with thanksgiving for the Divine blessings in that which has passed, and with good hope for the future. The friends of the noble institution we represent should see eye to eye, and be one in spirit — one in purpose. There are those that augur ill for the growth and augmenting power of the American Board. It becomes us to use every proper exertion to cement the union of the various denominations which cooperate in this grandest national exemplification of the Christian religion in our country or in the world. The Word of God bids us go forward in this missionary work; and we verily believe that firm union, and an active Christian, unsectarian spirit on the part of the lovers of this institution, will do more to eommand the Divine blessing and avert the anticipated evils than perhaps any thing else. Thus, the clouds that appear on the horizon will prove to be not storm-clouds of the Divine displeasure, to alarm' and dishearten us, but rather symbols of success — the chariots of the Lord, designed for the overthrow, not of this most beneficent Institution, but of the enemies of His Son. THOMAS H. SKI^"^^ER, Jk., COERESPONDIXG SECRETARY. 24 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF NEW-YORK AND BROOKLYN In account current with their Treasurer^ Almon Merwin. From By Cash, from the followinpf sources: Cr. 1852, to [arcli 3 1853. Bleecker street Church of th? Puritans, $ 100 . Eleventh “ “ Fourteenth street Presb. Ch., of 'which for the debt $400 Harlem Presbyterian Church Houston street “ Mercer street Presb. Ch., of which for the debt $2, 350. Madison Avenue Presb. Ch., of which for the debt $100 Madison Square Presbyterian Church Manhattanville “ “ North “ “ Pearl street “ “ Presb. Ch. on University Place, of which for the debt $400 Presb. Ch., cor. Fifth Avenue and 19th street Seventh Presbyterian Church Spring street “ “ Tenth “ “ Thirteenth st. “ “ West “ “ Sundry donations in New-York and TBrooklyn, of Bridge street “ “ “ Central Presbyterian “ “ Cliurch of the Pilgrims, of which for the debt $700, Clinton Avenue Cong. Ch., of which for the debt.$250. Plvmouth First Presbyterian Cliurch of Williamsburg, L. I. $137 07 781 00 911 88 284 24 1,016 82 454 60 31 67 25 00 109 34 997 3fi 53 47 19 60 6,726 86 100 00 60 00 6 44 30 00 257 67 850 00 70 00 190 63 128 17 112 45 39 34 368 59 1,363 36 15 10 80 00 11 38 2,420 21 351 31 935 87 60 00 303 12 2,476 94 16 62 942 18 111 VO 16,116 18 7,724 33 72 00 $22,911 61 25 Dr. From To Cash Paid for 600 Lithographic Circulars $17 60 April 1, “ “ SOOO copies Dr. Smith's Sermon, 127 00 1862, 144 60 to To Cash entered iu my account at sundry times March 81, with H. Uill, Treasurer of the A. B. C. F. M. . 22,767 01 1863. $22,911 61 E. A O. E., Nkw-Yobx, March 81, 1863. A. Merwin, Treasurer. • Examined and found correct. O. E. Wood, ) . Waltxb S. Gbifkith, [ Of which from New-Tork for the debt $4,460 00 " “ Brooklyn, “ “ 2,400 00 $6,860,000 26 RECEIPTS OP THE SOCIETY. The following statement exhibits the receipts of the Foreign Missionary Society of New-York and Brooklyn, from its organization in 1827 to April, 1850 : From 1827 to April, 1836, (nine years,) $86,931 28 For the year ending April, 1837 19,068 72 “ “ “ 1838 11,195 53 “ “ March, 1839 12,433 07 “ “ April, 1840 10,131 33 “ • “ March. 1841 11,721 17 “ “ April, 1842 15,937 73 “ “ “ 1843 10,432 42 " “ “ 1844 14,018 10 “ “ “ 1845 11,974 88 “ “ “ 1846 10,426 10 “ “ March, 1847 9,867 69 “ “ 1848 11,834 70 “ “ April, 1849 19,636 66 “ “ “ 1850 14,217 58 Total in twenty-three years $269,725 76 RECEIPTS FOR TRE YEARS 1851, 1852, 1853, Allen street Presbyterian Church, New-York Bleecker street “ “ Brainerd “ " Brick “ “ Broadway Tabernacle, Cong;. Ch., Central Presbyterian Church, Church of the Puritans, Cons;., Dunne street Presbyterian Church, Eastern Congregational “ Eighth Avenue Presbyterian “ Eleventh “ “ Hammond street Cong. “ Fourteenth street Presb. “ Harlem “ “ Houston street “ " Mercer street “ “ Madison Avenue “ “ Madison Square “ “ Manhattauville “ “ North “ “ Pearl street " “ Presb. Church on University Place, Presb. Ch , cor. Fifth Av.