the natives and the slavers, but in some way had attributed the success of the colonists, to the United States. It is surprising how little is known about the Colony in England, even among that class who take a deep interest in all that concerns Africa, and, with all its simplicity, it is to them a subject very difficult of comprehension. The European ideas of colonies and colonial governments, are so totally inapplicable to Liberia, that person trained in those ideas finds himself completely at fault here, and is forced to become a learner on a subject with which he had supposed himself perfectly conversant. There is nowhere visible the strong arm of the mother country-the voice of her authority is not heard the signs of her patronage are wanting-the PEOPLE alone, in their weakness and simplicity, are the Government. This is what the European can neither understand nor tolerate; but it is, under God, the great secret of our success, and it is what will yet raise Liberia to an eminence among the nations of the earth, and make her the effective agent in the emancipation of Africa.. We cannot, I fear, hope for any co-operation in our plans of action from Englishmen, until they improve their political creed, and learn to put more trust in men. July 19th.-There are now twenty-five of the late emigrants down with the fever. No case considered dangerous. They are receiving every comfort and attention their situation requires. But, Dr. DAY has a severe task on his hands, and I fear will scarcely be able to bear up under he constant exertion he is obliged to make while in miserable health himself. I am with the highest respect and esteem, dear sir, Very respectfully yours, THOS. BUCHANAN. To HON SAMUEL WILKESON, General Agent LETTER FROM LIBERIA. MONROVIA, JULY 8TH, 1841. Mr. EDITOR, Just at the dawn of day, of Sa urday the 3d instant, the inhabitants were awakened with the deafening sound of a cannon from Central Fort, and scarcely had the unpleasant sensation occasioned by the disturbing of our slumbers passed over, before our attention was again called to a second discharge, and at the same moment, ou a lofty staff erecte for that purpose before the Government House, a large and beautiful American Flag was seen carelessly to unfurl its rich and ample folds to the noiseless motion of the breeze. At Central Fort and at Fort Norris the Liberia Flag was displayed, and the gentleness of the breeze would only permit us occasionally to notice the gracefulness of their folds. Every one knows perfectly well that the day was the one on which the Americans look with much delight and pleasure. It was the day on which they threw off the bonds of British oppression. It was the day from which they date their present independence. His Excellency the Governor, has invariably celebrated that day, and we have never hesitated to go with him heart and hand in doing so. In fact we are Americans, and whatever cause we may have to dislike some of their principles, we cannot resist the pleasure it affords, in witnessing and hearing of their demonstrations of joy on the occasion. At 9 o'clock, the troops from Caldwell, and New Georgia, joined those of this place, and marched to the parade ground, where His Excellency reviewed them. Many and various were the evolutions they performed the troops never looked better-the band performed their part well. The hour for the firing of the national salute having arrived, the troops were marched to Central Fort, when the firing of the salute commenced. Scarcely had the firing begun, when a circumstance transpired that went nigh to disturb the further performances of the day, and to cast a gloomy shade over all that had passed:-one of the guns went off while two young men were ramming it-they were seriously injured-every exertion was used to have them well attended to-they were placed under the care of the physicians. After the wounded men were disposed of, as well as they could be, the salute was continued and ended without further interruption or accident. When the troops were dismissed to dinner, the officers and the Reverend gentlemen of the place, and several American strangers, sat down to a very excellent dinner with the Governor at his house, and the troops were well provided for in the piazzas of the house, with every thing good in the eating line. Every thing went off well at dinner, and every one appeared to have enjoyed himself. Several toasts were drunk by citizens and strangers. After dinner, the Monrovia Light Infantry, commanded by Maj. YATES, fired a salute on the occasion from four small pieces of artillery, after which the troops were dismissed, with thanks for their prompt attention 10-day, &c., and a gun from Central Fort announced to us that the sun had set. In the evening, gentlemen and ladies passed the time very pleasantly at the Government House with His Excellency, where the band did justice to itself, in the lively and appropriate manner in which it performed its part; occasionally through the evening from Central Fort, fire-works could be seen ascending high in the air, and on the walls of the Fort various colors of light were seen burning very beautifully. The many agreeable things which took place, and caused the evening to pass pleasantly away, I have no time to mention. Suffice it to say, that all present were well pleased. Yours, &c.. ACCIDENT. The accident alluded to by our correspondent AFRICANUS, at the celebration of the 3d, was the untimely explosion of a piece of ordnance, as is supposed, from the removal of the person's thumb who was stopping the vent. The