current expenses of the war would purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State.

Such a proposition on the part of the General Government sets up no claim of a right, by Federal authority, to interfere with slavery within State limits, referring as it does, the absolute control of the subject in each case to the State and its people immediately interested. It is proposed as a matter of perfectly free choice with them. In the annual Message, last December, I thought fit to say: "The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be employed." I said this not hastily, but deliberately. War has been made, and continues to be an indispensable means to this end. A practical re-acknowledgment of the national authority would render the war unnecessary, and it would at once cease.

If, however, resistance continues, the war must also continue, and it is impossible to foresee all the incidents which may attend, and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency towards ending the struggle, must and will come. The proposition now made is an offer only. I hope it may be esteemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary consideration tendered would not be of more value to the States and private persons concerned, than are the institution and property in it, in the present aspect of affairs. While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended, in the hope that it would soon lead to important practical results. In full view of my great responsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the subject.

(Signed)

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

The last New York Observer (March 27, 1862,) copies a Resolution of the Legislature of Connecticut, declaring "That the existence of slavery in the United States is a great national evil, and that the people and the States ought to participate in the burdens and the duties of removing it, by all just and prudent measures which may be adopted, with a due regard to their peace and harmony; and that a system of Colonization, under the patronage of the General Government, may reasonably be deemed conducive to so desirable an object."

The same year, 1824, the Legislature of Ohio adopted a similar Resolution. Other States (says the writer in the Observer) have adopted Resolutions of similar purport. "The earliest, that of Virginia in 1816, the last, of Massachusetts, in 1831." Nearly one dozen of these coincide almost exactly in thought and language with President LINCOLN's recommendation. On Friday, February 18, 1825, the following Resolution was laid on the table of the Senate of the United States by the Hon. RUFUS KING, for future consideration:

"Resolved, That, as soon as the portion of the existing funded debt of the United States, for which the public land of the United States is pledged, shall have been paid off, then and thenceforth the whole of the public land of the United States, with the net proceeds of all future sales thereof, shall constitute or form a fund, which is hereby appropriated; and the faith of the United States is pledged that the said fund shall be inviolably applied to aid the emancipation of such slaves, and aid the removal of such slaves, and the removal of such free people of color in any of the said States as, by the laws of the States respectively, may be allowed to be emancipated or removed to any territory or country without the limits of the United States of America."

Judge MARSHALL, in his letter of December 14, 1831, declared himself in favor of Mr. KING's proposition; and the views of Mr. MONROE and Mr. MADISON were very similar.

Here is evidence enough (says the N. Y. Observer) that President Lincoln's idea of emancipation "initiated" by the several slave States, each for itself, and aided by the General Government, is nothing new. It was old, wide spread, and favored by numerous and influential advocates in 1831. The people of the Free States, generally, were ready to act upon it, if a request would only come from the south. A minority, not large, held the views of Jefferson and Madison, and a few, unwilling to tamper with the Constitution, thought that the Free States might furnish the needed aid from their own treasuries; but most agreed with Marshall and Monroe, and were ready to act without waiting for the amendment. And, with the exception of a party, or succession of parties, who object to every thing but immediate, universal, uncompensated emancipation, such has continued to be the general sentiment of Northern men to this day. Mr. Webster, in his famous "seventh-of-March speech" on the Fugitive Slave Law, declared himself ready, if the South would propose it, to support the appropriation of the public lands proposed by Mr. King in 1825; and he argued the propriety of such an appropriation, almost in the very words used by Mr. Jefferson in 1824.

We are aware that the Colonization Society is restricted to free persons of color, and interferes in no schemes of emancipation, but it clearly admits of use by such individuals or States as may desire to adopt it. The Message of President LINCOLN is evidently framed in the best spirit, and we trust will meet with the approbation of all good men.

[The Resolution of the President has been adopted by both Houses of Congress.]

INDEPENDENCE OF LIBERIA.

The Philadelphia North American says:

"The position of Liberia might be readily made to give it the control of an immense traffic. It has a sea-coast front of six hundred miles, and its tendency of late has been inland. With slight assistance it might plant a chain of settlements eastward to the Kong Mountains, and, tapping the sources of the Niger, command the natural and industrial wealth of that populous and fertile valley.

"The rivers Cavalla, St. Paul's, and St. John's, afford a natural highway thence to the ocean ports of the Republic. Every day adds to our kuowledge of the moral and physical powers, capacities, and productions of the inhabitants and soil of this region, and no doubt is entertained that the returns must soon reach tens of millions of dollars per annum. If we desire to obtain our fair share of its benefits, let our rulers avoid no opportunity to uphold and cherish the trade of this important region.

"Liberia has grown to a condition of stability, and has been declared entitled to respect under the law of nations, by France, Great Britain, Belgium, Prussia, Brazil, Lubec, Bremen, Hamburg, Portugal, and the kingdom of Italy. Nearly all of these powers, with others, have formed treaty relations with it, stimulated by substantial commercial benefits derived from that vigorous germ of African empire. As yet, American shipping and trade, owing to the kind feelings of the people towards this country, are received on the same friendly terms as those of the most favored lands; but if their rights are not sanctioned by the United States, its flag may be altogether excluded from the Republic, or else the trade may be burdened with such exactions and severe duties as virtually to amount to a total annihilation. Such is the present practical working of our laws upon Liberian bottoms and commerce. Is this just, and can we expect other than retaliatory legislation should their wrongs continue unredressed?

