Page:A Chapter on Slavery.djvu/102

 have already seen, from the article in the London Times, that there are no fewer than primary schools. The author of the Plea for Africa, writing in 1837, remarks: "The subject of education has ever been one of primary importance with the Board of Colonization. In 1830, the Board established permanent schools in the towns of Monrovia, Caldwell, and Millsburgh. They adopted a thorough system of instruction, which is now in successful operation. There are two female schools, conducted on liberal principles, one of which was established by a lady in Philadelphia, who sent out the necessary books and teachers. It is said, there is not a child or youth in the colony but is provided with an appropriate school. Some of these schools have valuable libraries. There is a public library at Monrovia, which contains between 1,200 and 2,000 volumes. A printing press is in operation there, issuing a weekly and well-conducted gazette, the Liberia Herald. It is interesting to look over this sheet, and see the various advertisements, notices of auctions, parades, marriages — together with its marine list — as if the print were issued from the midst of an old and long established community." In addition to the numerous common schools, a plan was some years ago set on foot (and, we trust, carried into operation) by the American Society ‘for the promotion of Education in Africa,’ for establishing a college in Liberia, where all the higher branches of learning might be taught, and where young men might be fitted for the liberal professions.