Chapter 8

(J. A. H.)

LIBANIUS(A.D.314-393), Greek sophist and rhetorician, was born at Antioch, the capital of Syria. He studied at Athens, and spent most of his earlier manhood in Constantinople and Nicomedia. His private classes at Constantinople were much more popular than those of the public professors, who had him expelled in 346 (or earlier) on the charge of studying magic. He removed his school to Nicomedia, where he remained five years. After another attempt to settle in Constantinople, he finally retired to Antioch (354). Though a pagan, he enjoyed the favour of the Christian emperors. When Julian, his special patron, restored paganism as the state religion, Libanius showed no intolerance. Among his pupils he numbered John Chrysostom, Basil (bishop of Caesarea) and Ammianus Marcellinus. His works, consisting chiefly of orations (including his autobiography), declamations on set topics, letters, life of Demosthenes, and arguments to all his orations are voluminous. He devoted much time to the classical Greek writers, and had a thorough contempt for Rome and all things Roman. His speeches and letters throw considerable light on the political and literary history of the age. The letters number 1607 in the Greek original; with these were formerly included some 400 in Latin, purporting to be a translation, but now proved to be a forgery by the Italian humanist F. Zambeccari (15th century).

Editions: Orations and declamations, J. J. Reiske (1791-1797); letters, J. C. Wolf (1738); two additional declamations, R. Förster (Hermes, ix. 22, xii. 217), who in 1903 began the publication of a complete edition;Apologia Socratis, Y. H. Rogge (1891). See also E. Monnier,Histoire de Libanius(1866); L. Petit,Essai sur la vie et la correspondance du sophiste Libanius(1866); G. R. Sievers,Das Leben des Libanius(1868); R. Förster,F. Zambeccari und die Briefe des Libanius(1878). Some letters from the emperor Julian to Libanius will be found in R. Hercher,Epistolographi Graeci(1873). Sixteen letters to Julian have been translated by J. Duncombe (The Works of the Emperor Julian, i. 303-332, 3rd ed., London, 1798). The oration on the emperor Julian is translated by C. W. King (in Bohn’s “Classical Library,” London, 1888), and that in Defence of the Temples of the Heathen by Dr Lardner (in a volume of translations by Thomas Taylor, from Celsus and others, 1830). See further J. E. Sandys,Hist. of Classical Scholarship, i. (1906), and A. Harrent,Les Écoles d’Antioche(1898).

LIBATION(Lat.libatio, fromlibare, to take a portion of something, to taste, hence to pour out as an offering to a deity, &c.; cf. Gr.λείβειν), a drink offering, the pouring out of a small quantity of wine, milk or other liquid as a ceremonial act. Such an act was performed in honour of the dead (Gr.χοαί, Lat.profusiones), in making of treaties (Gr.σπονδή, σπένδειν=libare, whenceσπονδαί, treaty), and particularly in honour of the gods (Gr.λοιβή, Lat.libatio,libamentum,libamen). Such libations to the gods were made as part of the daily ritual of domestic worship, or at banquets or feasts to the Lares, or to special deities, as by the Greeks to Hermes, the god of sleep, when going to rest.

LIBAU(Lettish,Leepaya), a seaport of Russia, in the government of Courland, 145 m. by rail S.W. of Riga, at the northern extremity of a narrow sandy peninsula which separates Lake Libau (12 m. long and 2 m. wide) from the Baltic Sea. Its population has more than doubled since 1881 (30,000), being 64,505 in 1897. The town is well built of stone, with good gardens, and has a naval cathedral (1903). The harbour was2 m. S. of the town until a canal was dug through the peninsula in 1697; it is now deepened to 23 ft., and is mostly free from ice throughout the year. Since being brought, in 1872, into railway connexion with Moscow, Orel and Kharkov, Libau has become an important port. New Libau possesses large factories for colours, explosives, machinery belts, sails and ropes, tobacco, furniture, matches, as well as iron works, agricultural machinery works, tin-plate works, soap works, saw-mills, breweries, oil-mills, cork and linoleum factories and flour-mills. The exports reach the annual value of £3,250,000 to £5,500,000, oats being the chief export, with flour, wheat, rye, butter, eggs, spirits, flax, linseed, oilcake, pork, timber, horses and petroleum. The imports average £1,500,000 to £2,000,000 annually. Shipbuilding, including steamers for open-sea navigation, is on the increase. North of the commercial harbour and enclosing it the Russian government made (1893-1906) a very extensive fortified naval port, protected by moles and breakwaters. Libau is visited for sea-bathing in summer.

The port of Libau,Lyra portus, is mentioned as early as 1263; it then belonged to the Livonian Order or Brothers of the Sword. In 1418 it was burnt by the Lithuanians, and in 1560 it was mortgaged by the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order, to which it had passed, to the Prussian duke Albert. In 1701 it was captured by Charles XII. of Sweden, and was annexed to Russia in 1795.

See Wegner,Geschichte der Stadt Libau(Libau, 1898).

LIBELandSLANDER,the terms employed in English law to denote injurious attacks upon a man’s reputation or character by words written or spoken, or by equivalent signs. In most early systems of law verbal injuries are treated as a criminal or quasi-criminal offence, the essence of the injury lying not in pecuniary loss, which may be compensated by damages, but in the personal insult which must be atoned for—a vindictive penalty coming in the place of personal revenge. By the law of the XII. Tables, the composition of scurrilous songs and gross noisy public affronts were punished by death. Minor offences of the same class seem to have found their place under the general conception ofinjuria, which included ultimately every form of direct personal aggression which involved contumely or insult. In the later Roman jurisprudence, which has, on this point, exercised considerable influence over modern systems of law, verbal injuries are dealt with in the edict under two heads. The first comprehended defamatory and injurious statements made in a public manner (convicium contra bonos mores). In this case the essence of the offence lay in the unwarrantable public proclamation. In such a case the truth of the statements was no justification for the unnecessarily public and insulting manner in which they had been made. The second head included defamatory statements made in private, and in this case the offence lay in the imputation itself, not in the manner of its publication. The truth was therefore a sufficient defence, for no man had a right to demand legal protection for a false reputation. Even belief in the truth was enough, because it took away the intention which was essential to the notion ofinjuria. The law thus aimed at giving sufficient scope for the discussion of a man’s character, while it protected him from needless insult and pain. The remedy for verbal injuries was long confined to a civil action for a money penalty, which was estimated according to the gravity of the case, and which, although vindictive in its character, doubtless included practically the element of compensation. But a new remedy was introduced with the extension of the criminal law, under which many kinds of defamation were punished with great severity. At the same time increased importance attached to the publication of defamatory books and writings, thelibriorlibelli famosi, from which we derive our modern use of the word libel; and under the later emperors the latter term came to be specially applied to anonymous accusations or pasquils, the dissemination of which was regarded as peculiarly dangerous, and visited with very severe punishment, whether the matter contained in them were true or false.

The earlier history of the English law of defamation is somewhat obscure. Civil actions for damages seem to have been tolerably frequent so far back as the reign of Edward I. There was no distinction drawn between words written and spoken. When no pecuniary penalty was involved such cases fell within the old jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts, which was only finally abolished in the 19th century. It seems, to say the least, uncertain whether any generally applicable criminal process was in use. The crime ofscandalum magnatum, spreading false reports about the magnates of the realm, was established by statutes, but the first fully reported case in which libel is affirmed generally to be punishable at common law is one tried in the star chamber in the reign of James I. In that case no English authorities are cited except a previous case of the same nature before the same tribunal; the law and terminology appear to be taken directly from Roman sources, with the insertion that libels tended to a breach of the peace; and it seems probable that that not very scrupulous tribunal had simply found it convenient to adopt the very stringent Roman provisions regarding thelibelli famosiwithout paying any regard to the Roman limitations. From that time we find both the criminal and civil remedies in full operation, and the law with regard to each at the present time may now be considered.

Civil Law.—The first important distinction encountered is that between slander and libel, between the oral and written promulgation of defamatory statements. In the former case the remedy is limited. The law will not take notice of every kind of abusive or defamatory language. It must be shown either that the plaintiff has suffered actual damage as a direct consequence of the slander, or that the imputation is of such a nature that we are entitled to infer damage as a necessary consequence. The special damage on which an action is founded for slanderous words must be of the nature of pecuniary loss. Loss of reputation or of position in society, or even illness, however clearly it may be traced to the slander, is insufficient. When we cannot prove special damage, the action for slander is only allowed upon certain strictly defined grounds. These are the imputation of a crime or misdemeanour which is punishable corporeally,e.g.by imprisonment; the imputation of a contagious or infectious disease; statements which tend to the disherison of an apparent heir (other cases of slander of title when the party is in possession requiring the allegation of special damage); the accusing a woman of unchastity (Slander of Women Act 1891); and, lastly, slanders directed against a man’s professional or business character, which tend directly to prejudice him in his trade, profession, or means of livelihood. In the latter case the words must either be directly aimed at a man in his business or official character, or they must be such as necessarily to imply unfitness for his particular office or occupation. Thus words which merely reflect generally upon the moral character of a tradesman or professional man are not actionable, but they are actionable if directed against his dealings in the course of his trade or profession. But, in the case of a merchant or trader, an allegation which affects his credit generally is enough, and it has been held that statements are actionable which affect the ability or moral characters of persons who hold offices, or exercise occupation which require a high degree of ability, or infer peculiar confidence. In every case the plaintiff must have been at the time of the slander in the actual exercise of the occupation or enjoyment of the office with reference to which the slander is supposed to have affected him.

The action for libel is not restricted in the same way as that for slander. Originally there appears to have been no essential distinction between them, but the establishment of libel as a criminal offence had probably considerable influence, and it soon became settled that written defamatory statements, or pictures and other signs which bore a defamatory meaning, implied greater malice and deliberation, and were generally fraught with greater injury than those made by word of mouth. The result has been that the action for libel is not limited to special grounds, or by the necessity of proving special damage. It may be founded on any statement which disparages a man’s private or professional character, or which tends to hold him up to hatred,contempt or ridicule. In one of the leading cases, for example, the plaintiff obtained damages because it was said of him that he was a hypocrite, and had used the cloak of religion for unworthy purposes. In another case a charge of ingratitude was held sufficient. In civil cases the libel must be published by being brought by the defendant under the notice of a third party; it has been held that it is sufficient if this has been done by gross carelessness, without deliberate intention to publish. Every person is liable to an action who is concerned in the publication of a libel, whether he be the author, printer or publisher; and the extent and manner of the publication, although not affecting the ground of the action, is a material element in estimating the damages.

It is not necessary that the defamatory character of the words or writing complained of should be apparent on their face. They may be couched in the form of an insinuation, or may derive their sting from a reference to circumstances understood by the persons to whom they are addressed. In such a case the plaintiff must make the injurious sense clear by an averment called an innuendo, and it is for the jury to say whether the words bore the meaning thus ascribed to them.

In all civil actions for slander and libel the falsity of the injurious statements is an essential element, so that the defendant is always entitled to justify his statements by their truth; but when the statements are in themselves defamatory, their falsity is presumed, and the burden of proving their truth is laid upon the defendant. There are however a large class of false defamatory statements, commonly called privileged, which are not actionable on account of the particular circumstances in which they are made. The general theory of law with regard to these cases is this. It is assumed that in every case of defamation intention is a necessary element; but in the ordinary case, when a statement is false and defamatory, the law presumes that it has been made or published with an evil intent, and will not allow this presumption to be rebutted by evidence or submitted as matter of fact to a jury. But there are certain circumstances in which the natural presumption is quite the other way. There are certain natural and proper occasions on which statements may be made which are in themselves defamatory, and which may be false, but which naturally suggest that the statements may have been made from a perfectly proper motive and with entire belief in their truth. In the cases of this kind which are recognized by law, the presumption is reversed. It lies with the plaintiff to show that the defendant was actuated by what is calledexpress malice, by an intention to do harm, and in this case the question is not one of legal inference for the court, but a matter of fact to be decided by the jury. Although, however, the theory of the law seems to rest entirely upon natural presumption of intention, it is pretty clear that in determining the limits of privilege the courts have been almost wholly guided by considerations of public or general expediency.

In some cases the privilege is absolute, so that we cannot have an action for defamation even although we prove express malice. Thus no action of this kind can be maintained for statements made in judicial proceedings if they are in any sense relevant to the matter in hand. In the same way no statements or publications are actionable which are made in the ordinary course of parliamentary proceedings. Papers published under the authority of parliament are protected by a special act, 3 & 4 Vict. c. 9, 1840, which was passed after a decree of the law courts adverse to the privilege claimed. The reports of judicial and parliamentary proceedings stand in a somewhat different position, which has only been attained after a long and interesting conflict. The general rule now is that all reports of parliamentary or judicial proceedings are privileged in so far as they are honest and impartial. Evenex parteproceedings, in so far as they take place in public, now fall within the same rule. But if the report is garbled, or if part of it only is published, the party who is injured in consequence is entitled to maintain an action, and to have the question of malice submitted to a jury.

Both absolute and qualified privilege are given to newspaper reports under certain conditions by the Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888. The reports must, however, be published in a newspaper as defined in the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881. Under this act a newspaper must be published “at intervals not exceeding twenty-six days.”

By s. 3 of the act of 1888 fair and accurate reports of judicial proceedings are absolutely privileged provided that the report is published contemporaneously with the proceedings and no blasphemous or indecent matter is contained therein. By s. 4 a limited privilege is given to fair and accurate reports (1) of the proceedings of abona fidepublic meeting lawfully held for a lawful purpose and for the furtherance and discussion of any matter of public concern, even when the admission thereto is restricted; (2) of any meeting, open either to the public or to a reporter, of a vestry, town council, school board, board of guardians, board of local authority, formed or constituted under the provisions of any act of parliament, or of any committee appointed by any of these bodies; or of any meeting of any commissioners authorized to act by letters patent, act of parliament, warrant under royal sign manual, or other lawful warrant or authority, select committees of either House of parliament, justices of the peace in quarter sessions assembled for administrative or deliberative purposes; (3) of the publication of any notice or report issued for the information of the public by any government office or department, officer of state, commissioner of police or chief constable, and published at their request. But the privilege given in s. 4 does not authorize the publication of any blasphemous or indecent matter; nor is the protection available as a defence if it be proved that the reports or notices were published maliciously, in the legal sense of the word, or the defendant has been requested to insert in the newspaper in which the report was issued a reasonable letter or statement by way of contradiction or explanation, and has refused or neglected to do so. Moreover, nothing in s. 4 is to interfere with any privilege then existing, or to protect the publication of any matter not of public concern, or in cases where publication is not for the public benefit. Consequently no criminal prosecution should be commenced where the interests of the public are not affected. By the Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888, s. 8, no criminal prosecution for libel is to be commenced against any newspaper proprietor, publisher or editor unless the order of a judge at chambers has been first obtained. This protection does not cover the actual writer of the alleged libel.

In private life a large number of statements are privileged so long as they remain matters of strictly private communication. It is difficult to define the limits of private privilege without extensive reference to concrete cases; but generally it may be said that it includes all communications made in performance of a duty not merely legal but moral or social, answers tobona fideinquiries, communications made by persons in confidential relations regarding matters in which one or both are interested, and even statements made within proper limits by persons in thebona fideprosecution of their own interest. Common examples of this kind of privilege are to be found in answer to inquiries as to the character of servants or the solvency of a trader, warnings to a friend, communications between persons who are jointly interested in some matters of business. But in every case care must be taken not to exceed the limits of publication required by the occasion, or otherwise the privilege is lost. Thus defamatory statements may be privileged when made to a meeting of shareholders, but not when published to others who have no immediate concern in the business.

In a few instances in which an action cannot be maintained even by the averment of malice, the plaintiff may maintain an action by averring not only malice but also want of reasonable and probable cause. The most common instances of this kind are malicious charges made in the ordinary course of justice and malicious prosecutions. In such cases it would be contrary to public policy to punish or prevent every charge which was made from a purely malicious motive, but there is no reason for protecting accusations which are not only malicious, but destitute of all reasonable probability.

Criminal Law.—Publications which are blasphemous, immoral or seditious are frequently termed libels, and are punishable both at common law and by various statutes. The matter, however, which constitutes the offence in these publications lies beyond our present scope. Libels upon individuals may be prosecuted by criminal information or indictment, but there can be no criminal prosecution for slander. So far as concerns the definition of libel, and its limitation by the necessity of proving in certain cases express malice, there is no substantial difference between the rules which apply to criminal prosecutions and tocivil actions, with the one important exception (now considerably modified) that the falsity of a libel is not in criminal law an essential element of the offence. If the matter alleged were in itself defamatory, the court would not permit inquiry into its truth. The sweeping application of this rule seems chiefly due to the indiscriminate use, in earlier cases, of a rule in Roman law which was only applicable to certain modes of publication, but has been supported by various reasons of general policy, and especially by the view that one main reason for punishing a libel was its tendency to provoke a breach of the peace.

An important dispute about the powers of the jury in cases of libel arose during the 19th century in connexion with some well-known trials for seditious libels. The point is familiar to readers of Macaulay in connexion with the trial of the seven bishops, but the cases in which it was brought most prominently forward, and which led to its final settlement, were those against Woodfall (the printer ofJunius), Wilkes and others, and especially the case against Shipley, the dean of St Asaph (21 St. Tr. 925), in which the question was fought by Lord Erskine with extraordinary energy and ability. The controversy turned upon the question whether the jury were to be strictly confined to matters of fact which required to be proved by evidence, or whether in every case they were entitled to form their own opinion upon the libellous character of the publication and the intention of the author. The jury, if they pleased, had it in their power to return a general verdict of guilty or not guilty, but both in theory and practice they were subject in law to the directions of the court, and had to be informed by it as to what they were to take into consideration in determining upon their verdict. There is no difficulty about the general application of this principle in criminal trials. If the crime is one which is inferred by law from certain facts, the jury are only concerned with these facts, and must accept the construction put upon them by law. Applying these principles to the case of libel, juries were directed that it was for the court to determine whether the publication fell within the definition of libel, and whether the case was one in which malice was to be inferred by construction of law. If the case were one in which malice was inferred by law, the only facts left to the jury were the fact of publication and the meaning averred by innuendoes; they could not go into the question of intention, unless the case were one of privilege, in which express malice had to be proved. In general principle, therefore, the decisions of the court were in accordance with the ordinary principles of criminal law. But there were undoubtedly some peculiarities in the case of libel. The sense of words, the inferences to be drawn from them, and the effect which they produce are not so easily defined as gross matters of fact. They seem to belong to those cases in which the impression made upon a jury is more to be trusted than the decision of a judge. Further, owing to the mode of procedure, the defendant was often punished before the question of law was determined. But, nevertheless, the question would scarcely have been raised had the libels related merely to private matters. The real ground of dispute was the liberty to be accorded to political discussion. Had the judges taken as wide a view of privilege in discussing matters of public interest as they do now, the question could scarcely have arisen; for Erskine’s whole contention really amounted to this, that the jury were entitled to take into consideration the good or bad intent of the authors, which is precisely the question which would now be put before them in any matter which concerned the public. But at that time the notion of a special privilege attaching to political discussion had scarcely arisen, or was confined within very narrow limits, and the cause of free political discussion seemed to be more safely entrusted to juries than to courts. The question was finally settled by the Libel Act 1792, by which the jury were entitled to give a general verdict on the whole matter put in issue.

Scots Law.—In Scots law there were originally three remedies for defamation. It might be prosecuted by or with the concurrence of the lord advocate before the court of justiciary; or, secondly, a criminal remedy might be obtained in the commissary (ecclesiastical) courts, which originally dealt with the defender by public retractation or penance, but subsequently made use of fines payable to their own procurator or to the party injured, these latter being regarded as solatium to his feelings; or, lastly, an action of damages was competent before the court of session, which was strictly civil in its character and aimed at the reparation of patrimonial loss. The first remedy has fallen into disuse; the second and third (the commissary courts being now abolished) are represented by the present action for damages or solatium. Originally the action before the court of session was strictly for damages—founded, not upon theanimus injuriandi, but upon culpa, and could be defended by proving the truth of the statements. But in time the court of session began to assume the original jurisdiction of the commissary courts, and entertained actions for solatium in which theanimus injuriandiwas a necessary element, and to which, as in Roman law, the truth was not necessarily a defence. Ultimately the two actions got very much confused. We find continual disputes as to the necessity for theanimus injuriandiand the applicability of the plea ofveritas convicii, which arose from the fact that the courts were not always conscious that they were dealing with two actions, to one of which these notions were applicable, and to the other not. On the introduction of the jury court, presided over by an English lawyer, it was quite natural that he, finding no very clear distinction maintained between damage and solatium, applied the English plea of truth as a justification to every case, and retained theanimus injuriandiboth in ordinary cases and cases of privilege in the same shape as the English conception of malice. The leading and almost only differences between the English and Scots law now are that the latter makes no essential distinction between oral and written defamation, that it practically gives an action for every case of defamation, oral or written, upon which in England a civil action might be maintained for libel, and that it possesses no criminal remedy. In consequence of the latter defect and the indiscriminate application of the plea of veritas to every case both of damages and solatium, there appears to be no remedy in Scotland even for the widest and most needless publication of offensive statements if only they are true.American Law.—American law scarcely if at all differs from that of England. In so far indeed as the common law is concerned, they may be said to be substantially identical. The principal statutes which have altered the English criminal law are represented by equivalent legislation in most American states.See generally W. B. Odgers,Libel and Slander; Fraser,Law of Libel and Slander.

American Law.—American law scarcely if at all differs from that of England. In so far indeed as the common law is concerned, they may be said to be substantially identical. The principal statutes which have altered the English criminal law are represented by equivalent legislation in most American states.

See generally W. B. Odgers,Libel and Slander; Fraser,Law of Libel and Slander.

LIBELLATICI,the name given to a class of persons who, during the persecution of Decius,A.D.250, evaded the consequences of their Christian belief by procuring documents (libelli) which certified that they had satisfied the authorities of their submission to the edict requiring them to offer incense or sacrifice to the imperial gods. As thirty-eight years had elapsed since the last period of persecution, the churches had become in many ways lax, and the number of those who failed to hold out under the persecution was very great. The procedure of the courts which had cognizance of the matter was, however, by no means strict, and the judges and subordinate officials were often not ill-disposed towards Christians, so that evasion was fairly easy. Many of those who could not hold out were able to secure certificates which gave them immunity from punishment without actually renouncing the faith, just as “parliamentary certificates” of conformity used to be given in England without any pretext of fact. It is to the persons who received such certificates that the namelibellaticibelonged (those who actually fulfilled the edict being calledthurificatiorsacrificati). To calculate their number would be impossible, but we know from the writings of Cyprian, Dionysius of Alexandria and other contemporaries, that they were a numerous class, and that they were to be found in Italy, in Egypt and in Africa, and among both clergy and laity. Archbishop Benson is probably right in thinking that “there was no systematic and regular procedure in the matter,” and that thelibellimay have been of very different kinds. They must, however, as a general rule, have consisted of a certificatefrom the authoritiesto the effect that the accused person had satisfied them. [The namelibellushas also been applied to another kind of document—to the letters given by confessors, or by those who were about to suffer martyrdom, to persons who had fallen, to be used to secure forgiveness for them from the authorities of the Church. With suchlibelliwe are not here concerned.] The subject has acquired a fresh interest from the fact that two of these actuallibellihave been recovered, in 1893 and 1894 respectively, both from Egypt; one is now in the Brugsch Pasha collection in the Berlin Museum; the other is in the collection of papyri belonging to the Archduke Rainer. The former is on a papyrus leaf about8 by 3 in., the latter on mere fragments of papyrus which have been pieced together. The former was first deciphered and described by Dr Fritz Krebs, the latter by Dr K. Wessely: both are given and commented upon by Dr Benson. There is a remarkable similarity between them: in each the form is that N. “was ever constant in sacrificing to the gods”; and that he now, in the presence of the commissioners of the sacrifices (οἱ ἡρημένοι τῶν θυσῶν), has both sacrificed and drunk [orhas poured libations], and has tasted of the victims, in witness whereof he begs them to sign this certificate. Then follows the signature, with attestations. The former of the two is dated, and the date must fall in the year 250. It is impossible to prove that either of the documents actually refers to Christians: they may have been given to pagans who had been accused and had cleared themselves, or to former Christians who had apostatized. But no doubtlibelliin this same form were delivered, in Egypt at least, to Christians who secured immunity without actual apostasy; and the form in Italy and Africa probably did not differ widely from this. The practice gave rise to complicated problems of ecclesiastical discipline, which are reflected in the correspondence of Cyprian and especially in the Novatian controversy.

See E. W. Benson,Cyprian(London, 1897);Theol. Literaturzeitung, 20th of January and 17th of March 1894.

(W. E. Co.)

LIBERandLIBERA,in Roman mythology, deities, male and female, identified with the Greek Dionysus and Persephone. In honour of Liber (also called Liber Pater and Bacchus) two festivals were celebrated. In the country feast of the vintage, held at the time of the gathering of the grapes, and the city festival of March 17th calledLiberalia(Ovid,Fasti, iii. 711) we find purely Italian ceremonial unaffected by Greek religion. The country festival was a great merry-making, where the first-fruits of the new must were offered to the gods. It was characterized by the grossest symbolism, in honour of the fertility of nature. In the city festival, growing civilization had impressed a new character on the primitive religion, and connected it with the framework of society. At this time the youths laid aside the boy’stoga praetextaand assumed the man’stoga liberaorvirilis(Fasti, iii. 771). Cakes of meal, honey and oil were offered to the two deities at this festival. Liber was originally an old Italian god of the productivity of nature, especially of the vine. His name indicated the free, unrestrained character of his worship. When, at an early period, the Hellenic religion of Demeter spread to Rome, Liber and Libera were identified with Dionysus and Persephone, and associated with another Italian goddess Ceres, who was identified with Demeter. By order of the Sibylline books, a temple was built to these three deities near the Circus Flaminius; the whole cultus was borrowed from the Greeks, down even to the terminology, and priestesses were brought from the Greek cities.

