domestic bread-stuff; that those articles have been as abundant and cheap this year, even during the usually scarcest season of the year, as at any previous time in the history of Liberia, clearly demonstrate the progress of the country in that important branch of industry.

This feature of progress, demonstrative of the capacity of the country by the productive industry of its citizens to sustain so large a population suddenly thrown upon it, is particularly interesting at this juncture, when, from events that have been during the year and are now occurring in the United States, we may reasonably expect ere long an annual influx of a larger colored population from that country than at any previous time. A great and rapid emigration to this country, which is, in our opinion, clearly indicated to be their destined homes, and which events, beyond human control, now transpiring, and will, until the consummation of that object, continue to transpire in the western hemisphere, particularly in the United States, will in due time most assuredly bring to pass, either voluntarily or involuntarily on the part of all concerned dwelling there.

For the accommodation of our Farmers, and in order to give an increased stimulus to Agriculture. I have directed the Secretary of the Treasury to order from the United States a number of Sugar Mills and their fixtures, which I have no doubt will arrive out in February or March.

I have assumed the responsibility of making an expenditure from the Public Treasury for the purpose of collecting such articles for, and transporting to the International Exhibition to be held at London, 1862, as I hope will secure to Liberia a respectable representation on that grand occasion. The great excitement, growing out of the late attempt to revive the nefarious slave-trade within our jurisdiction, in which all the communities in Liberia have been kept for the last four months, has prevented the procuring of more than about one sixth of what would have been procured otherwise. 1 will direct the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to you an estimate of the amount necessary for that purpose, of which I have to solicit your approval by making the necessary appropriation.

You will perceive by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, which he will transmit in a day or two, that the revenue of the year has been inconsiderable, scarcely more than half of that of the preceding year. This falling off resulted in some degree from the civil war waging in the United States, but mainly from the efforts so strenuously made this year to revive the slave-trade in Liberia. This fact prevents me as yet from recommending appropriations to be made for prosecuting public enterprises, some of which I regard to a very great extent as indispensable: such as fortifications and defenses, repairs and erections of public buildings, interior settlements, internal improvements, with special reference to the facilitation of transportation, and the best adapted measures for effectually civilizing and making reliably loyal, the hundreds of thousands of aborigines residing within the jurisdiction of this republic, &c., &c. I shall communicate to you in a few days on this subject, and suggest a plan by which, if seconded by the wonted patriotism of our fellow-citizens, we may readily overcome the most formidable of those barriers, and be able to prosecute during next year the most of those very important enterprises, which to a great extent I regard necessary to our progressive national existence.

The question of our right of political jurisdiction over the Gallinas and some of the adjoining points, which was raised the latter part of last year by Her B. M. Government, and the circumstances which grew out of the same, were duly laid before the Legislature at their last session, so far as the matter had then progressed. Copies of such correspondence as has been subsequently had on that subject, I herewith present for your information, by which you will perceive that the question during the year had assumed a somewhat serious aspect.

I do not believe half a dozen persons could be found in Liberia, previous to the latter part of last year, who had the slightest impression that Her B. M. or any other foreign Government entertained the least doubt, that the Gallinas and the adjacent points, extending-with the exception of a small strip-to the Shebar, had been acquired under such bona-fide title as invested this govern

ment with full sovereignty over them. The liberal donations made to this government, some ten or twelve years ago, by British and American Philanthropists, for the express purpose of extinguishing the native title to those old slave marts, especially Gallinas, and of investing this government by their acquisition with the necessary sovereignty to legalize its action in the suppression of the slave-trade; the proclamation and annual message of my predecessor nearly eleven years ago announcing the acquisition of that territory from the native chiefs by bona-fide title, and proclaiming the extension of Liberian sovereignty and law over the same there;-the visit of my predecessor to England, in 1852, mainly for the purpose of explaining and finally settling those and other territorial questions; the authoritative publication of the legislative enactment passed some eight or ten years ago, fixing the present boundaries of this re public, which enactment is to be found in the state pamphlet containing the fundamental, conventional, and statute law of this republic, together with other facts I forbear to mention, harmonized to remove every vestige of belief from the minds of the government and people of Liberia, that any foreign government entertained a doubt of our poseessing, and consequently having a right to exercise sovereignty over that territory.

You will perceive by the documents just presented, that Commodore Edmonstone, the commodore and senior officer of Her B. M.'s ships and vessels stationed on the west coast of Africa station, has respectfully notified me by the mail, that Commander Douglas of Her B M.'s ship "Espoir," has been directed to communicate with me, in a few days, for the purpose of examining our title deeds to the territory in question, which examination had been declined by Capt. Heneage of Her B. M.'s ship "Falcon," when he visited this port in July, and communicated with me on the same subject by direction of the Commodore. And as the Commodore has most courteously promised me the pleasure and honor of a visit early next year, I have no doubt that from the bona-fide itles to said territory in our possession, and the fact, of which he will be able fully to satisfy himself during his visit, that the calling in question of our right of jurisdiction over that territory has been within the last twelve months, productive of evils most blasting to the moral, civil, Religious, and industrial interests of this young but rising republic; that it has in one year undone what of good it has required ten years to effect, and that if persisted in, it will sap the very foundation of our national existence; he will be so impressed by these deplorable events, under which we are now individually and nationally suffering, as to be induced to make such just and magnanimous representation to Her B. M. Government, as will, without delay, cause this matter to be set perfectly at rest for the future, and thus allow us, in our national weakness, to resume our wonted progressive march, in faithful fulfilment of our great and responsible mission to this Savage country, which mission has been solemnly imposed on us by the Great and Just Aribter of nations.

I now proceed, as previously intimated, to state the causes of the almost unprecedented outbreak of predatory wars this year among the aboriginal tribes within the jurisdiction of this republic, especially in that part of this county extending from the east bank of the St. Paul's river, northward to, and beyond Gallinas.

The opinion expressed in my last annual message, that the vigilance of the British and American cruisers in suppressing the slave-trade on the south coast, would result in strenuous efforts to revive it at the old slave marts on the Liberian coast, has been fully verified, as will appear by the following detailed statement, and the documents herewith presented.

On the 12th of May, I received a communication from R. L. Stryker, Esq., Superintendent at Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount, transmitting a note from Prince Mannah, Chief of Gallinas, written for him by a British trader residing there, conveying the intelligence of a Spanish slaver being at Gallinas bar, and that he regarded it his duty to give notice thereof to Government according to promise. When those notes were received, the Quail was on a cruise as low down as Cape Palmas, and would not be due at this port, for eight or ten days. So soon as she arrived and could be got in readiness, she proceeded to Gallinas, where she arrived on the 27th of May. The Commander of the Quail having been satisfied by testimony obtained on shore, corrobo

rative of the information previously given this government by Prince Mannah, of the vessel being a slaver, and that she had distributed cash and goods for the purpose of accumulating a number of slaves within a given time, seized the vessel, which had entered the river, and whose name on the stern had been effaced with paint, as a prize, intending to bring her to this port for adjudication.

The bar and surf having meantime become unusually rough, and continued so for nearly a week, rendering communication with the shore extremely hazard. ous, so much so as to have resulted in the loss of Capt. Monger and a seaman, who were drowned in attempting to cross Gallinas bar, and all the Quail's boats having been so far wrecked and injured by landing or attempting to land, as to measurably unfit them for use, a prize-crew of thirteen men under an officer was left in charge of the prize, and the Quail proceeded down to this port for boats and facilities for getting the prize out of the bar; but wind and current being strongly adverse, she did not arrive here until the 10th of June (seven days.) On the 12th of June she was despatched with the necessary facilities, and arrived at Gallinas, via Robertsport, on the afternoon of the 13th.

H. B. M. S. Torch, Capt. Smith, Senior Officer of this division, having, as I learn, received intelligence of a slaver veing there, had arrived on the morning of the 13th; and, as he asserts, not having seen the Liberian flag flying on board the prize, and not being cognizant of her being in possession of a Liberian prize-crew, the Captain had sent in boats in command of his Lieutenant before the Quail had reached port and anchored. The British lieutenant and crew, after boarding the prize, communicated with Capt. Smith of the Torch, who ordered her to be burned, and she was thus destroyed on the 14th of June, which gave rise to the correspondence between Captains Smith and Benedict, copies of which I herewith present, by which it will be seen that the commander of the Torch expressed his disapproval of the act of his lieutenant in taking possession of the prize after ascertaining that she was a prize to the Liberian government schooner Quail. Though the act was, as he stated, done without his knowledge and approval, yet it having been committed, he concluded to direct her to be destroyed, as aforesaid. The motive by which he was to an extent actuated in deciding upon the latter course he hoped the gov ernment of Liberia would appreciate, as it was intended thereby to relieve the government of Liberia from any unpleasant misunderstanding with the Spanish government, he in the name of his government assuming the responsibility in

the matter.

