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Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. 



BV 3625 .M2 M57 1864 

Missions and martyrs in 
Madagascar 





RADAMA II. AND HIS QUEEN. 



y 



MISSIONS AND,M'ARTYRS 



IN 




NOV I'P 19^ 



MADAGASCAR 



And I saw imder the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word 
of God, and for the testimony Avhich they held, and white robes were 
given unto everj' one of them. — Rev. vi. 9-11. 




PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

28 CoRNHiLL, Boston. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18G4, by 

THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts, 



GEO. C. RAND & AVERY, 
8TKRKOTYPKRS AND PRINTERS, 



PREFACE. 



For one-third of a centuiy Madagascar has been, 
to the civilized world, the sealed land of tragic interest. 
That the Gospel had obtained a footing there, that the 
late cruel monarch was exerting all her power to destroy 
it, and that scenes of sublime faith and fortitude were 
being exhibited by the martyrs, was known ; but beyond 
this all was concealed beneath the impenetrable vail of 
secrecy and non-intercourse with the rest of the world 
within which the island was shrouded. 

But the vail has at length been lifted. The tyrant 
is dead, and we are permitted to visit again that remark- 
able country, and learn from the survivors of her cru- 
elty the thrilling tale of their sufferings. It is a new 
chapter of the triumphs of Christianity over its persecu- 
tors, and can not fail to be welcome to those who love 
to trace the evidences of its divine origin, and the sure 
protection afforded it by God's gracious Providence. 



Ill 



IV PREFACE. 

The authorities which have been consulted in the 
preparation of the work have been chiefly the writings 
of the missionaries, Rev. Messrs. Ellis, Freeman, and 
Johns, and especially a volume from the Mission House 
of the London Missionary Society, by Mr. Prout, 
entitled, " Madagascar, its Mission and Martyrs." 

Ed. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 

Situation of Madagascar — Dimensions — Central Mountains — For- 
ests — Vegetation — The Lowlands — The Hovas — Sakalavas — . 
Betsileos — Betanimenas — Wood-cutters — Charcoal-burners — 
Slav 9 



CHAPTER n. 

FEOM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 

Tamatave — Domestic Habits of the People — Slave- Traders — Jour- 
ney to the Capital — King's Permission required — The Sikidy — 
Palanquins — Beauty of the Country — The Traveler's Tree — 
Palm Trees — Weeping-place of the Hovas — Villages — Grana- 
ries — Tananarivo — The King — Reception at the Palace — No 
Sabbath — No Worship — Malagasy Gods 18 



CHAPTER ni. 

FIRST INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. 

Radama I. — His character — Attempts to convert him to Roman- 
ism — His Talents and Energy — The Isle of Mauritius — Embassy 
from Gov. Farquhar to Radama — Mr. Hastie — Efforts to abolish 
the Slave Trade — Treaty with the English — Slave-Traders' Depu- 
tation from Mauritius — They announce the Abrogation of this 
Treaty — Re establish the slave-trade — Radama's Indignation — 
Arrival of English missionaries — Settle at Tamatave —Their 
murder — Return of Gov. Farquhar to Mauritius — Mr. Hastie 

sent again to Radama — Joy of the latter 31 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER ly. 

DAWN OF CIVILIZATION. 

The Renewal of the Treaty urged — Distrust of the English — Op- 
position by the Chiefs and People — Kadama's Consent — The 
Conditions — Mr. Ilastie carries tlie Treaty to Mauritius — Katifl- 
cation by the British Government — Radama's Joy — Missionary 
Labors begun at tlie Capital — The First School — The new 
School-house — Arrival of Artisans and additional Missionaries — 
Improvements — Cutting of the Iving's Hair — Schools in the Dis- 
tricts—Influence of Mr. Hastie — Subjugation of the whole 
Island to Radama . . . 47 

CHAPTER V. 

PROGRESS AND REFORMS. 

Success of the Missionary Work — The Idols discredited — The Va- 
zimba dishonored — Complaints against the innovations — At- 
tendance of the King at the Schools — His ridicule of the Idols 
— Still, however, rejects the Gospel— Laws against Intemper- 
ance and Infanticide — Restriction of the Ordeal by Poison — 
Death of Mr. Hastie — Radama's Grief— Building? of New Pal- 
aces — Radama's Dissipation — His Sickness and Death — Procla- 
mation of Queen Ranavalona — The National Mourning — The 
Funeral and Tomb of Radama — His Character . . . 63 



CHAPTER VI. 

QUEEN RANAVALONA — PERSECUTION BEGUN. 

Suspension of Missionary Work — 3Iurdcr of Prince Rataffe and his 
Family — Breaking tlie Englisli Treaty — Expulsion of Mr. Lyall 
— Pupils of Schools drafted into the Army— Coronation of the 
Queen— Her personal appearance — General Puriflcation by the 
Tangena — Fear of the French — Baptism of Native Christians — 
Ra-poor-negro — Arrival of New Missionaries — Prosperity of the 
Schools — The Converted Idol-keeper— Circulation of the Scrip- 
tures — The Queen's Illness — Complaint against the Christians — 
Convocation of the Nation — Decrees against Christianity — De- 
parture of the Missionaries — Revival of Pagan Rites — Rafara- 
vavy "9 



CONTENTS. Vn 

CHAPTER VII. 

MARTYRDOMS. 

Brief respite of the Persecution — Death of a young Christian — 
Tlie Cruelties Renewed — Kafaravavy — Rasalama, the first Mar- 
tyr — Courag-e of Rafaralahy — His Arrest and Execution — 
Flight of Rafaravavy and her Companions — Itanimanina — Sec- 
ond Flight — Her Letter — Reaches Taraatave — Hardships and 
Dangers — Escape to Mauritius — The Queen incensed — Arrest 
of suspected Persons — Scourging — Martyrdom of Ravahiny — 
Of nine Christians — Efforts of Mr. Johns to mitigate the Perse- 
cution — Great Numbers reduced to Slavery — Continued Execu- 
tions Ill 

CHAPTER YIII. 

PRIN'CE RAKOTO FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 

A Contrast — Rakoto-Radama, Sou of the Queen, the Friend of 
the Christians — His Education and Character — His Mother's Af- 
fection for Him — An Admirer of Europeans — Mr. Laborde — 
Kindness to shipwrecked Sailors — Hated by the Heathen Party — 
Plots to kill Him — Renewed Persecutions — Accusations against 
the Christians — Trial and Condemnation — Fourteen thrown 
down a Precipice — Burning of the Nobles — Memory of the Mar- 
tyrs Cherished — Numbers fined and enslaved — Letter of a Na- 
tive Christian — "The Blood of the Martyrs the Seed of the 
Church" 132 

CHAPTER IX. 

VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 

News from Madagascar — Arrival of the Missionaries at Tamatave 
in 1853 — Eagerly Welcomed — The Fragment of the Psalms — 
Refused Permission to go to the Capital— Permission granted 
in 185G — Reception there —Audience with the Queen— Wel- 
comed by Prince Rakoto— Mr. Lambert — Designs of the Catho- 
lics — The Prince's Conversations with Mr. EUis — Excursions — 
The Queen's Dinner— Exhibition of Philosophical Instruments 
— Thirst for Knowledge — Influence of Mr. Ellis's Visit — His 
Dismissal by the Queen, and Departure 168 



VIII CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER X. 

CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN. 

Return of Mr. Lambert, with Madame Pfeiffer — Their Reception — 
Dinner of the Queen — Military Review — Madame Pfeiffer's Piano- 
forte Concert — Plotting of a Conspiracy at the House of Mr. La- 
borde — Madame Pfeiffer implicated — The Plot disclosed — The 
Prince detained in the Palace — Odium of the Conspiracy thrown 
upon the Christians — Fresh Persecutions — Flight of the Accused 
— Illness of Mr. Laborde — Cruelties inflicted on the People — De- 
cree of Banishment against the Europeans — Their Escort to the 
Coast — Terrible Sufferings — Escape to Mauritius — Four Years of 
Persecution — Letter of a native Pastor 179 



CHAPTER XI. 

ACCESSION OF RADAMA II. 

Death of Queen Ranavalona — Joy of the People — Abolition of all 
the persecuting Laws — Reappearance of the Christians — Mis- 
sionaries sent for — Messrs. LeBrun and Johns arrive — Rev. Mr. 
Ellis and Missionaries from England— Reopening of Schools — 
Embassies from the British and French Governments — Radama's 
Coronation — Rejoicings — Building of new Churches . . 20(\ 



CHAPTER Xn. 

radama's DISSIPATION AND DEATH. 

Disappointment of Hopes — The King's Love of Reveling and Intem- 
perance — Influenced by evil Companions — Jealousy of a Divine 
Rival — Superstitions — The Mena-Maso — Message from his An- 
cestors to stop the praying — The Heathen Plot to secure the As- 
sassination of the Christians — Radama's proposed Law of im- 
munity to Murderers — His Ministers alarmed — Troops sum- 
moned to resist the King's purpose — He is put to death in his 
Palace by the Nobles — Ruined by his Vices — Accession of Queen 
Uabodo to the Throne 215 



MISSIONS AND MAETYE8 



IK 



MADAGASCAR. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 

Situation of Madagascar — Dimensions — Central Mountains — For- 
ests — Vegetation — The Lowlands — The Hovas — Salcalavas — 
BetsUeos — Betanimenas — Wood-cutters — Charcoal-burners — 
Slaves. 

Far away in the Indian Ocean, opposite Mo- 
zambique on the African coast, lies a long is- 
land, larger than England and Ireland together. 
It began to attract the world's notice in the time 
of Columbus. 

Stand upon its central hights, and see what this 
island of Madagascar is like. Here is its greatest 
width, — three hundred miles. Far to the north 
and south, a stretch of nine hundred miles alto- 
gether, you see long mountain-ranges, which end in 
precipitous cliffs at the extremities of the island. 
Arms or spurs are thrown out toward the coast on 

9 



10 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

either side, some of them fairly reaching into the 
ocean, others abruptly cut off, or sinking into gen- 
tle slopes long before they get to the sea. 

Although you already stand six thousand feet 
above the ocean, on these hights of Ankovy, you 
may look away on either hand and see mountains 
rolling beyond and above, — mountains in long, blue 
ridges, — till, in the distance, you descry the peak of 
Ankaratra with its head in the clouds, six thou- 
sand feet above you, wearing sometimes an icy 
crown. And this in the latitude of Central Afri- 
ca ! But, on these lower ranges whence you look, 
the climate is like the soft summer air at home, 
and the granite rocks that start out from the green 
herbage, help the illusion. Here, ii; Ankovy, the 
mountains are spread out into broad table-lands 
and rolling hills, affording little else than stunted 
fig-trees ; but the vales below give growth to ex- 
tensive forests of ebony and mango-trees. Upon 
the very edges of cliffs that jut into the valley, or 
upon the crown of precipitous hills which rise, sol- 
itary, out of it, are perched villages that defy the 
approach of an enemy. 

Lower down than this, imagine the island encir- 
cled by a forest nearly forty miles wide, running 
riot over mountains and valleys, plains and ravines 
alike, and hiding within itself such a chaos of rock 



THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 11 

and wilderness that one might readily believe it a 
vast barricade, thrown up by besieged mountain 
giants. Tree ferns, tall bamboos, and huge old 
trees that have seemingly grown and grown since 
the world began, make up this magnificent girdle. 

Still farther down, imagine continuous terraces, 
lower ranges of hills, and valleys covered with the 
vegetation of everlasting summer ; vines that 
grow and twist till no one can find out where they 
begin or end ; gorgeous flowers, each large enough 
and beautiful enough for a royal baby's bonnet ; 
trees that shoot far up towards the clouds, and 
then burst into a cluster of nodding plumes, or 
spread themselves out like a gigantic fan. The 
whole is a covert for chattering monkeys and par- 
oquets, and a home for birds, so brightly colored 
that you might think the flowers had taken wings. 
Caves are hidden in the thickets, and cataracts 
dash over rocks, unseen till you stand on their 
banks ; and, in the sluggish reaches of the livers, 
crocodiles wait in the shaded nooks for prey. 

Looking still farther down at the foot of these 
magnificently clad hills, we see them nearly girt 
with a plain, alternately broad and narrow, as it 
meets the outlying mountain spurs. On one side 
of the rano-es it is dotted with a lonoj chain of 
lakes, and on the other, ribboned with rivers which 



12 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS, 

wind, some of them, a hundred miles across the 
plain into the sea. 

These wet and hot lowlands are loaded with 
luxuriant vegetation. Even the fallen logs give 
abounding life to a crowd of blooming parasites. 
Orchids, with large cream-colored flowers, sit tri- 
umphant on the topmost branches of bare, dead 
trees. Ferns cluster about prostrate trunks, hiding 
decay with their long drooping wings of green. 
Creepers are every where, swinging from one tall 
plant to another, and tying every thing together as 
if in a spirit of mischief. Out of all the matted 
mass rises the massive foliage of the mango-tree, 
the towering cocoa-palm, or the shining magnolia, 
tempting you with shade and rest. But sleep is 
not safe in this poisoned atmosphere; a deadly 
miasma rises from the rank vegetation. 

Parts of tlie coast-lands lie below the level of 
the ocean, but are protected from the overflow of 
the surf by a belt of sand-hills. You need not 
strain your sight across that wide stretch of ocean, 
thinking to catch a glimpse of Africa, for it is 
three hundred miles away, at the nearest point. 
Thus lapped in the ocean, skirted with burning 
sand, its lower hills glorying in tropical luxuriance, 
and its crowning mountains of granite and iron 



THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 13 

rising into the regions of sleet and ice, lies the 
land of the Radamas. 

Now let us stand on these same hights of An- 
kovy, and see who and what are the people. 
This central province is the most important one 
of the island, although the most sterile. Here is 
the capital and here the king. Civilization has 
begun to flourish, aided by law and by example, 
European residents choosing the place because 
of the salubrity of its climate. The people are 
called Hovas. They are enterprising, industrious, 
and shrewd. When not affected by mixture with 
other tribes, they are more like the Caucasian race 
than any other inhabitants of Madagascar. They 
are rather below medium stature, but are lithe and 
graceful, with soft curling hair, thin lips, and light 
olive complexions, being fairer often than the in- 
habitants of southern Europe. But other races 
have intermarried or become residents, and give 
a mixed population to the province of Ankovy. 
They all, however, bear the name of Hovas. They 
are not a numerous nor a warlike people, but, by 
the shrewd generalship of their king, and the use 
of English fire-arms, to which they held exclu- 
sive right, they conquered the principal of the 
twenty-two provinces which originally composed 



14 MISSJOI^S AND MARTYRS. 

Madagascar, and united them in one kingdom, 
subject to Radaraa. 

Look away now to the west and the north, over 
a wide country reaching from Ankovy to the sea, 
so fertile that its people have only to pluck and 
eat. These are the Sakalavas^ indolent in peace, 
but energetic and bold in war. Although dark as 
night, and having the crisped hair of the negro, 
their features are regular. Tall, straight, muscu- 
lar, with a firm, bold step and unembarrassed man- 
ner, a keen eye, and open manly countenance, 
they constitute the finest race in Madagascar. 
They have given proof of the best mental powers; 
and when civilization shall develop them, and 
when the gospel enables them to rise to their true 
superiority, they will doubtless become the masters 
of the island. 

Now, turn to the south ; beyond the blue moun- 
tains of Ankaratra, and at their base, nestles the 
province of the JBetsileos. Separated by these 
natural barriers from Ankovy, and isolated from 
the people of the coast by a wide desert, they 
see little of the busy throngs between the seaports 
and the capital. The chance sight of a European 
fills them with simple wonder. They peacefully 
cultiv£rte their lands, care for their cattle, and 
weave the long silk scarfs worn by the Hovas. 



TBE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 16 

Leading a quiet patriarchal life, they make no prog- 
ress beyond their ancestors, living and dying ex- 
actly as their fathers did, centuries ago. In per- 
son, they are copper- colored, heavy featured, and 
slight in stature. 

Down on the eastern coast is the province of 
Betanimena^ including a district of thicket and 
forest, of sand and marshes, of lowlands and 
mountains. The people are next the Hovas in 
complexion and feature, and, though stronger, are 
more indolent. They are, however, more cleanly 
in their habits. From this province, the coolies or 
burden-bearers are obtained to carry merchandise 
or other burdens from the coast to the capital. 

These, then, are the four distinct classes in Mad- 
agascar, — the Hovas, the Sakalavas, the Betsileos, 
and the Betanimenas, with every shade of color 
between black and light olive, but each, as tribes, 
retaining distinct peculiarities. Unitedly, they 
are called the Malagasy. 

But we have not yet noted all the people of this 
strange island. Further south, and on the coast, 
is the province of Matitanana, chiefly settled by 
Arabs who for centuries have traded with the 
Malagasy. Divinations, charms, fortune-telling, 
and similar superstitions have, from time imi?5emo- 
rial, prevailed among them to such an extent, that 



16 MISSIONS AND MARTTES. 

every act of a Malagasy, from his birth to his 
death, is regulated by these rites. 

Cast your eye back again to the boundaries of 
Ankovy, and look into the great forests that sur- 
round it. There live the wood-cutters, whose oc- 
cupation never changes. Generation after genera- 
tion they follow the same pursuits, live in the same 
huts, and learn just as much as their progenitors, 
hundreds of years ago. Their possessions can not 
increase, for, though they are reckoned freemen, 
they receive no pay for their labor. They hew 
for the king, and if they attempt escape, are pur- 
sued by soldiers and shot as criminals. The name 
of " The seven hundred" is given them. In the 
same forests are also the charcoal-burners, who, 
like the wood-cutters, follow the same occupation 
through life, and are forced to give their services 
to the government. Among the mountains, or 
scattered through the towns, or sometimes com- 
posing a village by themselves, are miners, iron- 
workers, and carpenters, who are also required to 
serve the king, without pay, and to bequeath their 
employment to their children. No one can obtain 
their services without the king's orders, nor indeed 
dream of requiring them to work, for every man, 
witlftiis own hands or by his slaves, forges his own 



THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 17 

tools, builds his house, or his ship, and hunts and 
weaves for himself. 

Below this class are the slaves. You may cast 
your eyes over the length and breadth of Mada- 
gascar, and find no spot free from the blight of 
domestic slavery. The bondmen are not a distinct 
race. The Hovas, the Betsileos, and the Sakalavas 
alike share in this lowly condition, each in turu 
made captives in war, and reduced to slavery as 
the penalty of becoming prisoners. Crimes are 
also punished by depriving the criminal of all his 
possessions, and making him and his descendants 
slaves forever. Sometimes, also, the Malagasy sell 
themselves and families for debt. Their condition, 
however, is less hard than that of the American 
slave. 

This, then, is the nation which for hundreds of 
years has bowed to idols and put its trust in 
charms, but which, during the last half-century, 
has caught the spirit of the world's progress, and 
is now advancinof toward a decent civilization. 
Above all, it has been honored by the presence 
of the Gospel, and consecrated by the blessing of 
the Holy Spirit. 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 

Tamatave — Domestic Habits of tlie People — Slave-Traders — Jour- 
ney to the Capital — King's Permission required — The Sikidy — 
Palanquins — Beauty of the Country — The Traveler's Tree — 
Palm Trees — Weeping-place of the Hovas — Villages — Grana- 
ries -^ Tananarivo — The King — Reception at the Palace — No 
Sabbath — Iso Worship — Malagasy Gods. 

The most convenient entrance to Madagascar 
is by the seaport of Tamatave, on the eastern 
coast. Landing there in 1808, the first year of 
the first king Radama's reign, you would have 
found a village composed of huts built of bamboo, 
the roofs made of the leaves of the traveler's tree, 
and the floors of strips of bark from the same tree. 
These houses have neither chimneys nor windows, 
so that you must endure smoke with patience, and 
depend upon the crowing of the cock in the cor- 
ner to know when it is daylight. You will get no 
breakfast, for no one eats breakfast in Madagascar ; 
but, judging by the sun when it is noon, the family 
then gather and seat themselves upon mats on the 
floor, on the west and north side of the fireplace. 
Bad luck would attend them the rest of the day 

18 



FHOM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 19 

if they sat elsewhere, — so they think. Then a slave 
goes around pouring water from a horn upon the 
hands of each person. In the midst of the group 
on the floor, is a stool about a foot high, sup- 
porting a dish on which is placed the dinner, con- 
sisting of rice. An invitation to dine means an 
invitation to eat rice with your host. If there 
happens to be a piece of meat, it is laid on the 
top of the rice; or if locusts, crocodile's eggs, silk- 
worms or fruit, — all the same, — they are laid on the 
rice. Earthenware basins, of native make, may 
possibly be placed on the floor for plates, but much 
more likely abroad fresh leaf answers the purpose. 
There is just one knife in the house to cut the 
meat, but no forks at all; the fingers being made 
to do the service of both. When every one has 
finished, water is poured into the pan in which the 
rice was cooked, and is boiled until discolored by 
the burnt rice. This, to them, delicious beverage, 
is passed to each person in the same basin. Then 
occurs the final ceremony of rinsing the mouth by 
pouring water from a horn into it, no one being 
allowed to touch the horn with his lips. 

Precisely the same ceremonies accompany the 
evening meal, and the evenings are spent in dan- 
cing, or smoking hemp, or sucking snuffj which is 
deposited under the tongue. The poorer people 



20 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

suspend their snuff-box from the neck or girdle. 
Persons of rank have a bearer or slave who car- 
ries the box, which consists of a short piece of 
bamboo, beautifully polished, and sometimes orna- 
mented with silver rings, and a gay silk tassel fast- 
ened to the neatly-fitting lid. The slave removes 
the lid and gives the cylinder to his master, who 
tosses a small quantity of the snuff into his mouth. 
Some of the villagers play at the game of " kick- 
ing backwards," and others throw bamboos at a 
target. The children sport with tops and jack- 
stones, and teach beetles to fight. 

Bat you have not yet seen all of Tamatave. 
There are some better houses belonging to the 
traders, who supply French and English ships w-ith 
cargoes of slaves. These are obtained from all 
the provinces of Madagascar, but principally from 
Ankovy, in exchange for goods or money. Besides 
this, the traders employ robbers, who live in the 
caves up in the forests and mountains, and who 
seize all the people they can waylay, and convey 
them to Tamatave. The traders sometimes lend 
a small sum of money to a salable looking man, 
ask twice its amount in interest, and, if he can not 
immediately pay it, take his body in payment, 
handcuff him, and stow him away, with hundreds 
of others in those warehouses yonder, till ready 



FROM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 21 

to put him into some ship's hold. Another mode 
is to invite a company of innocent ones, with gen- 
erous hospitality, and, in the midst of the enter- 
tainment, drop a trap-door and let them fall into a 
pit, where they are safely secured till they can be 
sent to a ship. These were the representatives of 
the civilized world in Madagascar, in 1808 ! 

If one wishes to leave this wretched village and 
go to Tananarivo, the capital of Ankovy and the 
only large town in Madagascar, it is necessary 
to send to the king for permission to enter his 
domains. Receiving this, natives are hired to car- 
ry the burdens, and four carry the traveler in a 
palanquin, or chair, supported on their shoulders. 
They have no carriages, never saw a horse, and if 
they had either, would find it difficult to get them 
over the swamps and lakes and steep mountains 
which are to be traversed. 

Before they start on the long journey, they must 
consult the"sikidy," — a kind of divination that 
reveals to them upon what day they should set 
out ; and they must also wear an " ody " or charm 
upon the person, in which they trust for preserva- 
tion from sickness or calamity by the way. 

When at last all are ready, the cavalcade files 
out of Tamatave, toils through a swamp and for- 
est filled with gorgeous flowers, then down rivers, 



22 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

across lakes, rice-fields, and through villages on the 
banks, till one is wearied with the jolting move- 
ment of the bearers and continual changing from 
boat to palanquin, and is glad to accept the hospi- 
tality of any native. This must be given with a 
good grace, for the king requires it. Sometimes 
he journeys in disguise, to ascertain how travelers 
are received, and punishes the inhospitable. But 
you must wait for the hour of the meals to come 
about, be you never so hungry. While you wait, 
you can watch the slave-girls drawing water. One 
well serves for many families. For a bucket, a 
bullock's horn is used ; and a string made of bark 
is the handle. It is lowered by hand, and when 
the horn comes up, trickling with its contents, you 
wonder where are the water-jars. Those bamboo 
canes, six or eight feet long, closed at one end, 
answer the purpose. No matter if it takes time to 
fill them, for nobody hurries in Madagascar. Each 
girl, after she fills her two elongated buckets, 
shoulders them and marches off with horn, rope, 
and all. If, in the evening, you choose to visit 
the chief of the village, you will be escorted home 
by slave-boys bearing a rude lantern, who make 
your way merry with the music of a native jew's- 
harp and little drum. Guests are always thus 
honored. 



FROM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 23 

The next day's journey is through a country 
that grows more magnificent at every step. Even 
the ditches in the villages are overgrown with rare 
plants and flowers, such as grace the conservato- 
ries of English lords ; and the trees offer fruits 
that make one loiter to taste. In passing the 
streams, you wonder at patches of delicate green 
lace, just beneath the surface. Lifting one, you 
find it to be a cluster of broad leaves, forming a 
circle of two or three feet, each leaf being an airy 
skeleton of thread-like fibers, " woven after a most 
regular pattern so as to resemble a piece of bright 
green lace or open needle-work." Their color is 
of every shade from pale to dark olive-green, deep- 
ening to brown and black. 

If you are overcome with heat and thirst, you 
have only to rest under the shade of the traveler's 
tree ; one of those straight trees that crown all the 
hills about you, rising thirty feet without a branch 
and spreading oat like a fan at the top. Each 
tree has only twenty-four leaves, but each leaf is 
six feet from base to tip, and the stem of equal 
lenf»:th. This stem forms a canal which conducts 
the rain from the leaf to a cavity near its union 
with the trunk, thus making twenty-four cisterns, 
each holding nearly a quart of pure water. The 
native has only to pierce it with a spear and a 



24 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS, 

fountain gushes forth. How wise and good is 
the Creator who thus provides for the wants of 
his creatures ! But the Mahigasy only thank their 
" ody " for it. This is not all its use. These same 
leaves make an excellent water-proof covering for 
the goods carried, and if one needs an impromptu 
house, tlie stems can be quickly made into walls, 
— the leaves answer for the roof, and the bark for 
the floor. The leaves are large enough, too, to 
serve for a table-cloth, strong enough for dishes, 
and are often folded into shape for spoons and 
cups. 

Rest beneath these- trees is doubly grateful, be- 
cause you are dizzy and weary and sore, with being 
tipped about in the palanquin as the bearers climb 
the slippery hills, and trot down into the muddy 
dales, which follow each other in so close a succes- 
sion that, but for the wonders of the road-side, you 
would be reminded of the sea and a plunging 
ship. These large palm-trees disappear after two 
or three days' journey, and you will see them far 
below and behind you as you climb loftier hills. 
How happy now, if one had only to enjoy the 
beauty of the flowers, the gracefulness of the 
feathery bamboo, the richness of cultivated spots, 
the sublime sight of the blue mountains rising into 
the clouds in the distant west, the luxuriant slopes 



FROM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 25 

bending clown to the east, and, at their feet, the 
rolling sea stretching away into the far line of the 
horizon. Happy, indeed ! but for these toiling 
creatures bearing the palanquin, as dark in soul as 
in body, and that host coming down from the 
mountains, chained together and bearing heavy 
burdens upon their heads, — two thousand of 
them ! What an army, to go at once into the suf- 
fering to which they are destined ! This spot, 
where they first catch sight of the sea, may well 
be called the " Weeping-place of the Hovas," for 
that sea will soon lie between them and their 
native land. And so all along the way, in compa- 
nies of from fifty to two thousand, you meet these 
"wretched captives ! How they came through that 
terrible belt of forest, is a mystery, for your bear- 
ers, if you can trust them, must climb the face of 
steeps by clinging to roots and branches of trees, 
and must toil over rocks and along paths that lead 
through holes filled with water, or down into wet 
and slippery ravines which, every moment, threat- 
en your fall. 

It is just here, when most needed, that the king's 
messengers begin to welcome you and bring fresh 
provisions. At last this dreary forest is left be- 
hind, the cooler hights are reached, lovely vales 
bend between the green hills, vast fields of rice 



26 ^MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

wave by the way-side, groves of great beauty oc- 
cur here and there, and villages multiply every 
where, perched on the cliffs, with paths winding 
across the ditches, up the steeps, and through the 
gateway in the wall which invariably surrounds 
the villages in Ankovy. They are fortresses, ev- 
ery one of them, and by this you may know you 
are among the Hovas. The houses are crowded 
together and there is hardly room for the palan- 
quin to be carried between them. They are bet- 
ter than those in the provinces below, in having 
windows and in being built of clay or stone. 
There are two apartments also. 

Do not be alarmed because the reception-room 
is already occupied. There, in one corner, is a 
pen for lambs, in another a pen for calves, and in 
a third are the ducks and chickens. Pass to the 
inner room where the husband is cooking the 
rice, and the wife sitting at a loom, weaving a silk 
lamha, which will be exceedingly pretty when it 
gets out of that queer fixture of sticks driven into 
the ground. The wife welcomes the guest by un- 
tying the loom, pulling up the sticks, rolling up 
the lamba and placing it in her rush basket, thus 
putting out of sight her occupation, and devoting 
herself to the service of the comer. Who could 
desire her to be more politely hospitable ? 



FROM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 27 

The chief of the village, and some of the peo- 
ple, will bring presents of fowl or rice or fruit, 
which must not be refused ; and before nig^ht 
a crowd of persons, much fairer than those in the 
province below, come to talk about the^ countries 
and people across the ocean, and to ask intelligent 
questions concerning all in your possession that is 
novel. 

Another day's journey takes you through a 
country of low hills and wide valleys covered 
with long grass or waving with rice-plants. Huge 
blocks of granite crop out here and there. Houses 
are frequent, and sometimes there is one of two 
stories, and the occupants come out upon a sort 
of parapet to see the strangers passing. INTear the 
houses are frequently tall granaries, looking quite 
like old-fashioned bee-hives that had taken a fancy 
to grow to a gigantic size, because the trees did 
so. A round hole at the top is the entrance, and 
a ladder outside affords access to it. When rice 
is wanted from it, a young slave-boy is let down 
into it, fills a basket, and is drawn up again. Other 
granaries are deep holes in the ground, with a 
mound of clay for the opening. If some timid 
mother takes you for a slave-dealer, she will hide 
her children here till the " cannibal " has passed ; 



28 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

for she believes, in her heart, that the children are 
stolen to be eaten. 

Yonder is the village of Ambatomanga, upon 
the summit of a cliff rising precii3itoasly, four 
hundred feet from the valley. Like all the villages, 
wide ditches and a mud wall enclose it. Clusters 
of trees adorn it, and the houses, with their steep, 
narrow roofs, thatched with grass, and rafters pro- 
jecting like horns at the gables, give it a strange 
aspect. On one side of the village, a mass of 
granite rises two hundred feet, and upon its very 
top is a solitary stone house. Passing it, you 
wind along a rolling plain somewhat resembling a 
prairie. Trees seem to have vanished altogether. 

At last, out of the valley rises an oval hill, a 
mile and a half long, and five hundred feet above 
the plain. Upon its rocky sides and summit is 
Tananarivo, " city of a thousand towns." Two 
irregular and difficult paths wind from the north 
and the east up the hill and through the place. 
On "the crown of the town" stands the palace 
of Radama, surmounted by a golden eagle with 
outspread wings, and in a line on either side 
stand the houses of the royal fimily, of the many 
wives of the king, and of the officers of the court. 
Below these, on narrow terraces, are the houses of 
the people, built chiefly of wood, thatched with 



FROM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 29 

grass, and indicating, by the length of the rafters, 
the rank of the occupant. The doors always face 
the west. 

Long before you reached the city, messengers, 
with a palanquin from the king, had been sent to 
bear you ; and now, at the foot of the hill, the 
stranger is met by officers of the court and an es- 
cort of dancing soldiers, and conducted up to the 
court-yard of the palace, which is crowded with 
singers and shell-blowers to honor the arrival. 

Radama I. stands upon the balcony, dressed in 
a costume half native, half Arab. He is not over 
five feet in hight, is slender in figure, has small 
hands and feet, light olive complexion, black curl- 
ing hair, an oval, smiling face and full under-lip. 
In his reception, you are astonished to find him a 
gentleman. Easy and unembarrassed in manner, 
cordial and agreeable in conversation, which is 
carried on through an interpreter, you feel that he 
is not a savage. 

Radama leads the way to a room lined with 
muskets, and himself seated on a kind of throne, 
offers you a stool covered with a white linen 
cloth. His ministers occupy mats upon the floor. 
You are puzzled to know the rank of the persons 
about you, and find that honor is bestowed by 
number ; so that if you are presented to a major in 



30 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

the army, you salute " Honor the 7th ; " or a 
Field-Marshal, "Honor the 13th," which is the 
highest. Civil officers receive the same numbers 
in the same order. The Malagasy word for honor 
signifies, "flower of the grass; " so that they must 
be perpetually reminded of its fleeting nature. 

The king assures his visitor again and again of 
his delight at receiving him, and, to prove it, sends 
immediately to have a house — yes, two or three 
houses — prepared for his immediate occupation. 
Do not imagine that, because a house is so easily 
built in the lower provinces, it can be spirited into 
existence so quickly here, for your comfort. There 
are no trees for the purpose, within forty miles, 
and every plank or unsplit tree must be dragged 
by men the whole distance. And these men are 
not the "seven hundred" that live in that great 
belt of forest, but the people of a district, or even 
whole village, who are commanded to go forth 
and draw timber for the king, for which service 
they neither expect nor receive pay. So be mer- 
ciful, and accept what is offered. One house is for 
your drawing and sleeping-room, a second for 
stores, and tlie third serves fc)r the kitchen. 

When fairly established, you are the recipient 
of as many gifts as ever bewildered a clergyman 
at a donation-party. Everybody is ready to oblige 



FROM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 31 

you; but your oiFer of money is received with 
doubt and shyness, lest you may prove, after all, 
a kidnapper. But, whoever comes, a black slave 
or a high officer of the court, a woman from the 
market-place, or a princess from the palace, — 
every one wears the same style of robe called the 
lamba. It is generally three or four yards long 
and two or three wide, is thrown gracefully over 
the shoulders, and hangs in loose folds nearly to 
the feet. A man throws it chiefly over the left, 
and a woman over the right shoulder. Its ma- 
terial and dimensions differ according to the rank 
of the wearer; those of the nobles being made of 
pure silk and of brilliant colors, while the poorer 
people made them of white cotton, or of coarse 
cloth manufactured from the banana or rofia tree. 
Thus you know precisely the grade of your 
visitor. 

As the days go by, and no Sabbaths come, you 
wonder where is the people's God. Is there 
never any rest from labor and never any wor- 
ship? ISTot an act of worship, even to an idol, did 
you see in the whole journey. To be sure, the 
bearers consulted the diviners, and exhausted 
your patience in counting and dividing beans, or 
sticks, or stones, to find out the lucky day for 
starting. They were careful to make an address 



32 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

to the crocodiles before crossing a lake or river, 
assuring them of having never done them harm; 
and tliey took pains to sit and sleep according to 
certain points of the compass. If commencing a 
house, the builder did not fail to begin it on a 
lucky day, and at the sacred northeast corner ; in 
all this, there was only superstition, — no act of 
true worship. 

If you could be admitted to one of the sacred 
villages, where the idol of the district is kept, you 
might see the house and speak to the keeper, but 
neither you nor the people would be allowed to 
look upon the itlol, which is always covered by a 
scarlet cloth, even when carried in public. Any 
one who desires a flivor of the idol, leaves an olFer- 
ing with the keeper. If you ask those simple 
slaves, carrying burdens, who made all things, they 
will tell you God. Or if you converse with one 
of the king's ministers, you will find that he ap- 
peals to God, and blesses in the name of God. At 
the same time, you will discover that he calls his 
king the " visible God, " and the book in your 
hand he will regard as God, because of its wonder- 
ful ability to speak to you without being heard. 
Rice and silk are indispensable to the comfort and 
enjoyment the Malagasy, therefore they are gods. 
Whatever fills them with awe or admiration, is a 



FROM THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL. 33 

god. Even the velvet you have brought as a 
present to the king excites wonder and admira- 
tion, and is styled the " son of god." 

" Oh that they knew the one living God and 
his son Jesus Christ, that they might not perish, 
but have everlasting life ! " is your earnest wish 
as they cluster around you. You long to bring 
the gospel quickly, that this great darkness may 
be dispelled from the minds of the people, and the 
chains of the oppressed be broken. God does not 
now work miraculously, but by means of his own 
people ; and, we shall see how he will lead men 
to prepare the way and make the paths straight^ 
that Christ may come in his glory; and see how 
he will use Radama, as an ax, to hew down the 
trees of iniquity that overshadow the nation. 



CHAPTER III. 

FIRST INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. 

Kadama I. — His character— Attempts to convert him to Roman- 
ism — His Talents and Energy — The Isle of Mauritius — Embassy 
from Gov. Farquhar to Radama — Mr. Hastie — Efforts to abolish 
the Slave Trade — Ti-eaty with the English — Slave-Traders' Dep- 
utation from Mauritius — They announce the Abrogation of this 
Treaty — Re establish the slave-trade — Radama's Indignation — 
Arrival of English missionaries — Settle at Tamatave — ITieir 
murder — Return of Gov. Farquhar to Mauritius — Mr. Hastie 
sent again to Radama — Joy of the latter. 

Radama the First, as you have just seen him in 
the beginning of his reign, was but sixteen years 
old; only a "beardless youth," as the chieftain of 
another province scornfully termed him. His 
morals were so pure that his father deemed it a 
sign of feeble character, and persons were em- 
ployed to entice him into vice, as a necessary prep- 
aration to govern a people who were very licen- 
tious and deceitful. Thirst for glory and renown 
actuated him from the moment he became the 
chief of Ankovy. His father's last charge to him 
was to possess himself of the whole island of 
Madagascar, and reign supreme over it ; and the 
frequent accounts he received from the French 

34 



FIRST INTERCOURSE WITB EUROPEANS. 35 

traders of Napoleon's brilliant career, fired this 
ambition so early planted. 

The only communication Radama had with the 
civilized world, during the first eight years of his 
reign, was through the English and French slave- 
traders. The latter, at an early date, occupied 
the southeast province of Anosy, where they now 
have important settlements. Catholic priests, 
through this channel, attempted to convert Rada- 
ma and his people, but the ofier of the crucifix 
was to them but an " ody " in a new shape ; and 
the conduct of the traders did nothino^ towards 
recommending a new religion to the respect of 
the high-minded chief. 

Radama possessed sound judgment and shrewd 
foresight, and was quick to perceive what it was 
desirable to copy, and Avhat to obtain from his for= 
eign visitors. He learned to write his own lan- 
guage in the Arabic character, and to write 
French in Roman letters. Fire-arms were among 
his first purchases, and, with these he soon proved 
that he was not to be challenged as a mere " beard- 
less youth." His bold courage, his talents as a 
ruling chief, and his rapid advance in civilized 
habits, quickly gained him a reputation ; and he 
was soon known to Europeans who touched at 



36 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

the coast, as the prince whose friendship and alli- 
ance it was most important to secure. 

It is deUfyhtfal to note the timeliness of Provi- 
dence. There is no haste to cause one event to 
meet another. Out of what seems to us a scene 
of confusion, comes a series of events, joining 
hands and marching steadily onward to results 
w^hich are certain to promote the final establish- 
ment of Christ's kingdom. Thus, while Radama 
is preparing to reach forth his hand out of dark 
Madagascar to clasp that of a Christian nation, 
there is a side event occurring in the last war be- 
tween England and France, unnoticed by men but 
not by God, and destined to meet the needs of 
Radama and his people. 

About as far to the east of Madagascar as Africa 
is to the west, lies the island of Mauritius, or Isle 
of France, which, during that war, passed from 
the possession of the French into that of the Eng- 
lish. By the good providence of God, a governor 
was placed there who was a man of Christian in- 
tegrity and enlightened benevolence. This was 
Sir Robert Farquhar. Soon after his arrival in 
Mauritius, he witnessed the miseries of the slave- 
trade, and resolved to use his power to suppress it. 
With this in view, he sent, in 1816, Captain Le 
Sage with a comjmny of soldiers and artisans to 



FIRST INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. 37 

visit the Chief of the Hovas, and form a treaty of 
friendship. Le Sage and his men were nearly 
driven to despair by tlie hardships of his journey, 
but were comforted and encouraged, in the latter 
part of their progress, by messengers bearing pres- 
ents of provisions and letters of welcome from 
Radama. He received them at the capital with 
all the honors he was able to bestow, treated them 
with the most cordial jjoliteness and generosity, 
and gladly sealed the promise of friendship with 
the governor of Mauritius, by taking the " oath 
of blood" with Le Sage. This was done by 
drinking each other's blood, — a solemn and invio- 
lable pledge on the part of Radama. 

Such of the soldiers as had survived the terrible 
sufferings of the journey were left to drill the 
army of the Hovas into some kind of discipline; 
it being at this time but a confused assemblage of 
forty thousand men, whose chief effectiveness lay 
in fear of, and devotion to, their king and com- 
mander, Radama. In return, Radama sent two 
of his younger brothers to Mauritius for educa- 
tion. This opened the way to Madagascar. 

A man of firm Christian principle, possessing 
abiUty to negotiate a difficult mission, and able to 
endure hardness as a good soldier, was now need- 
ed to propose and complete the abolition of the 



38 MJSSJONS ANU MAIiTYRS. 

slave-trade. God had been preparing just such a 
man, and had ah'eady guided hira to Mauritius. 
Mr. Hastie was born in Cork, of Quaker par- 
ents. He entered the army at an early age and 
served for years in India. This, with a supe- 
rior character, in which faithfulness and energy 
were prominent, fitted him for the work await- 
ing him. Led providentially to Mauritius, and 
brought by a courageous action to the notice of 
Governor Farquhar, he was employed to teach the 
two brothers of Radama. Finding all the neces- 
sary qualities in him, and finding him also so 
"faithful in little," the governor placed in his 
hands the " much," which has proved his monu- 
ment in history. He was made the bearer of a 
treaty to Radama with full power to negotiate it. 
Accompanied by the two princes, Mr. Hastie 
reached Tananarivo amidst enthusiastic rejoicings. 
He found Radama dressed in a British military 
suit, waiting to receive him with all the cordiality 
and politeness of a French host. Among the 
presents he had brought was a fine horse, which 
was a marvel to all Madagascar, and at first, an 
object of fear. Even Radama placed a charm in 
his mouth before mounting, but once familiar 
with the novelty, he took the greatest jileasure in 
riding. A clock and pocket-compass were also 



FinST INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. 39 

among the gifts. The striking of the clock was a 
curious fact to him ; he sat before it a whole hour 
to witness its fidelity, and, when it struck, forgot 
his royal dignity, and fairly danced with delight. 
He appreciated the value of the compass, and 
amused himself with a map of the world upon 
which he enjoyed tracing out his own kingdom. 

In entering upon the business which had 
brought him to Radama, Mr. Hastie found that 
he had not to deal with a savage chief, but with 
a man a century in advance of his people ; having 
excellent common sense, great shrewdness, and an 
abounding desire for glory in the advancement of 
his country. He did not wish to govern barbari- 
ans. It was an easy thing, therefore, to convince 
him of the desirableness of abolishing the slave- 
trade. But his ministers, to whom every word 
of the conversations was interpreted, could not 
appreciate either the benefits or the need of thus 
cutting off the only source of wealth in the 
country. They violently opposed the measure. 
Hapi^ily, Radama possessed courage and decision 
of character, and took the step on his own respon- 
sibility, on condition that the English should sup- 
ply him with fire-arms, which he had hitherto ob- 
tained from the slave-dealers. An estimate was 
also taken of the yearly loss by the cessation of 



40 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

sales, which was to be made good by an annual 
payment from the English. Radama took pains 
to impress Mr. Hastie with the fact that his prom- 
ise was not binding till the stipulated conditions 
were fulfilled. This jealousy of his own honor, 
and his quickness to detect the slightest falsehood, 
were among his most striking traits. 

While negotiating the treaty, Mr. Hastie assured 
the king that no English subjects could hold slaves 
in Mauritius. 

"Where, then, are the ten slaves I gave to Cap- 
tain Le Sage ? " asked Radama. 

" Four of them," said Mr. Hastie, " are returned 
to this country, as you have seen, and the remain- 
der never reached Mauritius." 

Radama, however, questioned the returned 
slaves, and found that the others had been sold in 
Mauritius by Le Sage's interpreter, a fact which 
was entirely unknown to Mr. Hastie. Radama 
immediately charged him with having told a 
lie, and would accej^t of no explanation nor have 
anything to do with him for a whole week. Even 
then he would only say that he was not angry, 
and, afterward, in the course of a warm argument, 
met his statements with the reminder that he had 
once told a lie. It was only after repeated proof 



FIRST INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. 41 

of Mr. Hastie's strict integrity that his confidence 
was restored. 

The treaty was completed in October, 1817, 
and Radama issued a proclamation enforcing its 
strict observance on pain of death. It was violat- 
ed in several instances, bat, in each case, the pen- 
alty was inflicted, even though upon some mem- 
bers of the royal family. The slave-traders at 
Tamatave, finding Radama immovable in his fidel- 
ity, broke up their establishments, sold off their 
possessions, and prepared to leave Madagascar. 

Mr. Hastie had remained at the capital, and, at 
the expiration of the time appointed for the fulfill- 
ment of the treaty, went down to Tamatave to 
receive the stipulated goods, which consisted of 
fire-arms, over two thousand articles for soldiers' 
wear, and two thousand dollars in gold and silver, 
besides other items. 

Instead of receiving the goods, Mr. Hastie was 
waited upon at Tamatave by a deputation of 
slave-dealers, just arrived from Mauritius, bearing 
a letter from Governor Hall, who occupied the 
position of Sir Robert Farquhar during the 
absence of the latter in England. This letter 
recalled Mr. Hastie from Madagascar, refused to 
fulfill the treaty, and relinquished all intercourse 
with Radama. Mr. Hastie was unable to believe 



42 MISSIONS AND MAKTYRS. 

it, and hastened to Mauritius only to find full 
confirmation of these orders. Six youths who 
had been sent to Mauritius to be educated were 
returned. Radama refused to believe the slave- 
traders, and continued to adhere to the conditions 
of the treaty until convinced by this last act. 
His indignation against the English was intense. 
His generous trust in the joromise of an enlight- 
ened people had been deeply outraged. He felt 
remorse at the sacrifice of his own relatives, and 
humiliated, in the extreme, at being obliged to 
acknowledge to the people that he had done 
wrong in persisting in his own judgment against 
theirs, in forming such a treaty. His pride was 
touched, too, in the return of the Malagasy boys. 
He afterwards asked of Mr. Hastie, " Why would 
not your government at Mauritius permit those 
boys to be instructed, whom I sent for that pur- 
pose ? Although your government violated the 
treaty and discontinued intercourse with me, I 
would gladly have paid for the education of the 
boys." So eager was he to raise his people to an 
equality with other nations! 

Thus, by the act of one man, Madagascar was 
given up to evil influences for two years and a 
half longer. The slave-traders hastened back 
to Tamatave. The town grew with rapidity. 



FIRST INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. 43 

The slave-market never was so prosperous. The 
French also engaged in the trade more exten- 
sively than before, and incited the natives to 
promote it, by providing them with all the arti- 
cles of luxury they required. They furnished 
the house of Radama in superior style, and as- 
sisted him to copy the manners of other courts. 
Tables and chairs were provided, and servants 
taught to stand behind each guest at table. A 
portrait of the French king was presented, and 
fire-arms abundantly supplied. The people paid 
an increased tax to Radama on the sale of slaves, 
thus enabling him to improve the capital. A 
good carriage-road leading out of the city was his 
first improvement. • 

The traders took excellent care to gratify 
Radama's desire for civilization, and equal care 
to keep out of his way any persons who would be 
likely to appeal to his higher nature, or otherwise 
attempt to interfere with their traffic. Mission- 
aries had been sent from England in the year of 
the treaty, but, upon reaching Mauritius, found 
that intercourse with the island had ceased, and 
were prevented from going further excej^t as 
private individuals. TJiis they attempted. Al- 
though received with the utmost politeness by the 
French authorities, they were told of the extreme 



44 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

wickedness and stupidity of the natives, the for- 
bidding character of the king, and the horrors to 
be endured, and finally were nearly bowed out of 
the island. Happily they had courage to remain, 
but, not daring to go to the capital, commenced 
their work in a small village. The inhabitants 
shouted Tsaral)e! tsara he! "Very good ! very 
good ! " at their arrival, and when a school was 
opened more children came than they were able 
to receive in this early experiment. These chil- 
dren were docile and bright. During a short 
absence of the teachers, and a temporary suspen- 
sion of the school, they taught others, and were 
eager for the school to be reopened. 

News of their work reached the king in spite of 
the slave-dealers, and he sent the missionaries 
an invitation to visit him. The message was never 
delivered. He was told that they were dead! 
Shortly after, and within a few weeks of each oth- 
er, one of the two missionaries and the wives and 
children of both died, evidently from the effects of 
poison. The remaining missionary, Mr. Jones, re- 
ceived from the traders such inhuman treatment 
during his sickness that there is little doubt as to 
the instigators of the deadly work. 

" Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him : 
fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in 



FIRST INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. 45 

his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked 
devices to pass," was an injunction which Mr. 
Hastie had reason to remember, while awaiting a 
change of rulers in Mauritius. The wicked had 
it all their own way in Madagascar for two years 
and a half, perhaps preparing the people more 
effectually, by contrast, to recognize and welcome 
the future messengers of God. At last. Governor 
Farquhar returned to his post. He had obtained 
the sanction of the king of England to the renewal 
of the treaty, and immediately sent Mr. Hastie 
and Mr. Jones, the missionary who had survived, 
to open communication with Radama, and renew 
the broken treaty. 

The traders at Tamatave attempted to prevent 
their journey to the capital, assuring them that 
the king had no intention of ever receiving them, 
and would behead them if they went. But Mr. 
Hastie knew Radama, and he knew the traders. 
He first sent a letter, then followed it, and was 
soon relieved of all doubts by a cordial answer 
from Radama. 

They were received at Tananarivo, by soldiers 
two lines deep, extending from the lower part of 
the hill to the palace, whither they were conducted 
by two field officers. Here they were met by Ra- 
dama, who clasped Mr. Hastie in his arms and 



46 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

laughed for joy, repeating his name and taking 
hold of him again and again to make sure of his 
presence. They were conducted to an apartment 
so elegant and superior to that occupied by the 
king, three years before, that Mr. Hastie could not 
but express his surprise. The next evening they 
were invited to an excellent dinner, which was 
served on the plate they had brought as a present 
to Radaraa, and on home-made ware. They were 
also seated at table, and each guest was attended 
by a servant. This was certainly progress in 
Madagascar, where even the nobles formerly sat 
on mats, with their one dish of rice on the floor, 
and their guests supplied with leaves for plates. 



CHAPTER lY. 

DAWN" OF CIVILIZATION. 

The Renewal of the Treaty urged — Distrust of the English — Op- 
position by the Chiefs and People — Eadama's Consent — The 
Conditions — Mr. Hastie carries tlie Treaty to Mauritius — Ratifi- 
cation by the Britisli Government — Radama's Joy — Missionary 
Labors begun at tlie Capital — TIae First Scliool — The new 
School-house — Arrival of Artisans and additional Missionaries — 
Improvements — Cutting of the King's Hair — Schools in the Dis- 
tricts — Influence of Mr. Hastie — Subjugation of the whole 
Island to Rtidama. 

Radaima took an early opportunity to express to 
Mr. Hastie his views of the conduct of the Eng- 
lish in regard to the treaty. " False as the Eng- 
lish," was already a proverb among the people. 
He could not understand how so solemn a pledge 
between himself and one of England's representa- 
tives could be broken without dishonor to their 
sovereign, nor why such a breach of faith should 
go unpunished. He thought English laws were 
bad if they allowed it, and the king weak to per- 
mit it. Mr. Hastie's explanation, that his sover- 
eign had not yet sanctioned the treaty, did not 
satisfy Radama's idea of justice. 

" I signed that treaty," said he, " contrary to the 

47 



48 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

advice of ray nobles and counselors, even those 
who instructed me from childhood ; I then waited 
with confidence, in the exjjectation of the arrival 
of the equivalent proposed, and engaged to be 
paid to me by that treaty ; I fulfilled my part with 
the most scrupulous exactness, and, with heart-felt 
regret, was obliged to abandon it." 

Mr. Hastie assured him that it could not occur 
again, as now the king had sanctioned the meas- 
ure. He pressed upon him the humanity and 
wisdom of the step, and the benefits which would 
result to his country by the renewal of the treaty. 
But Radama was unmoved. His people and his 
counselors were wholly and strongly against an 
alliance on the former terms. An aged chieftain 
expressed the feeling of the entire people, when 
he said, — 

" Where do we get all we have, but from those 
to whom we sell slaves ? We do not make pow- 
der or arms ; we are not possessed of mines ; we 
have only very bad mechanics, and little cloth, and 
are by constitution an indolent people. By the 
sale of slaves, all our wants are supplied through 
the persons to whom we sell them. What do we 
derive from the English? Nothing! They keep 
up no intercourse with us. They promised and 
have not performed ! " 



DAWN OF CIVILIZATION. 49 

Public ineetiogs were held, without any advance 
toward the object desired. The people remained 
obstinate. 

" It is with you alone that England seeks alli- 
ance ; it is you alone who continue the inhuman 
traffic. It is for you to become the deliverer of 
your people and the founder of their freedom." 

It was in language like this that Mr. Hastie 
addressed Radama before he presented himself to 
the assembly awaiting him in front of his palace. 
Thus appealed to, and clearly seeing the advan- 
tages of an alliance with a powerful nation, and 
actuated by the desire of attaining a glorious 
name, yet restrained by the angry opposition of 
his ministers and people, what could he do ? Re- 
peating his reproaches for the jDast, he exclaimed, 
placing his hand on his heart, — 

"Put your hand here, and say what am I to 
do?" 

Mr. Hastie entreated him to regard the future 
rather than the past ; to care for the Avelfare of his 
people, and to remember that he had to choose 
between a few vile slave-dealers and a powerful 
monarch in this alliance. With much similar 
persuasion Radama was nearly won over to the 
cause; but still his people were against him. Af- 
ter hearing all that Mr. Hastie could say to the 

4 



50 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS, 

assembly in favor of tne treaty, the most influen- 
tial of the ministers arose, in reply. He carefully 
repeated its whole history, till he came to the vio- 
lation of it. Here, with an eloquence worthy of 
a finished orator, he paused as if he had no words 
to express the wrong. For a moment, intense 
silence reigned, and then a confusion of voices 
arose such as might have intimidated any king. 

" You see," said Radama to Mr. Hastie, " I am 
well inclined, but my people are not. I recollect 
hearing of the conduct of the French nation to a 
late king ! " 

But when silence was restored, Mr. Hastie skill- 
fully added a new inducement to all that he had 
hitherto offered. He told them that Governor 
Farquhar would receive persons for instruction, 
and that the London Missionary Society would 
send artisans as well as missionaries, to instruct 
the people of Madagascar in the various trades. 
This was twice repeated and twice received in 
silence. The assembly broke up to meet again 
the next day in front of the palace. The king 
remained all night with his counselors, and was 
weak and fatigued when he appeared before the 
vast multitude representing every district under 
his control. He was ready to comply with the 
terms on one condition — that England should 



DAWN OF CIVILIZATION. 51 

instvuct his people ; — adding that nothing but in- 
struction could alleviate their present misery. 

Tliiuk of this from the king of a half-civilized 
nation! He did not ask money nor lands as an 
equivalent for the sacrifice of the only source of 
wealth his people yet possessed. As Solomon 
asked wisdoui from God, so this king asked wis- 
dom at the hands of a great nation. 

He stipulated that twenty persons should be 
sent to England and Mauritius for instruction, and 
that artificers should come to reside in Madagascar. 
Mr. Hastie had no authority to send any to Eng- 
land, but, after some deliberation, replied that he 
would take six. Radama was too shrewd to allow 
any new arrangements to be made without "sanc- 
tion," and demanded how he happened to con- 
sent. Happily, Mr. Hastie was an honest man 
and a Christian. He frankly told the king that 
he intended to make a personal sacrifice, and him- 
self pay the expenses incurred, if his government 
should not indorse his promise. This was ex- 
plained to the assembled people, but still received 
with disapprobation and murmurings. The king 
retired with his counselors, and again conferred 
with them till daybreak. The fate of thousands, 
both for time and eternity, hung upon the decis- 
ion. Mr. Jones, the missionary, had been present 



52 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

at nearly every interview, and had sustained Mr. 
Hastie in his generous and untiring efforts to lift 
up this nation from their darkness. Truly, it was 
an idolatrous nation, but the two embassadors 
could plead with God that night as Moses often 
did for the Israelites. 

In the morning Radaraa sent his final answer. 
He promised that the treaty should be immedi- 
ately ratified, and the slave traffic ended at once, if 
Mr. Hastie would promise the education of twenty 
of his subjects, as he had proposed the previous 
day. " I agreed," writes Mr. Hastie ; " and I trust 
that Divine Power, which guides all hearts, will 
induce the government to sanction the act." 

The same day Radama ordered the immediate 
return of all slaves sent down to the coast, and 
not then sold, of whom there were large num- 
bers. He also forbade any one to pay debts to 
the traders, in slaves, — directing money to be 
substituted in such cases, on pain of death. 

When the king went in state to ratify the trea- 
ty, he concluded the business by presenting to Mr. 
Hastie a receipt for the money and horses due him 
for the twelve months in which he had strictly 
observed the treaty, saying that it would " help 
to defray the expenses of instructing the persons " 
who were to be sent to England. It is not to be 



DAWN OF CIVILIZATION. 53 

forgotten, either, that Radama took pains to claim 
the smallest possible indemnity, when the treaty- 
was first drawn up. He was also exceedingly 
anxious to have it understood that some 2:)rovinces 
in Madagascar, over which he then had no control, 
would still continue to export slaves. He feared 
he should be blamed for the acts of others. 

" I would not, for all I could possibly gain," said 
he to Mr. Hastie, "that the English at any fature 
period should charge me with deception." 

