by them may be sanctified to the good of those to whom it shall be imparted."

The Doxology, "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow," was afterwards sung, and the Benediction pronounced.

For this College, Liberia and the world are more indebted to the sagacity, benevolence, and persevering labors of the Rev. JOSEPH TRACY, D.D., of Boston, than to those of any one, if not of all other men. Dr. Tracy, in his quiet and enduring exertions, has found able and generous coadjutors in Massachusetts and other parts of our country, but without his thoughtful and directing mind, we believe their efforts had been vain, and that it is but simple justice to pronounce him the Founder of Liberia College.*

INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT ROBERTS.

Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees, and Fellow-Citizens: The occasion which brings us together to-day is one, I venture to affirm, no citizen of Liberia can regard with indifference. We are here for the purpose of inaugurating Liberia College; a national institution, dedicated to literature and science. Hence this day marks an epoch in the history of Liberia, which, I doubt not, fills the heart of every gentleman present with sentiments of profound gratulation and thankfulness. And as the inaugural ceremonies of this occasion are designed to perpetuate the recollection of an event full of promise to the educational interests of our country, I can but indulge the conviction that, in increasing magnitude, the benefits flowing from this Institution will also be perpetual. And, in like manner, as the recollection of the proceedings of this day shall pass unfaded through the present generation, so will the remembrance of them be cherished, with feelings no less animating and appreciative, by successive generations, as through the medium of the Institution this day established, shall be conveyed to them that instruction in the leading branches of science so essential to the convenience and happiness of mankind. It is, gentlemen, with feelings of no ordinary character that I address you on this exceedingly interesting occasion. And these feelings are greatly heightened and intensified by the fact, that I see around me, to-day, men who have labored long and arduously in the promotion of Liberia's best welfare; men who have devoted the whole power of their energies to the development of the civil, social, religious, and educational interests of our common country; men who, from the earliest period of our political organization, have watched with intense anxiety and concern every step in the progress of Liberia's national career; and who, through all the vicissitudes she has been called to pass, have, with a devotion truly noble and patriotic, counted no personal sacrifice too great, when deemed necessary to the public weal; and with whom, for many years, as I very well know, the cause of

"In connection with this College enterprise, the names of Greenleaf, Briggs, Fearing, Fairbanks, Hubbard, Giles, Lawrence Ropes, and Tracy have become endearingly familiar to very many of the citizens of this Republic."-PRESIDENT ROBERTS.

education among us has been a subject of deep reflection; and for the advancement of which, they have not failed to employ every means within their reach.

While it is true, fellow-citizens, that Liberia has been called to encounter many, very many difficulties and discouragements, in her struggle to arrive at and maintain a national existence, yet, I dare say, there is not one here to-day, who does not recognize the fact, that her whole course has been marked by striking proofs of Divine favor. An invisible hand has guided her safely through many serious conflicts that threatened her very existence; and at times, when discouragement seemed to possess the stoutest heart, events have transpired to bring relief in such an extraordinary manner, as clearly to indicate the hand of Providence in her behalf. Under such mighty auspices, our civil and political institutions have grown and strengthened. We have also witnessed, with much satisfaction, the expansion of the various branches of industry among us, to a degree exhibiting a wide field for both individual and combined enterprise. But, with all these progressive developments, our educational interest seemed to languish; at any rate, not to keep pace with the demands of our growing population, and the requirements of our free institutions. This has long been a matter of deep concern with the more intelligent portion of our fellow-citizens throughout the country. For the idea is by no means new, and no less correct than ancient, that in all liberal governments, especially republics, wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtuous principles, should be generally diffused among the great body of the people, as essentially necessary to the good order and perpetuity of government, and the preservation of the rights and liberties of its citizens; while, on the other hand, in that community or state where ignorance predominates, anarchy must ensue, and, with all its hideous results, will prevail over the principles of equity, justice, and good policy, and, by lawless force and unbridled violence, reduce all into one common ruin.

