Appointments by the Executive Committee of the A. H. M. S. from Dec. 1st, 1843, to Jan. 1st, 1844. Rev. A. Bacheller, Fullenville, Edwards and Russell, N. Y. Rev. Peter Suyder, Cairo, N. Y. Rev. Wm. Fithian, Bunker Hill, Ill. Rev. S. Smalley, Amazon and Cold Spring Prairie, 11. Rev. T. B. Hurlbut, Vermillionville, Ill. 3.00 The Treasurer of the American Home Missionary Society acknowledges the receipt of the following sums, from Dec. 1st, 1843, to Jan. 1st, 1844. Brattleborough, Ladies, for freight, MASSACHUSETTS 3 00 Rev. Nathaniel Hewitt, D. D., a L. M., by H. Higby, Missionary Society, per B. Perkins, Asst. Andover, South Parish, per N. Swift, Great Barrington, legacy of the late Deac. Cong. Soc., per Rev. J. W. Turner, Hampshire Miss. Soc., per E. Williams, Treas., viz: Amherst, E. P., to const. Rev. Pomeroy Belden, a L. M., $35; Hadley, Russell St. Ch., Sew. Soc., to coust. Mrs. George Hodge, a L. M., $55; Northampton, First Parish, Fem. H. M. Sew. Soc., $20; other sources, $190, 300 00 Hopkinton, Ladies' Miss. Soc., per Rev. J. C. Webster, to coust. Elijah Fitch and Mrs. Lovett Walker, Life Mem. bers, West Stockbridge, First Cong. Ch., per CONNECTICUT Bethlehem, legacy of the late Miss Mary Aun Crane, per Rev. F. Harrison, $50; Fem. Cent Soc., by Mrs. A. Church, $6, Bridgeport, South Cong. Ch., to const. 1000 00 200 41 30 00 Denton, Presb. Ch., by Rev. Mr. John son, 7 50 202 86 28 00 60 00 5.00 56 00 30 00 Utica, Moses Bagg, 15.00 Brooklyn, Deac. Moses Clark, by Rev. G. J. Tillotson, Windham Center, Benev. Soc., by J. M. 10 00 Matthews, 9.01 Durham, Beuev. Soc., by D. Camp, Tr., East Farms, Beuev. Soc., by Rev. E. R. Gilbert, 15 00 LOUISIANA Hartford, A., 90 00 New Orleans, Leonard Corning, 100 00 Madison, Ladies' Cent Soc., by Hannah ARKANSAS M. Wilcox, Treas., Mystic Bridge, Fem. H. M. Soc., in part to coust. Asa F. Tift, of Key West, a L. M., by Mrs. A. M. Cook, New-Haven, H. E. Hodges, $10; Friend, $3; by A. H. Maltby, New-London County, Friend, by Rev. L. Nelson, New-London, 2d Cong. Ch., by R. Coit, Churchville, bal. of last year, by Rev. C. Kenmore, Clarence Hollow, by Rev. W. P. Jackson, Ellicottville, Mr. and Mrs. Hooker, $20; Fem. Benev. Soc., $3 67; in full to const. Geneva, Perez Hastings, to const. himself and Mrs. Eunice Hastings, Life Members, $60; C. A. Cook, $25; Mrs. Mary E. Seelye, $25; Judge Sutherland, $10; Rev. Dr. Hay, $5; Rev. J. A. Murray, $10; Mrs. S. M. Hopkins, $5; Julia Ward, $5; A. B. Hall, $10; F. A. Sterling, $5; W. E. Sill, $5; Dr. Thomas Spencer. $5; Dr. E. Barnes, $4; Mrs. J. M. Bradford, $1; J. Hadley, $1; P. Taylor, $1: S. R. Sanford, $1; W. H. White, $1; E. Barnard, $1; L. W. Jackson, $1; Mrs. L. D. Howell, $1; Mrs. M. C. Axtell, $1; Moses Hall, $1 50; N. A. Hall, 50 cts.; J. Merrill, $2 50; Mrs. Graves, 50 ets.; Mrs. Price, 50 cts.; others, $34 18, Greenwood, Jacob Manning, $4; D. Manning, $1, Receipts of the New-Hampshire Missionary Society for the quarter ending Dec. 31st, 1843. Rev. B. P. Stone, Secretary. Dividend, Lempster, 1st. Cong. Ch. Interest, Sullivan County, conference of churches, 23 67 Northwood, Mrs. Ebenezer Coe, Antrim, Presb. Soc., Gent. Assoc., $11 81; Ladies' Assoc., $9 94, Durham, Cong.Ch., 12.00 7 31 5.00 21 75 25 32 Hollis, Cong. Ch., 45 00 Nashua, 1st Cong. Ch., a Lady, 3.00 Francestown, Cong. Ch., 31 75 Dividend, 24 00 Concord, West Cong. Ch., $36 08; Rev. A. P. Tenney, $5, 41 08 Salisbury, Cong. Ch., 7 62 Franklin, Cong. Ch., $6 94; P. Noyes, Esq., $10, 16 94 Sanbornton Bridge, Cong. Ch., 4 68 Concord, South Coug. Ch., $22 18; Rev. D. J. Noyes, $5, 27 18 222 68 Loudon Village, Cong. Ch., 5 30 Wakefield, Cong. Ch., 12.50 5 00 Charlestown, Cent Soc., Hunt's Hollow, by Rev. L. Hamilton, Ithaca, T. S. Williams, quarterly payment, Naples,Ladies, 6 25 Warner, 64 25 00 Coucord, South, " 5 00 Contoocookville, " 2 58 North Bergen, Ladies, 12 00 Croydon, 5 00 Ovid, Ladies, $10; Milo Brownell, $10; Sab. School, in full to const. Dr. Alfred Salisbury, 4.70 Bolter, a L. M., $21, 41 00 Deerfield, Painted Post, by Rev. B. F. Pratt, 22 32 Claremont, " 2. 02 Pittsford, 3 00 Portageville, by Rev. L. Leonard, 23 98 Pultney, Presb. Ch., by Deac. Backman, 8 50 1 50 30 00 Also the following sums from Cent Societies, during || Ashburnham, Rev. Mr. Jenison's Soc., the last quarter. Weymouth North, Rev. Mr. Emery's Soc., Foxboro' Rev. Mr. Poor's Soc., 566 74 46 88 50 Chilmark Cong. Soc., 10 24 Braintree and Weymouth Union Ch., Brewster, Rev. Mr. Williams' Soc., 34. 