As long ago as 1831, Elliot Cresson, Esq., the generous and fast friend of the African race, — in an address delivered at the fourteenth anniversary of the Colonization Society, thus spoke of its general condition and prospects: — "Only nine years have elapsed since the little band of colonists landed at the cape [Mesurado], and a nation has already sprung into existence; — a nation destined to secure to Ethiopia the fulfilment of the glorious prophecy made in her behalf. Already have kings thrown down their crowns at the feet of the infant republic; and formed with her a holy alliance, for the purpose of exchanging the guilty traffic in human flesh and blood for legitimate commerce, equal laws, civilization and religion.
'From many an ancient river,
From many a palmy plain,
They call us to deliver
Their land from errors chain.'
They ask for schools, factories, churches. Nearly 2,000 freemen have kindled a beacon-fire at Monrovia, to cast a broad blaze of light into the dark recesses of that benighted land. The annals of colonization may be triumphantly challenged for a parallel. Five years of preliminary operations for surveying the coast, propitiating the natives, and selecting the most eligible site; numerous agents subsequently employed, ships chartered, the forest cleared; school-houses, factories, hospitals, churches, goverment buildings, and dwellings erected, and the many expenses requisite at home defrayed: — and yet, for every fifty dollars (£10) expended by our Society from its commencement, we have not only a settler to show, but an ample and