The officers and crew of the slaver having been attacked by the African fever, disabling them to travel by land to Monrovia, and rendering it imprudent to risk their lives by embarcation, it was thought advisable by Lieutenant Carney, as most accordant with humanity, to allow them about a week previously, at their own urgent request, to go to Sierra Leone by inland water route, so as to secure medical attention, &c. &c., under the supervision of the Spanish consul at that place. On the return of the Quail from Gallinas and my receipt of Commander Benedict's report, I immediately transmitted to H. B. M. Government, through our Consul General at London, a dispatch, a copy of which I herewith present.

This bold attempt on the part of the Spaniards to revive the slave-trade at Gallinas in November, 1860, and May, 1861, and, as I will soon bring to your notice, the attack made on the Quail in this harbor on the 11th of September by a Spanish vessel-of-war, all of which spread with greatest rapidity among the aborigines within the entire jurisdiction of this Republic, revived the hope, almost amounting to a certainty, in the old slave-dealing chiefs who still survive, that the slave-trade would be forcibly revived by foreigners in our jurisdiction, and they were strengthened in their belief by misjudging the policy of H. B. M. Government, misconstruing the action of Capt. Smith of H. M. ship Torch in this harbor last December, and his subsequent action with the Liberian prize at Gallinas in June, as amounting in effect to . M. Government positively denying the right and authority of this government to suppress the slave-trade at Gallinas and other points claimed as within the jurisdiction of Liberia; and

those old slave-dealers, who have been checked for years by this government from prosecuting the slave-trade, concluded that they could revive and prosecute it with impunity.

These untoward circumstances have led, during the year, to the revival of the old predatory wars among the tribes and clans, commencing from above Gallinas and extending down beyond the S. E. bank of the St. Paul's river, a distance of over a hundred miles, and extending a considerable distance interiorward. That extent of country has been in a state of war for the last four months, creating an almost incessant scene of excitement in all our settlements. Hundreds of aboriginal refugees in this county have within the last four months fled from their homes, abandoned plantations and other property, and sought in our settlements protection from captivity for the slave market. Our citizens residing in the rural districts of the St. Paul's and at Careysburg, and up the Mesurado river, have been taxed during the year with the shelter, support, and protection of hundreds of men, women and children, from the interior, who had thus to make their escape from the accursed slave-dealer. Chiefs and tribes who had been for many years previously loyal, among whom the missionaries of the Cross had commenced operating encouragingly-tribes which had to a great extent lost hope of seeing the slave-trade revived again, and were praiseworthily devoting themselves to legitimate avocations, have been thus tempted to resume, within the last four months, their old practice of man-stealing, spreading devastation among the weaker tribes almost in contiguity to our most interior settlements. Such have been a few of the results within the year, of the attempts to forcibly revive the slave-trade within the jurisdiction of this Republic; and they are facts so well known throughout this county in particular, and Liberia in general, as that I need not further describe them.

Immediately on Commander Benedict's return from Gallinas in June, and report of what had transpired, knowing well the effect it would have on the natives, I gave directions for suitable carriages to be made, and for every cannon at Fort Norris and within the corporation of Monrovia that could be used to advantage, to be mounted. This and other defensive preparations were vigorously prosecuted to temporary completion within two and a half months from the date of issuing the order. It is proper that I should here acknowledge the efficient services of Capt. Reid Cooper, who superintended the works, and of Henry Cooper, for the very satisfactory manner in which he performed the mechanical labor.

