We are perfectly serious in speaking of _Liberian Literature_. Yes--in
Liberia, a province on the coast of Africa, where, thirteen years and
a half ago, the tangled and pathless forest frowned in a silence
unbroken save by the roar of wild beasts, the fury of the tornado, the
whoop of the man-stealer, or the agonizing shrieks of his victims on
being torn from their homes to brave the horrors of the Middle Passage
and of the West Indies--in Liberia, the English language is now
spoken; the English spirit is breathed; English Literature exists; and
with it, exist those comforts, virtues, and pleasures, which the
existence of Literature necessarily implies.
Plantations--farm-houses--villages, built of brick, stone, and
wood--glass windows, carpeted floors, papered walls, and neat if not
elegant furniture--well-supplied tables--stores, filled with various
merchandize--churches, where neatly dressed throngs devoutly send up
the note of praise--bands of infantry and artillery, properly
organized, armed, and trained--schools, in which hundreds are inducted
into the pleasant pathway of knowledge--and (the most expressive sign
of all) a NEWSPAPER, filled with instructive and entertaining
matter--all these, amid an industrious and thriving population of
three or four thousand, have taken place of the savage forest and its
unlovely concomitants. What heightens--indeed what _constitutes_ the
wonder--is, that the main _operatives_ in this great change are _not
white men_. The printer and the editor of the newspaper--the
merchants--most of the teachers and all the pupils--the owners and
cultivators of the farms--the officers and soldiers in the military
companies--the throng in the churches--are all _colored people_,
except some score of whites, whom the climate, generally fatal to
white men, spares yet awhile, as if in gratitude for their
benefactions to Africa.
What we especially had in view, however, when we began this article,
was neither rhapsody nor dissertation upon the march of Liberia to
prosperity and civilization--unparalleled as that march is, in the
annals of colonization--but a notice (a _critical notice_, if the
reader please) of the aforesaid newspaper; by way of _instancing_ the
literary condition of the settlement. Cowper calls a newspaper, "a map
of busy life--its fluctuations, and its vast concerns:" and indeed we
can imagine no surer index to the moral and intellectual character of
a people, than the 'folio of four pages,' which periodically ministers
to, and constantly takes its tone from, their prevailing tastes,
tempers, and opinions.--We have before us half a dozen numbers of the
"LIBERIA HERALD;" coming down to No. 4, of the sixth volume, dated
October 31, 1835, whence we learn that it has existed for more than
five years. It is printed on a sheet as large as many of our village
papers, and larger than several which we occasionally see.
Its contents (considering where, and by whom they are selected,
composed, and printed) are in the highest degree curious and
interesting.
The _shipping list_ for August, exhibits eleven arrivals, and six
departures--that for April, five arrivals, and three departures--for
February, 1835, six arrivals, and four departures--for October, three
arrivals, and two departures. In the August number, are four distinct
paragraphs, each mentioning a ship arrived with emigrants to the
colony.
A striking feature in the Herald, is the great quantity of original
matter which it contains--either editorial, or communicated. The
number whence the above quotation is made, has four columns of
editorial articles; and three sensible communications from
correspondents--one of them detailing the murderous attack of the
natives, in June last, upon the new settlement at Edina. Another tells
of an excursion, on which we dare say it will please our readers to
accompany the "peregrinator." If he does twaddle, he twaddles to the
full as agreeably as many correspondents of American newspapers, and
more usefully.
"_For the Liberia Herald_.
"Mr. Editor: I was induced, a few days since, by special invitation,
to visit Caldwell. The occasion was one of the most honorable: the
interchange of conjugal vows; the celebration of the nuptials of a
couple, who conscious of mutual affection, made their offering at the
hymeneal altar. The ceremonies were performed at 7 o'clock, P.M.;
after which, the company (small but agreeable) enjoyed the flow of
soul and social innocent merriment, until 9, when the happy pair
returned, and the company dispersed. I repaired to Mr. Snetter's
quarters, where I obtained lodging, comfortable in itself, but
rendered much more so, by his peculiarly agreable manners. After
breakfast, on the ensuing day, we peregrinated the settlement. Mr.
Jameison's farm particularly attracted my attention. The quantity of
land he has under cultivation, as also the advanced state of the
produce, equally excited astonishment. He has potatoes, cassada,
beans, peas, and rice, &c., growing with a luxuriance that I never
before witnessed in this country. The cultivation of the latter
article has not been much attended to, until lately; its culture has
been supposed to be attended with so much difficulty and labor, as to
deter from the attempt. The apprehension however, was groundless, and
the perseverance of Messrs. Palm and Nixon, has given us evidence, in
the most extensive field of rice ever before cultivated in this
country, that the difficulties are such only as attend every
experiment where there is the want of resolution to undertake it. The
settlement of Caldwell is assuming the feature of a regular, farming
village. The Agency Farm under the management of Mr. Snetter, is in
forward condition.