Liberia is the only settlement which can meet demands for sugar, bricks, and lumber; and we can humbly claim, that for nigh 4,000 miles on that coast, we are the foremost of all people in enterprise, and that we own more vessels than all the sons of Africa, in all their settlements, along the whole line of the coast.
And now, through the munificence of citizens of Massachusetts and other states, a College has been given to the Republic of Liberia; the college building, nobly situated on the heights of Montserrada, can be seen far distant on the ocean. The establishment of this college forms an epoch, not only in the history of Liberia, but also of West Africa; for already numbers of African children, the sons of native chiefs, and kings, and merchants, are sent to England and Scotland for education. I have myself seen 12 native African children in one school in England; and I have no doubt that at the present time there are fully 50 or 60 of such children in British schools: but alas, many die from the severity of the climate. The favorable position of Liberia College will, I have no doubt, give us advantage in this respect; and ere long, numbers of these children, from beyond our territory, as well as within, will be sent to us for instruction: and thus from Liberia, as a fountainhead, shall flow culture, learning, science, and enlightenment to many of the tribes of Africa, all along the coast, and up its rivers, to its most distant inland quarters!
Below the Republic of Liberia are the several forts, settlements, and colonies of the English; lying