On the return of the Quail from Harper, Maryland county, in the month of August with the mail, I received intelligence in the shape of rumor, that a Spanish steam vessel-of-war was fitting up at Fernando Po, to be sent up by the Spanish authorities of that place, for the purpose of sinking or capturing the Quail, and of demanding satisfaction of the Liberian authorities at Monrovia for capturing and confiscating the cargo f a Spanish store-ship that was bound to Fernando Po, and had from stress of weather put into the port of Monrovia. On the evening of the 27th of August, three days after the former, I received intelligence kindly afforded unofficially by a United States naval vessel direct from Fernando Po, that the report was current there, that a Spanish warsteamer was taking in coal, and was to have left the day succeeding the departure of the American vessel from that port, under instructions from the Governor of Fernando Po to sink or capture the Quail. Though few, it any, men of intelligence in Liberia, could persuade themselves at the time, that such a highly disreputable and anti-civilized course would be adopted in this enlightened age, at least until the aggrieved had adopted the proper course for obtaining correct information respecting the supposed cause of grievance, and being fully satisfied of the existence of a just cause of complaint, had, in the proper manner, asked of this government the proper redress, which this government will always take the greatest pleasure in respectfully tendering to any government or people, whenever a clear case of aggression or wrong is made out against it; yet I thought it not amiss, upon the receipt of corroborative intelligence, to prosecute with increasing vigor the directions I had given, and the efforts that had actually commenced a couple of months previously, to place ourselves in a better condition, to protect and defend, to the utmost of our

ability, this city and harbor from aggression. And I am pleased to be able to say, that the citizens almost generally responded most cordially by voluntarily co-operating. And I am pleased to be able to further say, that our citizens residing in the several connties, upon hearing of the rumored threat, and knowing the effect that the bare threat would have upon such aborigines living in the respective counties as favored the revival of the slave-trade, turned out voluntarily in their respective townships, made carriages, mounted their unmounted guns, cleared off scores of acres of forest land contiguous to their respective townships, and made such other preparations-the best they could, mainly voluntarily, for the defense of their respective townships and counties as reflect great credit upon them

Having been satisfied that circumstances justified it, and that our patriotic citizens who had voluntarily turned out so generally upon my requisition, and without any charge for compensation upon government, to stand guard and perform other duty, should be relieved, I placed a squad of men on actual service for that purpose, and stationed them at Fort Norris under the immediate command of Capt. J. W. Clark, and general supervision of Lieut. Col. Smith, about a week before the attack was made upon the Quail in this harbor, with the intention of continuing them in service so long as it should appear necessary the propriety of which will somewhat appear, when I shall have informed you, that on the afternoon of the first of September, a steamer was espied by the officer in command of Fort Norris, coming up from the southward, and when abreast this Cape, she bore off somewhat to the westward, and in three or four hours she was out of sight, standing up to the north ward and westward; kroomen from this place pulled off in canoes and attempted to board her, but were prevented. They reported that she wore an ensign resembling the Spanish flag.

Nothing more was seen or heard of this steamer, until on the morning of the 11th of September, when she made her appearance, bearing the Spanish flag, came in harbour, and anchored pot very far from the Quail, whose boat immediately boarded her, and ascertained her to be, as was expected, a Spanish steam vesse! of war, just from Sierra Leone. I present herewith the report of Commander Benedict of what transpired on that morning, as also the depositions of the captain and mate of the American barque Edward, then in harbor, corroborative of that report, by which you will be more accurately informed of the most shameful aggressive conduct of that Spanish steamer, whose Commander had professed only an hour previously to have come on a friendly visit, and had manifested every courtesy to Lieutenant Carney. The documents will also briefly acquaint you of the gallant defense made by Commander Benedict, he having in a very short time completely repulsed the aggressor, by indicting such serious damages, as necessitated his speedy departure for Sierra Leone. For the very noble valor displayed on that occasion, Commander Benedict and the officers and crew of the Quail have merited the high praise and admiration of the Government and people of Liberia.

From the foregoing statements, you will perceive that a crisis has been forced upon us, as serious as any in the history of Liberia. The entire matter has narrowed down to a question of life or death with us, of national and individual existence or extinction. To fold up our arms, and pusillanimously permit the slave trade to be forced upon us, will result in our certain and irrecoverable ruin as a people. But by battling with it with a cool but firm determination, though under a full consciousness of our physical weakness, and the many other disadvantages under which we labor, yet, trusting in God, and regarding life itself but a small sacrifice, if necessary to sustain the great principle and blessing of human freedom, we may survive the shock, and yet succeed in our cherished purpose, even the perpetuity of this Government, and our highly prized institutions upon the firm and honorable basis of virtue.

I cannot, until I learn otherwise, officially, believe that H. C. M. Government of Spain authorized or will sanction the aggressive act committed in this harbor by the Ceres, as aforesaid; and this opinion, so far as I have been able to learn, generally obtains in Liberia. I have directed this unpleasant matter to be respectfully brought to the notice of H. C. M. Government with the least