Under convictions engendered by such reflections as these, the executive and legislative departments of our Government have at no time been backward in their efforts to encourage and provide, by every means in their power, the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the Republic. The Government, however, in consequence of its limited money resources, has not been able to do a great deal towards the educational improvement of our youth. Nevertheless, by the generous aid of certain missionary societies in the United States, common schools have been maintained in most of our towns and villages. But withal, even in the elementary branches of a common school education, these have only been, in a comparatively small degree, commensurate with the demand. Yet, in this exigency, the want of funds, to extend the facilities of education, was not the only source of public concern. The lack of a larger number of efficient teachers continued for many years a subject of earnest solicitude. When, in the order of Providence, and just at a period when the means of providing this latter seemed particularly urgent, Monrovia Seminary and the Alexander High School came to our relief; and,

in due course, under the able guidance of well qualified instructors, launched out a number of young men to supply in part this deficiency, who, I am proud to say, by their assiduity and promptness in acquiring knowledge, reflect great credit on themselves, and upon the institutions which fostered them.

Yet while we find in these encouraging educational prospects abundant cause for congratulation-when we would stretch our views forward and survey the magnitude of the enterprise in which we are engaged, as an infant nation, struggling under peculiar circumstances and disadvantages into manhood, and destined, I humbly trust, in the providence of God, to solve that vexed problem which for ages has engaged the attention of so many speculative minds, and fully demonstrate on these shores, that Africans are not only capable of selfgovernment, but are also endowed with all those mental capacities which will enable them, under like favorable opportunities for development, to grapple as successfully as any other race with the whole circle of the sciences: when we would contemplate the important and highly responsible position which Liberia has assumed in relation to the elevation of the African race in general, and particularly her high mission as connected with the degraded millions of this long-neglected continent, and more especially the thousands already within her political pale and under her fostering care, and to whom, through her instrumentality, are to be conveyed the blessings of civilization and Christianity, and that enlightenment in all the branches of useful knowledge, as applied to commerce, to agriculture, and to mechanism, which alone can raise them in the scale of humanity and elevate them to that position in society where they would command that respect and social consideration which Heaven designs that all races of men may aspire to and enjoy: when our minds would be drawn to the contemplation of the magnitude of our national responsibilities, and especially in view of the progressive age in which we live, abounding in extensive fields of intellectual improvement and useful invention in science and arts, in religion and government, and in all the fertile sources subordinate to the genius of man, that can contribute to the embellishment of human happiness and to the advancement of national greatness when we would think of the limited advantages for intellectual improvement enjoyed, in the land whence they came, by so large a portion of those composing the very nucleus of Liberian nationality, and of the thousands of the aborigines constantly rolling in upon us, with all their barbarisms, and thus augmenting not only our individual and governmental responsibilities, but in like manner increasing tenfold the demand upon our infant institutions: I say, gentlemen, when we would allow our thoughts to run out, and dwell upon these high considerations, as connected with the future of our country and the vastness of the undertaking in which we are engaged, and would reflect upon the insufficiency of our own pecuniary resources to create these appliances-especially such as are derived from the sciences necessary to the successful accomplishment of the work committed to our hands, it were not surprising if, at times, in viewing the gloomy prospect which now and then would spread itself out be

fore us, we should discover creeping upon us feelings of despondency. But happily there were hearts, indomitable Liberian hearts, in which such a feeling could never obtain a lodgment. The people of Liberia have ever regarded their establishment on these shores as an event designed by Providence to produce in this, their fatherland, a moral and political revolution that, peradventure, in the course of time, should astonish the world. Hence, under the conviction that a people, manifestly called by Divine Providence to engage in any arduous and important enterprise, should never give place to discouragement or fear, the people of Liberia, in all their struggles, have maintained a firm reliance on Him who holds the destinies of nations in his own hands, for that protection and assistance needful to the successful fulfillment of their high mission. Indeed the past history of our country is marked with so many unmistakable evidences of Divine favor, that infidelity itself can scarcely fail to recognize and acknowledge the displays of an Almighty power in our behalf.

