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 LIBERIA LIBERIUS home. When he desires another wife, he goes to sea again. As he grows old he retires alto- gether from the ocean, and lives in ease and plenty supported by the labor of his wives, who cheerfully work to maintain him in com- fort. The Kroos are mostly idolaters, though they believe in one supreme God. A mission begun among them by the Presbyterian board of foreign missions, about 30 years ago, has been abandoned. The Grebos border upon the S. E. boundaries of the Kroos, and extend from Grand Sesters to the Cavally river, a distance of about 70 m. Christian missions have been in operation among them since 1834, their language has been reduced to writing, and a number of books have been published in it. The Mandingos are the most interesting and promising tribe in the territory of Liberia. They are found on the whole of the eastern fron- tier and extend back to the heart of Soodan ; and were the Liberian government further to extend its jurisdiction over them, it might ex- ert through them a powerful influence upon the interior. They have books and schools and mosques in every large town. They read and write, and many of them speak the Arabic language. Through their influenpe, Mohamme- danism has spread widely among the neighbor- ing tribes. The principal farming region of Liberia is on the banks of the St. Paul river. The chief staple is sugar, of which the crop in 1871 was estimated at 300,000 Ibs. Sugar is also the chief manufacture, but there are seve- ral woollen mills, and Marshall, at the mouth of the Junk river, is noted for the manufac- ture of lime from shells. There is a consider- able traffic carried on with the natives by the petty merchants, who buy palm oil, rice, cam- wood, skins, and other articles, for tobacco, powder, cheap cutlery, and cotton cloths. The more wealthy buy from these, and sell again to the English and American merchant vessels, or ship directly. The Liberians have built and manned about 30 coast traders, and they have a number of vessels engaged in commerce with Great Britain and the United States; and a steamer every six days connects the W. coast of Africa with Liverpool, England. The chief articles of export are palm oil, palm nuts, ivory, arrow-root, coffee, and sugar. Com- merce is carried on mainly with Great Brit- ain, the United States, Belgium, and Ham- burg. The republic has concluded commercial treaties with Great Britain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, Portugal, and Austria. The public revenue from 1866 to 1870 averaged $110,000, nearly the whole of which (about $95,000) is derived from customs duties. The chief items of public expenditure are those for the civil service ($40,000), the maintenance of an armed force ($13,000), and the administration of justice ($7,000). A public debt was for the first time contracted in 1871, when a loan of $500,000 at 7 per cent, interest, to be redeem- ed in 15 years, was issued in London at the 493 VOL. x. 26 price of 85 per cent. The constitution of the republic of Liberia provides for the main- tenance of the following fundamental prin- ciples: All men are born equally free in the right of enjoying and defending life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. All power of government is inherent in the people. Slavery shall not exist in the republic, or be coun- tenanced by any of its citizens. All elections shall be by ballot, and every male citizen pos- sessing real estate shall have the right of suf- frage. None but citizens may hold real estate in the republic. None but persons of color shall be admitted to citizenship, a provision which is intended to be of but temporary duration. The legislative body is styled "the legislature of Liberia," and is composed of a senate and a house of representatives. Each county is entitled to two senators, who are elected for a term of four years. Represen- tatives are elected biennially, every county be- ing entitled to one representative and an addi- tional one for every 10,000 inhabitants. The president is elected by the people for a term of two years. With the consent of the senate he appoints the secretaries of war, the navy, treasury, and state, the postmaster general, the judges, and many other officers civil and mili- tary. The judicial power is vested in a su- preme court and several subordinate courts. The republic owes its origin to the American colonization society (see COLONIZATION SOCIE- TY), which in 1820 sent the first colonists from the United States to the Sherbro islands, who eventually, however, settled at Cape Mesurado in 1822. In 1847 the declaration of indepen- dence was made, and a constitution adopted. The first president was Joseph Jenkins Roberts, who served for four terms (1848-'56). His suc- cessors have been Stephen Allen Benson (1856- '64), Daniel Basil Warner (1864-'8), James Spriggs Payne (1868-'9), and James Roye (1870- '71). Roye contracted a loan in England, and was on his return accused of having appropria- ted the money thus obtained for his own bene- fit and that of the members of the cabinet. A popular rising took place in Liberia ; the presi- dent was imprisoned, and an executive com- mittee intrusted with the government, until in May, 1871, the first president, J. J. Roberts, was again placed at the head of the govern- ment. As Roye attempted to assert his claims to the presidency by force, he was again im- prisoned. Having escaped, he was drowned at the beginning of 1872, while endeavoring to reach by swimming a steamer leaving for Liv- erpool. See " The Republic of Liberia," by G. S. Stockwell (New York, 1868), and "The Re- public of Liberia, its Status and its Field," by E. W. Blyden, a negro, professor in Fourah Bay college, Sierra Leone (" Methodist Quar- terly Review," New York, July, 1872). LIBERIUS, a saint and pope of the Roman Catholic church, born in Rome about 300, died there in 366. He was made a deacon by Sylvester I., and elected, against his will,