LIBERAL PARTY,in Great Britain, the name given to and accepted by the successors of the old Whig party (seeWhig and Tory), representing the political party opposed to Toryism or Conservatism, and claiming to be the originators and champions of political reform and progressive legislation. The term came into general use definitely as the name of one of the two great parties in the state when Mr Gladstone became its leader, but before this it had already become current coin, as a political appellation, through a natural association with the use of such phrases as “liberal ideas,” in the sense of “favourable to change,” or “in support of political freedom and democracy.” In this respect it was the outcome of the French Revolution, and in the early years of the 19th century the term was used in a French form; thus Southey in 1816 wrote about the “BritishLiberales.” But the Reform Act and the work of Bentham and Mill resulted in the crystallization of the term. In Leigh Hunt’s autobiography (1850) we read of “newer and more thorough-going Whigs ... known by the name of Radicals ... since called Liberals”; and J. S. Mill in 1865 wrote (from his own Liberal point of view), “A Liberal is he who looks forward for his principles of government; a Tory looks backward.” The gradual adoption of the term for one of the great parties, superseding “Whig,” was helped by the transition period of “Liberal Conservatism,” describing the position of the later Peelites; and Mr Gladstone’s own career is the best instance of its changing signification; moreover the adjective “liberal” came meanwhile into common use in other spheres than that of parliamentary politics,e.g.in religion, as meaning “intellectually advanced” and free from the trammels of tradition. Broadly speaking, the Liberal party stands for progressive legislation in accordance with freedom of social development and advanced ethical ideas. It claims to represent government by the people, by means of trust in the people, in a sense which denies genuine popular sympathy to its opponents. Being largely composed of dissenters, it has identified itself with opposition to the vested interests of the Church of England; and, being apt to be thwarted by the House of Lords, with attempts to override the veto of that house. Its old watchword, “Peace, retrenchment and reform,” indicated its tendency to avoidance of a “spirited” foreign policy, and to parsimony in expenditure. But throughout its career the Liberal party has always been pushed forward by its extreme Radical wing, and economy in the spending of public money is no longer cherished by those who chiefly represent the non-taxpaying classes. The party organization lends itself to the influence of new forces. In 1861 a central organization was started in the “Liberal Registration Association,” composed “of gentlemen of known Liberal opinions”; and a number of “Liberal Associations” soon rose throughout the country. Of these, that at Birmingham became, under Mr J. Chamberlain and his active supporter Mr Schnadhorst, particularly active in the ’seventies; and it was due to Mr Schnadhorst that in 1877 a conference was held at Birmingham which resulted in the formation of the “National Federation of Liberal Associations,” or “National Liberal Federation,” representing a system of organization which was dubbed by Lord Beaconsfield “the Caucus.” The Birmingham Caucus and the Central Liberal Association thus coexisted, the first as an independent democratic institution, the second as the official body representing the whips of the party, the first more advanced and “Radical,” the second inclined to Whiggishness. Friction naturally resulted, but the 1880 elections confirmed the success of the Caucus and consolidated its power. And in spite of the Home Rule crisis in 1886, resulting in the splitting off of the Liberal Unionists—“dissentient Liberals,” as Mr Gladstone called them—from the Liberal party, the organization of the National Liberal Federation remained, in the dark days of the party, its main support. Its headquarters were, however, removed to London, and under Mr Schnadhorst it was practically amalgamated with the old Central Association.

It is impossible here to write in detail the later history of the Liberal party, but the salient facts will be found in such articles as those on Mr Gladstone, Mr J. Chamberlain, Lord Rosebery, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Mr H. H. Asquith and Mr David Lloyd George.

See, apart from general histories of the period, M. Ostrogorski’sDemocracy and the Organization of Political Parties(Eng. trans. 1902).

LIBER DIURNUS ROMANORUM PONTIFICUM,or “Journal of the Roman Pontiffs,” the name given to a collection of formulae used in the papal chancellery in preparing official documents, such as the installation of a pope, the bestowal of the pallium and the grant of papal privileges. It was compiled between 685 and 751, and was constantly employed until the 11th century, when, owing to the changed circumstances of the Church, it fell into disuse, and was soon forgotten and lost. During the 17th century a manuscript of theLiberwas discovered in Rome by the humanist, Lucas Holstenius, who prepared an edition for publication; for politic reasons, however, the papal authorities would not allow this to appear, as the book asserted the superiority of a general council over the pope. It was, however, published in France by the Jesuit, Jean Garnier, in 1680, and other editions quickly followed.

The best modern editions are one by Eugène de Rozière (Paris, 1869) and another by T. E. von Sichel (Vienna, 1889), both of which contain critical introductions. The two existing manuscripts of theLiberare in the Vatican library, Rome, and in the library of St Ambrose at Milan.

LIBERIA,a negro republic in West Africa, extending along the coast of northern Guinea about 300 m., between the British colony of Sierra Leone on the N.W. and the French colony of the Ivory Coast on the S.E. The westernmost point of Liberia (at the mouth of the river Mano) lies in about 6° 55′ N. and 11° 32′ W. The southernmost point of Liberia, and at the same time almost its most eastern extension, is at the mouth of the Cavalla, beyond Cape Palmas, only 4° 22′ N. of the equator, and in about 7° 33′ W. The width of Liberia inland varies very considerably; it is greatest, about 200 m., from N.E. to S.W. The Liberia-Sierra Leone boundary was determined by a frontier commission in 1903. Commencing at the mouth of the river Mano, it follows the Mano up stream till that river cuts 10° 40′ W. It then followed this line of longitude to its intersection with N. latitude 9° 6′, but by the Franco-Liberian understanding of 1907 the frontier on this side was withdrawn to 8° 25′ N., where the river Makona crosses 10° 40’ W. The Liberian frontier with the adjacent French possessions was defined by the Franco-Liberian treaty of 1892, but as the definition therein given was found to be very difficult of reconciliation with geographical features (for in 1892 the whole of the Liberian interior was unmapped) further negotiations were set on foot. In 1905 Liberia proposed to France that the boundary line should follow the river Moa from the British frontier of Sierra Leone up stream to near the source of the Moa (or Makona), and that from this point the boundary should run eastwards along the line of water-parting between the system of the Niger on the north and that of the coast rivers (Moa, Lofa, St Paul’s) on the south, until the 8th degree of N. latitude was reached, thence following this 8th degree eastwards to where it cuts the head stream of the Cavalla river. From this point the boundary between France and Liberia would be the course of the Cavalla river from near its source to the sea. Within the limits above described Liberia would possess a total area of about 43,000 to 45,000 sq. m. But after deliberation and as the result of certain “frontier incidents” France modified her counter-proposals in 1907, and the actual definition of the northern and eastern frontiers of Liberia is as follows:—

Starting from the point on the frontier of the British colony of Sierra Leone where the river Moa or Makona crosses that frontier, the Franco-Liberian frontier shall follow the left bank of the river Makona up stream to a point 5 kilometres to the south of the town of Bofosso. From this point the frontier shall leave the line of the Makona and be carried in a south-easterly direction to the source of the most north-westerly affluent of the Nuon river or Western Cavalla. This line shall be so drawn as to leave on the French side of the boundary the following towns: Kutumai, Kisi Kurumai, Sundibú, Zuapa, Nzibila, Koiama, Bangwedu and Lola. From the north-westernmost source of the Nuon the boundary shall follow the right bank of the said Nuon river down stream to its presumed confluence with the Cavalla, and thenceforward the right bank of the river Cavalla down to the sea. If the ultimate destination of the Nuon is not the Cavalla river, then the boundary shall follow the right bank of the Nuon down stream as far as the town of Tuleplan. A line shall then be drawn from the southern outskirts of the town of Tuleplan due E. to the Cavalla river, and thence shall follow the right bank of the Cavalla river to the sea.(The delimitation commission proved that the Nuon does not flow into the Cavalla, but about 6° 30′ N. it flows very near the north-westernmost bend of that river. Tuleplan is in about lat. 6° 50′ N. The river Makona takes a much more northerly course than had been estimated. The river Nuon also is situated 20 or 30 m. farther to the east than had been supposed. Consequently the territory of Liberia as thus demarcated is rather larger than it would appear on the uncorrected English maps of 1907—about 41,000 sq. m.)

(The delimitation commission proved that the Nuon does not flow into the Cavalla, but about 6° 30′ N. it flows very near the north-westernmost bend of that river. Tuleplan is in about lat. 6° 50′ N. The river Makona takes a much more northerly course than had been estimated. The river Nuon also is situated 20 or 30 m. farther to the east than had been supposed. Consequently the territory of Liberia as thus demarcated is rather larger than it would appear on the uncorrected English maps of 1907—about 41,000 sq. m.)

It is at the southern extremity of Liberia, Cape Palmas, that the West African coast from Morocco to the southernmost extremity of Guinea turns somewhat abruptly eastwards and northwards and faces the Gulf of Guinea. As the whole coastline of Liberia thus fronts the sea route from Europe to South Africa it is always likely to possess a certain degree of strategical importance. The coast, however, is unprovided with a single good harbour. The anchorage at Monrovia is safe, and with some expenditure of money a smooth harbour could be made in front of Grand Basa.

