Liberia, geographically considered, is situated upon the West Coast of Africa, between the latitudes 4° 20´ and 7° 20´ north. It extends from the British Colony of Sierra Leone, on the northwest, to the Pedro river, on the southeast, a distance of 600 miles along the Coast, the interior boundary varying from 10 to 40 miles from the seaboard, an area of 9,700 square miles, every mile of which has been _purchased_ from the original proprietors. No war of conquest marks this gradual enlargement of territory or mars the record of the consequent progress. In 1873, the period of my last visit, Monrovia, the capital, had about 13,000 inhabitants. The total number of Americo-Liberians in the Republic at that time was estimated at 20,000, and 700,000 aborigines. The Americans are settled in sixteen towns, all of which have the characteristics of Monrovia, and are situated in propinquity to the sea. Millsburg, which is twenty miles up the St. Paul’s river, is an agricultural settlement. The most important of the native tribes is the Mandingo, which occupies nearly the whole of the eastern frontier of Liberia. These people are Mahomedans, and their influence extends into the interior of the Continent as far as Soudan. Travelers in Africa agree upon the fact that Mahomedanism is spreading over that land with marvelous strides. I ask your attention to this religious phenomenon in connection with the prospects of Liberia as a Christian community. If you believe that Christianity is to be the religion of the future in Africa, essential not only to her salvation but to her temporal welfare, then I beg you to consider Liberia as an important bulwark against the encroachment of the followers of the Prophet, and as a point from whence to start Christian propagandism into the heart of Africa. Most of the foreign settlements on the Coast are simply trading ports, and the duty of Christianizing the country is lost sight of in the pursuit of gain. Liberia, on the other hand, is a Christian community, established as such. Upon it and upon its friends devolves this positive mission, preaching the Gospel to the heathen. It is our duty to assist her in this mission by every means in our power. Liberia is the initial point for American effort in the Christianization of Africa. The tendency of all the African tribes is to approach the sea; most of the tribal wars are made on this account. To reach the “heach,” as they call it, to open trade with the white man is the great object of their ambition. To occupy the “heach,” therefore, to present there the bold front of Christianity, is to set back the tide of Mahomedanism and to bring within the peaceful influence of Christianity the pagan when, after his struggles, he reaches the sea. Among the other tribes living in the Liberian territory is the Grebo. This tribe occupies the land in the immediate vicinity of Cape Palmas and is the one now threatening that portion of the Republic with a war of extermination.