n those of the people of the United States_. That is, you may take an
equal number of inhabitants from any section of the Union, and you will
find more drunkards, more profane swearers and Sabbath breakers, &c.,
than in Liberia. Indeed I know of no country where things are conducted
more quietly and orderly than in this colony; you rarely hear an oath,
and as to riots or breaches of the peace, I recollect of but one
instance, and that of a trifling nature, that has come under my notice
since I assumed the government of the colony. The Sabbath is more
strictly observed than I ever saw it in the United States.'--[Letter
from J. Mechlin, Jr. Governor of the Colony of Liberia.]

'I saw no intemperance, nor did I hear a profane word uttered by any
one.' [Letter of Capt. William Abels.]

If these statements be a true representation of the moral condition of
the colonists; if 'their morals are much better than those of the people
of the United States;' let us immediately bring back these expatriated
_missionaries_ to civilize and reform ourselves; for, according to our
own confession, we need their instruction and example as much as any
heathen nation. If these 'missionaries,' who, in this country, could
'scarcely be reached in their debasement by the heavenly light;' if
these 'most degraded, most abandoned beings on the earth,' have actually
risen up to this exalted height of intelligence and purity, in so brief
a period after a separation from ourselves, how desperately wicked and
corrupt does the fact make our own conduct appear!

[AB] Of this number, nearly three-fourths were free persons of color. If
the Society is anxious to emancipate the slaves, why does it not confine
its efforts exclusively to their transportation, seeing so many are
offered for that purpose? Doubtless the reply will be--'O, it is
important, in the incipient state of the colony, to send free persons of
color, because they are more intelligent and virtuous.' Ah! is it so?
What! give the preference to those whom it elsewhere brands as 'more
corrupt, depraved and abandoned than the slaves can be,' and who
'contribute greatly to the _corruption of the slaves_?' 'O!' it may
reply, 'a careful selection is made between the virtuous and
vicious--none are sent whose character is not reputable.' But what is to
become of this choice selection, when it is able (as it hopes to be) to
send off even as many as seventy thousand annually?

[AC] 'The expense of tra