Coast Features.—The coast is a good deal indented, almost all the headlands projecting from north-east to south-west. A good deal of the seaboard is dangerous by reason of the sharp rocks which lie near the surface. As most of the rivers have rapids or falls actually at the sea coast or close to it, they are, with the exception of the Cavalla, useless for penetrating far inland, and the whole of this part of Africa from Cape Palmas north-west to the Senegal suggests a sunken land. In all probability the western projection of Africa was connected by a land bridge with the opposite land of Brazil as late as the Eocene period of the Tertiary epoch. The Liberian coast has few lagoons compared with the adjoining littoral of Sierra Leone or that of the Ivory Coast. The coast, in fact, rises in some places rather abruptly from the sea. Cape Mount (on the northern side of which is a large lagoon—Fisherman Lake) at its highest point is 1050 ft. above sea level. Cape Mesurado is about 350 ft., Cape Palmas about 200 ft. above the sea. There is a salt lake or lagoon between the Cape Palmas river and the vicinity of the Cavalla. Although very little of the coast belt is actually swampy, a kind of natural canalization connects many of the rivers at their mouths with each other, though some of these connecting creeks are as yet unmarked on maps.Mountains.—Although there are patches of marsh—generally the swampy bottoms of valleys—the whole surface of Liberia inclines to be hilly or even mountainous at a short distance inland from the coast. In the north-east, French explorers have computed the altitudes of some mountains at figures which would make them the highest land surfaces of the western projection of Africa—from 6000 to 9000 ft. But these altitudes are largely matters of conjecture. The same mountains have been sighted by English explorers coming up from the south and are pronounced to be “very high.” It is possible that they may reach to 6000 ft. in some places. Between the western bend of the Cavalla river and the coast there is a somewhat broken mountain range with altitudes of from 2000 to 5000 ft. (approximate). The Pō range to the west of the St Paul’s river may reach in places to 3000 ft.Rivers.—The work of the Franco-Liberian delimitation commission in 1908-1909 cleared up many points connected with the hydrography of the country. Notably it traced the upper Cavalla, proving that that river was not connected either with the Nuon on the west or the Ko or Zo on the east. The upper river and the left bank of the lower river of the Cavalla are in French territory. It rises in about 7° 50′ N., 8° 30′ W. in the Nimba mountains, where also rise the Nuon, St John’s and Dukwia rivers. After flowing S.E. the Cavalla, between 7° and 6° N., under the name of Dugu, makes a very considerable elbow to the west, thereafter resuming its south-easterly course. It is navigable from the sea for some 80 m. from its mouth and after a long series of rapids is again navigable. Unfortunately the Cavalla does not afford a means of easy penetration into the rich hinterland of Liberia on account of the bad bar at its mouth. The Nuon (or Nipwe), which up to 1908 was described sometimes as the western Cavalla and sometimes as the upper course of the St John’s river, has been shown to be the upper course of the Cestos. About 6° 30′ N. it approaches within 16 m. of the Cavalla. It rises in the Nimba mountains some 10 m. S. of the source of the Cavalla, and like all the Liberian rivers (except the Cavalla) it has a general S.W. flow. The St Paul, though inferior to the Cavalla in length, is a large river with a considerable volume of water. The main branch rises in the Beila country nearly as far north as 9° N. under the name of Diani. Between 8° and 7° N. it is joined by the Wé from the west and the Walé from the east. The important river Lofa flows nearly parallel with the St Paul’s river and enters the sea about 40 m. to the west, under the name of Little Cape Mount river. The Mano or Bewa river rises in the dense Gora forest, but is of no great importance until it becomes the frontier between Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Dukwia and Farmington are tortuous rivers entering the sea under the name of the river Junk (Portuguese,Junco). The Farmington is a short stream, but the Dukwia is believed to be the lower course of the Mani, which rises as the Tigney (Tige), north of the source of the Cavalla, just south of 8° N. The St John’s river of the Basa country appears to be of considerable importance and volume. The Sino river rises in the Niete mountains and brings down a great volume of water to the sea, though it is not a river of considerable length. The Duobe rises at the back of the Satro Mountains and flows nearly parallel with the Cavalla, which it joins. The Moa or Makona river is a fine stream of considerable volume, but its course is perpetually interrupted by rocks and rapids. Its lower course is through the territory of Sierra Leone, and it enters the sea as the Sulima.Climate and Rainfall.—Liberia is almost everywhere well watered. The climate and rainfall over the whole of the coast region for about 120 m. inland are equatorial, the rainfall in the western half of the country being about 150 in. per annum and in the eastern half about 100 in. North of a distance of about 120 m. inland the climate is not quite so rainy, and the weather is much cooler during the dry season. This region beyond the hundred-miles coast belt is far more agreeable and healthy to Europeans.Forests.—Outside a coast belt of about 20 m. and south of 8° N. the country is one vast forest, except where the natives have cleared the land for cultivation. In many districts the land has been cleared and cultivated and then abandoned, and has relapsed into scrub and jungle which is gradually returning to the condition of forest. The densest forest of all would seem to be that known as Gora,which is almost entirely uninhabited and occupies an area of about 6000 sq. m. between the Pō hills and the British frontier. There is another very dense forest stretching with little interruption from the eastern side of the St Paul’s river nearly to the Cavalla. The Nidi forest is noteworthy for its magnificent growth ofFuntumiarubber trees. It extends between the Duobe and the Cavalla rivers. The extreme north of Liberia is still for the most part a very well-watered country, covered with a rich vegetation, but there are said to be a few breaks that are rather stony and that have a very well-marked dry season in which the vegetation is a good deal burnt up. In the main Liberia is the forest country par excellence of West Africa, and although this region of dense forests overlaps the political frontiers of both Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast, it is a feature of physical geography so nearly coincident with the actual frontiers of Liberia as to give this country special characteristics clearly marked in its existing fauna.Fauna.—The fauna of Liberia is sufficiently peculiar, at any rate as regards vertebrates, to make it very nearly identical with a “district” or sub-province of the West African province, though in this case the Liberian “district” would not include the northern-most portions of the country and would overlap on the east and west into Sierra Leone and the French Ivory Coast. It is probable that the Liberian chimpanzee may offer one or more distinct varieties; there is an interesting local development of the Diana monkey, sometimes called the bay-thighed monkey (Cercopithecus diana ignita) on account of its brilliant orange-red thighs. One or more species of bats are peculiar to the country—Vespertilio stampflii, and perhapsRoussettus büttikoferi; two species of shrew (Crocidura), one dormouse (Graphiurus nagtglasii); the pygmy hippopotamus (H. liberiensis)—differing from the common hippopotamus by its much smaller size and by the reduction of the incisor teeth to a single pair in either jaw, or occasionally to the odd number of three; and two remarkableCephalophusantelopes peculiar to this region so far as is known—these are the white-shouldered duiker,Cephalophus jentinki, and the zebra antelope,C. doriae, a creature the size of a small goat, of a bright bay brown, with broad black zebra-like stripes. Amongst other interesting mammals are four species of the long-hairedColobusmonkeys (black, black and white, greenish-grey and reddish-brown); the Potto lemur, fruit bats of large size with monstrous heads (Hypsignathus monstrosus); the brush-tailed African porcupine; several very brightly coloured squirrels; the scaly-tailed flyingAnomalurus; the common porcupine; the leopard, serval, golden cat (Felis celidogaster) in two varieties, the copper-coloured and the grey, possibly the same animal at different ages; the striped and spotted hyenas (beyond the forest region); two large otters; the tree hyrax, elephant and manati; the red bush pig (Potamochoerus porcus); the West African chevrotain (Dorcatherium); the Senegalese buffalo; Bongo antelope (Boocercus); large yellow-backed duiker (Cephalophus sylvicultrix), black duiker, West African hartebeest (beyond the forest), pygmy antelope (Neotragus); and three species ofManisor pangolin (M. gigantea,M. longicaudataandM. tricuspis).The birds of Liberia are not quite so peculiar as the mammals. There is the interesting white-necked guineafowl,Agelastes(which is found on the Gold Coast and elsewhere west of the lower Niger); there is one peculiar species of eagle owl (Bubo lettii) and a very handsome sparrow-hawk (Accipiter büttikoferi); a few sun-birds, warblers and shrikes are peculiar to the region. The other birds are mainly those of Senegambia and of the West African forest region generally. A common and handsome bird is the blue plantain-eater (Corythaeola). The fishing vulture (Gypohierax) is found in all the coast districts, but true vultures are almost entirely absent except from the north, where the small brownPercnopterusmakes its appearance. A flamingo (Phoeniconaias) visits Fisherman Lake, and there are a good many species of herons. Cuckoos are abundant, some of them of lovely plumage, also rollers, kingfishers and horn-bills. The last family is well represented, especially by the three forest forms—the elate hornbill and black hornbill (Ceratogymna), and the long-tailed, white-crested hornbill (Ortholophus leucolophus). There is one trogon—green and crimson, a brightly coloured ground thrush (Pitta), numerous woodpeckers and barbets; glossy starlings, the black and white African crow and a great variety of brilliantly coloured weaver birds, waxbills, shrikes and sun-birds.As regards reptiles, there are at least seven poisonous snakes—two cobras, two puff-adders and three vipers. The brilliantly coloured red and blue lizard (Agama colonorum) is found in the coast region of eastern Liberia. There are three species of crocodile, at least two chameleons (probably more when the forest is further explored), the large West African python (P. sebae) and a rare Boine snake (Calabaria). On the sea coast there is the leathery turtle (Dermochelis) and also the green turtle (Chelone). In the rivers and swamps there are soft-shelled turtle (TrionyxandSternothaerus). The land tortoises chiefly belong to the genusCynyxis. The fresh-water fish seem in their affinities to be nearly allied to those of the Niger and the Nile. There is a species ofPolypterus, and it is probable that theProtopterusor lung fish is also found there, though its existence has not as yet been established by a specimen. As regards invertebrates, very few species or genera are peculiar to Liberia so far as is yet known, though there are probably one or two butterflies of local range. The gigantic scorpions (Pandinus imperator)—more than 6 in. long—are a common feature in the forest. One noteworthy feature in Liberia, however, is the relative absence of mosquitoes, and the white ants and some other insect pests are not so troublesome here as in other parts of West Africa. The absence or extreme paucity of mosquitoes no doubt accounts for the infrequency of malarial fever in the interior.Flora.—Nowhere, perhaps, does the flora of West Africa attain a more wonderful development than in the republic of Liberia and in the adjoining regions of Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. This is partly due to the equatorial position and the heavy rainfall. The region of dense forest, however, does not cover the whole of Liberia; the Makona river and the northern tributaries of the Lofa and St Paul’s flow through a mountainous country covered with grass and thinly scattered trees, while the ravines and watercourses are still richly forested. A good deal of this absence of forest is directly due to the action of man. Year by year the influence of the Mahommedan tribes on the north leads to the cutting down of the forest, the extension of both planting and pasture and the introduction of cattle and even horses. In the regions bordering the coast also a good deal of the forest has disappeared, its place being taken (where the land is not actually cultivated) by very dense scrub. The most striking trees in the forest region are, in the basin of the Cavalla, the giantFuntumia elastica, which grows to an altitude of 200 ft.; various kinds ofParinarium,OldfieldiaandKhaya; the bombax or cotton tree, giant dracaenas, many kinds of fig;Borassuspalms, oil palms, the climbingCalamuspalms, and on the coast the coconut. The most important palm of the country perhaps is theRaphia vinifera, which produces the piassava fibre of commerce. There are about twenty-two different trees, shrubs and vines producing rubber of more or less good quality. These belong chiefly to the Apocynaceous order. In this order is the genusStrophanthus, which is represented in Liberia by several species, amongst othersS. gratus. ThisStrophanthusis not remarkable for its rubber—which is mere bird lime—but for the powerful poison of its seeds, often used for poisoning arrows, but of late much in use as a drug for treating diseases of the heart. Coffee of several species is indigenous and grows wild. The best known is the celebratedCoffea liberica. The kola tree is also indigenous. Large edible nuts are derived fromCoula edulisof the order Olacineae. The country is exceedingly rich in Aroids, many of which are epiphytic, festooning the trunks of tall trees with a magnificent drapery of abundant foliage. A genus much represented isCulcasia, and swampy localities are thickly set with the giantCyrtospermaarum, with flower spathes that are blotched with deep purple. Ground orchids and tree orchids are well represented;Polystachya liberica, an epiphytic orchid with sprays of exquisite small flowers of purple and gold, might well be introduced into horticulture for its beauty. The same might be said of the magnificentLissochilus roseus, a terrestrial orchid, growing to 7 ft. in height, with rose-coloured flowers nearly 1 in. long; there are other orchids of fantastic design in their green and white flowers, some of which have spurs (nectaries) nearly 7 in. long.Many trees offer magnificent displays of flowers at certain seasons of the year; perhaps the loveliest effect is derived from the bushes and trailing creepers of theCombretumgenus, which, during the “winter” months from December to March, cover the scrub and the forest with mantles of rose colour.Smaethmanniatrees are thickly set at this season with large blossoms of waxen white. Very beautiful also are the red velvet or white velvet sepals of theMussaendagenus. Bamboos of the genusOxytenantheraare indigenous. Tree ferns are found on the mountains above 4000 ft. The bracken grows in low sandy tracts near the coast. The country in general is a fern paradise, and the iridescent creepingSelaginella(akin toLycopodium) festoons the undergrowth by the wayside. The cultivated trees and plants of importance are, besides rubber, the manioc or cassada, the orange tree, lime, cacao, coffee, pineapple (which now runs wild over the whole of Liberia), sour sop, ginger, papaw, alligator apple, avocado pear, okro, cotton (Gossypium peruvianum—the kidney cotton), indigo, sweet potato, capsicum (chillie), bread-fruit, arrowroot (Maranta), banana, yam, “coco”-yam (Colocasia antiquorum, var.esculenta), maize, sorghum, sugar cane, rice and eleusine (Eleusine), besides gourds, pumpkins, cabbages and onions.Minerals.—The hinterland of Liberia has been but slightly explored for mineral wealth. In a general way it is supposed that the lands lying between the lower St Paul’s river and the Sierra Leone frontier are not much mineralized, except that in the vicinity of river mouths there are indications of bitumen. The sand of nearly all the rivers contains a varying proportion of gold. Garnets and mica are everywhere found. There have been repeated stories of diamonds obtained from the Finley Mountains (which are volcanic) in the central province, but all specimens sent home, except one, have hitherto proved to be quartz crystals. There are indications of sapphires and other forms of corundum. Corundum indeed is abundantly met with in the eastern half of Liberia. The sand of the rivers contains monazite. Graphite has been discovered in the Pō Hills. Lead has been reported from the Nidi or Niete Mountains. Gold is present in some abundance in the river sand of central Liberia, and native reports speak of the far interior as being rich in gold. Iron—haematite—is present almost everywhere. There are other indications of bitumen, besides those mentioned, in the coast region of eastern Liberia.

Mountains.—Although there are patches of marsh—generally the swampy bottoms of valleys—the whole surface of Liberia inclines to be hilly or even mountainous at a short distance inland from the coast. In the north-east, French explorers have computed the altitudes of some mountains at figures which would make them the highest land surfaces of the western projection of Africa—from 6000 to 9000 ft. But these altitudes are largely matters of conjecture. The same mountains have been sighted by English explorers coming up from the south and are pronounced to be “very high.” It is possible that they may reach to 6000 ft. in some places. Between the western bend of the Cavalla river and the coast there is a somewhat broken mountain range with altitudes of from 2000 to 5000 ft. (approximate). The Pō range to the west of the St Paul’s river may reach in places to 3000 ft.

Rivers.—The work of the Franco-Liberian delimitation commission in 1908-1909 cleared up many points connected with the hydrography of the country. Notably it traced the upper Cavalla, proving that that river was not connected either with the Nuon on the west or the Ko or Zo on the east. The upper river and the left bank of the lower river of the Cavalla are in French territory. It rises in about 7° 50′ N., 8° 30′ W. in the Nimba mountains, where also rise the Nuon, St John’s and Dukwia rivers. After flowing S.E. the Cavalla, between 7° and 6° N., under the name of Dugu, makes a very considerable elbow to the west, thereafter resuming its south-easterly course. It is navigable from the sea for some 80 m. from its mouth and after a long series of rapids is again navigable. Unfortunately the Cavalla does not afford a means of easy penetration into the rich hinterland of Liberia on account of the bad bar at its mouth. The Nuon (or Nipwe), which up to 1908 was described sometimes as the western Cavalla and sometimes as the upper course of the St John’s river, has been shown to be the upper course of the Cestos. About 6° 30′ N. it approaches within 16 m. of the Cavalla. It rises in the Nimba mountains some 10 m. S. of the source of the Cavalla, and like all the Liberian rivers (except the Cavalla) it has a general S.W. flow. The St Paul, though inferior to the Cavalla in length, is a large river with a considerable volume of water. The main branch rises in the Beila country nearly as far north as 9° N. under the name of Diani. Between 8° and 7° N. it is joined by the Wé from the west and the Walé from the east. The important river Lofa flows nearly parallel with the St Paul’s river and enters the sea about 40 m. to the west, under the name of Little Cape Mount river. The Mano or Bewa river rises in the dense Gora forest, but is of no great importance until it becomes the frontier between Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Dukwia and Farmington are tortuous rivers entering the sea under the name of the river Junk (Portuguese,Junco). The Farmington is a short stream, but the Dukwia is believed to be the lower course of the Mani, which rises as the Tigney (Tige), north of the source of the Cavalla, just south of 8° N. The St John’s river of the Basa country appears to be of considerable importance and volume. The Sino river rises in the Niete mountains and brings down a great volume of water to the sea, though it is not a river of considerable length. The Duobe rises at the back of the Satro Mountains and flows nearly parallel with the Cavalla, which it joins. The Moa or Makona river is a fine stream of considerable volume, but its course is perpetually interrupted by rocks and rapids. Its lower course is through the territory of Sierra Leone, and it enters the sea as the Sulima.

Climate and Rainfall.—Liberia is almost everywhere well watered. The climate and rainfall over the whole of the coast region for about 120 m. inland are equatorial, the rainfall in the western half of the country being about 150 in. per annum and in the eastern half about 100 in. North of a distance of about 120 m. inland the climate is not quite so rainy, and the weather is much cooler during the dry season. This region beyond the hundred-miles coast belt is far more agreeable and healthy to Europeans.

Forests.—Outside a coast belt of about 20 m. and south of 8° N. the country is one vast forest, except where the natives have cleared the land for cultivation. In many districts the land has been cleared and cultivated and then abandoned, and has relapsed into scrub and jungle which is gradually returning to the condition of forest. The densest forest of all would seem to be that known as Gora,which is almost entirely uninhabited and occupies an area of about 6000 sq. m. between the Pō hills and the British frontier. There is another very dense forest stretching with little interruption from the eastern side of the St Paul’s river nearly to the Cavalla. The Nidi forest is noteworthy for its magnificent growth ofFuntumiarubber trees. It extends between the Duobe and the Cavalla rivers. The extreme north of Liberia is still for the most part a very well-watered country, covered with a rich vegetation, but there are said to be a few breaks that are rather stony and that have a very well-marked dry season in which the vegetation is a good deal burnt up. In the main Liberia is the forest country par excellence of West Africa, and although this region of dense forests overlaps the political frontiers of both Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast, it is a feature of physical geography so nearly coincident with the actual frontiers of Liberia as to give this country special characteristics clearly marked in its existing fauna.

Fauna.—The fauna of Liberia is sufficiently peculiar, at any rate as regards vertebrates, to make it very nearly identical with a “district” or sub-province of the West African province, though in this case the Liberian “district” would not include the northern-most portions of the country and would overlap on the east and west into Sierra Leone and the French Ivory Coast. It is probable that the Liberian chimpanzee may offer one or more distinct varieties; there is an interesting local development of the Diana monkey, sometimes called the bay-thighed monkey (Cercopithecus diana ignita) on account of its brilliant orange-red thighs. One or more species of bats are peculiar to the country—Vespertilio stampflii, and perhapsRoussettus büttikoferi; two species of shrew (Crocidura), one dormouse (Graphiurus nagtglasii); the pygmy hippopotamus (H. liberiensis)—differing from the common hippopotamus by its much smaller size and by the reduction of the incisor teeth to a single pair in either jaw, or occasionally to the odd number of three; and two remarkableCephalophusantelopes peculiar to this region so far as is known—these are the white-shouldered duiker,Cephalophus jentinki, and the zebra antelope,C. doriae, a creature the size of a small goat, of a bright bay brown, with broad black zebra-like stripes. Amongst other interesting mammals are four species of the long-hairedColobusmonkeys (black, black and white, greenish-grey and reddish-brown); the Potto lemur, fruit bats of large size with monstrous heads (Hypsignathus monstrosus); the brush-tailed African porcupine; several very brightly coloured squirrels; the scaly-tailed flyingAnomalurus; the common porcupine; the leopard, serval, golden cat (Felis celidogaster) in two varieties, the copper-coloured and the grey, possibly the same animal at different ages; the striped and spotted hyenas (beyond the forest region); two large otters; the tree hyrax, elephant and manati; the red bush pig (Potamochoerus porcus); the West African chevrotain (Dorcatherium); the Senegalese buffalo; Bongo antelope (Boocercus); large yellow-backed duiker (Cephalophus sylvicultrix), black duiker, West African hartebeest (beyond the forest), pygmy antelope (Neotragus); and three species ofManisor pangolin (M. gigantea,M. longicaudataandM. tricuspis).

The birds of Liberia are not quite so peculiar as the mammals. There is the interesting white-necked guineafowl,Agelastes(which is found on the Gold Coast and elsewhere west of the lower Niger); there is one peculiar species of eagle owl (Bubo lettii) and a very handsome sparrow-hawk (Accipiter büttikoferi); a few sun-birds, warblers and shrikes are peculiar to the region. The other birds are mainly those of Senegambia and of the West African forest region generally. A common and handsome bird is the blue plantain-eater (Corythaeola). The fishing vulture (Gypohierax) is found in all the coast districts, but true vultures are almost entirely absent except from the north, where the small brownPercnopterusmakes its appearance. A flamingo (Phoeniconaias) visits Fisherman Lake, and there are a good many species of herons. Cuckoos are abundant, some of them of lovely plumage, also rollers, kingfishers and horn-bills. The last family is well represented, especially by the three forest forms—the elate hornbill and black hornbill (Ceratogymna), and the long-tailed, white-crested hornbill (Ortholophus leucolophus). There is one trogon—green and crimson, a brightly coloured ground thrush (Pitta), numerous woodpeckers and barbets; glossy starlings, the black and white African crow and a great variety of brilliantly coloured weaver birds, waxbills, shrikes and sun-birds.

As regards reptiles, there are at least seven poisonous snakes—two cobras, two puff-adders and three vipers. The brilliantly coloured red and blue lizard (Agama colonorum) is found in the coast region of eastern Liberia. There are three species of crocodile, at least two chameleons (probably more when the forest is further explored), the large West African python (P. sebae) and a rare Boine snake (Calabaria). On the sea coast there is the leathery turtle (Dermochelis) and also the green turtle (Chelone). In the rivers and swamps there are soft-shelled turtle (TrionyxandSternothaerus). The land tortoises chiefly belong to the genusCynyxis. The fresh-water fish seem in their affinities to be nearly allied to those of the Niger and the Nile. There is a species ofPolypterus, and it is probable that theProtopterusor lung fish is also found there, though its existence has not as yet been established by a specimen. As regards invertebrates, very few species or genera are peculiar to Liberia so far as is yet known, though there are probably one or two butterflies of local range. The gigantic scorpions (Pandinus imperator)—more than 6 in. long—are a common feature in the forest. One noteworthy feature in Liberia, however, is the relative absence of mosquitoes, and the white ants and some other insect pests are not so troublesome here as in other parts of West Africa. The absence or extreme paucity of mosquitoes no doubt accounts for the infrequency of malarial fever in the interior.

Flora.—Nowhere, perhaps, does the flora of West Africa attain a more wonderful development than in the republic of Liberia and in the adjoining regions of Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. This is partly due to the equatorial position and the heavy rainfall. The region of dense forest, however, does not cover the whole of Liberia; the Makona river and the northern tributaries of the Lofa and St Paul’s flow through a mountainous country covered with grass and thinly scattered trees, while the ravines and watercourses are still richly forested. A good deal of this absence of forest is directly due to the action of man. Year by year the influence of the Mahommedan tribes on the north leads to the cutting down of the forest, the extension of both planting and pasture and the introduction of cattle and even horses. In the regions bordering the coast also a good deal of the forest has disappeared, its place being taken (where the land is not actually cultivated) by very dense scrub. The most striking trees in the forest region are, in the basin of the Cavalla, the giantFuntumia elastica, which grows to an altitude of 200 ft.; various kinds ofParinarium,OldfieldiaandKhaya; the bombax or cotton tree, giant dracaenas, many kinds of fig;Borassuspalms, oil palms, the climbingCalamuspalms, and on the coast the coconut. The most important palm of the country perhaps is theRaphia vinifera, which produces the piassava fibre of commerce. There are about twenty-two different trees, shrubs and vines producing rubber of more or less good quality. These belong chiefly to the Apocynaceous order. In this order is the genusStrophanthus, which is represented in Liberia by several species, amongst othersS. gratus. ThisStrophanthusis not remarkable for its rubber—which is mere bird lime—but for the powerful poison of its seeds, often used for poisoning arrows, but of late much in use as a drug for treating diseases of the heart. Coffee of several species is indigenous and grows wild. The best known is the celebratedCoffea liberica. The kola tree is also indigenous. Large edible nuts are derived fromCoula edulisof the order Olacineae. The country is exceedingly rich in Aroids, many of which are epiphytic, festooning the trunks of tall trees with a magnificent drapery of abundant foliage. A genus much represented isCulcasia, and swampy localities are thickly set with the giantCyrtospermaarum, with flower spathes that are blotched with deep purple. Ground orchids and tree orchids are well represented;Polystachya liberica, an epiphytic orchid with sprays of exquisite small flowers of purple and gold, might well be introduced into horticulture for its beauty. The same might be said of the magnificentLissochilus roseus, a terrestrial orchid, growing to 7 ft. in height, with rose-coloured flowers nearly 1 in. long; there are other orchids of fantastic design in their green and white flowers, some of which have spurs (nectaries) nearly 7 in. long.

Many trees offer magnificent displays of flowers at certain seasons of the year; perhaps the loveliest effect is derived from the bushes and trailing creepers of theCombretumgenus, which, during the “winter” months from December to March, cover the scrub and the forest with mantles of rose colour.Smaethmanniatrees are thickly set at this season with large blossoms of waxen white. Very beautiful also are the red velvet or white velvet sepals of theMussaendagenus. Bamboos of the genusOxytenantheraare indigenous. Tree ferns are found on the mountains above 4000 ft. The bracken grows in low sandy tracts near the coast. The country in general is a fern paradise, and the iridescent creepingSelaginella(akin toLycopodium) festoons the undergrowth by the wayside. The cultivated trees and plants of importance are, besides rubber, the manioc or cassada, the orange tree, lime, cacao, coffee, pineapple (which now runs wild over the whole of Liberia), sour sop, ginger, papaw, alligator apple, avocado pear, okro, cotton (Gossypium peruvianum—the kidney cotton), indigo, sweet potato, capsicum (chillie), bread-fruit, arrowroot (Maranta), banana, yam, “coco”-yam (Colocasia antiquorum, var.esculenta), maize, sorghum, sugar cane, rice and eleusine (Eleusine), besides gourds, pumpkins, cabbages and onions.