gun went off in the act of ramming the cylinder, and blew the two men from the wall of the fort, a height of about eight feet, down upon a very rocky place: both were severely burnt; one, beside the singeing, had the bones of the fore-arm fractured so near the wrist as to involve the joint. It is not certain whether it was from the force of the rammer, or from the fall, The other had his right hand entirely blown off, so that it was necessary to amputate the stump about midway of the fore-arm. This man also had received several other flesh wounds; the worst was above the knee, caused in the fall. This most unfortunate accident, marred the promised pleasures. of the day. It is very singular that neither of the injured persons were on duty; anxious to take a part in the celebration, they had volunteered after the firing had commenced. The colonial physician was just recovering from a week's illness, from fever, and was unable to perform the duties required on the occasion. He now tenders his thanks to Dr. GOHEEN, for his assistance on the occasion. Thanks are also due to Capt. RYAN, of the American bark Union, then in port, for his prompt and handy assistance. We are happy to state the wounded are still living, and hopes are entrtained of the recovery of the one most injured. No fears at all a enter tained of the other. We do not know enough about the firing of heavy guns, to give any opinion, but we are informed that there are rules, which, if strictly observed, no accident can occur- —from which it would appear that this, like every other accident of the kind, arose from carelessness or ignorance.-Liberia Herald. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN LIBERIA. LIBERIA is perhaps better supplied with the Gospel, than many places in Christendom. Including Cape Palmas, Liberia has a population of two thousand five hundred colonists, all told. The town and settlements of Millsburg, Caldwell, New Georgia, Monrovia, Marshall, Edina, Bassa Cove, Bexley, and Sinou; the whole having about two-thousand colonist inhabitants, and the Maryland Colony at Cape Palmas, with five hundred settlers. At and in the vicinity of those towns, the various christian denominations spend annually not less than sixty thousand dollars in missionary operations; supporting twenty or more foreign missionarics, and a great number of colonists as preachers, teachers, and assistants. The education of youth, is principally if not wholly in the hands of the missionary societies, as also the supplying the destitute and needy. METHODIST E. MISSION.-The missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has mission houses, school houses, and churches in nearly every town in the Colonies, and several houses and churches in native towns in all twelve or thirteen churches, five school houses, eight mission houses, several rented dwellings and school rooms, eleven schools, one seminary and twenty or more persons, the most of whom are heads of families, in its employ. Membership, nearly one thousand. BAPTIST CHURCH.-The Missionaries of the Baptist denomination have concentrated their efforts in and around Edina, where they have a fair membership. mission houses, schools and a press for publishing the Scriptures in the Bassa language, which they have already translated. They have a flourishing school of native youths. The Baptists have a church at Millsburgh, Caldwell, New Georgia, Monrovia, Edina, Bassa Cove, a missionary at Bexley, and we think a small society at Cape Palmas. The Baptist Churches above named, except at Edina and Bassa Cove, support themselves with a praiseworthy zeal, without foreign aid. Membership, three hundred. PRESBYTERIAN MISSION.-The Presbyterians have a flourishing mission at Fair Hope, Cape Palmas, under the superintendence of the Rev. J. LEIGHTON WILSON. The mission buildings at Fair Hope, include dwellings, school houses, church and other houses for the press, residence of the pupils, &c. At that place there is a school with nearly thirty boys and twenty girls, all natives; many of whom have made great proficiency, and a number have from time to time left the establishment with a fair education. Mr. WILSON with the assistance of the Protestant Episcopal missionaries, has published several elementary school books, also a dictionary, and is now engaged getting a part of the Holy Scriptures through the press; all the above having been translated into the Greybo language. They have mission stations at the native towns, Rocktown and Fishtown, and prospering schools at each. These stations are near Cape Palmas. The Presbyterians have a church at Monrovia, Edina and Fair Hope: the two former supported by the colonists. Memberships about fifty. PROT. EPISCOPAL MISSION.-This mission is located at Mount Vaughan, Cape Palmas, and having two native stations at some distance, called Graway, and Cavally. The mission buildings are said to be (for we have never visited Cape Palmas) commodious and elegant. They are comprised in dwellings, church, school houses, &c., &c. The schools at Mount Vaughan, Cavally, and Graway, are flourishing. The mission generally is prosperous and greatly prized by the citizens. The Episcopalians have no churches or schools in the colony except those above mentioned. Their operations are quite extensive, and all con centrated around Palmas. Membership not known-say thirty. Above we have given a short sketch of the various missionary establishments, now in Liberia. We have tried to be as accurate as possible, and will cheerfully correct any misstatement that may be detected: nay more, it will afford us pleasure to publish at length, the rise, and history, of any, or all, the mission stations in Liberia, if prepared and sent to us, by those who have charge of the same. We think our fellow laborers would greatly assist our common cause generally, by publishing in Africa's Luminary, such accounts and incidents as frequently occur in their re: pective departments, cheering and encouraging to themselves, and others. We invite them affectionately to do so.