When every thing was completed, Mr. Hastie 
returned to Mauritius to secure the ratification of 
the treaty by the British government. On his 
journey down to Tamatave, he met people going 
up to the king to carry tribute, in gratitude for 
his proclamation that they should no more be sold 
away from their country. They insisted upon 
turning about and carrying Mr. Hastie as far as 
he would permit, in token of their gratitude to 
him, also. Many burden-bearers were on their 
way to the capital ; and three slave-dealers, with 
two hundred packages of goods, had already ar- 
rived there, but were obliged to sell at half-price, 
and leave without obtaining a single slave. Truly 
the triumphing of the wicked is short. 

Durins; Mr. Hastie's absence, Radama was con- 
stantly assured by the "sikidy" that the English 



54 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

would again deceive him. A French officer and 
his suite also arrived with the same assurances, 
and, in addition, endeavored to convince Radania 
that there is no God. Encouraged by the argu- 
ments of Mr. Jones, who had remained at the cap- 
ital, the king and his ministers adhered to the 
right, — Radama exclaiming, loudly, "There must 
be a God ! " When, at length, letters arrived from 
the governor and from Rataffe, a Hovah prince, 
who had accompanied Mr. Hastie, informing him 
that the treaty was confirmed, he shed tears of 
joy. Upon the return of the latter with the stip- 
ulated articles, he denounced the falsehood of the 
divinations. This was the first shaking of his 
faith in the sikidy. 

By request of the king, the missionaries now 
commenced their labors at the capital. The first 
school was opened in December, 1820. It con- 
sisted of the children of the royal family and of 
the nobles. In April they had made sufficient 
progress to read in the Bible, and did themselves 
credit in other branches. A second school was 
opened, in October, for the children of the people, 
under the care of Rev. David Griffiths, sent by 
the London Missionary Society. Tlic children 
were eager to adopt the European dress, and 
brought cloth to the wives of the missionaries to 



DAWN- OF civilization: 55 

be made into jackets and dresses. The house in 
which they were taught was soon too small for 
the rapidly increasing numbers. It was the prop- 
erty of the king's mother, and was a storehouse 
for rice, mats, cooking utensils, and dishes. It 
was infested with rats and mice ; and the roof, be- 
ing immensely high and steep, was swayed to and 
fro by the wind. Notwithstanding all these dis- 
comforts, the little Malagasy children sewed, sung, 
and spelled, with a diligence that would do credit 
to the youth of far more favored lands. To ob- 
tain a new school-house was a serious matter ; but 
Mr. Griffiths made known his embarrassment to 
the king, and received the following reply : — 

" Saith Radama, 

" Live long, my friend ; be not troubled. I will 
build you such a house as you wish, if my people 
can build it ; but if you wish to have a house 
built on the same plan or similar to those at Mau- 
ritius, Avho can build it? If you can find a man 
to build it, I will furnish the wood. 

" Saith your good friend, 

" Radama Manjaka." 

Accordingly, orders were given to drag trees 
from the forest. The people of a whole district 
were thus employed, and five journeys of forty 



56 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

miles to the forest were made before a sufficient 
quantity was obtained. A piece of ground was 
chosen and given for the house; the carj^enters 
went to work with hatchets and wedges, chopping 
and splitting, till the trees assumed the desired 
dimensions. To build a house without saw, nails, 
or hammer would seem an impossibility, and yet 
this, like all the other houses, went up without 
those conveniences. The framework was joined 
together by mortise and tenon, notches and pins, 
and bound in place with fibrous roots or tougli 
plants. The windows and doors were made to 
slide in grooves at the top and bottom. When 
finished, its size astonished the people, it being 
the largest house yet erected in the capital, though 
probably not the highest, for no one was allowed 
to build a house hii>;her than that of the kinoj. 

At this time, the missionaries found obstacles 
to the growth of their schools in the fears of those 
parents who resided near the capital. The boys 
who had been sent with Prince Rataffe to En2;land 
for education not returning with him, caused a 
report that they had been sold to the cannibals. 
Mothers, suspecting the missionaries to be in league 
with the slave-traders, became alarmed for the 
safety of their children, and concealed them in 
rice-holes under ground, causing death in several 



DAWN OF CIVILIZATION. 57 

instances. Radama was absent upon an expedi- 
tion against the Sakalavas, but his mother imme- 
diately issued commands calculated to restore 
confidence. " Cease from all such practices," said 
she, "for it is the instruction of your children 
here, and not sending them to another country, 
that is the wish and intention of Radama your 
king." 

A number of artisans and mechanics, as well 
as additional missionaries and their families, were 
sent by the London Society in 1821 and 1822. 
Radama welcomed them all gladly, giving them 
houses and lands, and natives to assist them; 
requiring, however, that apprentices should be 
taught the various trades. The slave-traders had 
only brought the luxuries of civilization, and that 
from interested motives. The Bible messengers 
introduced the useful arts, and taught the ignorant 
natives how to rise out of their degradation. The 
resources of the country were explored, and 
brought to the notice of the king. The people 
were taught to make bricks and mortar, to use the 
saw, to make hinges, screws, and locks. Grains, 
such as wheat and oats, were introduced, and the 
plough and harrow brought to help the improve- 
ment in aGi;riculture. The manufacture of leather 
was also taught. Hitherto the people had neither 



68 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

shoes nor stockings, the nobles only wearing san- 
dals. Caps and hats began to be worn ; and the 
king went so far as to imitate the European mode 
of wearing the hair. It had required two or three 
days to dress his own in layers of plaits and curls, 
according to the Hovah fashion. He tried it upon 
his brother first, and then had his own parted and 
cut, to the great indignation of many of his con- 
servative people, who still religiously clung to the 
ancient ways. A few Hovah women found fault 
with this forsaking of the customs of their ances- 
tors. " Behold, how great a matter a little fire 
kindleth ! " They raved about it until at last four 
or five thousand gathered near the capital, and 
sent complaint to Radama of the undue influence 
of the Europeans. In return, lie told them he 
should cut his hair as he pleased without consult- 
ing women, ordered the five ringleaders to be put 
to death, and kept the remainder in their place 
of meeting, under a guard of soldiers, three days 
without food or shelter. 

Thi8 summary mode of proceeding was charac- 
teristic of Radama. His will was law, and he 
would never tolerate the slightest opposition to it. 
He had determined that he would not rule barbari- 
ans, but that civilized they should be. A boy who 
had refused to go to England to be educated was 



DATT^ OF civilization: 59 

punished with fifty stripes, and tied to a flag-pole, 
that all the people might see and fear. To those 
who still withheld their children from the schools 
he said, " If you wish to become wise and happy 
and please me, send your children to the schools, 
and let them be taught ; for the good, the indus- 
trious, and the wise shall be honored by me." 
They knew very well the alternative, and sub- 
mitted quietly. 

Others in the districts rejoiced at the opening 
of schools. On the occasion of a journey, one old 
man welcomed the missionaries by running after 
them when they had passed his dwelling, and 
entreating them, like a patriarch of old, to turn 
back and eat bread with him. He was so delighted 
at their consent that he even broke up his bedstead 
to provide fuel for the cooking, remarking that he 
loved to honor those whom Radama honored. 

The schools at the capital for children were not 
the only ones. Radama opened one in the court- 
yard of his palace, which consisted of the officers 
of the army and their wives. These were placed 
under the tuition of a Frenchman. Radama him- 
self was a pupil to Mr. Hastie. The missionaries 
had reduced to writing the Malagasy language, 
which he was learning. He was also acquiring the 
English language ; but, during a sbort absence 



CO MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

of Mr. Hastie, went for assistance to the French 
master, who pronounced the letters so differently 
that the vexed king immediately made a law that 
" throughout his kingdom, each letter should have 
but one sound ! " Mr. Hastie was also actively 
engaged in opening schools in all the districts un- 
der the king's control, and encouraged the people 
to engage in agriculture, or to be mstructed by the 
artisans who were placed in the villages. For the 
most part, these efforts were met with enthusiasm. 
Mr. Hastie stood as a mentor at the side of 
Radama. His quick eye perceived every thing; 
but he never detected a defect without propos- 
ing a remedy, nor proposed a remedy without 
throwing all his energy into its accomplishment. 
At his suggestion, the capital was transformed 
from a place of filth to a pattern of neatness for 
the rest of the kingdom. The roads were im- 
proved, laws were made more liberal, and, above 
all, humanity was encouraged. Radama went 
upon warlike expeditions against neighboring 
provinces, and, in these, was taught how to spare 
and to benefit his enemies, to subjugate them by 
true superiority, and to offer in return for their 
allegiance the same gifts of civilization that he 
himself had received. In all this he submitted to 
the wisdom of his adviser; but there were times 



DAWN OF CIVILIZATION. 61 

when he felt that he understood the safety of 
measures better than. Mr. Hastie, and then he was 
immovable. On one occasion, when Mr. Hastie 
was urging him strongly to do what was against 
his judgment, he checked him by saying he 
" should have a very poor opinion of him if he 
pressed him on the subject." 

During one of Radama's expeditions to sto23 the 
export of slaves in one of the coast provinces in- 
habited by Moors, he offered a reward for the head 
of the chief, and threatened to lay the province 
waste if they did not immediately give him their 
allegiance. Mr. Hastie urged him to offer rather 
the promise of security in case of submission, and 
undertook the difficult mission of seekino; the rude 
chief in his rocky retreat. When he found him, 
he procured his consent to the terms of jDcace by 
the same course of honesty and truth which had 
won Radama. In order that his uncouth manner 
might not offend the king, Mr. Hastie taught 
him how to bow his head when i3resented ; but 
the savage awkwardly persisted in bending his 
head backward. Radama had once caused the 
whole front of the house of judges to be taken 
down, and obliged the judges to hold court in the 
open air, because they had failed, in passing, to 
salute him on pretense of not seeing him. It was 



62 3IISSJ0NS AND MARTYRS. 

safer for the chieftain's head, therefore, to learn to 
bend to his conqueror. In return for his submis- 
sion he was allowed to choose his own lands, and 
the whole army was kept in waiting tUl a house 
was built upon it. The proud chief had chosen 
a rocky hight that overlooked extensive rice- 
grounds, saying he wished his feet to be above 
the heads of his jDeoj^le. 

Radama also secured the submission of the Sa- 
kalavas, the most powerful of the j^eople of Mada- 
gascar; and his well-furnished and well-disciplin- 
ed army was not to be opposed by any. In four 
years after the completion of the treaty with 
England he was able to announce to his people 
that he was King of Madagascar. 

" The whole island," said he, " is now mine. It 
is governed by one king, ruled by the same laAvs, 
and must perform the same service. There are 
no more wars. Guns and spears may sleep. I am 
the father of the orphan ; the protector of the 
widow and tlie oppressed ; the avenger of evils 
and wrongs; and tlie rewarder of the good and 
just. With regard to yourselves, you must now 
work. Cultivate the waste lands. Rushes grow 
from the eartli, and gold and silver will not be 
poured down upon you from the skies." 



CHAPTER V. 

PROGRESS AND REFORMS. 

Success of the Missionary Work — The Idols discredited — The Va- 
zimba dishonored — Complaints against the innovations — At- 
tendance of the King at the Schools — His ridicule of the Idols 
— Still, however, rejects the Gospel — LaAVs against Intemper- 
ance and Infanticide — Restriction of the Oi'deal by Poison — 
Death of Mr. Hastie — Radama's Grief — Building- of New Pal- 
aces — Radama's Dissipation — His sickness and Death — Procla- 
mation of Queen Rauavalona — The National Mourning — The 
Funeral and Tomb of Radama — His Character. 

While Radama was thus ensfao^ed in brino-ino; 
the whole island under his own control, the mis- 
sionaries were quietly but steadily making prog- 
ress in their work. The number of schools and 
scholars rapidly increased. A building was erected 
for a library, and funds appropriated to furnish 
reading for the many who were already able^^to 
read. A series of lectures on the being and per^ 
fections of God was addressed to the youth and 
native teachers, and they were encouraged to take 
notes of the lectures, or to repeat afterward the 
leading ideas. The Bible was in process of trans- 
lation into the Malagasy language, and the mis- 
sionaries themselves superintended the jDrinting 
of such portions as were finished, besides hymn- 

63 



64 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

books, spelling-books, reading-books, and cate- 
chisms ; in all over five thousand. A church con- 
sisting of the missionaries and artisans was organ- 
ized as early as 1822. It included persons of 
several denominations ; so that without disturbing 
the minds of the natives concerning the various 
creeds, it simply placed before them Christ crucified. 
The Lord's Supper was administered first on this 
occasion in the court-yard of the i:)alace, — the 
house and chapel wliich Mr. Grifiiths had asked of 
the king not being yet completed. When at last 
it was finished, over a thousand persons attended 
the Sabbath services, crowding even the doors and 
windows. It w^as true of them as of the land of 
Zebulon, " The people which sat in darkness saw 
great liglit ; and to them which sat in the region 
and shadow of death, light is sprung up." 

The children did not fail to see very soon that 
the idols were as dust and ashes before the great 
Being whom they were taught to seek. The Mal- 
agasy were willing enough that their children 
should be educated ; but this questioning of tlie 
power of their idols was a serious ofiense to them, 
and an insult to tlieir ancestors. 

" Unless you abide by our wishes and our cus- 
toms, we shall complain of you to the king," the 
parents threatened. 



PROGRESS AND REFORMS. 65 

"We can not prevent your complaining to the 
king," returned the children ; "but we have been 
taught to tell the truth, and though to please you 
we should say with our lips that we believe in the 
idols, yet in our hearts we can not." 

Accordingly, when the people repaired to the 
capital to pay their taxes they took the opportu- 
nity to present their complaints. 

"Our children," said they, "are forsaking the 
customs of our ancestors, and rejecting our 
gods." 

" Do you mind your work," was the determined 
answer of the king, " and let the children mind 
their instructions." They were obliged to go 
home and submit to the new order of things. 

Schools were opened even in the sacred vil- 
lages, where strangers had hitherto never been 
allowed to dwell. In one of these the son of 
the idol-keeper became convinced that an object 
which had to be taken care of was not God. He 
read the words " Hear, O Israel ! the Lord our 
God is one Lord ; " and knowing this to be con- 
trary to his father's instructions, he went to him 
and asked to be released from the school. 

" Why should I continue to learn what you do 
not believe ? " he urged. 

" What do I not believe ? " asked his father. 

5 



66 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

"That of which I have told you before," an- 
swered the boy, "and which will not only do me 
good, but you also. There are new heavens and 
a new earth for those who believe in God, with 
everlasting life, and garments shining like the sun, 
that never wax old." 

This was new truth, for the Malagasy either be- 
lieve the soul to be a breath of wind, a mist, or a 
ghost wandering after death over the earth, or 
pass the subject by as a mystery too deep to be 
understood. The idol-keeper was so impressed 
by his son's words, that he abandoned his occupa- 
tion of taking care of a god that could not take 
care of him. 

The graves of the Vazimha^ a name given to 
the ancient dead, were objects of dread and ven- 
eration to the Malagasy. Their spirits were sup- 
posed to be able to inflict evil or bestow good, 
and their anger to be excited if a stone or the 
twig of a tree upon their places of rest should be 
removed. To assure the scholars that none but 
the true God possessed power to reward or pun- 
ish, the missionaries went with them to one of 
these graves, cut off the branch of a tree, took a 
stone from the tomb, and persuaded two of the 
scholars to carry them to the village. 

"Do not touch them," some exclaimed; "the 



PROGRESS AND REFORMS. 67 

Vazimba will certainly be enraged, and you will 
become ill and die." 

"Tlie Vazimba will come in the night, and carry 
you away to the region of ghosts ! " said others. 

But the two boys were firm; and it was 
not without some anxiety that the missionaries 
watched them for days, lest fear alone should pro- 
duce illness. Had this occurred, the anger of the 
inhabitants would have been excited, and their 
superstitions confirmed. But the Lord preserved 
them, and the lesson was salutary. 

" What do your parents say to this?" asked the 
teachers. 

" They say that you white people have some 
charms which the Vazimba are not able to resist." 

Older persons could not be induced to touch 
the graves of the Vazimba, and were deeply of- 
fended at this shakino; of the faith of the children 
in these, and in their idols. When the king re- 
turned from one of his expeditions, complaints of 
this kind were so generally made that he sent for 
Mr. Jones, to caution the missionaries. 

" They are too active," said he. "If they con- 
tinue to instruct the people with the same speed, 
they will turn the world upside down." At an- 
other time he said, "1 am anxious that my people 
should improve in knowledge. Let me not go too 



68 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

slowly lest I miss my aim; nor too fast lest I 
stumble: for while a man is endeavoring to run 
with all the speed he can, if another should give 
him a push, the chance is that he will fall." 

The schools were encouraged, however, by the 
attendance of the king at the examinations, and 
also by frequent visits, both to listen and com- 
mend. His personal example tended to break 
the superstitions of the people. He would not 
allow them to wait for " lucky days," when the 
missionaries were to be served. On the occasion 
of his return from a visit to the coast, the diviners 
at the capital fixed upon a certain day for his en- 
trance according to the revelations of the sikidy. 
Formerly, he had awaited in the valley the com- 
ing of the right day, but now he marched into 
the city in defiance of the mortified diviners, and 
his frightened ministers, assuring them that 
Radama w^ould enter his capital whenever he 
pleased. 

He began also to show the same contempt for 
the idols. These were always covered with a piece 
of scarlet cloth ; and this covering of one of the 
principal idols having become old, the people of 
the village, where it was kept, asked the gift of a 
new one from Radama. 

" Why, surely," answered the king, " he must 



PROGRESS AND REFORMS. 69 

be very poor, if he can not get a piece of cloth 
for himself If he be a. god, he can provide his 
own garments." 

At another time, when the king was surround- 
ed by many of his officers, an idol-keejoer rushed 
into his presence, bearing a pole upon the end of 
which was an idol beneath a piece of red velvet. 
The man ran about wildly, saying the idol caused 
him to do thus. 

" Let me try if it will be the same with me," 
said Radama, taking it and walking about with 
quiet dignity. " Perhaps I am too heavy for the 
god to move," he added, sarcastically ; " do you 
try, you are light enough," and he gave it to one 
of his ministers. He also bore it about wdth 
gravity, and gave it back to the abashed keeper. 
A deep impression was made upon the whole 
company. 

Their superstitions were again subjected to 
Radama's ridicule, in the exposure of a divinity 
said to dwell in a cave in the~ mountains, and to 
be able to give audible responses. He visited 
the cave and, entering it, saluted the invisible 
god. A solemn response came from the dark 
recesses. 

As a gift of money is always offered to the 
king by visitors, so Radama offered homage to the 



70 jMIS SIGNS AXJJ MARTYRS. 

unseen. A hand was gently reached forth to 
accept the gift. Radama seized it. 

" This is no god, — this is a human being ! " he 
exckiimed, and the mysterious divinity was drag- 
ged forth to the light of day, and to the ridicule 
of the assembled people. Other impostures and 
delusions were exposed, and the deceivers severely 
punished; so that the people could not but feel the 
influence of the king as well as that of their chil- 
dren. Still Radama did not place his trust in Je- 
hovah. He loved and respected the messengers of 
God because they met the demands of his moral 
nature, and still more because they contributed to 
his own glory in elevating his people. Further 
than this, the truth of the gospel seemed hidden 
from him, — the wise and prudent king, — while it 
was revealed to babes. The poor, the humble, the 
little children, were already looking at the shining 
face of Jesus. For himself, Radama was yet suffi- 
cient. 

When Mr. Jones first came to the capital he 
found the king one day firing a cannon during a 
thunder-storm, and inquired the cause. Radama 
replied that God was talking, and he was answer- 
ing. Mr. Jones explained the audacious irrever- 
ence, and was listened to with respect. The gift 
of a Bible was also accepted gratefully by the king. 



PHUanESS AXD llEFORMS. 71 

with the remark tliat if it contained what was 
" straight, and not crooked," he should be glad to 
have it. He could admire its sublime wisdom ; 
but he was not able to sit as a child at the foot of 
the ci'oss. Yet this bold and prudent king, so 
eager for glory, so strong in himself, and so tena- 
cious of homage, was in the hands of the Al- 
mighty as clay in the hands of the potter. His 
will was molded into subjection to the great pur- 
pose of the salvation of that people, and though 
Radama might have seemed to himself the pro- 
moter only of his own interests, he was in reality 
an ax in the hand of God laid at the root of 
every tree that bore evil fruit. 

Idolatry had already received its death-blow. 
Temperance was enforced by a law against the 
sale of liquor, though the law-maker himself in- 
dulged freely, and permitted its use in the palace. 
Infanticide was prohibited. It had been the cus- 
tom of the Malagasy to destroy all children who 
were born on days pronounced unlucky by the as- 
trologers ; but Radama declared that " all the in- 
fants doomed to de:ith by the astrologers became 
his, and that whoever destroyed them destroyed 
his children, and should suffer death for their 
murder." .Radama restricted the use, and had the 
intention of abolishing wholly the " tangena," or 



72 MJSSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

trial by poison, whicli was supposed to inflict death 
on the guilty, and spare the innocent. Many had 
been yearly subjected to this terrible ordeal, and 
many perished. 

Through all these reformations, Mr. Hastie 
stood by the king, counseling and urging him to 
take each step firmly. Mr. Hastie's death, in 
1826, was an irreparable loss to Madagascar, and 
was felt most deeply by Radama. "I have lost 
many of my peoj)le, many of my soldiers, most of 
my officers, and several of the highest nobles ; but 
this is nothing in comparison with the loss of 
Adrian-asy (nobleman Hastie). He has been a 
faithful friend, — a husband to Madagascar. The 
good he has done can not be too highly spoken of 
by me." Thus, too, all the people mourned and 
honored him. 

While engaged in exalting his people, Radama 
did not forget to increase his own royal dignity by 
the building of palaces for himself. His city resi- 
dence was within the palisades which inclose all 
the buildings called the palace. It is still dis- 
tinguished by the name of the "silver house," so 
called because the gable-ends, ceilings, windows, 
and door-posts are ornamented with silver studs and 
nails, though one traveler says these orniiments are 
tiny silver bells. This house is quite insignificant 



PROGRESS AND REFORMS. 73 

beside the larger palace, standing next and tower- 
ing above it. Its chief peculiarities are its roof 
and the columns by which the two galleries sur- 
rounding it are supported. Each column consists 
of the trunk of a tree rising to the hight of eighty 
feet ; the central one which supports the roof be- 
ing one hundred and twenty feet high, according 
to Madame Pfeiffer. She further states that "in 
bringing home the chief pillar alone live thousand 
persons were employed, and twelve days were 
occupied in its erection." The steep roof gives 
a singular aspect to the building. It is forty feet 
in hight, has three tiers of windows, and is sur- 
mounted by a golden bird with outstretched 
wings. This palace is only used for public pur- 
poses, and on state occasions, and is connected 
by galleries with the adjoining residences. 

In 1824, Radama began to build a palace in the 
vicinity of Tananarivo, under the direction of a 
French architect of ability. Monsieur Le Gros 
was obliged to conform somewhat to Malagasy 
notions of architecture which forced the building 
out of the fine proportions it might otherwise 
have assumed. Like the palace in town, it is sur- 
rounded with a wide balcony, supported by arches 
resting on columns. The chief room is one liun- 
dred feet in length and the floor paved in mosaic, 



74 MJSSIOJVS AND MARTYRS. 

composed of blocks of wood of every shade from 
ebony to maple, and beautifully polished. An in- 
credible amount of labor was required to convey 
the timber from the distant forest over almost im- 
passable roads; and, when upon the ground, sixty 
carpenters were employed four years in complet- 
ing the structure. But Radama's fxvorite resort 
was a small cottage, a short distance from the 
city, built for his especial use. Its approach was 
through an avenue of bananas and grape-vines. 
A small sheet of water, stocked with fish, turtles, 
and water-fowl, ornamented the grounds; and a 
garden containing many foreign plants and a col- 
lection of nearly every species of native growth, 
was its chief attraction to Radama. He amused 
himself with superintending it. It is said also 
that he formed two letters " R. R." ( Radama 
Rex ), with green turf, on each side of the path 
to the cottage. In the heat of summer, this was 
his resting-place from the cares of royalty, or 
from the fatigues and dangers of hunting the wild 
boar in the great belt of forest beyond the plain. 

Life must have seemed desirable to this ambi- 
tious king, especially when looking back over the 
last ten years, and noting the strides by which he 
had advanced from the position of an uneducated 
" beardless youth " and chief of a single province, 



PROGRESS AN^D REFORMS. 75 

to that of an enlightened monarch of " the Great 
Britian of Africa." Doubtless, he counted at 
least upon ten more years in which to win re- 
nown ; but already the handwiiting of Death was 
upon the walls of his palaces. He did not see it, 
but his friends did. Dissipation had latterly 
wrought serious inroads upon a constitution weak- 
ened by exposure to the sickness of the coast dis- 
tricts, during his expeditions there. Little by lit- 
tle he withdrew from public duties, and abstained 
from fatigues which he was no longer able to bear. 
Medical aid was not obtained early enough to be 
of service, and, after raontlis of gradual decline, 
he was laid upon his death-bed. Mr. Jones saw 
him two days before his death, but could scarcely 
recognize his countenance or understand the few 
sentences he attempted to utter. He died on the 
afternoon of July 27th, 1828. A just and wise 
king was added to those who brighten the pages 
of history. We should be glad to believe that his 
earthly crown gave place to a heavenly one ; but 
we have read with fear* that at one time he stated 
explicitly that he did not believe in the God of 
the Europeans. 

*B,adama, king of Madagascar, was a few years ago offered the 
kuighthood of the order of St. Patrick, which he declined, assign- 
ing as his reason, that lie could not take the oath which required 
him to Bay that he believed in God, or that he feared God, meaning 
the God of the Europeans. — Ellis's Madagascar. 



76 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

Neither the missionaries nor the people knew 
of the death of Radama till seven days after the 
event. It had been studiously kept secret to 
give time for political plottings ; and the better 
to disguise it, a band continued to play as usual 
every afternoon in front of the palace. Radama's 
nephew, the son of Prince Ratataffe, was always 
regarded as the successor to the crown, but either 
had not been formally designated by the king 
before his death or the fact was concealed. A 
"kabary," or great assemblage of the people, was 
called to hear the king's choice named, as thougli 
he were still living. On the first of August, it 
was announced that Queen Ranavalona, tlie senior 
of Radama's twelve wives (though he had but 
one wife — Rasalimo — avIio was recognized as 
queen ; ) was appointed to tlie throne. On the 
3d it was officially proclaimed that the king had 
" retired," — " had gone to his fathers." 

According to the customs of Madagascar, no 
one was allowed to work during the season of 
mourning, which sometimes continued a year. 
All were required to shave the head, were for- 
bidden to sing, dance, or sit in a chair, to ride, or 
wear a hat, or enter into conversation. An im- 
mense crowd assembled from all the surrounding 
districts, and erected tents and- sheds for shelter 



PROGRESS AND REFORMS. 77 

on the plain at the foot of Tananarivo. A gentle- 
man from India said that he could " only compare 
it to the multitudes collected at the festivals of 
Juggernaut." 

The remains of the king were deposited in a 
silver coffin, made by the beating of fourteen 
thousand silver dollars into plates, which were 
fastened with silver rivets. This was placed in state 
upon a platform covered with scarlet cloth (scar- 
let being the royal color) and gold lace. A bal- 
ustrade, covered with white cloth (the Malagasy 
sign of mourning) surrounded the platform; and 
the pillars at the four corners were draped in 
scarlet. Lamps and lusters were suspended by 
purple cords between the pillars. The outer walls 
of the palace were covered with white cloth, and 
within were draperies of crimson and purple silk, 
as were also over the gateways. The court-yard 
was carpeted with blue cloth. All the officers of 
the court wore white lambas over their uniforms. 
Radaraa's tomb was, like those of former sover- 
eigns, in the court-yard. A vast amount of prop- 
erty was buried with him. Golden vases and 
spears. Bibles, a quantity of silver plate, and other 
costly gifts from the kings of England and France, 
besides over ten thousand Spanish dollars were 
placed in his grave, as if to sustain his rank in 



78 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

the invisible world of the Vazimbas, to wliich the 
people believed his soul had gone. A small house 
has since been built over the tomb in which a 
table, a bottle of wine, two glasses, and two chairs 
are placed for the use of the spirits of Radama and 
his father. "The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, 
to stain the pride of all glory." This house re- 
mains a sad, though unintentional monument of 
the two chief defects in the otherwise admirable 
character of Radama, — his adherence to the 
belief of his ancestors, and the intemperate 
habits of the last years of his life. Resolute in 
every other respect, he yielded himself to this 
vice. Just, humane, generous toward his sub- 
jects ; ambitious as a king ; firm, prompt and wise 
as a ruler; faithful and honorable as a friend, 
even though tried as by fire ; a valuable and 
refined companion in the midst of a barbarous 
people ; he deserves the inscription engraved 
upon his tomb, "Unequaled among the Princes." 
Would that there could be added with truth, 
the epitaph of some of the ancient, good kings; 
"His heart was perfect with the Lord his God ;" 
but he claimed himself to be a " visible god," and 
truth forbids this crowning encomium, without 
which even the glory of kings is "as the flower of 
the grass." 



CHAPTER VI. 

QUEEN KANAVALON'A — PERSECUTION BEGUN. 

Suspension of Missionary Work — Murder of Prince Eataffe and his 
Family — Breaking the English Treaty — Expulsion of Mr. Lyall 
— Pupils of Schools drafted into the Army — Coronation of the 
Queen — Her personal appearance — General Purilication by the 
Tangena — Fear of the French — Baptism of Native Christians 
Ra-poor-negro — Arrival of New Missionaries — Prosperity of the 
Schools — The Converted Idol-keeper — Ou-culation of the Scrip- 
tures — The Queen's Illness — Complaint against the Christians — 
Convocation of the Nation — Decrees against Christianity — De- 
parture of the Missionaries — Revival of Pagan Rites — Rafara- 
vavy. 

The missionaries waited with profound anxiety 
to know the intentions of the new sovereign to- 
ward themselves and their work. They had be- 
come too important to the government to be 
wholly discarded, and yet it was very soon evident 
that they were to be restricted and hampered in all 
ways, if not absolutely banished. The prohibition 
of labor among all classes of people during the 
year of mourning extended to the missionary 
work. The schools were closed. Nothing re- 
mained for them but to busy themselves with the 
completion of the translation and printing of both 
the Old and the New Testament, and other books 
and tracts for the future benefit of the scholars. 

79 



80 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

They did this, as all their work, with an energy that 
seemed to foresee the future. They were inspired 
from the beginning to do quickly what their hands 
found to do. 

Mr. Bennet, a gentleman sent by the Missionary 
Society to visit Madagascar, arrived at the time of 
Radaraa's death, and finding that he couJd neither 
have any communicatian with the queen, nor as- 
certain the state of the schools for months to 
come, desired to return to England, and sent a 
request to the government for permission to leave 
the island, as was customary. The only answer 
he received from the queen was that "she was 
the sovereign of the time of his departure ; " and 
he was obliged to wait with humble patience till 
she chose to let him go. 

The murder of Prince Rataffe, his wife, and son, 
because of near relationship to Radama, and conse- 
quent right to the throne, was the first step of the 
new government. The breaking of the English 
treaty was the next. A message was sent to Mr. 
Lyall, successor to Mr. Hastie, that the annual 
equivalent for the abolition of the slave-trade 
would no longer be received, and that he was dis- 
missed from the capital. The season was unfavor- 
able for going to the coast. Mr. Lyall was obliged 
to wait two or three months, and then signified 



QUEEN EANAVALONA. 81 

his wisli to proceed, "He is to go, and his family 
with him," was the reply. But while making prep- 
arations his house was surrounded by a multitude 
of people hearing an idol, whose displeasure they 
said was excited. Bags filled with serpents were 
emptied in the court-yard, and fifty strong natives, 
each holding a serpent by the tail, took Mr. Lyall 
and his son prisoners, and marched them off on 
foot to a village six miles distant. The serpents 
were flourished in the air, and held up writhing 
before the eyes of the people that they might see 
for themselves the displeasure of the god who it 
was pretended had by his anger and power drawn 
them thither. Mr. Lyall and his family reached 
the coast in safety, but not without great suffer- 
ing. The only reasons given for the insulting 
expulsion were, that he allowed his horse to ap- 
proach a sacred village, and sent his servants to 
catch butterflies and serpents, which he was col- 
lecting as a naturalist. The queen and her minis- 
ters laid all the blame upon the idol, wlio they said 
had commanded it to be done ; but they secretly 
exulted in ridding themselves of the restraint of 
the presence of English officers. 

Radama had allowed foreigners to reside ten 
years in his dominions, after which they were re- 
quired either to leave the island or become subject 

6 



82 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

to the laws of Madagascar. Mr. Griffitlis's ten 
years had expired, and he requested to know the 
queen's wishes in rt'i!,ard to his further stay. ITor 
reply was, "Tie up your luggage, and return to 
your native country ! " After much negotiation, 
however, she was induced to allow him a re- 
spite. 

One can readily imagine the dislike entertained 
by a queen and court wholly committed to idol- 
atry toward the men who distinctly taught the 
people, both in the school-rooms and in the chap- 
els, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me." 
In the bitter malice of their hearts, they would 
have escorted the whole of them out of Mada- 
gascar with a procession of serpent-bearens, and 
joined in the hissing, had not self-interest re- 
strained them. It is wonderful how the Ruler of 
all hearts held these emissaries of Satan in check 
till his Avork was done, and sustained the faith 
and courage of the missionaries till tliey accom- 
plished the certain planting of God's Word in that 
kingdom. 

When it was announced, in six months after 
the king's death, that the schools might be again 
opened, the missionaries were taken by surprise 
at the singular favor. Before the suspension the 
schools had numbered one hundred, and the schol- 



Q UEEN RA NA VA L OX A . 8 3 

ars between four and five thousand. The reopen- 
ing of them was forbidden in the sacred villages, 
and the pupils had hardly assembled in those re- 
maining, when the motive was apparent. Seven 
hundred of the teachers and older youth were 
drafted into the army, to be sent immediately to 
secure the submission of the southern provinces. 
The queen and her advisers cared not a whit for 
the instruction of the people, but an efficient army 
was necessary to her power. Schools she knew 
made good officers and soldiers, and this w\as a 
convenient mode of obtaining recruits. When 
the youth attended school they were considered 
in the service of the government, and the queen 
claimed that she only transferred them from one 
branch of service to another, when she required 
them for the army. Radama's mode of obtaining 
troops had been to assemble the people en masse^ 
to fire them by his own warlike address, and re- 
quest them to volunteer, requiring those who 
remained at home to pay ten dollars each. An 
army of fifteen thousand was once raised for his 
immediate service in this way. The new mode of 
drafting from the schools alarmed the people, and 
many refused to permit their sons to attend. 
This occasioned a decline in the prosperity of 
tlie schools. 



84" MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

After ten months of the appointed mourning, 
an edict was issued that it shouhi cease, and the 
people return to their ordinary labors. The coro- 
nation of the queen was appointed for the follow- 
ing month, June, 1829. The day was ushered in 
by the firing of cannon. The queen was received 
by her ministers, army officers, and a detachment 
of soldiers dressed in the uniform of British gren- 
adiers, and escorted to the tomb of the kings, 
where she offered a prayer to the father of Rada- 
ma. She was then conveyed by a difficult, circuit- 
ous route in a procession of the royal family, civil 
officers, troops, and singing-women to a plain 
without the city. Here, in the midst of a great 
concourse of people, she alighted upon a sacred 
stone ; then, with her face to the east, exclaimed, 
in her own language, — 

"Am I consecrated, consecrated, consecrated?" 

" You are consecrated, consecrated, consecrat- 
ed ! " returned the five generals who stood by 
her. 

" Long live Ranavalona, queen I " shouted the 
crowd. 

She then descended from the stone and ap- 
proached the two chief idols, consisting of silver 
rings, carnelians, and blocks of wood, fastened to- 
gether and covered with scarlet velvet. Taking 



QUEEN RANAVALONA. 85 

the poles upon which they were carried in her 
hands, she addressed them: — 

" My predecessors have given you to me. I put 
my trust in yo\x\ therefore, support me." 

Alas ! that in the face of a great multitude, and 
in the daylight of the gospel, she should deliber- 
ately choose to confide the guidance of her life to 
senseless bits of wood and stone. "Woe unto him 
that saith to the wood, Awake ; to the dumb 
stone, Arise, it shall teach ! Behold it is laid over 
with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all 
in the midst of it." But there were already those 
among the throng who could cry out, both with 
joy and bitterness, " The Lord is my rock and my 
fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength, 
in whom I will trust." For these there was sor- 
row in store, and they might well watch with 
keen interest all. the significant acts and words of 
the queen on this coronation-day. 

When she had returned the idols to their keep- 
ers, she was borne in her palanquin to a platform, 
upon which was placed the royal chair or throne, 
covered with scarlet cloth and ornamented with 
gold lace. When seated here, a major of the 
body-guard held over her head a scarlet umbrella. 
The royal family sat upon her right and left. 



86 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

Among tliem was Raketaka, the only daughter of 
Radaraa, and Rasalimo, his recognized wife. 

The attire of Queen Ranavalona was of native 
fashion, and rich in material. Her upper dress 
was of purple silk, fastened with gold buttons ; 
the lower dress of white silk, and her mantle of 
fine scarlet cloth. She wore stockings of white 
silk, and yellow morocco shoes. Her crown con- 
sisted of a mother-of-pearl shell, out of which 
sprang five branches resembling coral, having at 
the end of each a red stone and golden bell. A 
fine gold chain of native manufacture encircled 
her head and held the crown in place. Necklaces 
of coral and carnelian, bracelets of pearl, gold, and 
coital, anklets and finger-rings, completed her orna- 
ments. 

In figure she was somewhat stout. Her fiice was 
pleasant in expression, though indicating great 
firmness; her features small and well-propor- 
tioned, and her manner not ungracious. She 
seemed a harmless woman ; but she was a sleep- 
ing tigress, waiting only a fit time for springing 
upon lier victims. 

While she remained seated, the band, taught at 
Mauritius, played the national air. Afterward she 
arose, and, after having saluted the various clans 



QUEE^ RANAVALONA. 87 

represented in the assemblage, addressed them 
thus : — 

" If you have never known me before, I am 
Ranavalona who now appears before you." 

"Hoo, hoo ! " the people shouted. 

"God gave the kingdom to my ancestors, they 
transferred it to Andriampoinimerina (father of 
Radama), and he again to Radama, 07i condition 
that I should be his successor. Is it not so my 
subjects ? " 

" It is so," all replied, without a thought of cen- 
suring the bold untruth of the usurper. 

"I will not change what Radama and my ances- 
tors have done," she continued ; " but I will add 
to what they did. Do not think because I am a 
woman that I can not govern the kingdom. Never 
say she is a woman, weak and ignorant ; she is un- 
able to rule over us ! My greatest solicitude and 
study will always be to promote your welfare, and 
to make you happy. Do you hear that, my sub- 
jects ? " 

" Yes," was the general reply. 

After an address from her chief minister, the 
different clans arose in the order of superiority, 
and the chief of each advanced to offer assurances 
of their fidelity in her service, and to present their 
hasina, — a gift of money, — in token of homage. 



88 Missroxs and martyrs. 

The officers of the army came last. Thus the cer- 
emonies were ended, and the procession bore back 
the new-made queen, and dispersed quietly. 

It was not many months after the plausible ad- 
dress at her coronation that Ranavalona ordered a 
general purification of the country by means of 
the tangena, or trial by poison. A number of 
civil and military officers at the capital were 
among those subjected to the ordeal ; and "many 
hundreds, if not thousands, of the Malagasy are 
supposed to have been sacrificed." Tliis, though 
done at the pretended command of tlie idols, was 
undoubtedly occasioned by the conversion of some 
of the royal family and officers of the court to 
Christianity. Idolatry was restored, and the acts 
of the government were wholly regulated by the 
directions of the sikidy. 

The missionaries might have been banished at 
this juncture, and their work ended, had not one 
of those timely providences, which the Almighty 
so gloriously brings forward to check the foe, 
startled every heart in Madagascar. A fleet of 
six French ships arrived on the coast to lay claim 
to one of the eastern provinces where they had 
long had settlements. Two or three of the coast 
towns were attacked and pillnged. An embassy 
from the queen assured them that they should not 



QUEEN RANAVALONA. 89 

have one inch of the island, anr] the people were 
equally spirited in their determination to resist the 
claim. France was jealous of the English monop- 
oly of influence. Ranavanola intended to get rid 
of both, and accordingly took every measure to 
resist the demands of the former. In the mean 
time she was lenient toward the missionaries, prob- 
ably in order to secure the favor of England until 
the French were disposed of. They were permitted 
to erect a new chapel, to preach, teach, and print. 
Durino^ a whole vear the French continued to har- 
ass and alarm the people, and the missionaries to 
labor with their might, scattering the printed 
Gospels and tracts, by means of the old pupils 
and native teachers, all over Madagascar. The 
members of the little churches were tau2:ht to tell 
the joyful tidings of Jesus wherever they went. 
Prayer-meetings were encouraged, and youth 
taught to pray in their own language, which they 
did with a fervor that indicated a true change of 
heart. The Sabbath services were well attended, 
and the people were inclined to converse much to- 
gether concerning the Word of God. They came 
in numbers to the houses of the missionaries, that 
they might be taught the way to Christ. 

For six months after the French had left the 
coast the government continued its military prep- 



90 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

arations in expectation of a renewal of hostilities, 
and likewise continued to tolerate Christianity. 
The queen even permitted natives to be admitted 
to the church, and receive the ordinance of bap- 
tism. A message from her was read in the Mis- 
sion Chapel that " all who wish are at liberty to 
be baptized, commemorate the death of Christ, 
or marry according to the manners of Europeans." 
Among those who were to receive baptism on the 
Sabbath following this message, were six or eight 
persons nearly related to the royal family. On 
the day previous the displeasure of the queen was 
signified to them, and they were obliged to with- 
draw their names. The lio-ht was shinino' too near 
the throne, and the hand of the queen began to 
reach forth against it, as if it was in the power of 
mortals to put out the burning glory of the Lord. 
Twenty of the natives received baptism on the 
29th of May, 1831, when Mr. Griffiths, who still 
remained, officiated. A large and deeply-affiscted 
assembly witnessed the solemn ceremony. Eight 
others united with the new church in the sub- 
urbs of the city, of which Mr. Johns was pastor. 
Among these were a diviner and his wife, who had 
long given striking evidence of piety. The man 
had spent his life in jugglery and divinations ; but 
to prove his sincerity he destroyed his charms, and 



Q UEEN RAN A FA L ON A . 9 1 

took his place among the chikh-en as a pupil, that 
he might read for himself the wonderful story of 
the sacrifice of Jesus, who had become infinitely 
precious to him. He received tiie Christian name 
of Paul, and with his wife, set a blameless exam- 
ple ; and labored with a zeal an 1 faithfulness that 
brought many to the knowledge of Christ. These 
all partook of the Lord's Supper, and it was per- 
ceived by the government party that wine was em- 
ployed. There was a law proliibiting the use of 
liquor, not at all observed in the palace, and fre- 
quently disregarded by the natives. But its use 
by the church gave an opportunity for persecution, 
and a message was sent from the queen that "it 
was contrary to the law to drink wine." The 
Christians were obliged either to conform, or to 
dispense with the sacrament. After prayer and 
deliberation, their pastors decided to use water in- 
stead of wine. By the end of the year there w^ere 
seventy members in one church, and many had 
been added to tlie others. 

Soon after this, a portion of the army was sent 
to subdue a southern province. Before leaving, 
one of the chief idols was carried between lines 
of the soldiers, and water was sprinkled upon 
them in token of the protection of the idol in 
battle. There were a nymbei- of Christians in this 



92 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

army, and tlicy requested permission to be absent 
from the ceremony, as they placed their trust only 
in the living God. Their request was granted ; 
but in revenge they were put in the front ranks, 
and in the most exposed situations. Although a 
portion of the army was defeated, and many slain, 
it is said that not one of these faithful ones was 
harmed. During their absence they held meet- 
ings in their tents on the Sabbath and in the even- 
ings, and by their influence and example induced 
many of their comrades to believe in God and 
Jesus Christ the Saviour. When they returned 
to Tananarivo, these accompanied them to the 
missionaries, and begged to be recognized as 
disciples. 

This, together with the knowledge that num- 
bers were daily forsaking their idols and flocking 
to the missionaries, alarmed the queen and her 
ministers. To check the growing faith, an order 
was issued debarring the soldiers and the schol- 
ars belonging to the government schools from 
being baptized or uniting with the church ; and 
those who had already done so, were forbidden to 
partake of the Lord's Supper. This order was 
soon extended to all natives. They sat in silence, 
and in great distress of mind, with the Europeans 
who were allowed to unite in it. Nothing probably 



QUEEN RANAVALONA. 98 

could have so deepened and strengthened their 
love for the Saviour as this arbitrary j3rohibition ; 
and the petty persecutions which followed when- 
ever they appeared in public, only served to j^lant 
their feet more firmly on the rock Christ Jesus. 

Among these people was a young slave, of dull 
mind and indolent habits, who, in attending his 
master's son to school, had himself learned to 
read the Bible. " He received the gospel like 
a little child." With the renewal of his heart, 
his mind received light, and his character a sur- 
prising degree of vigor. He felt the lowliness of 
his degree, but exclaimed, in his humility, "I am 
only a poor slave, but nevertheless I trust I love 
the Lord Jesus." 

So prayerful, and so active was he in teaching 
others to read, that he was ap])ointed a teacher in 
a school seventy miles distant from the capital. 
He was admitted to the church on the last Sab- 
bath when the sacrament was allowed to be given 
to the natives. It was their habit to assume a 
baptismal name, which was frequently not made 
known to the pastor till the moment of baptism. 
When he came forward, he pronounced the singu- 
lar name, 

" Ra-poor-negro," meaning simply, "The poor 



94 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

"Ra-poor-iiGgro, do you say ?" asked Mr. Grif- 
fiths, with sur])rise. 

"Yes," said he; "that is the name I wish to 
take," and thus he was baptized. He was after- 
ward asked wliy he chose so singular a name. 

"Oh," said lie, "I had seen in your printing- 
office tljc tract of The Poor Negro, with a picture 
representing liira with his knees bended and liis 
eyes hfted up to heaven ; and I thought, being a 
slave like him, there is nothing I so much desired 
as to become like him in disposition, and there- 
fore I took his name." 

Ra-poor-negro returned to his school and con- 
tinued to teach with remarkable activity. But, 
after a short time, the news of his death follow- 
ed the tidings of his good work. A Malagasy 
dreads death, and it is thought extremely unkind 
to speak of the subject to a sick friend. Even 
a strong man, manly in all else, will cry out in 
tearful distress on his death-bed, " I die, I die ; 
O mother! O father! I die." The triumph and 
victory over death and the grave was therefore 
the more brightly manifest in the parting words 
of Ra-poor-negro, "I am going to Jehovah-Jesus; 
Jesus is fetching me ; I do not fear ! " 

This first Christian death, so peaceful and so 
tiiumphant, was a fulfillment in the eyes of all the 



QUEEN RANAVALONA. 95 

native disciples of the promise, " He will swallow 
up death in victory," and enabled them to bear 
with renewed patience and sweetness the epithets 
of derision that met them every where. 

The increased labors of the missionaries in- 
duced them to urge the coming of new helpers. 
By permission of the queei], Mr. and Mrs. Atkin- 
son, from a station in South Africa, arrived in the 
autumn of 1831. They were permitted to remain 
only one year, as the government found they 
could not teach any new art, but only reading 
and writing. Some six hundred youths were 
under the instructions of Mr. Cameron, who 
taught them various mechanic arts. He had also 
superintended the construction of a canal be- 
tween a river and a lake in the neighborhood 
of the capital. To these labors he united the 
influence of a Christian. Mr. Chick had a number 
of natives employed as smiths, and Mr. Canham 
had also apprentices in the useful arts, while both 
acted as missionaries of the gospel also. Mr. 
Baker had charge of the printing-press with 
a number of native workers. These occupations 
made the Europeans valuable to the Malagasy 
government, and caused them to tolerate Chris- 
tianity to a certain extent, though it was daily 
becoming more evident that the schools were 



96 JUIS SIGNS A XV MAliTYRS. 

obnoxious. Mr. Freeman, Mr. Grilliths, and Mr. 
Johns had the chief charge of these and of tlie 
churches. Mr. Jones had left Madagascar the 
previous year. 

A public examination of the schools was held 
at the request of the government in the autumn 
of 1832, not so much to ascertain the progress as 
the numbers of the scholars. Rumors of a new 
invasion of the French had reached the capital, 
and, immediately after the examination, qyqyy 
one in the schools, over thirteen years of age, 
both pupils and teachers, was drafted into the 
army. Orders were then issued to the people to 
fill up the schools anew! They acquiesced by 
sending their slaves in place of their sons. To 
meet this, the queen forbade a slave to be taught 
to read or write, on penalty of the owner himself 
being reduced to slavery. Although these events 
were very discouraging, there was much still to 
induce the stay of the missionaries. Many who 
did not attend the schools, showed an eagerness 
to learn, that they might read the Bible for them- 
selves. With such a motive, knowledge was 
easily and rapidly gained, and communicated from 
one to another. The natives were enough in 
earnest to build rude chapels for themselves, in 
the distant villages, to establish and sustain meet- 



QUEEN RANAVALONA. 97 

ings of prayer, and to gather not only from the 
highways and hedges all who would come in, but 
often those closely connected with the royal fam- 
ily or men in power. 

The converts ])roved their sincerity by throw- 
ing away their charms and idols. About six 
miles from the capital, lived a chief who owned 
an idol tliat had been kept in his fxmily for many 
generations. It consisted of silver rings, brass 
ornaments, and blocks of wood, together with 
six crocodile teeth, made of silver and hollow. 
These were filled with bits of wood which par- 
took of the sacredness of the idol. Similar 
pieces of wood were hung upon it by a cord. 
The sale of these enabled the family to live in 
comfort. The chief had two sons, officers in the 
army, and to one of them was entrusted the sale 
of the relics, which were said to protect the 
wearer from the perils of battle, or from pesti- 
lence. The price of a single piece was two 
bullocks, two sheep, two goats, two fowls, and two 
dollars, beside other articles of less value. 

The officer who carried on the traffic received 
a present of a Testament from Mr. Johns. The 
reading of this resulted in his conversion. To 
the dismay and grief of his parents, he would no 
longer sell the charms, and the family became 



98 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

poor. Through his untiring exertions a few of his 
relatives espoused Christianity, but the rest re- 
proached and persecuted him. His example, in- 
fluence, and success in leading others to renounce 
idolatry, were such as to enrage the people, and 
he was accused of witchcraft to the queen, and 
condemned to trial by the tangena. 

The tangena is a nut similar to the horse-chest- 
nut. A small quantity of this is scraped off, and 
administered in water to the accused person. It 
will act either as an emetic or as poison, according 
to a slight variation in the quantity given ; so that 
the life of the victim is in the hands of the person 
officiating. If he chances to escape death, he is 
considered innocent, and is expected to pay a 
certain sum ; if he dies, he is pronounced guilty ; 
one twenty-fourth of his property belongs to his 
executioner, and the rest to his accusers. " It is 
given," say the diviners, " by God to men to be a 
test of actions. It is infallible in its decisions, 
and just in its effects. It is a cordial to the inno- 
cent, but death to the guilty." 

The friends of the young officer entreated him 
to secure the services of the diviners in his behalf, 
or to avert danger by bribing them ; but he would 
do neither one nor the other, and committed him- 
self to God. To the astonishment and delight of 



QUEEN RANAVALONA. 99 

his friends, he passer! through the ordeal unharmed. 
They began to lose faith in the tangena. His 
father and mother received him with joy, listened 
to his appeals, which they had before violently op- 
posed, and finally gave up the idol so long regarded 
with veneration. The son stripped it of its orna- 
ments and buried it, but afterward recovered and 
gave it to Mr. Johns, who sent it to England. 

Such events encouraged the missionaries, and 
they continued to provide and circulate the New 
Testament, with portions of the Old, and other 
books, as fiist as they could be translated into the 
Malagasy language. In 1833, fifteen thousand 
copies were printed, and six thousand immediately 
distributed. So general was the interest, and so 
rapidly was instruction communicated from one to 
another, that at this time, says one of the members 
of the mission, " few families were to be found, 
from the immediate connections of the sovereign 
to the humblest slaves, who could not number 
amono; their near relatives some who were the dis- 
ciples of the Saviour." There were persons near 
the queen who perceived the state of things, and 
felt that the time had come when either idolatry 
or Christianity must fall. There were three broth- 
ers, one commander-in-chief of the army, an- 
other first ofiicer of the police, the third a judge; 



100 MISSIOJ^S AND MARTYRS. 

these held supreme power, swaymg the will of the 
qaeen to their own purposes, though with Jesu- 
itical cunning and assumed humility. It was 
through their efforts that the queen issued an or- 
der in 1834, that no natives should learn to read or 
write, except the children in the schools. This it 
was thought would check the further spread of 
the gospel. In addition, Mr. Canham, whose ten 
years had expired, was dismissed from the island, 
and no entreaties could prolong his stay. 

The long expected storm was gathering closer 
and darker. All Madagascar began to feel the 
gloom of the overcast sky. But God was able to 
stay the tempest till his own work was accom- 
plished. The full time had not yet come. Mean- 
while the three emmissaries of Satan in the palace 
were plotting and lying in wait for opportunity to 
afflict the Christians. As a test, an idol was sent to 
one of their nephews, a sincere convert, with direc- 
tions that he should take charge of it, and on a 
coming festival day should sacrifice a bullock and 
eat of it in honor of the idol. He utterly refused 
to do this, which fact was reported to the govern- 
ment. Another Christian was heard to say to his 
relatives that the idols could do neither good nor 
harm, and was seen to work on a sacred day 
This was also announced to the queen by her 



QUEEN RANAVALONA. 101 

advisers, who were watching like wild beasts for 
their prey. The queen was taken very ill, and 
messengers were sent to a distant village to obtain 
a powerful charm for her recovery. They were 
told by a Christian that " the true God was the 
only restorer of health and preserver of life," and 
that " multitudes in the country held the same 
opinion." This again was repeated to Ranavalona, 
and she was assured that the foreigners were thus 
alienating her people, and causing them to despise 
the gbds of the land. The anger of the queen 
was excited ; but still she did not undertake severe 
measures. To stimulate her to this, one of her 
ministers took the occasion of a complaint made 
against a Christian to bring an accusation before 
the judges against him and all " believers," as they 
were called in derision, and requested the govern- 
ment to interfere. The substance of the charges 
was as follows : — 

They despise the idols of the land. 

They are always praying. 

They will not swear by the opposite sex. 

Their 'Women are chaste. 

They are all of one mind respecting their re- 
ligion. 

They observe the Sabbath as a sacred day. 

They scruple to tell lies. 



102 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

What a testimony to the faithful purity of those 
Christians! Even the chief judge before wliom 
the young man was bronglit could find no suffi- 
cient cause of punishment, and dismissed him. 
But the officers who had assisted in the accusations 
did not mean to be thwarted thus, and brought 
the acquitted to the notice of the queen, who im- 
mediately condemned him to the tangena. He 
was mercifully preserved from death, and declared 
innocent. Thus the enemies of truth and purity 
once more were foiled. 

Soon after, the queen was riding out in her pa- 
lanquin accompanied by nobles, officers, and sing- 
ing-women. It was the Sabbath, and as slie passed 
the chapel the hymns of praise sung by the con- 
gregation within reached her ear. " They will 
not stop till some of them lose their heads," was 
the threat with which she greeted the unwelcome 
sound. That any one should presume to oppose 
her will was sufficient of itself to excite her an- 
ger; and the daily proofs that met her of the con- 
tinued growth of the new religion, in spite of her 
various effi^rts to check it, created an intense 
desire to strike the whole people a blow which 
should inspire them with terror, and teach them 
not to presume to choose any but those gods whom 
she worshiped. Her power and pride were in 



PERSECUTION BEGUN, 103 

the balance, and her advisers knew well how to 
make them weigh heavily on the side of persecu- 
tion. 

At this time of suspense among the Christians, a 
chief of high rank came to the palace, and asked 
an audience of the queen. When brought to her 
presence he said, " I am come to ask your majesty 
for a spear ; a bright and sharp spear. Grant my 
request." 

When asked the reason of the demand, he enu- 
merated the offenses of the Christians ; said that 
the hearts of the people were already more devot- 
ed to their new religion than to their queen, and 
declared it to be the intention of the missionaries 
to deliver Madagascar into the hands of foreign- 
ers, when the people and their slaves were suffi- 
ciently turned away from the customs of their 
ancestors. 

" Such will be the issue of the teaching by the 
foreigners," he continued ; " and I do not wish to 
live to see that calamity come upon our country, 
— to see our own slaves employed against us; 
therefore I ask a spear to pierce my heart, that I 
may die before that evil day comes." 

The queen was moved with grief and rage. 
She wept, and was "silent for a cooking of rice! " 
(half an hour) ? The music was ordered to cease, 



104 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

and profound stillness reigned. Amusements were 
forbidden, and during a fortnight the appearance 
of the palace was that of mourning. Edict after 
eclict was sent out from the queen with the inten- 
tion to " put an end to Christianity, if it cost tlie 
life of every Christian in the island." The people 
were forbidden to observe the Sabbath, to read 
the Bible, to pray, to use the name of Jeliovah, 
Christ, or to speak of the devil. Disobedience to 
these requirements was punished with death, con- 
fiscation of property, and the slavery of the sur- 
viving family. They were forbidden even to think 
of what they had been taught, and were required 
to forget it entirely. 

A great " kabary " of the nation was convened 
to hear the will of the queen. The hearts of the 
people stood still with fear. The day came at 
last, ushered in by the firing of cannon. One 
hundred and fifty thousand persons stood before 
the chief officers and judges, who were to make 
known the edict of the queen. Their authority 
was supported by the presence of fifteen thousand 
troops under arms. The edict condemned every 
believer to death who did not come forward and 
accuse himself within a month. Many were the 
offenses it enumerated. "As to your mode of 
swearing," said the indignant queen, " the answer 



PERSECUTION BEGUN. 105 

you are giving is * True ', and when you are asked, 
* Do you swear it ? ' you reply ' True.' I won- 
der at this. What, indeed, is that word ' True ' ?" 
In this manner the Christians were censured and 
denounced. 

A chief venture*] to intercede, saying that all 
they had done had been sanctioned both by Ra- 
dama and by herself, and proposed a peace-offer- 
ing. The only answer was, "Accuse yourselves or 
die, and that within a week instead of a month ! " 
This was done. Those of rank or occupying po- 
sitions of honor were degraded, and the humble 
were fined according to the extent of their observ- 
ance of Christian duties. And now came the trial 
of those who remained faithful. Many were 
forced to deliver up all the Bibles and other books 
in their possession ; but they refused to worship 
idols even at the risk of their lives. Neither were 
they willing to forsake prayer and praise ; but con- 
tinued to meet in secret, comforting each other 
and declaring that "neither death, nor life, nor 
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor hight, nor depth, 
nor any other creature shall be able to sepa- 
rate us from the love of God which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord." Those who had become dis- 
ciples from interested motives returned to idola- 



106 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

try, not being able to bear scorn and reproach, 
poverty and death. Even now the chaff was being 
divided from the wheat. 

The storm that had so long been anticipated by 
the missionaries had bm'st at last. The whole 
Bible was immediately completed in the Malagasy 
language ; printed and bound in large numbers, 
and partly distributed. The natives were not 
allowed to assist ; but two of the missiona- 
ries devoted themselves to the labor and had the 
happiness to complete it. Testaments, hymn-books, 
spelling-books, catechisms, and tracts had already 
been scattered all over the island, and in such 
numbers that the most rigorous search could not 
find them. More tlinn this, God had touched the 
souls of thousands with his Spirit. They were 
Christ's, and no mortal was able to take them from 
him. Though the queen commanded her subjects 
to forget their instructions, it was neither in her 
power to enforce obedience, nor in theirs to obey, 
for the Holy Spirit quickened every heart and 
memory till each precious promise glowed with 
sacred fire as if written there by the finger of 
God. This the missionaries knew, and praised the 
Lord for it. 

The queen gave permission to the Europeans to 
continue their own customs, and to teach the arts, 



PERSECUTION BEGUN. H)7 

on condition that not another word of Christianity 
should be uttered to a native. To this of course 
they could not consent, and as their presence in- 
creased the danger of their former pupils, and as 
they could no longer aflbrd help or consolation to 
the persecuted, they signified their intention of 
leaving Madagascar, with the exception of Mr. 
Johns and Mr. Baker, who decided to remain a 
short time longer in order to complete an Eng- 
lish and Malagasy dictionary. It was surprising 
that the government permitted this, or the finish- 
ing of the Scriptures, especially the latter. Con- 
fusion must have been in their councils, and their 
understandings must have been blinded by an 
Almighty power so that they knew not where to 
strike the decisive blow, else they would long 
ago have put an end to the printing of words that 
were like wedges driven into the very foundation 
of the unrighteous throne. 

On the eighteenth of June, 1835, Mr. and Mrs. 
Freeman, Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Chick left Tananarive, leaving their precious 
charge, not to the cruel mercies of the wicked, 
but in the keeping of ihat powerful Redeemer 
who hears the cry of his suflTering people, and is 
able to sustain them triumphantly through the 
sharpest afflictions. The queen cherished no per- 



108 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

sonal dislike to the missionaries ; but they had 
been warned of her severest displeasure at the 
slightest evasion of her commands. They had 
been strictly watched since the issuing of the edict, 
probably with the desire to discover some excuse 
for violence ; but their conduct in all matters was 
blameless. " The righteousness of the upright 
shall deliver him." These men of God went safe- 
ly out of the lion's den rejoicing that they had 
been protected till their work was done. 

Immediately after their departure, the native 
servants who had been in their employment were 
seized, imprisoned, and condemned to trial by the 
tangena. Two of them being pronounced guilty 
were barbarously murdered. 

Infanticide was revived, new idols were brought 
to the capital, the road to the sea-coast was de- 
stroyed, and a new and more difficult route com- 
manded to be used in order to render access to the 
capital difficult both to foreigners and rebellious 
subjects. Heavy taxes were imposed upon the 
people in addition to the burden of supporting the 
army, both by unrequited labor and by the gift of 
their sons. This reduce^l many to the most abject 
poverty ; forced them to become banditti, and ob- 
tain by robbery what they were not permitted to 
earn. The mountains and highways had come to 



PERSECUTION BEGUN. 109 

be dangerous on account of these roving bands. 
Althouofh two hundred men were taken and 
speared, burnt or poisoned, as an example to in- 
spire fear, the number increased yet more rapidly. 
In alarm and rage, some of the government officers 
asked Mr. Johns what could be done to remedy 
the evil. 

" By ceasing to oppress the people, allowing 
them to reap the fruits of their own industry, and 
to be taught to read the Bible," was the unwel- 
come reply. Provoked at this advice, they only 
increased in their cruelty, and sent divisions of the 
army in .various directions to subdue the disobe- 
dient. In some of the provinces allegiance to the 
queen had been refused. In the south, submission 
was offered on the approach of the army; but 
after disarming the captives, ten thousand were 
treacherously drawn into a place from which they 
could not escape ; the whole were assassinated in 
cold blood, and their wives and children reduced 
to slavery. 

In the midst of such atrocities Mr. Johns and 
Mr. Baker continued their labors unmolested. 
They finished the dictionary, and had printed a 
portion of the Pilgrim's Progress, when an event 
occurred which hastened their departure. The 
Christians had not given up all their Bibles. 



no MISSIONS AND iMABTYRS. 

Some bid them under the floor beneath their 
beds and read them secretly after midnight. The 
slaves of a pious woman named Rafaravavy, be- 
trayed her in this, and also accused her of ob- 
serving the Sabbath and conversing upon religion. 
She was imprisoned, fined, and in daily expec- 
tation of death, till released with the threat of 
severer measures in case of a second offense. She 
cherished no resentment against her accusers, 
though of her own household ; but forgave and 
affectionately prayed for them. This, with the 
fact that British vessels on the coast had given 
refuge to many fugitives from cruelty, caused the 
order for the missionaries remaining to leave, 
which they did, with great sorrow at parting with 
the people, in July, 1836. They had dwelt safely 
under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty 
till their part in his great work was done. The 
people had been taught to read ; the Bible was 
wholly completed and left in their hands, to be the 
sole preacher during twenty-five years of extreme 
suffering. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MARTYRDOMS. 

Brief respite of the Persecution — Death of a young Christian — 
The Cruelties Renewed — Kafaravavy — Rasalama, the-first Mar- 
tyr — Courag-e of Rafaralahy — His Arrest and Execution — 
Flight of Rafaravavy and her Companions — Itanimanina — Sec- 
ond Flif?ht — Her Letter — Reaches Tamatave — Hardships and 
Dangers — Escape to Mauritius — The Queen incensed — Arrest 
of suspected Persons — Scourging — Martyrdom of Ravahiny — 
Of nine Christians — Efforts of Mr. Johns to mitigate the Perse- 
cution—Great Numbers reduced to Slavery — Continued Execu- 
tions. 

From 1836 to 1861, — twenty-five yefirs, — the 
missionaries, full of strong love and sympathy, 
were compelled to stand afar off and watch the 
dark cloud that hunoj over Madacrascar. Sometimes 
the gloomy vail was lifted enough to give them 
glimpses of the Christians bowing under the weight 
of suffering ; but still praying and praising. It was 
enough to assure them that the Word of God was 
proving itself "quick and powerful, and sharjDer 
than any. two-edged sword." At every lifting of 
the black mists from the mountain-tops, they could 
behold, as in a vision, Christ sitting as a refiner 
and purifier, and catch the shining glory of the 
presence of the Lord in that afflicted land. There 
was enough to exalt their hearts with joy even 

111 



11'2 MISSJON^S AND MAIITYRS. 

wliilu they shed tears of pity. Traders were per- 
mttted for a few years to toucli at tiie coast, and 
althougli tlie natives were forbidden to write, 
tidings Avere obtained by this means, at distant in- 
tervals, of their welfare. For some months after 
the departm-e of the missionaries, the queen's gov- 
ernment did little to molest the Christians. A 
merciful God granted them a respite in which they 
might gather strength for the weary years of per- 
secution that were to follow through the greater 
part of a generation. During these few months 
of intermitted trial, they met frequently, though in 
secret, in lonely places, for reading the Scriptures, 
for worship, and for mutual comfort and strength- 
ening against the impending sorrow. 

During this time, the fear hanging over them 
might have been expected to separate from them 
so many of the timid and half-hearted as much to 
diminish their numbers. On the contrary, their 
numbers increased. One young man, however, 
peculiarly honored and loved by them, died at 
this time. So deep was his love for the Saviour 
during health, that the name of Jesus always 
brought tears to his eyes. Wlien asked why was 
this, he simply answered, " How can it be otherwise 
when I recall his love unto death for me ? " On 
his death-bed he was asked if he was afraid. 



MARTYRDOMS. 113 

"Why should I fear to die," he answered, "when 
Jesus is my friend ? He hath loved me with an 
everlasting love, and I love him because he hath 
first loved ra.e. I am persuaded that he will not 
leave me now, for I am full of joy at the thought 
of leaving this sinful world to be for ever with 
him." And so he fell asleep, and was taken away 
from the evil to come. 

When the queen and her counselors saw the 
failure of their hopes of the speedy decrease of the 
Christians, which they had reckoned on as certain 
to follow the banishment of the missionaries and 
the measures of repression already adopted, and 
found that the hated people were increasing in- 
stead of diminishing, they resolved upon harsher 
means. One Sabbath day, when a band of disci- 
ples had met upon a mountain to read, sing, and 
pray, they were discovered and reported to the 
queen. Among them was Rafaravavy. Her house 
was searched, and near it was found, buried, a box 
of Bibles, and other books given her by the mis- 
sionaries. In revenge, her house was given up to 
plunder, and she was loaded with heavy irons and 
imprisoned. Threats were employed to extort 
from her any information concerning her compan- 
ions ; but she remained silent, firm, and looked 
with cheerful composure for the death certainly in 



114 MISSIONS ANb MARTYRS. 

store. A fire, however, breaking out in the capi- 
tal, alarmed the superstition of the queen, and 
saved her life. She was reserved for much suffer- 
ing, but not for martyrdom. 

The first martyr of the Malagasy church was a 
young woman named Rasalama, She had been 
condemned to perpetual slavery; but an expres- 
sion of her joy that she was counted wx)rthy to 
suffer for Jesus brought upon her the sentence of 
death. Before suffering it, she was loaded with 
irons and severelv beaten. But so lon<? as she had 
strength she comforted herself by singing her 
favorite hymns. Her fortitude confounded her 
enemies, who could only attribute it to some 
charm. They did not see the One with her, whose 
form w\as as the Son of God. 

The afternoon before her execution, the ordi- 
nary chains she wore were exchanged for others, 
consisting of rinses and bars fastened around her 
neck, arms, feet, and knees, forcing her into a po- 
sition of great agony. In this torture she passed 
the ni2:ht. But the mornings brought her an 
everlasting rest. As she was led away to the 
place of execution she continued to sing. Passing 
the chapel, she said, " There I heard the words of 
the Saviour ! " Her Christian friends, deeply as 
they sympathized with lier, were deterred, by fear 



'^^ 




MAR TTRD OMS. 115 

of the certain consequences, from openly express- 
ing their sympathy. One young man, however, 
named Rafaralahy, breaking through all timidity, 
came and walked by her side, saying, " My sister, 
I will not leave you till the end." Thus the 
gloomy procession reached the place of execution. 
The name of this is Ambohipotsy. It forms the 
southern extremity of the crest of the hill upon 
which the city stands. 

The victims were made to kneel on the ground, 
when two spears were thrust into their bodies 
from behind, one on each side of the back-bone. 
They were then beheaded, and their bodies often 
left lying on the ground. Such a fate Rasalama 
was about to undergo. But the sight of the 
place of death did not shake the peace of 
God which she enjoyed. Her only request to 
the executioners was that she raicrht be allowed a 
brief season of prayer ; and whilst thus engaged in 
communion with her Saviour the thrust of the 
spears ended her sufferings, and brought her face to 
face with him for whose sake she " loved not her 
life unto the death." 

Thus died the first martyr of Madagascar. One 
of the missionaries writes of her : " Never in the 
annuls o( the clmrch did a martyr suffer from mo- 
tives more pure, simple, and unmixed with earthly 



IIG MISSIONS AXD MARTYRS. 

alloy. She had never heard of any after-glory of 
martyrdom on earth, No external splendor had 
been cast around the subject in her mind by read- 
ing any lives of martyrs. All was to her oblo- 
quy and contempt." No wonder that her calm 
nobility of asj^ect so impressed the rude execu- 
tioners that they were constrained to say, " There 
is some charm in the religion of the white people 
that takes away the dread of death ; " while the 
young man who had braved the danger of accom- 
panying her, exclaimed, as he turned away from 
the spot where the martyr had rendered up her 
soul, " Could I but die so tranquil and happy a 
death, I should be willing to die for the Saviour, 
too ! " 

In time he had an opportunity of making good 
his declarations. Several of the companions of 
Rasalama, who had been condemned to perpetual 
slavery, were sold to masters living near his house, 
which was about ten miles out of Tananarivo, and 
among them was Rafaravavy. This pious woman 
had by the special kindness of Providence been 
sold to a humane master, whose wife, moreover, 
proved to be a relative of her own. She was 
therefore allowed some liberty, which she gladly 
improved by visits to the houses of her fellow- 
Christians. The cential point of these gatherings 



MARTYRDOMS. 117 

was the lioase of Rafaralahy, tlie yonng man who 
had comforted Rasalama at the last. He devoted 
his time and his property to doing good, built a 
house for the secret worship of the Christians, and 
endeavored, not unsuccessfully, to bring others 
into the way of the Lord. There were three poor 
lepers whom their loathsome malady made out- 
casts and abhorred of all. But Rafaralahy fed 
them, sheltered them, and taught them to read 
the Book of life. There is reason to hope that all 
three are now with their benefactor in that land 
where " the inhabitants shall not say, I am sick, 
and the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven 
their iniquity." 

At length a debtor of Rafaralahy's, and one 
whom it appears he had treated with much kind- 
ness, thought to rid himself of his obligations by 
denouncing his benefactor to the government. He 
accused him of being a Christian, and of holding 
meetings in his house. Rafaralahy was seized, 
loaded with chains, and cast into prison. But 
the God of Rasalama showed himself to be his 
God. They were anxious to get from him the 
names of his friends, but his constant answer was, 
" Here am I ; let the queen do what she pleases 
with me. I have done it ; but I will not accuse 



118 MISSJOXS AND MARTYRS. 

my friends." Accordingly he was condemned 
to death. 

When the executioner entered the prison and 
asked, " Which is Rafaralahy ? " the brave man 
promptly answered, " I am." As he walked to the 
place of execution, not now as the comforter, but 
as the doomed, he did not, like Rasalama, sing, 
but he testified to the spectators his joy in the 
near prospect of beholding the Saviour. Like 
Rasalama, he requested a brief space for prayer ; 
and kneeling on the ground " consecrated by her 
blood and strewed with her unburied bones,"' he 
committed his spirit to his Divine Redeemer. 
Then rising, he said, "I am ready;" and request- 
ing them not to bind him, as it would not be nec- 
essary, he lay down on the ground and received 
the fatal thrust. 

After Rafaralahy's death, his wife and another 
woman were seized and tortured, to force a dis- 
closure of his associates. In the weakness of pain 
and fear they gave up their names. But Rafora- 
vavy was apprised of the danger in time to flee, 
and with her, four other Christians, two men and 
two women. 

A place called Itanimanina, fifty miles from the 
capital, was the residence of a Christian family. 
Hither the fugitives fled, assisted on their way by 



MARTYRDOMS. 119 

those of like faith, who for the sake of Christ 
dared incur the risk of the queen's anger. Most 
of the night after their arrival at Itanimanina was 
spent by them, notwithstanding the fatigue of their 
journey, in prayer and praise. Three of them, 
named Joseph, Simeon, and David, went on fur- 
ther and sought a hiding-place in the forest. Here 
they were cared for by a noble-hearted man, a 
servant of the government, who alone knew their 
secret abode. Often did this devoted friend and 
fellow-Christian traverse the rugged roads and tan- 
gled forest for a distance of fifty or sixty miles with 
a heavy burden of rice. Thus by self-sacrificing 
love and labor they were sustained nearly six 
months, when it became necessary for them to seek 
another refuge. 

But it was against Rafaravavy that the anger of 
the queen was particularly directed. She still re- 
mained at Itanimanina. To avoid the messengers 
of death, who were hunting her, she every morn- 
ing left the house, and concealed herself among 
the rocks. Her hiding-place was discovered, and 
one day soldiers hastened to it, expecting to find 
her there. But, through a good Providence, Raf- 
aravavy, owing to the rain, had that day not left 
the house. The soldiers then hastened thither, now 
sure of tlieir prey. But He who sent the ravens 



120 MISSIONS AND MART YES. 

to feed Elijah now sent the crows to save his hand- 
maiden. Solne of these birds, being alarmed by 
the coming of the soldiers, made a noise which 
drew the attention of Rafaravavy's companion, Sa- 
rah, who running out to see what was the matter 
was able to give Rafaravavy notice in time for her 
to hide under a bedstead and cover herself with 
mats. The soldiers, not seeing Rafaravavy, sup- 
posed she was not there. They remained in the 
house long enough, however, for her to hear the 
bloody purposes of the cruel Ranavalona t^Dwards 
her. But there was fulfilled to her the promise, 
"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the des- 
olation of the wicked when it cometh. For the 
Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall withhold 
thy foot from being taken." 

Rafaravavy, Sarah, and their kind protectors, 
were now obliged to seek an asylum still further 
away from the capital where Satan's seat was. 
About a hundred soldiers were searching for them. 
Their flight, therefore, was one of imminent peril 
and many hair-breadth escapes. At one time 
they lay hid all night in a pit. Once, as they 
were secreting themselves, they saw the soldiers 
pass by in their search for them. Again, as they 
reached the crest of a hill, they saw a party of 
soldiers coming right towards them. The rest 



MARTYRDOMS. 121 

took to flight, but Rafaiavavy, who could not run, 
plunged into a bog, where she lay half buried in 
the mire, and covered with rushes, and so was 
saved. 

Thus through much weariness and many dan- 
gers, they at last reached the house of the friend 
with whom they hoped for a refuge. As he saw 
them, he burst into tears of joy and sympathy. 
For three months he entertained them, conceal- 
ing the tent which he pitched for them in the 
midst of the high grass of a plantation which he 
owned, and from which he warned off all trespass- 
ers. This retreat of theirs was spent in those ex- 
ercises of Christian devotion and those studies of 
God's Word which were the more precious because 
the enjoyment must be thus stealthily snatched. 
Nor were these hours of holy communion fruitful 
only to themselves. Other Christians who had not 
yet drawn the eye of the persecuting queen upon 
themselves, joined with them, and even some un- 
believers were admitted. Nearly twenty in this 
way learned to read. Nor was the kindness of their 
host unrewarded. Several members of his family 
were at this time brought to the Lord. 

"Blessed be God," wrote Rafaravavy, "who 
hath given us access by Jesus Christ. My earnest 
prayer to God is, that he would enable me to obey 



122 MISSIONS AXD MARTYRS. 

the words of Jesus to his disciples, Matt. xvi. 24. 
Hence, none of these things move me, neither 
count I my life dear to myself that I may finish 
my course in the service I have received of the 
Lord Jesus. Do not you, missionaries, grieve un- 
der an idea that your labor here has been in vain 
in the Lord ; through the blessing of God, it suc- 
ceeds. ' If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them 
that are lost ; but it is the power of God to them 
that believe.' Here is my ground of confidence ; 
the power of God can not be effectually resisted. 
I will go in the strength of the Lord. Though I 
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil, for God is with me." 

At last the soldiers, wearied with their fruit- 
less search, returned to the capital. The hunted 
Christians now began to breathe more freely. At 
this time, however, a letter from a friend informed 
them that Mr. Johns had come to Tamatave to 
assist their escape. They were at once glad and 
perplexed to hear this. Their perplexity arose 
from the fact that Tamatave is on the eastern 
coast, while their present place of refuge was west 
of the capital, and so situated that they must pass 
through it to reach Tamatave. However, they 
adventured themselves once more into the lion's 
den, and the Lord sent his angel and stopped the 



MARTYRDOMS. 123 

mouths of the lions. Rafaravavy was even recog- 
nized as she passed through Tananarivo by a 
slave, who reported lier to her former master. lie, 
however, perhaps in the kindness of his heart, took 
no notice of the information. The little party 
thus passed unhurt under the very shadow of the 
palace, where the cruel queen sat plotting their 
destruction, and after many jDerils and hardships 
reached the coast. They were obliged to cross a 
river full of crocodiles, with no other means of 
transit than the government boat. Happily, how- 
ever, the government ferryman did not know them, 
and set them over without inquiry. At length 
they beheld the sea, that dreaded sea, which to 
many a captive Malagasy has awakened terrors 
like the terrors of death, when he first beheld it 
from the weeping-place of the inner bights, and 
knew that it would soon separate him for ever from 
all that he had known and loved. But to the 
hunted Christians, the broad waters spread them- 
selves out with a face of welcome. Dear as their 
native land was, the ruthless queen had made it 
full of terror to them ; while beyond the sea they 
knew that whatever else was strange, they should 
find the one thing most precious, — the commun- 
ion of saints. 

Disguised as sailors, they at last, in company 



124 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

with Mr. Johns, made their escape to Mauritius. 
They afterwards visited England, and every where 
were received as it became Christ's people to treat 
those who for his sake had suffered the loss of all 
things. 

Themselves in safety, their hearts turned with 
anxious interest to their brethren and sisters who 
were yet in the tyrant's power. Tlieir solicitude 
was increased by the contents of a letter which 
they received from some of them, announcing that 
orders had been given by the government, that 
wherever Christians were found a pit should be 
dug on the spot, and that, having been thrust 
into it head-foremost, boiling water should be 
poured upon them till they were dead. It does 
not appear that any actually suffered under this 
cruel order ; but the apprehension of it may well 
have filled their minds, and those of their escaped 
friends, with cruel anxiety. The writers of the 
letter add, " We have heard of the orders of the 
queen respecting us, and in what manner we are 
to be put to death. We still confide in the com- 
passion of the Saviour; but we ask, ' Can you do 
any thing to rescue us?' We think of the death 
awaiting us. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is 
weak." 

The fury of the queen had indeed burst forth 



MARTYRDOMS. 125 

"with redoubled fierceness, when slie learned the 
escape of the victims she had set her heart on 
having. Disappointed of theni, she was deter- 
mined to find others. Hitherto, persecution had 
only touched those who were positively known 
to be Christians. But now a mere susj)icion was 
sufficient. A woman living in the capital, who 
was thus suspected, was seized and beaten to 
extort a confession. During the scourging, a Bible 
fell from her dress. No other proof was needed. 
She was scourged again, even to fainting, to extort 
from her the names of her companions. But no 
torture could shake her faithful constancy, and so 
they escaped, while she was sentenced to perpet- 
ual slavery. 

A second martyrdom now ushered in many 
more. This one was an illustration of our 
Saviour's saying : " A man's foes shall be they of 
his own household." The martyr was a young 
woman named Ravahiny, whose eminent piety pe- 
culiarly endeared her to her Christian associates, 
and in the same measure provoked the bitter vex- 
ation and hatred of her heathen relatives. Her 
husband repudiated her; her father's house waa 
closed against her, and her whole circle of rela- 
tives participated in the aversion of her nearest 
connections. Not content with this, they pro- 



126 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

cured against her a sentence of pei-petual slavery. 
Finding even this not enough to satisfy their 
hatred, they plotted against her till at last they 
obtained a decree that she should drink the tan- 
gena, or ordeal cup. As they expected, and per- 
haps contrived, the ordeal proved fatal, and Rava- 
hiny joined Rasalama in glory. 

But these isolated martyrdoms were far from 
satisfying the rage of the heathen. Early in 1840, 
fourteen Christians who had set out towards the 
sea-coast in the hope of escaping like Rafaravavy 
and her companions, were apprehended and 
brought back. Mr. Johns had at this time ven- 
tured to revisit Madagascar, and to come to Tan- 
anarive, hoping to do something to mitigate the 
sufferings of the Christians. The melancholy in- 
telligence met him on his arrival. He learned 
that sixteen had started for Tamatave, and after 
long wanderings reached a village called Beforona, 
not very far distant from the coast. Here they 
were arrested on suspicion of being malefactors. 
An examination of several days had elicited noth- 
ing of importance, when they resolved to de- 
clare boldly who they were. Accordingly, one 
speaking for the rest, said, " Since you ask us 
again and again who we are, we will tell you. We 
are not robbers nor murderers; we are praying 



MARTYRDOMS. 127 

peojDle. If that makes us guilty in the dominions 
of the queen, we are ready to suffer." " Is this, 
then," inquired the officer, "your final answer, 
whether for life or death?" "It is our final an- 
swer, whether for life or death," they replied. 

They were bound and carried to the capital. 
There each was subjected to a separate examina- 
tion, but all remained firm and witnessed a good con- 
fession. Mr. Johns was greatly distressed, know- 
ing that appeals to the mercy or to the justice of 
the inexorable queen would be alike vain. All 
that he and the Christians who met with him in 
secret could do, was to commend their imprisoned 
brethren to the grace of God, that they might not 
faint or fall away in the prospect of death. And 
their prayer was abundantly answered. 

Not long after his arrival, Mr. Johns heard one 
morning the booming of cannon. This unusual 
sound he knew portended something extraordi- 
nary. 

He soon learned the melancholy tidings it was 
meant to communicate. Nine of the imprisoned 
Christians were to die that day. They were all 
well-known and dear to the missionary. One of 
them, who bore the Christian name of Josiah, had 
been a faithful preacher of the gospel befo're the 
persecution, and afterwards an eminent helper and 



128 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

strengthener of his afflicted brethren. With ago-- 
nizing anxiety, the missionary and his fellow- 
Christians waited to hear that all was over; and 
soon after raid-day the echo of a gun which burst 
in the discharge, announced that these nine souls 
had been added to " the noble army of the mar- 
tyrs." 

At this same time there were some two hundred 
Christians, "destitute, afflicted, tormented, who 
wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and 
caves of the earth," and whose condition called 
forth the strong sympathy and solicitude of many 
British Christians. The Directors of the London 
Missionary Society instructed their devoted mis- 
sionary, Mr. Johns, to spare neither labor nor 
expense to rescue their persecuted brethren from 
death. But all devices to effect the escape of 
any from the island proved ineffectual.- The 
queen's government used redoubled diligence and 
severity. A letter to Mr. Johns from some of the 
Christians held as government slaves says, " The 
sufferings of the people are unutterable. Do res- 
cue us, beloved f ither, if possible. . . . If 

God help us not we are dead men 

Our government service continues very severe. 
When the children of Israel labored under Pha- 
roah perhaps they obtained some little respite, at 



MARTYRDOMS. 129 

any rate by night ; but ours is incessant labor ! 
We must work both day and night." 

Indeed, so determined was the government, not 
only to afflict the Christians, but to wear them 
out, that in order to accomplish this result, two of 
the conditions on which they were sold were, first, 
that under no circumstances should they be sold 
to friends ; and secondly, that those who bought 
them should engage to keep them continually at 
heavy work. The decree against them set forth 
that it was the queen's determination that they 
should be as weeds of the waste, bowing down 
their heads till they died." 

In 1842, five more were added to the honor- 
ed roll of Madagascar martyrs. Like many pre- 
vious sufferers, they were put to the torture to ex- 
tract from them the names of their companions ; 
but their fliithfulness could not be shaken. Just 
before their deaths, a messenger from their fellow- 
Christians found his way to them, to whom they 
whispered, "Let them not fear that we shall dis- 
close their names. Bid them for us farewell, in 
hope of a meeting hereafter." They were execu- 
ted in the market-place of Vonizongo, and their 
heads fixed on poles for a terror to others. 

In an affecting letter written about this time, 
one of the native Christians says : " Our trials are 

9 



130 MISSIOJ^S AND MARTYRS. 

greater than ever, and the number of the persecute 
ed is increasing daily. The officers of the queen 
are searching for them every where, to put them to 
death. We do not know what to do, as the road, 
in almost all directions, is impassable, and our hid- 
ing-places are nearly all known to our enemies." 

Writes another : " These trials are heavy to flesh 
and blood, but are even light to be borne by the 
mind and soul that lean upon the Lord. ... I 
told you in a former letter that the queen ordered 
tangena to be given me, but by the blessing of 
God I got over it. Join me, O my beloved friend ! 
in praising the Lord, who hath blessed me and 
preserved me alive. Five of our friends are hid- 
ing themselves with me, and I shall take partic- 
ular care of, them ; but others go from place to 
place to seek for something to support nature. 

Three more in October suffered for their Sav- 
iour. One, Raharo, perished under the ordeal ; an- 
other, Ratsimilary, being detected in endeavoring 
to save his friend from its effects, was condemned 
to death ; while a third, Imamonjy, was sentenced 
with him to be cut into small pieces and then 
burnt. 