"It is high time that Congress should recognize Liberia as an independent, self-sustaining government.. Such a measure would be perfectly conformable to the principles, policy, and direct interests of our country. Many of our enlightened citizens and statesmen have urged the measure whenever there appeared to be any prospect of even a hearing from those in authority. The loved and lamented Clay, in the course of a letter dated Ashland, October 18, 1851,' remarks: I have thought for years that the independence of Liberia ought to be recognized by our government, and I have frequently urged it upon persons connected with the Administration, and I shall continue to do so if I have suitable opportunities.""

AFRICAN MISSIONS.

An Appeal from Bishop Burns.-By J. P. DURBIN, D. D.

[From the Christian Advocate and Journal.]

Liberia, December 27, 1861, is our latest date from Africa. It is a letter from Bishop Burns, in which he very earnestly sets forth the necessity of young, energetic, and pious men in the Conference. Liberia has given two or three lately to the Conference, but the supply is looked for from America. Although the administration of our missions in Liberia is in the hands of the Bishop and the Conference, we will find means to enable persons to go forward to Liberia, if they are well attested to us as suitable persons, as preachers, to join the Conference, or well qualified as teachers. We do not encourage or aid any to go to Liberia from curiosity or love of adventure, but only such as are qualified, and are ready to devote their lives to the missions in Africa.

Bishop Burns pleads for such men from America, and urges as one reason the promise of great usefulness and a large harvest. He says:

"We have said that our field is one of promise. We have the largest church accommodations by far of any denomination in the Republic. The houses are mostly of brick or stone. We gather into them, from Sabbath to Sabbath, the largest congregations. Our educational agencies and influence are proportionably in the lead. Our Sabbath schools swarm with children, American, Liberian, and native. A brother, writing from Cape Mount, a few days since, says: 'Our Sunday school numbers one hundred and forty-six, of whom one hundred are natives and forty-six Americans.' This is by no means an exception. It rather indicates the rule, and yet we ought to be breaking forth on every side; and if we had the men and women we need, in sufficient number for the most important points, we should have nothing to arrest our progress. To supervise and carry forward these educational interests to complete success-to fill the pulpits and train these growing congregations, not only in the knowledge and love of God, but in habits of self-reliance and Gospel extension, we require men, and women too, that know where to begin, what to do, and who are not afraid to do-men full of the Holy Ghost and faith. In the hands of inferior men this promising field, so suited to the genius and aspirations of holy persistent servants of God, will wither, droop out an ineffectual existence, and finally its signs of promise fail or pass into other hands."

Bishop Burns's plea ought to have great weight, even with white men and women who are ready to lay down their lives, perhaps early, in Africa, if they go there to serve; but it ought to have overwhelming influence with the sons and daughters of the African race born and raised as Christians in America. The cultivated and pious among them owe themselves to the work of redeeming Africa from heathenism and the lowest of savage states. The Missionary Board,

years ago, abandoned the practice of sending white men and women to Africa, because they cannot live there, and looked to a supply of preachers and teachers raised up among themselves, or obtained from the free colored people of America. Each of these sources has yielded but a scanty supply. Every colored man that has come to our knowledge, or that has applied to us for aid to go to Liberia to serve in our missions, and has produced satisfactory testimonials, we have granted aid to go forward. The truth is, nearly every one of such colored people have heretofore been unwilling to go, and have been supported in their unwillingness by the advice of their friends among the white population. In all our applications, and they have not been few, to intelligent, pious, and active colored men, to go to our missions in Africa, but one has succeeded, and this one was in Baltimore. We have aided in sending forward three or four who applied to us for aid and furnished testimonials. And one of these we had applied to years before, and he then declined, afterward offered to go, and was sent out.

We say so much to show the descendants of Africans in the United States what seems to us to be their duty, and to say, if they are worthy, and fit, and devoted, they can have aid to go to Liberia to serve in our well-organized and promising mission conference. Only such persons need offer; and such, too, must be well supported by written testimonials from suitable persons who have personal knowledge of them. Where are the colored young men of piety, promise, and action, born and raised in America, in the light and with the knowledge of Christianity, who are ready and willing to go to Africa, and give their lives to the work of Christianizing that dark land? We should be glad to know them and help them forward.

[From the Missionary Advocate.]

BISHOP BURNS writes to the Corresponding Secretary:

"I have nothing of special general interest at this moment to communicate, beyond the information that we are now having a season of refreshing in the Church in Monrovia. Several have experienced the forgiveness of their sins, among these a number of natives. The work has principally been with the Baptists, with whom many of our people have united in carrying on the meetings. We are now endeavoring to bless our own household' by having meetings twice a day in our church. At eleven o'clock last night James Midwinter Freeman, one of our youth on Bishop Scott's plan, a lad of fifteen years, came to our bedroom door, and told us with streaming eyes that God had given him religion.' The native portion of our city is sharing largely in this revival. O, where are the holy men and women for this work! O Lord! if thou help not we are in trouble. This lad, a little over four years from the forest in the Vey country, now reads the Bible with ourselves and children in the family every morning with another fellow Vey about the same age and opportunity. They both attend the primary department of the seminary,