-Africa's Luminary. tó THE NIGER EXPEDITION. THE three steamers fitted out by the British Government, at an expense of not less than £60,000, to ascend the river Niger for benevolent and scientific purposes, came into our roadstead on the 5th instant. One of the vessels, the "Soudan," passed immediately out again, and went on her way, while the "Albert" and "Wilberforce" came to anchor, and remained with us until the evening of the 6th. The store ship was not a steamer, and was towed by the Albert. The steamers are all of iron, and are built with the greatest care for the comfort and health of the officers and men. Every department can be ventilated by means of fans attached to the engine, or, if requisite, the same machinery may be made to supply each, and all the parts of the vessel with medicated air. [Here follows a list of the officers of the Expedition.] Captain TROTTER, and the commander of the Wilberforce, with other officers, were on shore, but did not remain long enough to get such a view of our Colony as we could have wished, nor long enough to learn much of our plan of colonizing, or our system of Government. A number of the scientific corps were on shore-from one of whom we received the following note of their visit: "H. M. SHIP ALBERT, OFF MONROVIA, IN LIBERIA, "MY DEAR SIR,-I am much pleased with what I have seen of your interesting Colony; and feel assured that my gratification would have been still greater, hal I had an opportunity of remaining longer and seeing more of it. "Dr. STANGER, who has examined the Cape, of course in so short a period, superacially, says that the only rocks he found there were highly ferruginou sandstone, similar to the Sierra Leone sandstone, which to have been cut through by greenstone. At the landing place the greenstone appears is weathered to a great depth, and presents a curiously grooved appearance, evidently the result of aqeous action, a short way above te Governor's House. "Believe me, my dear sir, "Yours most respectfully, "J. O. McWILLIAM, M. D., "Surgeon H. M. S. Albert, Senior Surgeon of the Niger Expedition. "To Dr. DAY, Colonial Physician." It is with much pleasure we are able to announce the assurance of Capt. TROTTER, that the entire company was well. Mr. RALPH MOORE, a young man of this place, was employed, and proceeded with them. He is to be engaged as a cotton planter. The object of the expedition as shown by Capt. TROTTER, is to proceed up the Niger, with a view to obtain accurate geographical knowledge and surveys, and to form treaties with the various chiefs in its route, for the abolition of the traffic in slaves, and the establishment of a legitimate com merce. The immediate objects of the Society are, 1st, to make the Africans acquainted with the inexhaustible riches of their own soil, and to sedulously divert their attention to its cultivation, on a system of free labor. To convince them, moreover, of the unmeasurable superiority of agriculture and innocent commerce, even in point of profit over the slave trade, which excludes them 2. To instruct the natives in agriculture and practical science, by cultivating small portions of land as models for their imitation, to distribute agricultural implements, seeds, plants, &c., to introduce local and other improvements, and to suggest and facilitate the means of beneficially exchanging the produce of Africa for the manufactures of Europe. 3. To examine the principal languages of Africa, and reduce them, when possible, to a written form. 4. To investigate the diseases of the climate, and local peculiarities of Africa, for the benefit as well of natives as of foreign residents and travellers, to send out medicines and practitioners, and thus to separate the practice of medicine from the horrid superstitions now connected with it. 5. To co-operate by every means in its power with the Government expedition to the Niger, to report the progress, assist its operations, calculate the valuable information it may communicate, and generally to keep alive the interest of Great Britain in the suppression of the slave trade, and the welfare of Africa.-Liberia Herald. DEDICATION. The new Methodist E. Church at Edina, was dedicated to the worship of Almighty God, on Thursday the 17th of June, in a sermon by the Rev. A. HERRING, from the following words of the prophet Haggai: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." At the same time, the second quarterly meeting for the present year, on that station, took place; and we have been assured, that great peace rested upon the place, and that lasting good was accomplished. The new Church at Edina, is about fifty feet by thirty-five or forty feet. The precise dimensions, have not been given to us. The interior is neat, plain, and comfortable; is well seated, has a good pulpit and altar, and two ailes. The house is durably finished, and surmounted by a belfry, and bell. From the description given to us, it could not have cost less than ix hundred dollars; and we take pleasure in being able to chronicle, to she honor of the M. E. Church at Edina, that more than twothirds of the |