00. 5.00 Braintree neighborhood, Mon. Concert, 47 53 64 collection in Rev. Mr. Perkins' Derry, 1st Cong. Ch., 25 55 Soc., 18 31 Boscawen, East, 10 03 Barre, Miss Elvira Child, 5.00 Bedford, 20 32 Medway, Rev. Dr. Ide's Soc., 37 41 Gilsum, 7 50 Mr. Joel Partridge, 2.00 Sandwich, Evang. Soc., Rev. S. Pease, 71.00 Epsom, 18 00 Hillsborough Bridge, 52 Northwood, 13 66 Epping, 9 06 An Officer in the Navy, by Rev. E. N.Kirk, Fitchburg Religious and Charitable Soc., Falmouth, East, Rev. Mr. Lewis' Soc., Taunton, West Cong. Soc., 4.84 60 00 10.50 17.00 Brentwood, 21 19 South New Market, 12 00 Princeton, Ladies' Benev. Assoc. Orleans, Cong. Ch., 16.00 41 75 Warner, 11 75 Norfolk Conference, E. Alden, Treas., 90 41 Sanbornton, 12 75 Brookfield Assoc., Rev. W. A. Nichols,Tr. 28.00 Milford, 4.29 Westboro', a Friend to Missious, 25.00 Middleboro', Rev. Mr. Bragge's Soc., 24.00 Meredith Village, 8 50 Dunstable, Rev. Mr. Brigham's Soc., 32 70 Bethlehem, 4 18 Falmouth, Rev. Mr. Hooker's Soc., 80.00 Franconia, 6 00 Sandwich, 6 00 Manchester, 40 00 South Dennis, Rev. Mr. Pettingell's Soc., Acton, Rev. Mr. Woodbury's Soc., 26.92 35.25 Littleton, Evangelical Soc., 32 67 Dalion, 2.75 Ipswich, a Friend in Rev. Mr. Kimball's 11 00 Soc., Newton, East Parish Mon. Concert, 15 05 Grafton, Evang. Cong. Soc., E. B. Biglow, Treas., Amherst, Rev. Mr. Cook's Soc., 957 8.00 20 00 33 07 170 00 30.00 27 00 366 94 19 89 30 31 60 00 23 01 30.50 26 00 Hopkinton, 13 35 West Cambridge, Rev. Mr. Horton's Soc., Woburn, Rev. Mr. Bennett's Soc., 38 75 66 50 Meredith Bridge, 9 45 Female Reading Soc., 5.00 Chester, 25 64 Wolfborough, 150 Dighton, Cong. Ch. and Soc., 6. 00 Lyme, 19 66 Liberty Co., Georgia, Capt. Jos. Jones, Dedham, Rev. Mr. Durfee's Soc., 20.00 Canterbury, Amherst, Charlestown, Winthrop Ch. and Soc., Manchester, N. H., Ladies in Rev. Mr. Wallace's Soc., to const. him a Life Mem. A. H. M. Soc., South Abington, Ladies' Benev. Soc., Boston, Hope Aux. Assoc., B. F. Baker, Tr. Old South Sewing Circle, Hampden, Home Miss. Soc., H. Brewer, Treas., Roxbury, Young Ladies' Bible Class in Elliot Ch., 5 62 3.00 956 15 21 06 30 00 94.50 32 30 30 00 1000 00 30 00 30 00 30 00 Treas, 222 03 Chelsea, Winnissimmet Ch. and Soc., Hansen, balance of legacy of Mrs. Tamar Barstow, Phillipston Home Miss. Soc., C. C. Bassett, Treas. 38 82 Hubbardston Fem. Soc. and Library Ass'n. 6.00 Ladies, 187 97--550 32 Essex-st. Soc., 563 41 Pine-st. Soc., Gentlemen, 215 55 Ladies, 52 00-267 55 Ren. S. Peet, Milwaukie, Wis., has received and dis 66 66 44 46 R. Bailey, Esq., " Medway, Village Ch. and Soc., 37 80 139 87 60 00 Brooklyn, Ct., Cong. Soc., Ladies, a box, Medina, O., Ladies, a box, 40.00 43.00 Frankliu Co. Dom. Miss. Soc., Rev. Lewis Stone, Treas., 540 02 Medford, Mr. John Clough, 4 00 New bury, Rev. Mr. Withington's Soc., 43 16 Dover, Miss Polly White, 500 South Yarmouth, a Friend, 6 00 Greenwich, Ct., Ladies' Benev. Soc., a box, 74.00 THE very name "Home Missions," suggests a good reason for attachment and preference. "Home, sweet, sweet home." We are indebted to Christianity for that touching melody, and all the power it has over us. The idea, the very name of home, music as it is to the ear, and fragrance to the soul of the Christian, is wanting in heathen lands. And the idea, the impulse, to which Christianity has given birth, Christianity bids us cherish. The love of kindred, home and country, like all the better instincts of our nature, our holy religion does not repress, still less destroy. It quickens them into a new and higher life. It hallows them by association with sacred things. It elevates them, by lifting them to heaven, and magnifies them by spreading them over eternal ages. It is as spiritual and immortal beings, that the Christian loves his countrymen; and he may well feel an interest in them, as much stronger than men of the world do, as the soul is more valuable than the body, and eternity more enduring than time. If the labors of Christ, whose mission was the salvation of the world, were confined to the land of his birth; if the Apostles, whose commission was to disciple all nations, preached