authorizing the negotiation of a loan of $500,000.  The loan was placed in London on terms which netted only L85 per bond of L100, redeemable at par in 15 years and bearing interest at 7 per cent.  The amount thus offered was further reduced by the requirement that the first two years’ interest should be paid in advance.  From the remainder were deducted various agents’ commissions and fees, until at length the principal reached Monrovia sadly reduced in amount,—­not over $200,000.  And this soon disappeared without any visible result.  It is an old story; but in Liberia’s case it was particularly disastrous.  For with her little revenue, rarely exceeding $100,000, it soon became impossible to pay the $35,000 yearly interest on a debt for which she had practically received not a single advantage.  And this accumulating at compound interest has reached a magnitude absolutely crushing.  So desperate is her financial condition that many believe inevitable the fate which croaking prophets have long foretold, and against which she has struggled bravely—­absorption by England.

Serious as were the more remote effects of the financial blunder just considered, its immediate consequences brought upon the country a crisis which might have resulted in civil war.  Great dissatisfaction with the negotiation of the loan prevailed.  The Administration was severely criticised; serious accusations were brought against it.  While the excitement was at fever heat matters were complicated by an attempt of the Administration to prolong its hold of office, which precipitated the threatened outbreak.  For some years a Constitutional Amendment had been under consideration, lengthening the term of President and members of the Legislature.  The measure had been submitted to the people, and twice voted upon; but the result was a subject of dispute.  Roye and his party maintained that it had been duly carried and was a part of the organic law of the land; and that as a consequence his term did not expire until January, 1874.  A proclamation was issued forbidding the coming biennial elections to be held.

This action at once aroused violent opposition.  A strong party declared that the amendment had not been carried; and in any event could not be construed to apply to the present incumbent.  The proclamation was disregarded; the polls opened on the accustomed day; and the veteran Joseph J. Roberts, aptly called the epitome of Liberian history, was elected by large majorities.

Far from being subdued by the decided expression of popular will Roye and his supporters, with the spirit of the decemvirs of old, determined to maintain power at any hazard.  Roberts’s election was declared illegal, and of no effect.  Throughout the summer the two parties stood at daggers drawn.  At length the increasing strength of the opposition encouraged the thought of removing the President from office.  The legal method of impeachment seemed far too slow and uncertain for the temper of the times.  An excited convention was held in Monrovia, October 26, 1871, at which a “Manifesto” was adopted decreeing his deposition.  A few extracts disclose its character: