a name that is peculiar, short, and familiar, and that expresses the object and nature of the establishment-it is the term LIBERIA; and denotes a settlement of persons made free: for our Colony may with truth be called the home and country of freedmen, in contradistinction to the slaves of whom they once formed a part. This name, if I mistake not, will be found easy and apt; and it certainly has the merit of being very concise.

General Harper then submitted the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That the territory and settlement of the Society, near Cape Montserado, on the southwest coast of Africa, be, and hereby is, named LIBERIA; by which name it shall be called and known in all the acts and writings of the Society and its agents.

General Harper again rose and said,

I will now offer another resolution of a similar character, but with a different object. It is not only to give a name to the principal town in our infant settlement, but at the same time to mark the gratitude of this Society to that venerable and distinguished individual, to whom it is more indebted than to any other single man. It is perfectly wellknown, that but for the favourable use he has been pleased to make of the great powers confided to him, (a use as wise as it was liberal,) all our attempts and efforts must have been unavailing. No means that we possessed, or could have procured, would have proved adequate without his aid. As an acknowledgment of gratitude for his high and useful services, I make the following motion:

Resolved, That the town laid out and established at Liberia, shall, in like manner, be called and known by the name of MONROVIA, as an acknowledgment of the important benefits conferred on the settlement by the present illustrious chief magistrate of the United States.

General Harper then rose and addressed the Society in an able and interesting speech; of which the following very imperfect outline has been preserved:

I have now a proposition to submit of more important import, and, perhaps, of more doubtful character; (I do not

mean in my own opinion, for of its propriety I entertain no doubt; but in the opinion of others.

I hold it perfectly clear, from what has come to my knowledge of the progress of this, and all similar establishments, that no means within the possession of this or of any other private association, are adequate to the attainment of those objects which such an association ought to hold in view. What are these objects? They are in the first place to aid ourselves, by relieving us from a species of population pregnant with future danger and present inconvenience; to advance the interests of the United States by removing a great public evil; to promote the benefit of the individuals removed, as well as of those of the same race that yet remain; and finally, to benefit Africa by spreading the blessings of knowledge and freedom on a continent that now contains 150 millions of people, plunged in all the degradation of idolatry, superstition, and ignorance. All these objects are embraced in the vast enterprise in which we have engaged. To attain these ends, to confer on the sons of Africa and on Africa herself, blessings so great so invaluable as these, requires means beyond the reach of any private individuals to command; all we have yet done, all we can expect to do, is merely to pave the way, to point out the track; and in accomplishing this, we have derived the most essential aid from the chief Executive Officer of the Union. These efforts of the Society have shown that it is practicable to transplant Africans from our shores to those of their native continent, and that when thus transferred, they are capable of enjoying freedom, civilization, and christianity. A few hundreds, at the utmost, a thousand colonists, might be within the reach of our efforts; by such an experiment we shall demonstrate this, and essentially benefit the individuals; but farther we cannot, by our own exertions, hope to go.

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In the mean while, there exists among us a great social evil a cancer on the body politic, that is gradually eating its way to the vitals of the state :-It is at work while we sleep and when we wake-and it will continue, if not speedily arrested,

to pervade and corrode, till at length it has destroyed, the entire mass of our social strength and happiness. It can't be touched by us; it needs a far mightier hand. The removal of a few thousand individuals will, in an evil of such magnitude, produce but little effect--it will not even materially benefit this class of population themselves; for it consists of more than a million and a half of persons-and though 3 or 400,000 already free should be removed, the great political mischief among us would be but slightly affected. And though the benefits derived to Africa from such an increase of the Colony would not be unimportant, yet would they be small in comparison with those which the country may expect, from the complete eradication of this evil.

How then is that more extensive operation which alone can complete the scope of our design to be ultimately, or ever, accomplished? How is this vast mass of a vicious population to be safely withdrawn from among us, and with justice to those more immediately interested in their present condition? Their removal must have three qualifying circumstances. First, it must be gradual, for if attempted suddenly, a void would be occasioned by the precipitate subduction of so great an amount of effective labour, that would threaten the In the scmost serious inconvenience, if not great calamity. cond place, it must be done with their own consent; for to think of doing it without, seems equally against reason, justice, and the dictates of religion. And in the third place, it must be done with the consent of those who have an interest in their labour-to no other idea would I ever yield my approbation or consent. Now, to accomplish the object we desire on the three conditions I have stated, most evidently requires national means. These means ought to be applied; the object is national, in its character, and in its consequences.

If a hostile army threatened to invade any portion of these United States, would it not afford a legitimate employment for the army and the fleet? Whether it were New-Orleans or Eastport that were threatened, would make no difference in the question-the object would still be national, and the na

tional force would be called forth to meet it. I ask then whether the existence itself, of one or more of the States, is not a national object? And whether an evil threatening that existence is not a national evil? I need not prove it-to those who reflect at all, it cannot but be self-evident. To the national government then let us address ourselves. The object on which we address them is national in its magnitude, as well as in its consequences, both for good and evil--(chiefly for evil.) To have applied before, would have been premature-to such an application it might, and probably would have been replied." Shew us that your object is feasible; convince us that the thing can be done," and such an answer would, I think, have been a wise and solid one. But now it cannot be made. The thing not only can be done, but has been done. A colony is actually established, in a healthy situation; peace has been secured; the means of supply and of sustenance are provided; all is done that needs to be done to complete the experiment, and to prove the practicability of the plan proposed.— Now we can go to the government with solid argument to support us, and appeal to their good sense as well as to their patriotism.

Gen. HARPER then submitted the following resolution :

Resolved, That a respectful memorial be presented to Congress, on the part of this Society, stating the progress that has been made in establishing a colony of free people of colour at Liberia, on the south-west coast of Africa, the difficulties that have been surmounted in the progress of this establishment, its present situation, its prospects of ultimate success, and the benefits which it may be expected to produce; and praying for aid from the national government, in the further prosecution of this great national undertaking.

General Charles Fenton Mercer rose in reply.

He had listened, he said, with great pleasure to the remarks of his eloquent friend; and he did not now rise for the purpose of opposing the adoption of the resolution he had proposed to the Society, but only to remark on some of the introductory observations by which he had supported it. At a former meeting of the Society in this city, a resolution had

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been brought forward of a similar kind. I doubted, said General M. its policy at that time, on a belief that our affairs. were not yet ripe for such a measure. At the first organization of the Society, its sanguine friends were agreed in the opinion, that its success must depend chiefly on public opinion. The advocates of the plan might be charged with enthusiasm, which, in matters either of religion or of liberty, is apt to make men ready to believe almost whatever they wished, and to anticipate success as if it were to be produced by miracles. To repel this idea,it was agreed by all that the steps of the Society must be marked with the utmost caution and prudence; that in its acts might be found the best and most convenient answer to such an objection. It is now but seven years since the enterprise has assumed a public form; though it is as much as twenty years since in my parent state such a measure was first suggested. It was then discussed in secret council, and revolved only in the inmost meditations of a few distinguished men. Seven years ago the intelligence of the fact that such a plan was maturing, broke in upon my own mind, and brought with it the first ray of light upon a subject which it had been long and deeply, but almost hopelessly, pondering. After contemplating the evil in every various point of view, the result was that it was irremediable. This plan brought to me the first gleam of hope. It was not without difficulty that the Virginia Legislature determined to make public those councils; and since the promulgation of them the plan had had to encounter the most serious difficulties in public opinion. Nor is this at all surprising. The plan itself is imperfectly known or understood; in those parts of the Union remote from the slave holding states, we have few auxiliary societies, and the subject is little discussed. And though our progress has been more rapid of late, even now the means we possess, when compared with the population on which an influence has been attempted, are small, and I apprehend that we overrate the amount of our moral influence in society, when we indulge the supposition that our system is at present ripe for the measure proposed. We shall still be met with the charge