the gospel first to their countrymen; if Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, could say, in the intensity of his sorrow over the unbelieving Jews, "I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh," then, assuredly, we may give the first place in our prayers and charities to our own country. We may! Nay, we must. If we do not, we "have denied the faith, and are worse than infidels." For it is our own kinsmen, and family connexions, "those of our own households," our younger brethren and sisters, our sons and daughters, that are destitute of the means of grace, and we must provide for their spiritual necessities, if we would not prove recreant at once to the ties of blood and the duties of religion. The God of nature requires it. The God of the Bible commands it. Others will not do it for us. They cannot be expected to help us in it. And if never so many stood ready to come to our assistance from older and less needy Christian lands, we could do it far better than they all. The character, the language, the manners, the motives of our countrymen are familiar to us. We have daily access to their persons. We know the avenues to their hearts. It would be miserable economy to neglect our own country, and bestow our labors, with never so much success, on foreign lands, till at length foreigners must come to rekindle the light of the Gospel, or save it from being utterly extinguished, at our own altars. The Christian father may not be indifferent to the welfare of his neighbors. He must love their families, as his own, and show that love by doing for them all that he can do, consistently with his higher duties to his more immediate charge. At the same time, his own family demand his first, and if need be, his exclusive attention. If he has a large and growing family, whose character is rapidly forming, and whose lot will soon be cast for this life, as well as their destiny sealed for the next-if all his energies need to tell, and can be made to tell upon their education and his undivided resources, are scarcely adequate to their immediate necessities-if there is a fair prospect that the devotion of his whole time, and money, and talent to them for a little season, will gather about him a band of youthful coadjutors who will multiply, many fold, his power to benefit others, while the neglect of them for a little season will encompass him with a group that will blight by their silent example, not to say counteract by their direct efforts, all his good influence-under such circumstances, it may be right for him to give them his exclusive attention. Not to give them the first place in his regards and efforts were certainly wrong-no less mischievous to the community than fatal to his household. Whether such be the circumstances of our country in her relation to the great community of mankind, I leave to the consideration of my readers. But under any circumstances, the religious education of our countrymen is our first duty. It is our appropriate, appointed work. Not to do it is to betray our trust. Extent and resources of our Country. The Home Missionary field has the first claim on American laborers, not only because it is their own country, but because it is such a country as no other pecple ever had to delight and glory in. With a continent for its territory, as large as the whole of Europe, exclusive of Russia, and nearly equal to the whole empire of Great Britain, which has stretched itself around the globe, and on which it is boasted that the sun never sets; with a soil so feasible and fertile that there is scarcely an acre of it but will richly reward cultivation; with a climate so varied that there is scarcely a production of temperate or tropical regions which will not thrive in some portion of our wide domain; bounded on the East and South by a sea-coast of thousands of miles, which is dotted all along with convenient harbors; traversed throughout the West by the "Father of Rivers," whose many waters, gathered from every part of that great "Valley of the Sea," and rising like the swelling ocean, might bear on their bosoms the commerce of nations and the navies of empires; intersected in every direction by navigable streams, and other great lines of intercommunication which annihilate distance and bring the |