pon
which we must rely in the solution of the weighty problems connected
with the development of a dark continent, and with the civilization of
hundreds of millions of the human race. Many questions have arisen which
have not been settled to our complete satisfaction. Is the Negro capable
of receiving and maintaining a superimposed civilization? Froude
declares that "the worst enemies of the blacks are those who persist in
pressing upon them an equality which nature has denied them. They may
attain it in time if they are fairly treated, but they can attain it
only on condition of going through the discipline and experience of
hundreds of years, through which the white race had to pass before it
was fit for political rights. If they are raised to a position for which
they are unqualified, they can only fall back into a state of
savagery."[1] Upon the truth or error of this view how much depends! It
is shared by many; some even believe that the condition of Liberia tends
to confirm it, thinking they discern signs of incipient decay. But the
great preponderance of opinion is on the other side. The weight of
evidence shows the colonists have at the lowest estimate retained the
civilization they took with them. Many maintain that there has been a
sensible advance. A recent traveller describes them as "in mancher
Hinsicht schon hypercultivirt."

What might be called a third position is taken by one of the most
prominent writers of the race, E.W. Blyden, the widely-known President
of Liberia College. The radical difference in race and circumstance
must, he thinks, make African civilization essentially different from
European: not inferior, but different. The culture which the blacks have
acquired, or may attain in further contact with foreign influence, will
be used as a point of departure in future intelligent development along
lines following the characteristics of the race. This tendency to
differentiate he regards as natural and inevitable; it ought to be
recognized and encouraged in every way, that the time may be hastened
when a great negro civilization, unlike anything we have yet seen, shall
prevail in Africa and play its part in the world's history.

If we make allowance for the errors and mistakes of an untrained and
inexperienced people, the history of Liberia may be regarded as a
demonstration of the capacity of the race for self-government. Upon the
capability of individuals is reflected the highest credit. The