LIBERIA. 188 LIBER FONTIFICALIS. negro blood and own real estate. The natives generally do not avail themselves of the suH'ragc. Xo foreigner can own land without the eonsent of the Government. The coast territory is formed into the counties of Uassa, Cape Palmas. and .Sinoe. with one superintendent each, and Mont- serrado. with four superintendents. The capital is Monrovia (named after President ilonroe). There is a regular army of 1000 men. The militia number 500. The annual budget bal- ances at about .$200,000, the revenues being usually somewhat in excess of the expendi- tures. Customs duties furnish most of the re- ceipts. The interest on the jiuhlic external debt has been suspended most of the time since it was contracted in 1S71. In ISlll) an arrangement was made whereby the rate of interest was re- duced, the principal amortized, and certain du- ties given over as security for the obligation. Nevertheless the debt is again accunuilating tlirough non-payment of interest. Liberia also has an internal debt on which the arrears of in- terest are large. English money is used, but American money figures usually in the keeping of accounts. There is a l.ilicrian coinage and a rather large pajier currency. The weights and nieasires are as a rule British. The ofTicial lan- guage is English. The population is estimated to be about 2.000.- 000, some, however, putting it much lower. There are supposed to be aboit (iO.OOO American Liberians. ilonrovia has about oOOO population. Other towns are Harper, Great Bassa, and Rob- ertsport. The civilized inhabitants are orthodox Protestants, mostly Ejiiscopalians. The bulk of the natives are iloliammedans and belong chielly to the Xoi race. There are secondary schools, and a college. This experiment of negro self-government in Liberia cannot be pronounced a success, the ])olitics as well as the finances be- ing in a demoralized condition. Hlstorv. The State of Liberia owes its origin to the elforts of the National Colonization So- ciety of America (q.v.K organized in 181(5. for the purjiose of cidonizing in Africa the free peo- ple of color in the I'nited States. The first at- tempt to locate, which was made in Sherbro Isl- and south of .Sierra Leone (1S20), failed in con- sequence of the imhealthfulness of the locality; but in December. 1821. a treaty was concluded by Lieutenant Stockton with certain native princes, by which a tract of land fit for the purpose was acquired about Cape Mesurado. It was some weeks before the hostility of the natives, who were wedded to the slave trade, could be over- come, but in April, 1S22, active operations were begun on the mainland. . thirty-acre tract was allotted to each man with the means of cultivat- ing it. The society's agents became discouraged at the difficulties that were met and returned to America with a few faint-hearted ones: but the others rallied about a determined negro. Elijah .Tohnson. and remained. The colony was enlarged by the purchase of new tracts. New settlements were afterwards formed at Cape Monte and in the newly acqiired Bassa Land, in which, in 18.34. a town was founded, and called Edina. in acknowledgment of pecuniary aid sent to the colony from Edinburgh. Many of the neighbor- ing chiefs were received into the colony, and others were subdued. Trials of many kinds, de- privations, and dissensions, were the lot of the colony, managed by a society which did not fully know whether its aims were sentimental or jjractical. In 1847 Liberia was left to its own resources and declared an independent republic. The colony began to show more jirosperity ; numerous churches and schools were fuunded, a regular postal system was introduced, news- papers were established, and slavery in the neigh- boring States was abolished. BiULiooRAriiY. Wilson, Western Africa (Lon- ■ don, 1850) ; Hutchison, Impressions' of Western Africa (London, 1858); Valdez, .Six Years of a Traveler's Life in Western Africa (London, 18G1); Stockwell, The lieiJithlic of Liberia: Its (leogruphi/. Climate, <S'oi7, and I'roilueliiins (New York, 18U8) ; Johnston, .4/n'cn (London, 1882); dohnson. The Indepoulenec of Liberia (New Yoi-k, 1882) ; Wouvermans, Liberia, histoirc de la fondation d'lin ftat nigre librc (Brussels, 1885) ; Dutry, Liberia, son liistoire, sa constitu- tion et ses resources (Ghent, 1887) ; Bourziex, La repnbliquc de Liberia (Paris, 1887): But- tikofer, lieisfbilder ails Liberia (Leydcn, 18!)0) ; !McPherson, "History of Lilieria," Johns Hopkins Unirersili/ Studies, series ix., No. 10 (Baltimore, 1891 ) ; Blvden,.! Chapter in the Histori/ of Liberia (Freetown, 1802); Durham, The Lone Star of Liberia (London, 1893) ; Delafosse. In etat nigre. La rrpublique de Liberia (Paris, 1900). LIBE'KIUS. Pope 352-06. He was bom in Rome, but nothing is known of his history prior to his Pcmtificate, which fell in the stormiest period of the semi-Arian controversy. ( See Ari- vs.) The Emperor Constantius supported the semi-Arian party with all his authority: and the Council of Aries in 353, and that of Milan in 355. formally condemned Athanasius (q.v.), the great representative of the orthodox belief. Liberius refused to confirm this decree, and, even in opposition to the personal commands of Con- stantius, withheld his subscription. He was in consequence, in common with several others, de- posed and banished to Bera?a by the Emperor, who caused a Roman deacon, Felix, to be elected in his stead. He was restored to his see in 358, but the terms on which he was re- called are much disputed. He survived his re- turn from exile eight years, and died in high repute for sanctity at Rome. September 24, 306. In the sixth or seventh century the relations between Liberius and Felix were completely reversed, and Liberius was made out to be an antipope, a heretic, and a tyrant. The only remains of Liberius are some letters preserved by Constant in the Epistola Romanorum Ponti- ficiim (Paris, 1821), reprinted in Migne, Patrol. Lat., viii.. (ierman translation in Bihliothck der Kirehctiviiter (Kempten, 1870). In the Greek Church, Liberius is commemorated on August 27th : in the Latin, on September 23d. Consult Drdlin.L'cr. Pahstfnbehi (Munich, 1890). LI'BER PONTIFICA'LIS (Lat.. pontifical book). A history of the bishops of Rome pro- fessing to begin with the Apostle Peter and extending to Nicholas I. (807), with an addi- tion siiliscquently made of the times of Adrian II. and Stephen VI. (891). Anastasi'us. librarian of the Church under Nicolas I. and abbot of a convent in Rome, was formerly supposed by many to be the author of the book: but later investiga- tions have shown almnsT certainly that it existed before his time. The oldest materials now known that were used in the compilation of it were furnished by a list of the popes down to Liberius,
