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god and the nation.
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be he who he may. But if you and I, and all our compatriots, "quit ourselves like men," for the glory of God in this land, and for the honor of our country; and transmit a pure piety and masculine virtues to our children; then the name and the institutions of Liberia shall be perpetual, and she herself immortal! But you will notice the condition I introduce, that is, that we quit ourselves like men—like godly men—each and every one of us, in our respective spheres. To this end the scholar must bring his lore; the merchant his enterprise and wealth; the man of letters his refinement; the artizan his skill; the mechanic his plodding energy; the agriculturalist his industry. Every effort must be made to deepen the tone of morals among us; to increase a sense of personal honor and manly integrity; to make the attainment of mere self-ends to be regarded as low and vulgar; to create a public sentiment in which the baseness of men, and womanly shame, shall, perforce, seek obscurity instead of exhibiting a brazen front; and, in fine, to give such an ascendency to Christian truth and principle, as may strengthen and encourage good men, and delight the heart of our God. Our children must be trained up in intelligence, manners, and virtue, and our wives and daughters must present to the world an unstained chastity, a purity and simplicity of manners, at once pleasing and attractive, and a womanly dignity and self-respect, which shall both demand respect and excite admiration.

A spirit of vigorous enterprise must be at once originated by government as well as individuals: bold, but judicious ventures must be made in every