chief
magistrate and ambassador appeal to the leading courts of Europe. His
first effort, however, was directed toward obtaining alliance with the
United States. In America his reception was enthusiastic. But the
delicacy with which the dissension on the slavery question made it
necessary to handle every subject remotely bearing on that bone of
contention, prevented him from obtaining even the formal recognition of
Liberia. Roberts then determined by pleading his country's cause in
England to arouse compassion in the heart of the power from which there
was most to fear. Here substantial rewards met his efforts. His
prepossessing personality, tact, and statesmanlike qualities won many
friends.[12] With their support the recognition of Liberia as a
sovereign State was soon obtained, together with a commercial treaty
which left nothing to be desired. In further evidence of kindly
sentiment the English Government presented the young Republic with a
trim little cutter of four guns for coast protection. In France and
Belgium similar generous treatment was experienced, and Roberts was
conveyed home in triumph on the British man-of-war Amazon.

A second visit of Roberts to England, in 1852, four years later, to
adjust disputes with traders who claimed certain tracts of land, was
equally successful, and France, under Louis Napoleon, presented him with
arms and uniforms for the equipment of the Liberian troops. In 1852
Prussia also extended her friendship, soon followed by Brazil and the
free Hanse towns. In 1862, the necessity for cautious dealing with the
race question having passed away, the United States government at last
formally recognized the Republic, and Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Hayti
formed treaties in 1864. The consent of Portugal and Denmark in 1865,
and of Austria in 1867, brought Liberia into treaty relations with
nearly all the leading commercial nations.

The internal condition of the Republic during the first decade was one
of unprecedented growth and prosperity. The Colonization Society in
America was in a flourishing condition, and gained friends on every
side. Its receipts for the ten years were not far short of a million
dollars; and this generous means permitted the transportation, in the
same period, of over five thousand chosen emigrants. The accession of so
large a force of laborers added a new stimulus to the activity awakened
by self-government. Many new settlements were formed and all the older