Minerals.—The hinterland of Liberia has been but slightly explored for mineral wealth. In a general way it is supposed that the lands lying between the lower St Paul’s river and the Sierra Leone frontier are not much mineralized, except that in the vicinity of river mouths there are indications of bitumen. The sand of nearly all the rivers contains a varying proportion of gold. Garnets and mica are everywhere found. There have been repeated stories of diamonds obtained from the Finley Mountains (which are volcanic) in the central province, but all specimens sent home, except one, have hitherto proved to be quartz crystals. There are indications of sapphires and other forms of corundum. Corundum indeed is abundantly met with in the eastern half of Liberia. The sand of the rivers contains monazite. Graphite has been discovered in the Pō Hills. Lead has been reported from the Nidi or Niete Mountains. Gold is present in some abundance in the river sand of central Liberia, and native reports speak of the far interior as being rich in gold. Iron—haematite—is present almost everywhere. There are other indications of bitumen, besides those mentioned, in the coast region of eastern Liberia.

History and Population.—Tradition asserts that the Liberian coast was first visited by Europeans when it was reached by the Dieppois merchant-adventurers in the 14th century. The French in the 17th century claimed that but for the loss of the archives of Dieppe they would be able to prove that vessels from this Norman port had established settlements at Grand Basa, Cape Mount, and other points on the coast of Liberia. No proof has yet been forthcoming, however, that the Portuguese were not the first white men to reach this coast. The first Portuguese pioneer was Pedro de Sintra, who discovered and noted in 1461 the remarkable promontory of Cape Mount, Cape Mesurado (where the capital, Monrovia, is now situated) and the mouth of the Junk river. In 1462 de Sintra returned with another Portuguese captain, Sueiro da Costa, and penetrated as far as Cape Palmas and the Cavalla river. Subsequently the Portuguese mapped the whole coast of Liberia, and nearly all the prominent features—capes, rivers, islets—off that coast still bear Portuguese names. From the 16th century onwards, English, Dutch, German, French and other European traders contested the commerce of this coast with the Portuguese, and finally drove them away. In the 18th century France once or twice thought of establishing colonies here. At the end of the 18th century, when the tide was rising in favour of the abolition of slavery and the repatriation of slaves, the Grain Coast [so called from the old trade in the “Grains of Paradise” orAmomumpepper] was suggested once or twice as a suitable home for repatriated negroes. Sierra Leone, however, was chosen first on account of its possessing an admirable harbour. But in 1821 Cape Mesurado was selected by the American Colonization Society as an appropriate site for the first detachment of American freed negroes, whom difficulties in regard to extending the suffrage in the United States were driving away from a still slave-holding America. From that date, 1821, onwards to the present day, negroes and mulattos—freed slaves or the descendants of such—have been crossing the Atlantic in small numbers to settle on the Liberian coast. The great migrations took place during the first half of the 19th century. Only two or three thousand American emigrants—at most—have come to Liberia since 1860.

The colony was really founded by Jehudi Ashmun, a white American, between 1822 and 1828. The name “Liberia” was invented by the Rev. R. R. Gurley in 1824. In 1847 the American colonists declared their country to be an independent republic, and its status in this capacity was recognized in 1848-1849 by most of the great powers with the exception of the United States. Until 1857 Liberia consisted of two republics—Liberia and Maryland. These American settlements were dotted at intervals along the coast from the mouth of the Sewa river on the west to the San Pedro river on the east (some 60 m. beyond Cape Palmas). Some tracts of territory, such as the greater part of the Kru coast, still, however, remain without foreign—American—settlers, and in a state of quasi-independence. The uncertainty of Liberian occupation led to frontier troubles with Great Britain and disputes with France. Finally, by the English and French treaties of 1885 and 1892 Liberian territory on the coast was made continuous, but was limited to the strip of about 300 m. between the Mano river on the west and the Cavalla river on the east. The Sierra Leone-Liberia frontier was demarcated in 1903; then followed the negotiations with France for the exact delimitation of the Ivory Coast-Liberia frontier, with the result that Liberia lost part of the hinterland she had claimed. Reports of territorial encroachments aroused much sympathy with Liberia in America and led in February 1909 to the appointment by President Roosevelt of a commission which visited Liberia in the summer of that year to investigate the condition of the country. As a result of the commissioners’ report negotiations were set on foot for the adjustment of the Liberian debt and the placing of United States officials in charge of the Liberian customs. In July 1910 it was announced that the American government, acting in general agreement with Great Britain, France and Germany, would take charge of the finances, military organization, agriculture and boundary questions of the republic. A loan for £400,000 was also arranged. Meantime the attempts of the Liberian government to control the Kru coast led to various troubles, such as the fining or firing upon foreign steamships for alleged contraventions of regulations. During 1910 the natives in the Cape Palmas district were at open warfare with the Liberian authorities.

One of the most notable of the Liberian presidents was J. J. Roberts, who was nearly white, with only a small proportion of negro blood in his veins. But perhaps the ablest statesman that this American-Negro republic has as yet produced is a pure-blooded negro—President Arthur Barclay, a native of Barbados in the West Indies, who came to Liberia with his parents in the middle of the 19th century, and received all his education there. President Barclay was of unmixed negro descent, but came of a Dahomey stock of superior type.1Until the accession to power of President Barclay in 1904 (he was re-elected in 1907), the Americo-Liberian government on the coast had very uncertain relations with the indigenous population, which is well armed and tenacious of local independence. But of late Liberian influence has been extending, more especially in the counties of Maryland and Montserrado.

The president is now elected for a term of four years. There is a legislature of eight senators and thirteen representatives. The type of the constitution is very like that of the United States. Increasing attention is being given to education, to deal with which there are several colleges and a number of schools. The judicial functions are discharged by four grades of officials—the local magistrates, the courts of common pleas, the quarterly courts (five in number) and the supreme court.

The customs service includes British customs officers lent to the Liberian service. A gunboat for preventive service purchased from the British government and commanded by an Englishman, with native petty officers and crew, is employed by the Liberian government. The language of government and trade is English, which is understood far and wide throughout Liberia. As the origin of the Sierra Leonis and the Americo-Liberian settlers was very much the same, an increasing intimacy is growing up between the English-speaking populations of these adjoining countries. Order is maintained in Liberia to some extent by a militia.

The population of Americo-Liberian origin in the coast regions is estimated at from 12,000 to 15,000. To these must be added about 40,000 civilized and Christianized negroes who make common cause with the Liberians in most matters, and have gradually been filling the position of Liberian citizens.

For administrative purposes the country is divided into four counties, Montserrado, Basa, Sino and Maryland, but Cape Mount in the far west and the district round it has almost the status of a fifth county. The approximate revenue for 1906 was £65,000, and the expenditure about £60,000, but some of the revenue was still collected in paper of uncertain value. There are three custom-houses, or ports of entry on the Sierra Leone land frontier between the Moa river on the north and the Mano on the south, and nine ports of entry along the coast. At all of these Europeans are allowed to settle and trade, and with very slight restrictions they may now trade almost anywhere in Liberia. The rubber trade is controlled by the Liberian Rubber Corporation, which holds a special concession from the Liberian government for a number of years, and is charged with the preservation of the forests. Another English company has constructed motor roads in the Liberian hinterland to connect centres of trade with the St Paul’s river. The trade is done almost entirely with Great Britain, Germany and Holland, but friendly relations are maintained with Spain, as the Spanish plantations in Fernando Pō are to a great extent worked by Liberian labour.

The indigenous population must be considered one of the assets of Liberia. The native population—apart from the American element—is estimated at as much as 2,000,000; foralthough large areas appear to be uninhabited forest, other parts are most densely populated, owing to the wonderful fertility of the soil. The native tribes belong more or less to the following divisions, commencing on the west, and proceeding eastwards: (1) Vai, Gbandi, Kpwesi, Mende, Buzi and Mandingo (the Vai, Mende and Mandingo are Mahommedans); all these tribes speak languages derived from a common stock. (2) In the densest forest region between the Mano and the St Paul’s river is the powerful Gora tribe of unknown linguistic affinities. (3) In the coast region between the St Paul’s river and the Cavalla (and beyond) are the different tribes of Kru stock and language family—Dē, Basā, Gibi, Kru, Grebo, Putu, Sikoñ, &c. &c. The actual Kru tribe inhabits the coast between the river Cestos on the west and Grand Sesters on the east. It is known all over the Atlantic coasts of Africa, as it furnishes such a large proportion of the seamen employed on men-of-war and merchant ships in these tropical waters. Many of the indigenous races of Liberia in the forest belt beyond 40 m. from the coast still practise cannibalism. In some of these forest tribes the women still go quite naked, but clothes of a Mahommedan type are fast spreading over the whole country. Some of the indigenous races are of very fine physique. In the Nidi country the women are generally taller than the men. No traces of a Pygmy race have as yet been discovered, nor any negroes of low physiognomy. Some of the Krumen are coarse and ugly, and this is the case with the Mende people; but as a rule the indigenes of Liberia are handsome, well-proportioned negroes, and some of the Mandingos have an almost European cast of feature.

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