There has been no period in our national progress, when our own resources were inadequate to our pressing needs, and when we were put to our wit's ends to know how and where we should obtain the necessary aid to some important end, that an all-wise Providence has not interposed, and raised up for us friends abroad, who have given us tangible proofs of their heartfelt sympathy. And when the time had fully arrived, when the interest of a polished literature in Liberia demanded greater encouragement, and when our various private and public necessities urgently required that the means of obtaining instruction in the leading branches of science should be introduced with as little delay as possible among us; and when, by our own unaided efforts, we were unable to provide the needful facilities to the attainment of this desirable object, a kind Providence, as in times past, was not indifferent to our pressing necessities. God moved the hearts of certain good and benevolent men in the United States-eminent citizens of the "Old Bay State," the cradle of American literature-to consider the importance of an institution of learning in Liberia, which would afford her people those advantages for acquiring that degree of useful and scientific knowledge necessary to the maintenance of free institutions, and to the development of the vast resources of a new and unexplored country. These generous men, influenced by a noble philanthropy, which recognizes the claims of universal brotherhood, and excludes none on account of color or nation, determined to found here an institution which they hope will be to Liberia what "Old Harvard" has been to the United States; an institution in which many of the citizens of this Commonwealth may be initiated in those arts and sciences which shall qualify them for important public employments, and for extensive usefulness in all the different spheres of life in which they may be called to move. And, gentlemen, as the pleasing result of that determination, we find ourselves, to-day, occupying this substantial edifice, well adapted in all its arrangements for the comfortable accommodation of such instructors and students as seem to be necessary to our present requirements; a structure which, though modest in its architectural pretensions, is not only an orna

ment to Liberia, but an enduring monument to the liberality of those distinguished philanthropists, by whose exertions this great blessing to the educational interests of our country has been secured.

Those benevolent men who have contributed their funds towards the erection of these College Buildings and the endowment of professorships and scholarships therein, are in the strictest sense public benefactors, distributing blessings which shall increase the happiness of human society. And to none does this truth apply more forcibly than to those distinguished patrons of this Institution who compose the Board of Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia; who, for several years, have devoted so much of their time, thought, and money to the great object of securing to the people of Liberia this efficient means for advancing their intellectual development. In connection with this College enterprise, the names of Greenleaf, Briggs, Fearing, Fairbanks, Hubbard, Giles, Lawrence, Ropes, and Tracy have become endearingly familiar to very many of the citizens of this Republic; all of whom gratefully appreciate the invaluable services of these eminent men in their efforts to promote the educational interests of our country. Hence, gentlemen, this occasion is one of no ordinary public concern. And, from the unmistakable indications of satisfaction I see playing upon the countenances of this large assembly, I am fully persuaded there is not one present to witness the ceremonies of this day, whose heart does not palpitate with emotions of profound thankfulness to God for the success which has so far attended the labors of the founders of this Institution, and for the peculiar indications of Divine favor which now surround it, and which inspire in us high hopes of its future prosperity and usefulness. Indeed, the auspicious circumstances under which this Institution is now inaugurated, cannot fail to awaken in every Liberian heart the warmest sentiments of gratitude.

It affords me a very sincere satisfaction to be permitted to record here, on behalf of the Trustees of the College, an acknowledgment of their profound gratitude to the Trustees of Donations, and others who have aided in this enterprise, for their unwearied efforts and generous liberality, which enable them this day to dedicate to the Republic of Letters, an Institution which shall endure for ages, constantly increasing the glory of the Republic of Liberia. And that such is the design of Heaven in relation to this Institution, as connected with the future of Liberia, in my mind admits of no doubt. For it does appear to me, in view of the evidences of Divine favor which have been so conspicuously manifested in the progress of this enterprise, from its very beginning up to the present, that it would be betraying on our part a culpable faithlessness, were we for a single moment to doubt its Heavenly origin, or to indulge apprehensions of its inefficiency to fulfill the destiny assigned it. Now, gentlemen, I am firm in the conviction that this Institution will survive and prosper, going on from generation to generation, steadily widening its sphere of action and usefulness, spreading light and knowledge over the waste places of this long-neglected land, until this rich inheritance, which the God of our fathers has preserved to us, shall be made what it should be-a