The great comfort of the Chiistians in all their 
wanderings and sufferings was, next to the pres- 
ence of the Saviour, through His Spirit and the 



MARTYRDOMS. 131 

"Word of God. But by constant use, and frequent 
burials in the ground, for better concealment, many 
of their Bibles had become almost worn out. 
What they longed for above all was a new sup- 
ply of this precious treasure. " Exceedingly af- 
flicted are we," they write, " on account of the 
fewness of the Bibles here with us, and we ex- 
ceedingly desire to have more. We are thirsting 
for them ; for the Bible is our companion and friend, 
to instruct and search in thoroughly when in se- 
crecy and silence, and to comfort us in our grief 
and tribulation. Send us many^ for even then 
they will not be enough ; and let them be of small 
print, so as to be easily hidden." They also give 
intelligence that on the Sabbaths the men would 
walk long distances to have a secure retreat so as 
to worship God in safety. But the women could 
not walk so far, which giieved them much. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PRINCE RAKOTO FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 

A Contrast — Rakoto-Radama, Son of the Queen, the Friend of 
the Christians — His Education and Character — His Mother's Af- 
fection for Him — An Admirer of Europeans — Mr. Laborde — 
Kindness to shipwrecked Sailors — Hated by the Heathen Party — 
Plots to kOl Him — Renewed Persecutions — Accusations against 
the Christians — Trial and Condemnation — Fourteen thrown 
down a Precipice — Burning of the Nobles — Memory of the Mar- 
tyrs Cherished — Numbers fined and enslaved — Letter of a Na- 
tive Christian — "The Blood of the Martyrs the Seed of the 
Church." 

The reign of the cruel queen, Ranavalona, ranges 
side by side with that of Victoria of England ; 
and the Princess Royal, whose bridal was graced 
with one of the gorgeous flowers of Madagas- 
car, could have turned her eyes, that happy 
day, toward the hills where they blossomed, and 
have seen the martyrs ascending from their 
clouded tops in chariots of fire. 

The severest persecution occurred in 1849. The 
presumed reason for redoubled cruelty was that 
the only son of the queen was associated with the 
Christians, who were believed to have employed a 
powerful charm or witchcraft to convert him. 
This son was born a year after the death of Rada- 

132 



PRINCE RAKOTO. 133 

ma. According to the custom of that preemineiTtly 
licentious country, he was called the son of Rada- 
ma, and was the appointed successor to the 
throne. He was but six years old when the last 
English resident was expelled from the capital, 
and had received no instructions whatever, either 
before or after the departure of the missionaries. 
Beloved and petted as an only child ; guarded 
from contact with the hated Christians ; taught 
by example to trust in idols; to revere the Yazim- 
bas; to regulate his conduct by divinations of 
stones, and beans or sticks ; a daily witness of 
open immorality, and of hourly executions of the 
most brutal character, it was natural that his 
twentieth year should find him as accomplished in 
wickedness as his mother. Add to this an impul- 
sive temperament, a character not strong to resist 
the influence of those around him, and an almost 
chivalrous devotion to his mother, and what could 
be expected but the develoj)ment of a prince fit to 
be the heir of a Jezebel? 

And yet this was not true of him. There was 
not, in all that palace of iniquity, so gentle, so hu- 
mane, so amiable a person as Rakoto-Radama. In 
person, he is described by those who have seen 
him as " short in stature, but well-proportioned, 
with broad shoulders and ample chest. His head 



134 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

small, his hair jet-black and somewhat curling ; 
his forehead slightly retreating and round ; his 
eyes small, but clear and penetrating ; his features 
somewhat European in form ; his lips full ; his 
nose aquiline, and his chin slightly j^rojecting." 
Another says, " His features wear an expression of 
such childlike goodness that one feels drawn to- 
ward him from the first moment of seeinsj him." 
A frank truthfulness of character, a strong love of 
justice, and a remarkable sense of the sacredness 
of human life, were traits as apparent as wonder- 
ful. 

Having a mind ready to appreciate what is just 
and lovely, it is not surprising that he was strongly 
drawn to the proscribed Christians when their 
faith was unfolded to him. When he was seven- 
teen, a young man who occasionally obtained ad- 
mittance to the palace with his uncle, contrived to 
bring his faith to the notice and interest of Rako- 
to, and induced him to accompany him to hear 
one Rainaka, who boldly preached the gospel, not- 
withstanding threats and decrees. "From this 
time," writes one of the natives, " he was very dil- 
igent in conversing with us on the subject of 
Christianity, and at length he invited some of us 
into his house in the palace-yard, to talk with him 



PRIKCE RAKOTO. 135 

in secret ; and we were thus frequently invited to 
his house." 

It was not long before the fact of his having 
joined the Christians was made known to the 
queen. One of the ministers, — their most bitter 
persecutor, — thinking to increase her hatred, said 
to her, — 

" Your son, madam, is a Christian. He prays 
with the Christians, and encourages them in this 
new doctrine. We are lost if your majesty does 
not stop the prince in this strange way." 

" But," replied the queen, " he is my son, — my 
only, my beloved son ! Let him do what he 
pleases. If he wishes to become a Christian, let 
him. He is my beloved son ! " 

From this time, Rakoto was at his mother's 
side, uniting most filial devotion to entreaties to 
spare the lives of her subjects. It made no differ- 
ence whether the sufferers were slaves or nobles, 
friends or enemies ; they shared his sympathy 
alike. It seems surprising that such a prince 
could have been the son of such a mother, and 
that qualities like his could have been nourished 
amid such iniquitous surroundings. Just as the 
beautiful orchids clustered and blossomed upon 
the bared and knotted arms of the old decaying 
giants of his native forests, he throve upon the 



136 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

topmost branch of royalty, drawing unconsciously 
all eyes upon so much apparent goodness blossom- 
ing in the midst of miasma and death. 

It is no wonder that the Christians — grateful as 
they were for this powerful friend, raised up to 
them from the very seat of cruelty — could hard- 
ly say too much in praise of the young prince. 
They confidently believed that God had touched 
his heart with his own love. And, indeed, during 
all the time of persecution, Rakoto's character ap- 
peared in its best light. Thus Christendom came 
to regard him as personally a Christian, awaiting 
only the termination of his mother's reign to avow 
himself openly such, and to prove a second Constan- 
tine. It was not known, what his short reign 
afterwards too plainly showed, that he was at 
bottom conceited, frivolous, and licentious. But 
whatever he was, he was an instrument in the 
hands of God to lighten somewhat the heavy bur- 
dens of his people, lest they should be wholly 
overborne, and the church be blotted out of 
Madagascar. 

He never concealed his acts from his mother. 
It is said she and others knew perfectly what he 
did. Although the knowledge that her only son 
and heir was a friend of the people whom she 
hated with all the strength of her savage and idol- 



PRINCE RAKOTO. 137 

atrous heart, must have increased the rage of the 
queen against them, yet parental affection is a 
feature so peculiarly strong in the Malagasy char- 
acter, that even this bloody woman could not 
resist its power. 

Prince Rakoto had heard much of the people 
and governments of Europe, and possibly had 
some boyish impressions of the English during the 
latter part of their stay. His admiration for them 
was unbounded, and doubtless was the occasion of 
as much vexation to the queen as his forsaking the 
customs of his ancestors in their idolatry and 
superstition. His earliest, and for a long time 
only acquaintance with Europeans was in the per- 
son of Mr. Laborde, the son of a French saddler, 
who in the accidents of a roving life was ship- 
wrecked on the island of Madagascar, brought to 
Tananarivo, and sold as a slave. He was exceed- 
ingly ingenious, and the story of some of his 
achievements soon reached the ear of the queen. 
She immediately offered him his freedom if he 
would labor for her during five years. He estab- 
lished a workshop, and commenced the manufac- 
ture of arms, succeeding so admirably that, like 
Laban, the queen doubled the time of his service. 
Though this removed the sweetness of freedom 
five years longer, he applied himself to other 



138 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

brandies of industry, opening works for glass- 
blowing, indigo-dyeing, soap and tallow-boiling, 
and a distillery for rum. With French facility, he 
added to all these vegetable-growing ; and the 
numerous lightning-rods conspicuous all over the 
capital give further proof of his activity and his 
humane efforts to save life. Thunder-storms are 
so frequent and severe there, that it is said " about 
three hundred persons are killed by lightning 
annually" in the capital alone. So useful a person 
soon became a favorite of the government, and 
obtained much influence with the queen. She 
gave him houses, lands, slaves; and he married a 
native wife, thus fixing his residence, and appar- 
ently satisfied with liis prosperity. He lived as 
the nobles, and was able to entertain his guests at 
a table furnished with china and silver plate. Al- 
though a Catholic, he evidently favored the Chris- 
tians, interceded with the queen in their behalf, 
and relieved their distress whenever it was pos- 
sible. This was sufiicient to attract the devoted 
friendship of Prince Rakoto. It was probably 
through him that the prince obtained much of his 
knowledge of Europe. 

European sailors were occasionally brought to 
Tananarivo to be sold as slaves ; it being one of 
the queen's barbarous laws to enslave all the peo- 



PRINCE RAKOTO. 139 

pie who were shipwrecked on her coasts. It ex- 
pressed her hatred of foreigners. But the prince 
was as full of love and mercy toward them as she 
was of hatred. He was not independent of his 
mother's purse, being provided by her with a resi- 
dence and the few luxuries that a Malagasy prince 
needs, and therefore, if his heart suggested it, he 
would not have been able to become the master of 
the unfortunate sailors. On one occasion, when 
riding in the neighborhood of the capital, he met 
five sailors, who were being driven to the city. 
One of them, weary and footsore, limped after the 
rest, unable to keep pace with them. The prince 
took off his own shoes or sandals and put them 
upon the feet of the captive. He provided them 
all with food, and notified Mr. Laborde of their 
approach. He bought them all upon their arrival, 
gave them money and letters of recommendation, 
and sent them back to their own country. At 
another time, when Rakoto beheld a captive 
driven and beaten, and dragging himself painfully 
along the dreadful road, he alighted from his pa- 
lanquin, and gave the sufferer his own place. 

In the same manner he clothed the naked, gave 
food to the hungry, and opened the prison-doors 
to many a one condemned to die. He would un- 
hesitatingly give his last dollar, when needed ; 



140 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

distribute rice and provisions to the half-starved 
creatures who labored for the government unpaid ; 
and when any one was in danger of death, a mes- 
sage to the prince soon brought him to unbind the 
cords, and bid the victim fly. He made it known 
that he would receive petitions at all hours, and 
forbade a slave ever to turn away an applicant, 
even at midnight. If he pleaded in vain with his 
mother for the pardon of prisoners, he assumed 
the risk himself, and found means for their escape. 
Was ever a mother so teased with a good son ? 
In order to elude his watchful mercy, she often 
hastened the sentence of death, or took the oppor- 
tunity of his absence to quickly execute a waiting 
criminal. 

Although the champion of the Christians, Ra- 
koto's kind acts were not by any means confined 
to them. Wherever he beheld suiFering he was 
ready to relieve it, and whenever he detected an 
act of injustice, he fearlessly condemned it, even 
in his royal mother. He was therefore universally 
beloved by the people. They regarded him as 
Peter did the angel who o^Dened his prison-doors. 

The diviners, the idol-keepers, and all their sup- 
porters in the government, hated him as heartily 
as the people loved him, and there were not want- 
ing ambitious plotters who desired a very differ- 



PniNCE BAKOTO. 141 

ent successor to their incomparable queen. He 
had a rival in the person of a cousin, who, before 
his birth, had been adopted by the queen and re- 
garded as her heir. He was not as humane as 
Rakoto, nor as cruel as Ranavalona. Having an 
influential position in the government, it would 
not be a difficult matter to take a step higher, 
when the queen was obliged to yield her honors. 
The heathen party would gladly have called him 
their future king. 

Rakoto's daily interference in their blood-thirsty 
rule did not suit the temper of this party. They 
detested his reproachful eyes; loving darkness, 
they desired not only to j^ut out the lamp that 
guided his feet, and exposed their evil deeds; but 
longed for the opportunity to destroy him. To 
guard against such treachery, a number of friends 
banded together for his protection, and bound 
themselves by an oath. These all lived near him, 
and a few were in constant attendance. When he 
consented to this plan, he said to them, "Our 
great object must be to lessen the sufferings of the 
people, to prevent unjust accusations, and unde- 
served and excessive punishment; to restore, if 
possible, those sentenced to death, and to do all we 
can to save the lives of the people. God will help 
us, for it is right to do it, and God will protect us. 



142 - MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

We must study the customs, the feelings, and the 
habits of the people, that, while we try to do 
good, we may not be entrapped and put to death. 
We must not make any boast or stir about what 
we are doing. Let the people find out what our 
motives are by our doings. We must always do 
good — all kinds of good." With this body-guard, 
the prince went by night or day, in storm and 
darkness, to rescue the condemned. Nothing, 
whatever, deterred him. 

Notwithstanding all precautions for his safety, 
he was once nearly sacrificed. An idol-keeper and 
some adherents concealed themselves in the way 
by which the prince was to pass in making a visit 
to one of the chief ofiicers who was ill. As the 
spear was raised for a deadly thrust, the prince 
caught it and saved himself the blow. His attend- 
ants would have destroyed the waylayers on the 
spot but for his interference, and the ofliicer, whose 
illness had given the opportunity, ordered the as- 
sassin to be put to death that night. But the 
prince would not permit it. 

" God is the sovereign of life," said he. " He 
has preserved my life, and it is not necessary for 
its continued preservation that I should destroy 
the life of this man. Let him live, but be sent to 



FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 143 

a distant part of the country, and there so secured 
as to prevent further mischief to me or others." 

Finding the prince too well protected both by 
the queen and by the people, and fearing the dis- 
pleasure too of the doting mother, Rakoto's ene- 
mies could only vent their ill-will upon the Chris- 
tians. It was impossible to bring against them any 
accusation except for their religion. Their conduct 
was irreproachable. On account of oppression the 
starving people were often driven to stealing food, 
but in no case was one of the Christians in fault. 
They were so trustworthy in the care of 23roperty, 
so truthful, so humble, and obedient to the hard- 
est requirements, that the most exacting were 
constrained to say of them, " These people would 
be good servants, indeed, but for their praying." 
When brought before the judges for this, they ac- 
knowledged that " they prayed for their sovereign, 
her officers, for the good of the kingdom, and the 
prosperity and happiness of the people." One of 
the judges declared they had done no harm, and 
convicted them only because it was against the 
law of the queen to pray and read. 

Sometimes their accusers were spies employed 
to track them out by the government, and some- 
times members of their own families, to whom 
they had spoken in the fullness of their yearnings 



144 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

for the souls of those dear to them. The first an- 
nouncement to them of accusation was the plant- 
ing of a broad-headed silver spear before the door, 
after which none dared to leave the house till or- 
dered to do so. When brought before the ofiicers 
appointed to examine them, they were questioned, 
and, often without either witnesses or accusers, 
pleaded guilty and met death rather than yield 
one jot of their faith. Neither could any favor of 
the queen buy their allegiance from the Saviour. 
"Fear God and honor the king," was their reply 
to such proposals, and their past conduct offered 
proofs that they could serve their earthly sover- 
eign all the more faithfully because of their obe- 
dience to the Eternal King. 

To one such, when condemned to die, the queen 
sent a messenger offering not only life, but high 
favor and reward if he would renounce his relig- 
ion and serve her. He "thanked her, but declared 
he could not forsake Christ," and added, "Yet I 
can serve the queen." 

An account, written by survivors, is given of 
one group of condemned Christians in the fierce 
persecution of 1849. Eight were brought one 
day before the officers. 

" Do you pray to the sun or the moon or the 
earth ?" they asked. 



FRESH PERSECUTIONS, 145 

" I do not pray to these, for the hand of God 
made them," answered one for the rest. 

"Do you pray" to the twelve mountains that are 
sacred ? " 

" I do not pray to them, for they are moun- 
tains." 

" Do you pray to the idols that render sacred 
the kings ? " 

" I do not pray to them, for the hand of man 
made them." 

" Do you pray to the ancestors of the sover- 
eigns ? " 

" Kings and rulers are given by God that we 
should serve and obey them and render them 
homage. Nevertheless, they are only men like 
ourselves ; when we pray, we pray to God alone." 

"You make distinct and observe the Sabbath 
day," continued the officers. 

" That is the day of the great God," replied the 
Christian ; " for in six days the Lord made all 
his works. But God rested on the seventh, and 
he caused it to be holy; and I rest, or keep sacred 
that day." 

All testified to holding the same opinions ; and 
one, who had kept aloof, seeing their steadfastness 
came forward also, lest he should by silence deny 
his God. Another, whose wife was among the ac- 

10 



146 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

cused and who had heard her confession, came and 
said to her, " Be not afraid, for it is well if for that 
you die." 

" He was a soldier from a distance, and not of 
the number accused. Then he was examined, and, 
as he made the same avowal, they bound him also. 
And they removed these ten brethren and sisters 
and made their bands hard or tight, and confined 
them each in a separate house." 

According to the journal, others were added to 
those in prison till they numbered nineteen. 
One had said, "'Jehovah is God alone, and above 
every name that is named, and Jesus Christ is also 
God.' Hearing this the people cried out, mock- 
ing." 

" ' Rabodampoimerina (the sacred name of the 
queen) is our God but not your God,' " said an of- 
ficer to another. 

" ' The God who made me is my God,' answered 
the Christian, * but Rabodo is my queen or sover- 
eign.' And when he refused other answer they 
said, ' Perhaps he is an idiot or a lunatic' He an- 
swered, * I am not an idiot and have not lost my 
understanding.' Then there was a commotion and 
buzz among the peoj^le, saying, ' Take him away.' 
And they took him to prison." 

So these nineteen, having remained faithful in 



FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 147 

their testimony, were condemned by Ranavalona 
to the martyr's death. Of the nineteen, four were 
nobles, two of them husband and wife. As it is 
counted unlawful to shed the blood of nobles, 
these were sentenced \o be burned alive. They 
endeavored to have this cruel sentence com- 
muted into one of strangling before their bodies 
should be burnt ; but Ranavalona was inexorable. 
Their terrible privilege of nobility she was deter- 
mined to accord. The other fifteen were sen- 
tenced to be thrown from the summit of a rook. 

On the day appointed, multitudes thronged to 
each of the two places of martyrdom. Those con- 
demned to be thrown from the rock were first 
wrapped in mats; mats were forced into their 
mouths to prevent their speaking, and they were 
then tied by the hands and put to poles, and in 
this painful and ignominious attitude were carried 
to execution. ISTotwithstanding the gags, howev- 
er, they persisted in exhorting the people as they 
were carried along ; and some who saw them said 
that " their faces were as the faces of angels." 

Thus they reached Arapimarinana. This is the 
place of execution ; a rock one hundred and fifty 
feet high, in the midst of the city, — the Tarpeian 
rock of Tananarivo. A rope was then tied around 
the body of each, and one by one they were 



148 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

lowered a little way over the precipice. Then, 
while the executioner was standing with his knife 
in his hand ready to sever the strands that kept 
tliem from eternity, the officer in charge, for the 
last time asked, " Will you obey the queen's com- 
mand ? " One answer came from all; an emphat- 
ic " No." The executioner then cut the ropes, and 
one after another the martyrs' bodies lay crushed 
and bleeding on the rocks below. 

One of the fifteen was saved. She was a young 
woman, very beautiful and accomplished, and very 
much liked by the queen, who wished if possible 
to save her. Hoping that the sight of her com- 
panions' deaths would terrify her out of her obsti- 
nacy, they had reserved her to the last. They 
then asked her if she would not think better of 
her folly. " No," she answered ; " let me go with 
my friends." Whereupon, the executioner roughly 
said, " She is an idiot f she has lost her wits. Take 
her away." She was sent to a distant part of the 
country where she married a Christian man, and 
a few years after died, doubtless in the faith. 

But let us now turn to the spot where the four 
Christian nobles are about to undergo the cruel 
deaths to which their rank condemned them. 

A village called Faravohitra, situated on the 
same hill with Tananarivo, and in full view from 




MARTYRDOM OP THE CHRISTIANS. 



FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 149 

a great part of the city. Here four stakes were 
firmly fixed in the earth, and a crowd gathered 
around, eagerly watching the preparations for the 
execution, and awaiting the arrival of the con- 
demned. As the rank of these forbade subjecting 
them to the same indignities Avhich the others had 
suffered, they were permitted to walk to the place 
of execution. The same faith which supported 
their humbler brethren, sustained them. Even 
the Christian lady, who had peculiar reasons for 
dreading the trial, beheld it with unfaltering forti- 
tude. As they went along they comforted them- 
selves by singing a hymn which begins with, — 

" When om* hearts are troubled," 

and each verse of which ends with, — 

" Then remember me." 

They reached the place, gazed calmly upon the 
preparations for their death, and were fastened to 
the stakes. Just then a bright rainbow arched the 
heavens, one end of which appeared to rest almost 
npon the spot where they were to suffer. The 
pile was kindled ; and then, from amidst the crack- 
ling and roaring of the fire, came forth not the 
sounds of pain, but those of praise. That scene, 
and the hymn which the martyrs sung as they rose 
in their fiery chariot to heaven, will never be for- 



150 MISSION^S AND MARTYRS. 

gotten in Madagascar. To the sounds of praise 
succeeded those of prayer. " O Lord," they were 
heard to pray, " receive our spirits ; for thy love to 
us has caused this to come to us, and Lay not this 
sin to their charade." 

" Thus," writes a witness of that wonderful and 
memorable scene, " they prayed, as loDg as they 
had any life. Then they died ; but softly, gently. 
Indeed, gentle was the going forth of their life, 
and astonished were all the people around that 
beheld them there." 

After all was over, the dead bodies of those w^ho 
had been hurled from the rock of Arapiraarinana 
were, by order of the queen, dragged with ropes 
to the place where the four nobles had suffered. 
Fresh fuel was heaped on, till their bodies, too, 
were consumed. Thus though the martyrs were 
divided in their deaths, according to the difference 
of worldly rank, their ashes were commingled, 
even as their souls alike ascended, stripped of 
the petty distinctions of earth, to their common 
Saviour, who had made them all alike, " kings and 
priests to God and his Father." 

Mr. EUis, who visited the scenes of martyrdom 
a number of years after, thus speaks: "When I 
visited the place in company with the bishop of 
Mauritius, we stood and gazed on the prisons in 



FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 151 

the distance in which the sufferers had been con- 
fined, on the place where their sentences were read 
over to them, and where, as they sat together on 
the ground, bound with chains, and encircled by- 
soldiers, they sang their hymn of praise to Christ. 
We passed up the road along which, surrounded 
by an excited crowd, they raised their voices in 
prayer that God would remember them. We 
stood by the side of the spot ; the place itself we 
felt to be holy ground, on which, when fastened 
to the stake, they sang, — 

* There is a blessed land, 
Making most happy; 
Never thence shall rest depart, 
Nor cause of sorrow come.' 

"Our companions, most of whom had been 
spectators on that eventful day, and one, the 
mother of a martyr, pointed out where the 
soldiers and the heathens stood around and 
cried, 'Where is your Jehovah now? Why 
does he not come and take you away?' To 
which, from tlie midst of the flames, the martyrs 
answered, 'Jehovah is here ; he is taking us to a 
better place.' Our companions also showed us 
the part of the road, a little distant, on which the 
relatives and associates of the Christians stood, 
waving their last adieus to their rejoicing friends, 



152 inSSION'S AND MARTYRS. 

who smiled, and lifted up as far as they could 
their scorched hands, or burning fragments of 
dress, to return the salutations. In perfect accord- 
ance with this account are the spirit and feeling 
manifested by survivors when recounting their 
sufferinfrs. I have sometimes sat as if enchained 
to the lips of the venerably widow or sister of a 
martyr, as she has recounted with simple pathos 
the sufferings she has endured, and been over- 
come with admiration at the marvelous power of 
' the love of Christ shed abroad in their hearts by 
the Holy Ghost given unto them.' The Christians 
especially rejoice in the proposal to raise, as a per- 
petual memorial of these events, a church conse- 
crated to the worship of the martyrs' God and 
Saviour." 

In anotlicr letter, Mr. Ellis adds, "The deep 
emotion with which the pastors and others spoke 
on this topic was most affecting. Some they said 
had lost fathers, others children, some wives, others 
husbands, or brothers, or sisters, whom they now 
rejoiced to think of as with the spirits of just men 
made perfect in heaven ; but whom they and their 
fellow-Christians would never forget. If churches, 
they said, were built upon the spots on which they 
had suffered and died for the love of Christ, it 
would not only comfort surviving fiiends, but do 



FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 153 

much to perpetuate the impressions which their 
constancy had produced on the minds both of 
Christians and heathens." 

These eighteen alone suffered death ; but during 
this last great outbreak of persecuting rage, many 
more underwent punishments of various degrees 
on account of their faith. Mr. Ellis says, " Of the 
numbers implicated, some idea may be formed 
from the fact that at one time and place thirty- 
seven who had explained or preached the Word 
were reduced to slavery, with their wives and 
children ; forty-two who had possessed books were 
made slaves, and their property seized ; twenty- 
seven who had possessed books, and who had 
preached or explained, were made slaves, with 
their wives and children ; six, with whom it was 
a second offense, were imprisoned, and eighteen 
were put to death." Besides these, two thousand 
and fifty-five were fined one dollar each, more as a 
mark of disgrace, probably, than as a punishment. 
Ofticers in the army, and even nobles, were de- 
graded from their rank, loaded with heavy chains, 
and set to sweep the streets of the capital, or toil 
in the unaccustomed labor of felling trees in the 
forests, or dragging stone from the quarries. The 
following letter from one of them is addressed to 



154 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

the widow of Mr. Johns. It is dated Tananarivo, 
Noveraber 6th, 1861 : -— 

" Beloved Mother : — When I Lay hold on this 
paper, pen, and ink, to write to you, my heart and 
all within me is moved. I have much to say to 
you. I wish to tell you of the sorrows that have 
befallen us. Very great was the persecution 
which drove us into the wilderness. They sought 
to put me to death. I was accused of praying to 
the ancestors of the English, and also of teaching 
the j)eople to do so. They sent officers, and many 
besides, to take me up, and they took all the j^eo- 
ple they found in my house, and my wife Rabodo 
also. My children, servants, and every thing I 
had, they took away as a forfeit to the queen. 
They bound my wife, Rabodo, and flogged her 
from morning to night to make her tell who were 
her companions. She fainted, and they left her to 
recover a little, and then flogged her again. But 
she refused to give up the names of any, so that 
they were astonished, and said, ' She is a Chris- 
tian^ indeed.^ Failing to get her to tell who were 
her associates, they put a heavy iron ring round 
her neck and round each ankle. They also fast- 
ened these rings together by heavy iron chains 
from the neck to the ankles, and then bound her 
to four more Christians. Five others were also 



FRESH PERSECUTIONS. 155 

bound together, and there was a third party 
of sixteen also bound together. Every Sabbath 
day for seven months, they placed these three 
parties before the people, that they might see how 
they were punished for keeping holy the Lord's 
day. At the end of the seven months they sepa- 
rated them, and sent five to the east. Of these 
two died, and three still remain. The other party 
of five they sent to the north. Of these, four 
died, and only one remains ; and the sixteen they 
sent to the west. Of these five died and eleven 
remain. My wife Rabodo was among those they 
sent to the west. She was left in bonds, and died 
on the 4th of March, 1859. Yes; she died in her 
chains. Her works follow her. They pursued me 
for four years and three months, seeking to put 
me to death. They issued a proclamation to 
search for me in every village for six months, and 
they sent papers in all directions, and a paper 
called a Gazette, ordering the search for me. But 
the Lord watched over the afflicted, and will not 
give the enemy to rejoice over them. My children 
tliey have sold into slavery, and my property they 
have taken, so that I now have no house to dwell 
in, or land to live upon. What has befallen me is too 
hard for nature ; but precious are the riches in 



156 iflSSIO^S AND MARTYRS. 

Christ, and in him light are the sorrows of the 
earth. 2 Cor. iv. 17; v. 6-8." 

This simple record, giving the naked facts of 
suffering, by one evidently unskilled to describe 
the feelings awakened by them, is merely a speci- 
men of what very many more could have told. 

Yet here, as of old, "the blood of the martyrs 
was the seed of the church." It was impossible 
even for hardened natures to witness the courage 
of such sufferers, without being convinced of 
the forgiving spirit and the unwavering faith, 
the truth and power of their religion. Their own 
gods could not sustain them in death. Every one 
knew that in his own heart. The thoughtful saw 
clearly that his neighbor's foot was planted on a 
rock, and his own wandered in an uncertain way 
that made him shudder. The Holy Spirit was 
shedding his sweet influence amid the frightfid 
scenes, and drawing many a one to embrace the 
faitli that is in Jesus, even when they knew the 
narrow way was walled with terrors. Like those 
who had died, they obtained leaves of the Scrip- 
tures when they dared not carry a volume, and 
thus sought the truth for themselves. Admitted 
to the secret midnight gatherings, they could re- 
ceive baptism and partake of the sacrament, praise 



FRESH PERSECUTION'S. 157 

and pray and read, taking for their model tlie 
church of the New Testament. Althouoli hmited 
and persecuted, the church grew in numbers 
rather than diminished, and the more its enemies 
strove to crush it, the brighter its light shone. It 
was already in the sight of all Madagascar as " a 
city set upon a hill that could not be hid." 



CHAPTER IX. 

VISIT OF EEV. MR. ELLIS. 

News from Madagascar — Arrival of the Missionaries at Tamatave 
in 1853 — Eagerly Welcomed — The Fragment of the Psalms — 
Refused Permission to go to the Capital — Permission granted 
in 185G — Reception there — Audience with the Queen — Wel- 
comed by Prince Rakoto — Mr. Lambert — Designs of the Catho- 
lics — The Prince's Conversations with Mr. Ellis — Excursions — 
The Queen's Dinner — Exhibition of Philosophical Instruments 
— Thirst for Knowledge — Influence of JIi*. Ellis's Visit — His 
Dismissal by the Queen, and Departure. 

In 1852, rumors reached England of a willing- 
ness on the part of the queen of Madagascar to 
reopen intercourse with other nations. The Rev. 
Mr. Ellis was sent to ascertain the fact. In com- 
pany with Mr. Cameron, who had been one of the 
missionary band at Tananarivo, he reached the 
port of Tamatave in the following year, and 
awaited there the result of a letter to the queen, 
requesting her permission to proceed to the capi- 
tal. Sixteen years had passed since such an em- 
bassy had touched at the island. The news spread 
quickly, and as many as dared pressed to welcome 
the world in the persons of these venturesome vis- 
itors. Some came from curiosity, some to talk of 
the hope of reopening trade, others to ask for 

158 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 159 

books, secretly longing for copies of the Bible, while 
they confessed that "books with the words arranged 
in lines were prohibited ; but that books with the 
words arranged in columns " — spelling-books — 
were allowed to be received. Their disappoint- 
ment was so great at not being able to obtain 
either that some even shed tears. It seemed a re- 
lief to unburden their hearts, to receive sympathy 
and advice, and to send messages of what God 
had wrought for them, to the Christians of other 
lands. A native chief announced himself a 
scholar of the missionaries, made many inquiries 
about them, and not daring in the presence of 
others to express himself more freely, signified his 
steadfast love for Christ by pressing the hand of 
the Christian stranger, and fervently asking God's 
blessing upon him. Of another, Mr. EUis says, 
" After looking earnestly a few moments, and al- 
most mechanically giving us his hand, there came 
over his whole countenance such an expression 
as I had never before witnessed in any human be- 
ing. It was not ecstasy, it was not terror, and 
yet an apparent blending of both, marked by an 
intensity of feeling but rarely seen. During the 
whole interview, which was long, there was a 
strange uneasiness mingled with evident satis- 
faction, diflScult to describe." 



1(50 MISSIONS AND MARTYIiS. 

Two men, wlio had traveled one hundred miles 
out of their way to fmd Mr. Ellis, came one even- 
ing to ask for a copy of the Bible. They ac- 
knowledged that they already possessed " some of 
the words of David," and when requested to pro- 
duce them, looked at each other in alarm. After 
some persuasion, one drew forth a parcel from 
the folds of his lamba. He carefully unrolled 
one piece of cloth after another, and finally dis- 
closed a few worn, dingy leaves of the Book of 
Psalms. These sacred frao'ments had been read 
by many, and passed from one to another with the 
greatest care and caution. Anxious to secure the 
relic, Mr. Ellis offered him a new and entire copy 
of the Scriptures in exchange. After ascertaining 
that the same " words of David " were in the new 
book in addition to the words of Jesus, of Paul, 
Peter, and John, the man joyfully gave up his 
worn treasure, and concealing his new one, went 
hastily from the house. The two men could not 
be found the next morning, having departed im- 
mediately on their journey, lest some misfortune 
should rob them of their great riches. 

After fifteen days of hazardous interchange of 
friendship, letters arrived from the queen excusing 
herself from receiving the visitors on account of 
pressing business, and politely recommending 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 161 

them "to return across the water." Greater se- 
verity than this had been expected, and the gov- 
ernor of Tamatave told them to take courage, and 
intimated the probable reason of their dismissal 
to be the non-payment of a certain sum, which 
was required on condition of opening the ports. 
The gentlemen returned to Mauritius, where the 
amount — fifteen thousand dollars — was immedi- 
ately raised among the merchants, and committed 
to Mr. Cameron, who returned to Madagascar. 
His mission was successful. Trade was opened, 
and once more it was possible to obtain access to 
the capital. Mr. Ellis applied for permission to 
visit it, but was denied because his second applica- 
tion was not made, like his first, in company with 
Mr. Cameron. 

It was not till 1856 that his admission to the 
island Avas finally negotiated. He was then em- 
ployed by the London Missionary Society to as- 
certain, as far as possible, the state of the Chris- 
tians, and with this intention reached Tamatave 
in May of that year. The influence of trade was 
already visible in the prosperity of the town. A 
number of new houses had been built, others were 
going up, and a new hotel, the first in the island, 
had been opened. 

Mr. Ellis received a cordial welcome. As be- 
11 



162 MISSIONS AND MAltTYRS. 

fore, many applicants pressed liim for books. Let- 
ters of welcome reached him from the prince, and 
a guide was sent to conduct him to Tananarivo. 
During all the journey, he was met by natives, 
who came forward to greet him and to tell him of 
their sufferings for Christ's sake. They often sat 
too^ether till midnii^ht recounting: the terrible 
scenes through which they or their friends had 
j)assed, but always with a humble spirit, accepting 
the chastenings of Providence. " They seemed," 
says Mr. Ellis, " to regard their sufferings as per- 
mitted by God, and spoke of it as a cause for ex- 
ercising confidence in the Most High." Neither 
did they cherish the slightest feeling of revenge 
toward their persecutors. Their comments were 
touchingly childlike and submissive, and frequently 
all wept together at the recital of what each had 
endured. 

Letters from the queen also reached the guest 
on his journey, and Avhen within a few miles of 
the capital, he was requested to wait her further 
pleasure, which was of course the pleasure of the 
sikidy, as to the day and hour of reception. He was 
at length escorted into the city by appointed officers 
and in a palanquin courteously sent by the prince. 
The house provided for him was of two stories, the 
lower containing two rooms neatly carpeted with 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 163 

mats, the walls lined with mats, and the window 
of one screened by a white muslin curtain or blind. 
A bedstead spread with mats and curtained with 
white, added to the aspect of neatness, and a table 
with a water-jug and wine-glasses arranged upon 
it, a looking-glass above it, and both rooms fur- 
nished with chairs, altogether afforded proof that 
the missionaries had not labored in vain to civilize 
as well as to instruct this people. 

A few days after his arrival, Mr. Ellis was in- 
formed that the queen had appointed an audience. 
The officer who was to conduct him to her pres- 
ence was anxious concerning the court-dress in 
which the new-comer was to appear, and perceiv- 
ing in his wardrobe a purple and green dressing- 
crown lined with scarlet, assured him it was a most 
imposing garment, and requested him to arrange 
the wearing of it so as to display the brilliant lin- 
ing, which happened to be the royal color. Thus 
equipped, Mr. Ellis arrived before the palace gate 
in his palanquin. The white balcony of the high- 
roofed palace was already occupied by the court. 
In the midst, upon a raised throne of green, sat 
queen Ranavolona, with the ever-present umbrel- 
la, embroidered with gold, over her head, not to 
screen her from the sun, but as an emblem of roy- 



164 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

alty. Although nearly seventy, she seemed, in 
vigorous health. A golden crown and a white 
satin lamba with sprigs of gold, distinguished, if 
it did not become her. Prince Rakoto stood at 
her left, wearing a star and a coronet of green vel- 
vet bordered with a band and leaves of silver, and 
near him his cousin in a cap of black and gold. 
The princess Rabodo, wife of Rakoto, sat on the 
right of the queen, with a small, plain, scarlet 
umbrella over her head. 

The court-yard below was Occupied by soldiers 
and officers, leaving an open central space for the 
stranger who was to be presented to the queen, 
and for the interpreters. Into this space, Mi*. Ellis 
advanced, and, after presenting the usual offering 
of homage in the shape of a silver dollar to one 
of the officers, bowed and shouted his acknowl- 
edgments to the sovereign in the balcony above. 
No nearer than this was the profane foot of a for- 
eigner ever allowed to approach. Neither did her 
majesty utter a word. An orator near her re- 
turned the compliments of the visitor, and assured 
him of the desire of the queen for friendly inter- 
course with all foreic^n nations. When the inter- 
view was finished, he was required to bow to the 
east and to the tomb of Radama, and was remind- 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 165 

'ed not on any account to place the left foot first 
over tlie thresbolcl on retiring from the palace 
gate. 

Prince Rakoto, in his love for the English, 
had hastened to see Mr. Ellis on the first day of 
his arrival. He spoke with much interest and 
warmth of the visit of a IMr. Lambert, a French 
gentleman, the previous year, Tlie cruelties of 
the queen had awakened in him a desire for inter- 
ference in behalf of her subjects, by either the 
English or French nation. Prince Rakoto had 
assured him that " he cared not who ruled over 
the nation, so long as the government was good 
and just," and had entered into a private treaty 
with Mr. Lambert, which enabled the latter to 
confer with foreign governments for the relief of 
Madagascar. Li all this, the prince meditated no 
disrespect to his mother, except the placing it out 
of her power to inflict continued horrors upon her 
people. He repeatedly said that he would risk 
his own life to save hers, and that he would be 
the first to resent any attempt upon her life or 
her dignity. But both England and France had 
declined interference, and Mr. Lambert's proposal 
remained a profound secret in Madagascar. 

Prince Rakoto had become strongly attached 
to this Mr. Lambert, during his short stay, and, in 



166 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

proof of it, gave him his only son, a boy of six years. 
Mr. Lambert adopted tlie child, to gratify the 
prince, but did not assume any of the responsibil- 
ities of adoption, leaving him with his mother, a 
favorite slave of the prince. This is one of the 
complimentary customs of Madagascar. That 
Prince Rakoto did not wholly understand the 
Christian religion is evident from the flict that, 
like his countrymen, he was not faithful to one 
wife. The boy was the son of a slave named 
Mary, to whom the prince was deeply attached, 
and who was presented to strangers in company 
with the Princess Rabodo, with the same re- 
spect that would be paid to one of twelve wives. 
She is described as exceedingly plain. 

Through the influence of a Catholic priest, re- 
siding at the house of Mr. Laborde, the princess 
wore a crucifix, and the prince a medal, on one 
side of which was the letter M., with the cross in- 
terwoven, and surrounded by stars ; on the other 
side was a figure of the virgin in relief, standing 
with outstretched arms; and around the figure was 
an appeal to her prayers in their behalf for an 
heir. This priest attempted to make good Roman \ 
Catholics of the future sovereigns; but by the 
prince's own confession, he succeeded no better 
than his brethren in the Isle of Bourbon who en- 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 167 

deavored to convert some refugees. These stated 
in a letter to friends that, "It seemed as if the 
Pope stood (in authority) in the place of God, and 
that the priest forgave sins. And as to the images, 
etc., before which they prostrated themselves, it 
was like the sampy, or idols of our own country." 
And yet it is possible, if prince Rakoto's desire 
for an heir had been fulfilled, he might have 
learned to put his trust in the intercessions of the 
virgin. He was certainly influenced strongly by 
those who once gained his confidence ; whether 
it was a French priest, a French philanthropist, or 
an English missionary. 

In his conversations with Mr. Ellis, the prince 
often expressed his admiration and esteem for the 
English. " The character of their laws, especially 
in relation to human life," he said, impressed him 
strongly, and he desired to imitate them when it 
was in his power to control the government. 
From all that he had heard, he believed them to 
be " such as in his own heart he should* like to be, 
— true, just, humane, and watchful over human 
life." In speaking of the Crimean War, which had 
just closed, he remarked that, when opposition 
ceased, slaughter ceased ; and compared it with 
the bloody history of the wars of his own country, 
which never ceased till the oflienders were massa- 



168 MISSI02^S AND MARTYRS. 

cred ; even though they yielded all the conquorer 
required. Both himself and the princess Rabodo, 
who came witli him to converse with Mr. Ellis, 
lamented the afflicted condition of his country. 

" What can we do to promote the prosperity 
and stability of the nation, that Madagascar may 
become like other nations?" asked the prince. 

" Prosperity can not be provided for you by 
others; it must be your own achievement, if you 
possess it," replied Mr. Ellis. 

" How can we attain it ? " persisted Rakoto. 

" With the blessing of God, you may attain it 
by intelHgence, integrity, and justice, energy, and 
self-reliance," was the answer. 

The prince lamented his own ignorance. He 
could not read. His adviser urged him to apply 
himself at once to the overcomino; of this difficul- 
ty. " Seek to enlighten the people ; promote ed- 
ucation to t]ie utmost; promote industry. Let 
your laws be just." 

" But suppose we try to do this and the nation 
does not prosper, — will they not say the gov- 
ernment is to blame?" asked the prince. 

"There are people who are always ready to 
blame the government when they do not prosper," 
was the answer. " But if your laws are just and 
wise, and those who administer them honest, the 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 169 

enlightened and npright will be ready to support 
you even in adversity. Tlie loyalty of the peo- 
ple depends much upon the officers who adminis- 
ter as well as the sovereign who makes laws ; and 
one of the wisest of kings has said, 'A wicked per- 
son shall not stand before me.' " 

"I know that; I am quite convinced of that," 
was the earnest reply. " How does Queen Victoria 
secure the best welfare of her people ? How can 
I make my subjects happy and upright ? How 
can I expel evil from my kingdom and put good 
in its place ? " Such were the longing appeals from 
this prince, who already felt the burden of his 
wicked nation upon his heart. He reached out his 
entreating hands to his civilized brothers to help 
him bear the weight. Oh that he could have gone 
to the Fountain of all knowledge, and learned how 
to govern his people, and that he could have asked 
strength and guidance and wisdom from the only 
source which could avail in his utmost need ! 
Here was Rakoto's fliult. The impulses of his 
own heart often bore him powerfully toward good, 
but, unsupported by divine grace, they were fitful 
and transient; no more to be depended on than 
the streams in the desert. 

Both the prince and princess endeavored to 
show their friendship for their English visitor, by 



170 MISSION'S AND MARTYRS. 

arranging excursions Avhich enabled him both to 
see points of interest in the neighborhood, and to 
confer with Cliristinns whom he might not otlier- 
wise meet. They came one day to convey him to 
the cottnge which had been the favorite country 
resort of Radama. The princess Avas in an open 
palanquin of scarlet cloth lined with pink satin, 
and an attendant held a pink silk umbrella over 
her head. Her dress was European on the occa- 
sion, though spoiled by a heathenish mixture of 
colors. The dress was blue, trimmed with scarlet 
velvet and gilt buttons, and her bonnet of pink 
satin. The accompanying ladies were equally gay 
in their toilets, and the officers aj^peared in blue 
and scarlet, with white lambas bordered with 
brilliant stripes. 

The inhabitants of the villages through which 
they passed, brought gifts of sugar-cane, manioc 
roots, or sweet potatoes, all freshly gathered from 
their gardens, and offered as first-fruits in token 
of homage. Their love for their future king was 
manifest at every step, and the procession was ac- 
companied by so great a crowd that it was difficult 
to move along. At the cottage, Mr. Ellis was en- 
tertained with native music and dancing, and a 
collation of fruits and sweetmeats served on silver 
plates. On their return, they visited two or three 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 171 

encampments of soldiers outside the city, and the 
prince took pains to point out the graves of the 
missionaries who liad died in Tananarivo, and the 
houses in which they lived. The rock from which 
so many Christians had been thrown, and where 
others were still to perish, was also in plain sight 
as they wound through the plain and up the hill. 

The queen was not to be outdone in hospitality 
by her son. Accordingly, Mr. Ellis was invited to 
dine ; not in the palace, for this was an unknown 
honor, nor with the queen, for this also would in- 
fringe upon her dignity, but in the house of the wid- 
ow of one of the wealthiest of the Malagasy nobles. 
As the services of the people belonged to the queen 
when she chose to demand them, so also did the 
property, the plate, and the viands of those who 
surrounded her in the palace. Mr. Ellis was there- 
fore invited by the queen to dine at the house of 
" Lady Rasoaray." The house was spacious, the 
walls papered, and the floors covered with pretty 
mats. The guests, among whom was Mr. Laborde 
and the priest, were seated at a table spread with 
an elegance that one could hardly look for in Mad- 
agascar. The covered dishes, spoons, and forks 
were all of silver, with the crest of the Hovahs, a 
crown and a bird engraved upon them. Silver 
vases also ornamented the table. They were of 



172 MISSIOXS AND MARTYRS. 

handsome pattern, and, like the plate, were of na- 
tive manufacture. The dinner consisted of thirty 
or more courses, and offered a variety and excel- 
lence that would have done credit to Paris. A 
lynited quantity of wine, some speech -making 
and a few toasts, ending with the usual one to the 
queen, followed the dessert, and the party broke 
up. 

In the court-yard of the palace the queen also 
gave an entertainment, which she seemed to ac- 
cord always to strangers whom she wished to 
honor. It was a kind of moving tableau, consist- 
ing of a variety of Moorish and native dances, ex- 
ecuted by ladies and nobles in fancy costumes of 
silk, satin, velvet, and ostrich feathers, as profuse 
as in the fancy-balls of wealthier courts. The 
queen, royal family, and attendants, who occupied 
the balcony, appeared in Arab costume. The sin- 
gular dresses, the swarthy faces, the silence of the 
dancers, the lofty palace, so peculiar in its struc- 
ture, the proud and savage queen, sitting in gaudy 
state in the long, white veranda, fir above the 
heads of the people, as if ever to remind them 
that her feet were upon their necks, and over it 
all the shining of the noon-day sun, offered a 
strange picture to European eyes, even if the 
actors were unknown. But stranj^er vet was the 



VISIT OF KEV. MB. ELLIS. 173 

grouping of characters ; for to the mind's eye the 
queen's robes were dyed in the blood of martyrs, 
and she sat as a crouching tigress, witli her loved 
and loving son at her side, mournfully conscious 
of her cruel faults, and yearning for something 
higher and truer than he was able to grasp. There 
was the amiable Rabodo, and the intriguing min- 
isters, also, glancing among the people for victims 
before whom they could plant the silver spear; 
and mingling with them, the noble Prince Raiuon- 
ja, the mentor of Rakoto, but who openly avowed 
himself a champion of the cross, and who, for 
Christ's sake, had suffered the spoiling of his goods 
and the loss of his honors. And there, in the 
court-yard below, was the wily priest, planning 
convents and cathedrals for the descendants of 
those who glided to and fro before him ; the gen- 
erous Mr. Laborde in Turkish robes, in turban and 
pointed slippers, looking with pride upon the lux- 
urious display ; and the bewildered English mis- 
sionary, transfixed by the weird scene, yet feeling 
keenly that though costly silks floated lightly 
about the dancers now, at the queen's pleasure the 
same invincible will might any day bind them with 
chains, and leave them to drag the heavy weight 
" till they bowed the head as wasting weeds." / 
If the queen was quick to adopt the luxuries 



174 MISSJOI^S AND MARTYRS. 

and amusements of civilization, she was not so 
easily jDersuaded to accept the novel arts. It had 
been proposed to her by Mr. Laborde to establish 
a telegraph between the capital and coast ; but 
she replied that " messengers by relays of runners 
were quite quick enough for her." Some of the 
chiefs were, however, greatly interested in the 
instrument brought by Mr. Ellis. It excited not 
curiosity merely, but intelligent inquiry. He 
says, " They seemed to comprehend and rejoice in 
the perception of the simple mode of representing 
letters by motions of the needles ; but what the 
power was which traveled so instantaneously and 
imperceptibly along the wire, they could neither 
comprehend nor imagine. It was not the blank 
unquestioning wonder of stolid ignorance, satis- 
fied that the facts were beyond immediate com- 
prehension and therefore supernatural, which they 
manifested ; but the intense interest of thinking 
men, who seemed to feel that they had acquired 
a new mental treasure, though they yet only half 
understood the wonders before them." 

Photography excited equal delight and aston- 
ishment among all classes of the people. The 
fidelity and quickness with which every defect, as 
well as every good feature was transferred, afford- 
ed amusing comment to some, and the wonderful 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 175 

part wliich the sim took in the picture-making was 
to others a matter of sober questioning and deep 
thought. A few regarded it with superstitious 
feeling, calling it zanahary.^ — meaning supernat- 
ural. Vanity was amusingly displayed by some. 
A chief, when he learned that his picture might 
be taken, secretly withdrew, and presently re- 
turned in breathless haste, accompanied by a slave 
bearing a bundle. From this he selected a scarlet 
lamba and other gay apparel, and adjusting it sat- 
isfactorily upon his person, sat for his portrait. He 
was severely disappointed at not finding the color 
of his favorite lamba represented. No amateur 
photographer was ever so besieged with sitters as 
was Mr. Ellis ; but it enabled him to secure pic- 
tures of all classes of the people, from the prince, 
nobles, and chiefs, to the poor Hovah slave with 
her infant bound upon her back. 

Among those who came to his house were many 
young men, who §eemed drawn, not by mere curi- 
osity, but by a strong desire to acquire knowledge. 
The most of them knew how to read and write, 
for many parents had taken pains to teach their 
children the little they had learned. At the time 
the missionaries left, four thousand persons who 
could write were employed by the government 
alone ; so that although there were no longer any 



17G MISSJOXS AND MARTYRS. 

schools, it was necessary as well as possible for 
these acquirements to be transmitted in some de- 
gree to the children. This slight taste of knowl- 
edge, and the new intercourse with Europeans, 
seemed to awaken the minds of the j'outh for fur- 
ther attainments. In illustration, Mr. Ellis says, 
"On my first arrival, I had suspended a thermom- 
eter in my sitting-room ; but so many young 
chiefs had noticed it when they came, and not sat- 
isfied with being told that it exhibited the temper- 
ature of the atmosphere, asked so many questions 
about th,^ properties of the mercury, the causes of 
the variations in the temperature of the atmos- 
phere, and the manner in which one alFected the 
other, that I began to fear that I should be obliged 
to remove it for want of time to answer all the 
questions it suggested to their minds." 

Mr. Ellis's intercourse with the people was full 
of interest. Though he remained but a few weeks 
at the capital, it must have served to awaken new 
thoughts in the minds of many, to inspire the 
hearts of those who held their country dear with 
new hopes, and to give a degree of comfort and 
support to the Christians who conferred with him 
far into the still night, that can hardly be under- 
stood, unless we remember at what risks it was 
obtained. He would gladly have remained longer; 



VISIT OF REV. MR. ELLIS. 177 

but the inexorable sovereign fixed the day of his 
departure, and no entreaties could change it. Pos- 
sibly the sikidy discovered to her the solace he 
was affordinq; to the hunted and broken-hearted 
people. 

Prince Rakoto and the princess Rabodo spent 
the last evening with Mr. Ellis. The prince spoke 
of the cruelties still practiced against the Chris- 
tians, and said it Avas like tearing out his heart to 
witness them. He evidently suffered much dis- 
tress of niiud on that account, and acknowledged 
that his friends cautioned him of his own danger, 
and desired him to be accompanied by a larger 
number of attendants. " But," said he, " I put my 
trust in God. If it be his will that I should live, 
he will protect me." 

Mr. Ellis assured him that God requires us to 
use means for self-protection. 

" I do not think," was the reply, " I should in 
reality be more safe with a larger number of at- 
tendants. My chief trust is in God. He is the 
Sovereign of life." 

The next day he accompanied Mr. Ellis a few 
miles on his journey. A little way from the cap- 
ital they passed a poor native, who was playing 
upon an instrument, and begging food of the 
passers-by. He wore a heavy iron ring about his 

12 



178 MISSIONS AND MART YES. 

neck, and another around his leg. The other leg 
was bruised and torn as if a similar ring had in- 
jured it. His crime, the prince said, was slight. 
"Don't look that way. I am ashamed. It is bar- 
barous ! " he exclaimed, in passing. 

At a little village five miles from the capital, he 
commended his guest to the protection of God, 
and left him. He was pained at parting with 
his new found friend; and no wonder, since with 
him went his present hope of a speedy relief 
from such proofs of his mother's barbarous rule. 
He must have returned to the cajoital with a 
heavy burdened heart, to wait and long for the 
coming either of enlightened helpers from another 
land, or for death to take the scepter from the 
hard grasp of the cruel queen. Alas, that with 
so much amiableness there should have been so 
little of sound wisdom or steady purpose ! 



CHAPTER X. 

CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN. 

Return of Mr. Lambert, with Madame Pfeiffer — Their Reception — 
Dinner of the Queen — Military Review — Madame Pfeiffer's Piano- 
forte Concert — Plotting of a Conspiracy at the House of Mr. La- 
borde — Madame Pfeiifer implicated — The Plot disclosed— The 
Prince detained in the Palace — Odium of the Conspiracy thrown 
upon the Christians — Fresh Persecutions — Flig-ht of the Accused 
— Illness of Mr. Laborde — Cruelties inflicted on the People — De- 
cree of Banishment against the Europeans — Their Escort to the 
Coast — Terrible Sufferings — Escape to Mauritius — Four Years of 
Persecution — Letter of a native Pastor. 

Pricne Rakoto had not long to wait to welcome 
the return of a much beloved friend. In less than 
a year after he had bidden farewell to Mr. Ellis, 
and all present hope of relief for his enslaved coun- 
try, he was once more cheered by the coming of 
Mr. Lambert. In company with the latter was a 
distinguished lady traveler, who flings the vail 
from Madagascar with a free hand, and gives us a 
clearer picture of the Christians than we could 
catch from its cautious uplifting by Mr. Ellis. 
Having traversed lonely deserts fearless of Arab 
robbers ; faced Fiji cannibals in their own islands ; 
having shared the crust with the lowly of all na- 
tions, as well as feasted in the palaces of the high- 

179 



180 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

born in all the continents of the earth, Madame 
Pfeiffer, although in her sixtieth year, was 
well able to venture on the hardships of Mada- 
gascar swamps and forests, and to risk the dangers 
of a visit to a queen whom her experience pro- 
nounced the most cruel and cunning woman on 
the face of the earth. Coming alone to Tamatave, 
in a ship which had only accommodations for cat- 
tle, and being extremely plain in person, manner, 
and dress, she was received by the Malagasy with 
that indifference which any community feels tow- 
ard an unknown and unprepossessing traveler. 
This absence of official attention gave her the 
opportunity of seeing the people in an every-day 
character, and learning the prevalence of intem- 
perance, dishonesty, and licentiousness among 
them. At the same time, we have her uninten- 
tional testimony to the purity and faithfulness of 
the Christians, in beautiful contrast with the surg- 
ing mass of wickedness, — a record the more val- 
uable because of the difference of her own creed, 
and her bitter enmity toward all missionaries. 

She remained several weeks at Tamatave, where 
she had occasion to test, and find wanting, the 
hospitality which the more honored visitor so fre- 
quently receives. But when Mr. Lambert joined 
her, she had no reason to lament a want of kind- 



CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN. 181 

ness, and thenceforward every thing was at her 
service. Mr. Lambert had a large number of cost- 
ly presents for the queen and her household ; so 
that a great cavalcade of bearers and attendants 
wound among the lakes, through the lowlands, up 
the hills, over the valleys and plains to the moun- 
tain bights, and to the vale at the foot of the " city 
of a thousand towns." Rakoto was detained by 
the illness of the queen ; but sent forward his 
" adherents," or body-guard, and his son, to wel- 
come his friend, and as he believed, his deliverer. 
The sikidy did not detain the travelers, though 
the merry little madam suspected that the curios- 
ity of the queen to see the presents had strong in- 
fluence with the oracle. She was greatly amused, 
too, at being obliged to stand half an hour before 
the city gate, guarded by soldiers with crossed 
muskets, who politely refused to let them pass till 
the queen had been informed of their arrival, al- 
though their approach had been announced three 
times before. The hospitable Mr. Laborde re- 
ceived the tired travelers in his own house. His 
son, a young man of twenty, lately from Paris, and 
two Catholic priests, who were known in Tanan- 
arivo only as tutor and physician, composed a 
household quite European, and was home-like in 
its surroundings. 



182 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

They had hardly dined when a slave announced 
the approach of Prince Rakoto, who immediately 
appeared. In his joy he threw his arms around IMr. 
Lambert, and held him in aifectionate embrace. 
The queen also complimented them by a remark- 
ably early invitation to dine ; strangers usually be- 
ing permitted to wait a week or ten days before 
her haughty eyes would recognize them. The sec- 
ond day after their arrival, they were invited by 
her to a feast at the house of " Lady Rasoaray," 
and on the third were granted an audience at the 
palace, which was in all respects like that given 
Mr. Ellis; yet seen through a pair of vivacious 
eyes, and described by a somewhat sarcastic pen, 
it appears differently. They were ordered to 
stand in a row in the court-yard, below the bal- 
cony where the queen sat in state, and wait till 
the soldiers went through with various military 
evolutions, "ending with a very comic point of 
drill, which consisted in suddenly poking up the 
right foot as if stung by a tarantula." The queen 
dispensed with an orator on this occasion, and 
herself conversed over the balcony. She is de- 
scribed at this time as " of rather dark complex- 
ion, strong and sturdily built, and although already 
seventy-five years of ago, is, to the misfortune of 
her poor country, still hale and of active mind." 



CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN. 183 

Madame PfeifFer was, with Mr. Lambert, enter- 
tained by a review of the city division of troops. 
The officers, she writes, " were mostly clothed in 
European garb, and looked ridiculous and comical 
enough. One wore a dress-coat, the tails of which 
reached almost to his heels ; another had a coat 
of flowered chintz; a third, a faded red jacket, 
which had once done duty as j)art of a marine's 
uniform. Their hats were just as diverse in char- 
acter. There were straw hats and felt hats of all 
sizes and shapes, caps and head-coverings of fear- 
ful and wonderful forms. The generals wore the 
regulation cocked hat of Europe, and were mount- 
ed." In this description, we understand the allu- 
sion of others to the fact that the Malagasy were 
too ready to adopt the showy superfluities of civil- 
ization, rather than that which was simply useful 
or in good taste. It is easy to ridicule this still 
barbarous people, but hardly just to forget that for 
twenty years they were pushed into civilized hab- 
its by an ambitious king, and then for twenty more 
years were pressed into degradation and ignorance 
by the iron hand of the queen. 

The same fancy-ball which had astonished Mr. 
Ellis passed before Madame Pfeiffer's humorous 
criticism, and in her turn she gave a musical 
entertainment to the queen. Mr. Lambert had 



184 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS, 

brought a piano as a present the year of liis previ- 
ous visit, and, as the queen had never seen any one 
perform upon it, she requested Madame to give 
a private concert. This was acceded to with all 
the grace that the little Austrian trav^eler could 
command ; for she hoped to be able thus to see the 
interior of the palace. For thirty years, she had 
not touched the piano ; but, " forcing her stiff old 
fingers through a few scales and exercises, she con- 
trived to remember a few easy, melodious waltzes 
and dance-tunes ; and, thus prepared, ventured to 
risk the criticism of the royal connoisseur of Mad- 
agascar." Upon being introduced to the place of 
performance, she found it to be the court-yard, 
while the queen was perched in " the eternal bal- 
cony," and, after all her condescension, she was 
not to pass the sacred threshold of the palace. 
Submitting however to what could not be helped, 
she seated herself at the instrument. " What was 
my horror," she says, " on finding it so wofuliy out 
of tune that not a single note ])roduced any thing 
like harmony with the rest ; many of the keys, 
moreover, were so obstinate as to refuse to emit 
any sound whatever. I had to loosen them, lift 
them, press them down, and resort to all sorts of 
expedients to bring them into working order ; and 
upon such an instrument as this I was to give my 



CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN. 185 

grand concert! But true artistic greatness rises 
superior to all adverse circumstances ; and inspired 
by the thought of exhibiting my talents to such 
an appreciating audience, I perpetrated the most 
\vonderful runs over the whole key-board, thumped 
witli all my might on the stubborn keys, and with- 
out any attempt at selection or sequence, played 
the first part of a w^altz and the second of a march, 
in short any thing and every thing that came into 
my head." One hardly knows which is the most 
humorous, the daring performance of this intrepid 
woman, or the sober propriety with which the 
matchless medley was received by the court. 

While Madame Pfeiffer and Queen Ranavalona 
were entertaining each other so quizzically, serious 
events were preparing in the house of Mr. Laborde. 
He frequently gave what seemed to be social en- 
tertainments in honor of his guests, at his own 
residence, and at the " garden-house " of his son, 
a little out of town; and these little parties inva- 
riably broke up with music, and the guests were 
accompanied through the streets to their homes, 
with drums, and other noisy instruments, in proof 
of gayety and enjoyment. Almost before she was 
aware of it, Madame Pfeiffer found herself involi'ed 
in a conspiracy to remove Queen Ranavalona from 
the throne. All the Europeans, Prince Rakoto, 



186 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

the commander-in-chief of the army, and many of 
the nobility and soldiers, were committed to the 
plan of effecting a sadden and bloodless revolu- 
tion on a fixed night near at hand. The prince 
caused it to be expressly understood that hia moth- 
er " was not to be deprived of her freedom, her 
wealth, or the honors which were her due ; " and 
the change was to be undertaken solely for the re- 
lief of the nation, and not for his own ambition, 
as he cared little who reigned, if only the happi- 
ness of the people was secured. " For himself, he 
wished neither for the throne nor the regal title, 
and would at any time be ready to execute a 
written abdication of his claims, and retire and live 
as a private citizen, if he could by such a course 
insure the prosperity of the people." 

On the occasion of a dinner-party at Mr. La- 
borde's, in honor of the prince, the whole plan was 
revealed to Madame Pfeiffer.. A complete little 
arsenal was shown her, of sabers, daggers, pistols, 
and guns, and leather shirts of mail, for the use of 
the conspirators. The chief actors were to dine 
at Mr. Laborde's garden-house, on the eventful, 
evening, in order to know that all was complete, 
and were to return to their homes as from a feast; 
then, at two o'clock, repair to the palace, when the 
gates were to be opened by the chief of the army, 



CONSPIRACY A GAINST THE Q UEEN. 1 87 

and the assembled princes and nobles were at a 
given signal loudly to proclaim Prince Rakoto 
king. Cannon were to be fired to announce to the 
people the change in the government, and the 
queen was to be infomied that it was the will of 
the nobles and the people. 

Madame PfeifFer was a brave woman ; and though 
she knew that in case of failure her own life would 
be forfeited, and that no door of escape remained 
for her, she waited with unflinching courage for 
the coup cVetat. Mr. Laborde proposed to send 
her thirty miles into the country in company with 
the two priests, who were to go on the day pre- 
vious to the event ; but she preferred to remain in 
Tananarive ; for, said she, " it would not be difficult 
to find my head, even if I were a hundred miles 
from the capital." 

There were already so many in the secret that 
the little news-birds began to drop bits of gossip 
all over the town, concerning something mys- 
terious soon to come to pass. Dark hints of it 
reached the queen, and, upon Mr. Lambert be- 
coming very ill, she consulted the sikidy as to 
whether he had any designs against her, and the 
reply was, " If Mr. Lambert had any such evil 
design the fever would assuredly carry him off." 



188 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

He recovered, and for a few days her fears were 
quieted. 

The twentieth of June, the designated day, 
arrived, with the plot still unexposed. The dinner- 
party at Mr. Laborde's awaited the news of 
complete arrangements in anxious suspense. The 
chief minister, who was to have secured the open- 
ing of the palace-gates, sent a message that he had 
failed to obtain the appointment of loyal officers 
to fill the posts at the palace that night, and in- 
sisted upon deferring the attempt. To defer it 
was to be betrayed, and to be betrayed was almost 
certain death to all concerned. The prince sent 
messenger after messenger, commanding and en- 
treating him to risk every thing, and open the 
gates. He refused. Rakoto and his friends were 
pained and dismayed. They felt that all was lost. 
The timidity and self-interest, if not the treachery 
of the chief, was about to ruin them. Perhaps, 
after all, he prefen-ed the rule of the queen ; for she 
granted him the services of eight hundred of her 
subjects, without pay from herself or from him, 
and these were already dragging stones and trees 
to build him a house. Rakoto, he knew, had the 
intention to deal justly with his subjects, and 
abate, if not put an end to every form of slavery 
and oppression. 



CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN. 189 

However this may be, he had effectually de- 
stroyed the hopes and plans of Rakoto and his 
friends, and they could only wait for what the day 
might brhig forth. It had been difficult to over- 
come the irresolution and delays of the prince 
himself, who had some filial hesitation about usurp- 
ing his mother's power, though feeling so bitterly 
her misuse of it. Added to this, they were sur- 
rounded by enemies, who were committed to the 
interests of the cousin and rival of the prince. 
Certainly God did not intend to deliver his people 
in this way. 

Instead of being summoned to the vengeance 
of the queen the next day, as was exj^ected, a 
message came from her, requesting Madame 
Pfeiffer and Mr. Lambert to come to the palace 
and entertain her Majesty with some new fancy 
dances ! But madame felt herself too aged and 
too ill " to turn ballet-dancer," and Mr. Lambert 
was again suffering from fever. Both declined. 
The day following, they were told that the whole 
plot was known to the queen ; and, though the 
actors were not yet fully implicated, the Europeans 
were treated as state prisoners, and remained for 
days shut up in Mr. Laborde's house, not daring to 
venture into the presence of the people. The 
queen issued a command forbidding any person to 



190 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

accuse her son, on pain of death. Her love for 
Prince Rakoto rose above every other considera- 
tion, and she probably regarded him as spell-bound 
by some secret charm of the Europeans. How to 
screen him and punish the rest, was the question 
of moment that lulled the palace "into a seeming 
quiet which was only the precursor of coming 
vengeance. 

To add to the terror of suspense, a traitor who 
had united himself long enough with the Chris- 
tians to know their condition, their secret meet- 
ings, their numbers, and even to obtain a list of 
their names, carried this information to one of the 
queen's ministers, who was providentially one of 
Prince Rakoto's best friends. He immediately 
gave the list to the prince, who tore it in pieces, 
and announced that any one who should repeat 
the offense should be put to death. This afforded 
opportunity for the escape of thousands to the 
forests and caves, and of some from the island. 
The occurrence determined the queen in what 
way to wreak her anger upon a people who dared 
to wisli to remove her from the throne. Upon 
them fell all the odium of the conspiracy. 

On the morning of the third of July, the people 
were summoned to assemble to hear the will of 
the queen. The calling of a "kabary" was in 



CONSPIEA CY AGA INST THE Q UEEN. 191 

the people's eyes a call to death. "There was 
a general howling and Availing," says Madame 
Pfeiffer, " a rushing and running through the 
streets, as if the town had been attacked by a 
hostile army ; and, as if to strengtlien that belief, 
all entrances to the town were occupied by troops, 
and the poor people were torn forcibly from their 
houses and driven to the market-place." 

Mr. Laborde ventured to go and hear tlie proc- 
lamation, which proved to be all that the people 
expected. The queen announced that she had 
heard with horror that thousands of Christians 
dwelt in the capital and vicinity. Fifteen days 
were allowed them, in which to accuse themselves. 
If accused by others, they should be put to death 
in a horrible manner. They knew very well if 
they accused themselves, the "tender mercies" of 
the tyrant would punish them with nothing lighter 
than perpetual slavery and chains. Unhappily, 
the names of some were known through the dis- 
covery of letters from a missionary, lately re- 
ceived, and these were consigned to torture, in 
order to make them accuse others. More than 
two hundred were discovered or accused during 
three days, but when the soldiers proceeded to the 
villages in quest of others, they found that the 



192 MlSmOXS AND MAItTYHS. 

inhabitants had fled. One village, nine miles from 
the capital, was wholly deserted. 

Mr. Lambert continued extremely ill of fever, 
and the queen sent daily to inquire as to his health, 
not by any means as a compliment, but because 
the sikidy had declared that his death would be 
positive proof of guilt, and, in that case, his com- 
panions must suffer the consequences. The mes- 
sengers were required to see him with their own 
eyes, lest deception like that she had practiced 
at Radama's death might cover the misfortune. 
Prince Rakoto was not allowed to visit the house, 
being kept a prisoner at his mother's side, on pre- 
tence of guarding her from danger, and also to 
hide his participation in the conspiracy — as if every 
body did not know it already ! But Ranavalona 
determined not to know it, and meant to cover 
him with her motherly wings from the vengeance 
of the heathen party. He kept his friends in- 
formed by secret messengers of all that transpired 
at the palace. A treble guard secured the palace; 
no one was allowed to pass near it, and none but 
known friends to the government were allowed to 
enter it. The people were forbidden on pain of 
death to enter Mr. Laborde's house, and he no 
longer dared venture beyond his own threshold. 

As the blood-thirsty queen could not secure as 



CONSPIRACT AGAINST THE QUEEN. 193 

many victims as she wished, another "kabary" 
was ordered, and the people were told that who- 
ever helped Christians in their flight, or concealed 
them, should receive punishment. A reward was 
offered for the delivery of any. Fifteen hundred 
soldiers were sent to distant provinces to arrest 
the fugitives, and to secure several Catholic mis- 
sionaries who had lately established themselves on 
the coast. Prince Rakoto sent a faithful courier 
to warn them of their danger. He also informed 
the Europeans at Mr. Laborde's, by secret mes- 
sages, that their papers were to be searched, and 
that the queen and her ministers were consulting 
daily in what manner to punish them, so as to 
gratify their fury, and yet not expose themselves 
to the retaliation of England and France. 

While suffering extreme anxiety as to their fate, 
a party of officers arrived, as was supposed for 
their an-est. What was their astonishment to find 
that it was a deputation sent for the presents 
which Mr. Lambert had brought for the queen ! 
Accordingly the elegant dresses, elaborate uni- 
forms, all manner of costly apparel, a rich saddle- 
cloth, saddle and bridle for Prince Rakoto, and 
other articles, all gifts from Mr. Lambert himself, 
were delivered to the delighted party. Yet the 
strictness of their imprisonment was not one whit 
13 



194 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

abated. Their sight was shocked by barbarities, 
and their ears horrified with the cruelties hourly 
taking place. A poor woman had her backbone 
sawed asunder in the market-place, and in a village 
where six Christians had concealed themselves, 
with the knowledge of the people, " the whole 
population — men, women, and children — were 
bound and dragged to the capital." The queen 
had declared " that the bowels of the earth must 
be searched, and the rivers and the lakes dragged 
with nets," till every Christian in her dominions 
had been destroyed. And, through it all. Prince 
Kakoto, and those of the ministers and nobles who 
were Christians in secret, dared to unbind the cap- 
tives and bid them fly, so that thousands by their 
vigilance were able to escape to the mountains and 
forests. What misery lay before them in their 
wretched concealment ! And yet, for Christ's 
sake, it was borne with a magnanimity which 
proves that pure religion is able to bring the most 
degraded up to a noble manhood. And those who 
in spite of all efforts were borne to an awful death, 
who on the way to execution were continually 
thrust with spears and stoned — these "behaved 
with great fortitude, and sung hymns till they 
died." Think of this as occurring in 1857 ! 

After thirteen days of terrible suspense, the 



CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN. 195 

Europeans were summoned to the court-yard of 
the palace, to hear the will of the queen in regard 
to them. Upon arriving, they found the judges 
and officers gloomily wrapped in their wide 1am- 
bas, sitting in a semi-circle, and behind them were 
soldiers standing. 

" I think our last hour is come," whispered 
Madame Pfeiffer to Mr. Laborde. 

" I am prepared for every thing," was his reply. 

They were seated opposite the judges. One 
arose, enumerated their offenses, and delivered the 
sentence. They were charged with "intending to 
overturn the throne of their beloved ruler, to give 
the people equal rights with the nobility, and to 
abolish slavery;" also, with having had interviews 
with the Christians, and exhorting them " to hold 
fast to their faith, and to expect speedy succor." 
It was stated that "the whole population of Tana- 
narivo was clamoring for their death," but that 
the queen, " in her magnanimity and mercy, had 
limited their punishment to perpetual banishment 
from her territories." This was indeed mercy, but 
not the queen's. She would long ago have con- 
signed them to a barbarous death, but for the in- 
terference of her beloved son. He had daily de- 
fended them with the greatest energy and warmth, 
and alarmed her fears by the threat that the 



196 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

-" European powers would not allow the execution 
of six important persons to pass unpunished ! " 

They were to be allowed an escort of fifty sol- 
diers, and as many bearers as were needed ; the 
presents were to be returned, and one hour was 
granted, in which to prepare and set out. Mr. 
Laborde was to have a similar escort, and was to 
keep a day's journey in the rear. In consideration 
of the services he had rendered to Madagascar, he 
was permitted to take his personal property with 
him, the remainder reverting to the queen. Many 
of the presents were returned to Mr. Lambert, but 
the rest were retained by the officers, probably 
without the knowledge of the queen. There was 
slowness on the part of the officials in setting out, 
and this enabled Mr. Lambert to secure the most 
valuable of his effi?cts. When at last the train 
was in motion, they went with blithe hearts, 
though both Mr. Lambert and Madame Pfeiffisr 
were suffi^ring from the debilitating fever peculiar 
to Madagascar. They were too happy to be pei- 
mitted to take their heads out of Tananarivo. It 
was just eight weeks since they had entered the 
place. 

Their journey proved that, after all, they had 
overrated the clemency of the cunning sovereign. 
Fifty soldiers were not sent as an escort of honor, 



COXSPIRA C Y A OA INS T THE Q UEEN. 197 

neither was Mr. Laborde kept in the distance 
without reason. The first Radama had often said 
in his lifetime, that he had two generals to whose 
skill he was willing to commit his enemies, without 
doubt of victory — General Ilazo, forest^ and 
General Tazo, fever. It was to see that the of- 
fenders were helplessly exposed to these that they 
were so generously attended. Queen Ranavaloua 
had no idea of permitting them to escape so easily 
from her vengeance, and the commanding officer 
had accordingly received orders to detain them as 
long as possible in the unhealthy districts, to give 
them no aid, and to guard them so strictly that 
they should not communicate with or receive as- 
sistance from any native, or even a European. 
This programme was strictly carried out. Eight 
days had latterly been the limit of a journey from 
the capital to the coast ; but, by careful manage- 
ment, by waiting in fever districts, and by slow 
marches, the time was extended to fifty-three 
days. Madame Pfeifier was so prostrated by fever 
that she remained for days in a kind of stupor, 
from which she had no desire to arouse herself, — 
an apathy and indifference felt by the strongest 
when subject to the Madagascar malady. 

Mr. Lambert suffered almost equally. Some- 



198 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

times they were left for days in mud huts, the 
whole party crowded into one miserable room ; 
and, again, were dragged forth and forced to con- 
tinue their journey through rain or heat, as it hap- 
pened. At one time they were left eighteen days 
in a village surrounded by swamps, and no offers 
of money from Mr. Lambert could induce their 
tormentors to proceed. A French physician, 
lately arrived, was at one of the villages through 
which they passed, but, notwithstanding all en- 
treaties, they were not permitted to communicate 
with him or receive medical assistance. Thus 
they reached Tamatave, and, still under strict 
guard, waited for a ship to convey them to Mauri- 
tius. Happily, one was ready the third day. 
They embarked with joy at their wonderful deliv- 
erance from death, and from the horrible meshes 
of the net in which the wily queen knew so well 
how to entangle her victims. And while tliey sail 
joyfully away, we too must lose sight of Mada- 
gascar as it drops away in the mist of the boun- 
dary of sea and sky, and leave, for four years 
longer, the Christians to drink that cup of bitter- 
ness, and receive that baptism of blood, of 
which Jesus warned his disciples when he was 
with them; and we must wait till the queen's 



CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN. 199 

measure of wickedness is full to the brim, and be 
content to leave her to the King of kings, who 
can hear the cry of his own people, and who has 
said, " Vengeance is mine, I will repay." 



CHAPTER XI. 

ACCESSION OF RAD AM A II. 

Death of Queen Ranavalona — Joy of the People — Abolition of all 
the persecuting Laws — Reappearance of the Christians — Mis- 
sionaries sent for — Messrs. LeBrun and Johns arrive — Rev. Mr. 
Ellis and Missionaries from England — Reopening of Schools — 
Embassies from the British and Frencli Governments — Radama's 
Coronation — Rejoicings — Building of new Churches. 

Joy ! joy to po#r, chained Madagascar! God has 
at last sent his messenger, death, to call Queen 
Ranavalona to judgment. Her will, which could 
never bear opposition, yields to the awful sum- 
mons. Her spirit is led away in a captivity as help- 
less as the poorest slave she has crushed. The 
crown and scepter are removed from the fallen 
queen, and her dust is laid away 2:)owerless in the 
sepulcher. 

Rakoto-Radama is proclaimed king. The sound 
echoes through the land ! The people among the 
mountains take up the happy tidings, and ring it 
fortli to the hills, till it reaches into the depths of 
the forests and caves as though Jesus had called, 
" Arise and come forth ! " The fugitives emerge 
from their living graves, the prison-doors are 

200 



ACCESSION OF MADAMA II. 201 

opened as if by shining angels, and the laborers, 
bowed down in the highways, lift their hands and 
shake their falling chains, and cry out in joy at 
the deliverance. The sound goes echoing and re- 
echoing down the steeps and over the plains. The 
people send forth songs of deliverance that are 
heard far away over the seas by listeners in other 
lands. These take up the hymn of thanksgiving, 
and Christians of every nation unite in a joyful 
Te Deum of praise. 

Queen Ranavalona had reigned thirty-three 
years. She was proclaimed sovereign August 1, 
1828, and died August 23, 1861. According to 
custom, the time of mourning was one year, and 
the coronation of the new king and queen could 
not take place till this respect had been paid to the 
memory of the former ruler. An unsuccessful at- 
tempt to usurp the rights of Rakoto was made, 
immediately upon the death of the queen, by his 
cousin. Prince Ramboasalama, who had a strong 
party in his interest. He was, however, seized, 
forced to take the oath of allegiance, and, without 
further molestation, Radama II. appointed his 
ministers, and announced the policy of the new 
government. All restrictions upon commerce 
were abolished, and foreigners were allowed free 
access to the capital. All state prisoners were re- 



202 MISSIONS AND MAHTYItS. 

called from banishment; prisoners of war were set 
free, and sent home with joresents ; liberty of con- 
science was allowed to all; cruel laws were re- 
pealed ; the trial by the tangena abolished ; in a 
word, the old code of laws was entirely swejDt 
away at a stroke. The land reveled in joyous free- 
dom, and the only fear now in the hearts of those 
who regarded the best welfare of Madagascar, was, 
lest anarchy might take the place of oppression, 
and prove ruinous to its prosperity. Whether the 
kino: had sufficient decision of character and clear- 
ness of judgment to secure the correct balance 
between lawless liberty and unjust restraint, re- 
mained to be proved. In the mean time, his 
friends hoped for the best, and rejoiced in the 
deliverance from bondage. 

The Christians, who were supposed by their 
persecutors to be almost rooted out, sprang up 
every where like countless blades of grass after a 
spring shower. " We that were in concealment 
appeared," writes a native pastor, a short time af 
ter the queen's death. " Then all the people were 
astonished when they saw we were alive and not 
yet buried nor eaten by dogs, and there were a 
great many of the people desiring to see us, for 
they considered us as dead, — and this is what as- 
tonished them. Ten days later, those that were 



ACCESSION OF RADAMA II. 203 

in fetters came to Tananarivo, but they could not 
walk on account of the weight of their heavy fet- 
ters, and their weak and feeble bodies." 

Bibles and books were also brought out from 
their hiding-places, but were almQst useless from 
having been so long buried. One man had suc- 
ceeded in concealing his Bible upon his person 
during eighteen years. He had frequently been in 
danirer of his life, but had trusted with undis- 
turbed peace in the promises of God, which he had 
committed to memory. "Be not afraid of the 
king of Babylon of whom ye are afraid ; be not 
afraid of him, saitli the Lord : for I am with you, 
to save you, and to deliver you from his hand." 
Such words as these gave him strength to endure 
and wait. 

Radama encouraged the Christians by walking 
with them in procession all the way from his coun- 
try palace to the city, causing them to sing hymns 
as they went. His chief minister gave them a 
house next his own for a chapel, but this soon 
became too small for the number of worshipers, 
which daily increased. The king advised them to 
write for missionaries to instruct them ; according- 
ly, a month after his accession, four native pastors 
addressed a letter to Rev. Mr. LeBrun, who had 
for four or more years been waiting at Mauritius 



204 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS, 

for an opportunity to devote himself to this very- 
work. It is thus that the Heavenly Father pre- 
pares blessings for his people, and is ready to pour 
out upon them more than they know how to re- 
ceive. 

"We have begun," say they, "to meet for pub- 
lic worship at Tananarivo since Lord's Day, 29th 
of September last. As one house was not large 
enough to contain us all, we had to meet in eleven 
separate houses, and they were all crowded to ex- 
cess. The king, Radama II., tells us to write and 
persuade the missionaries to come and settle at 
Tananarivo, as well as all our friends and coun- 
trymen who are at Mauritius. There is now no 
obstacle in the way; the road is open to everybody. 
Every one can pray in all security; the Word 
of God has free course in our midst. Bring, there- 
fore, with you, all sorts of Malagasy books, — the 
Bible, the New Testament, tracts and alphabets, 
yea, every thing printed in the Malagasy language ; 
for everybody here scrambles as it were for the 
Word of God ; so ardent is the desire expressed 
for it that they throw themselves upon any por- 
tions they find ! 

"French Roman Catholic priests have already 
reached Tananarivo, and use every means to in- 
struct the people in their own religion. Pray ar- 



ACCESSION OF RADAMA 11. 205 

dently to the Lord that he may prevent any of us 
who are Protestants at heart, from being tempted 
to listen to their teachings. Everybody, young 
and old, is learning to read. All the Christians 
who were in bonds have received their liberty, and 
are living at the cnpital. Such is a brief state- 
ment of our present position. Salutations. Adieu. 
May God bless us all, and you as well as us, say 
" Ratsilainga, 
" Kandriantsoa, 
" Rainiketaka, 

" AlSTDRIAMELO, 

"And the Brethren and Sisters in Christ." 
In reply to this appeal, Rev. Mr. LeBrun and 
David Johns, who had been driven from the capi- 
tal twenty-five years before, came to Tananarivo, 
not to take up the work where it had then been 
left, but to find themselves in charge of a vast 
church gathered by the power of the Holy Spirit 
in those long dark years, and pervaded with a 
fervor and holy devotion that astonished them and 
all who came afterward, impressing them with a 
sense of God's presence that was almost over- 
whelming. 

As soon as the happy news reached England, 
Rev, Mr. Ellis was sent by the London Society to 
take charge of the mission, and he was soon fol- 



206 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

lowed by a party of six missionaries, iDcluding a 
physician and experienced teachers, who brought 
with them a gift of over ten thousand copies of 
the New Testament, and portions of the Old ; 
over twenty thousand other volumes in the Mala- 
gasy language, and a printing press, types, and 
paper. These friends were received with honor 
by the king's officers, at some distance from the 
capital, and Christians busied themselves in pre- 
paring houses, and bringing generous supplies of 
provisions, in token of the happy good-will and the 
affection they had for those who were one with 
them in Christ. The Christian alone can under- 
stand the hearty sympathy and interest which 
moved these people, and bound them to strangers 
whose faces they had not yet seen. 

By direction of Radama, schools were opened 
in all the villages where they had formerly been, 
and also at the capital. He went, himself, daily to 
see the progress of a large school-house which was 
being built in the city. The young men who sur- 
rounded him were instructed by Mr. Ellis ; one of 
them, who was among the highest officers of the . 
army, learned his alphabet in a single lesson. It 
was evidently the king's desire to see his people 
educated rapidly. 

A number of Europeans had by this time arrived 



ACCESSION OF RADAMA II. 207 

in Madagascar. The Bishop of Mauritius came to 
see for himself whether the rumors of the state of 
the Christians were exaggerated. The sight of the 
martyrs' bones still bleaching upon the rocks; the 
lieavy chains and rings that had been worn by some 
who still survived and bore the marks of the galling 
weight ; the devotion of many who sometimes, 
in their joy a,t obtaining the use of his Bible, 
prayed and read all night; and the multitudes 
which " pressed him upon all sides " when he at- 
tempted to address them, as well as the humble 
desire of the king to promote all that was good, 
filled him with glowing enthusiasm, and sent him 
away praising God for what he had wrought. 

Embassies from France and England also came 
to consrratulate and encourasfe Radama in his lib- 
eral policy, and an autograph letter from Queen 
Victoria aided to sustain and strengthen his efforts. 
All these were received with a very different air 
from that which marked the receptions of Queen 
Ranavalona. Instead of appearing in haughty 
reserve on the lofty balcony. King Radama wel- 
comed his guests in the palace, surrounded by his 
ministers and ladies of the court, listened with 
interest to their addresses, and often shook them 
cordially by the hand. The offering of the hasina 
was still received in token of amity and respect, 



208 MISSIONS AND ATAUTYRS 

according to the former customs, though it does 
not seem to have been so absolutely exacted as in 
the reign of the queen. Neither did Radama 
keep his friends in waiting for days, before grant- 
ing an audience. 

The day following the arrival of the missiona- 
ries, being the Sabbath,' the king and queen met 
them in the chapel. "May God bless you, and 
preserve you in comfort here," was the cordial sal- 
utation of the king. He repeatedly expressed his 
gratification at their arrival, and the benefits which 
would ensue to the people. In a conversation 
held with the missionaries and members of the 
embassy, the compassion of Queen Victoria toward 
the poor and afflicted, and Radama's conduct to- 
ward the persecuted, were comjDared. In reply, 
he said, looking for approval to his friend, "Mr. 
Ellis knows what is in my heart ; he knows that I 
desire to know and serve God. I pray to God to 
enlighten my mind and teach me what is right, 
and what I ought to know and do." 

Radama appeared to place unlimited confidence 
in Mr. Ellis. When the English embassy was on 
the way to the capital, it was told him that Gen- 
eral Johnstone was coming to crown him. " The 
French say they are to put the crown on my 
head," said he ; " now the English say they are 



ACCESSION OF RADAMA LI. '209 

coming for that purpose. They can't both do it, 
for I have not got two heads for each of them to 
crown. Go and ask my father, Mr. Ellis, what I 
am to do." Although it was early in the morning 
Mr. Ellis hastened to answer the summons, and 
found him, as was usual in the early part of the 
day, busily engaged with his ministei-s. He ex- 
plained to him that the respective parties merely 
desired to honor the event of his coronation, and 
that the act of crowning should be performed by 
those of his own nation. 

The joj^ful day of the coronation arrived. It 
was the twenty-third of September, little more 
than a year since the death of the queen. At an 
early hour a crowd of people, on foot and in palan- 
quins, pressed along the road that led to the plain 
below the city. " Banners inscribed with ' R. R. 
II.' were fixed on both sides of the road, at in- 
tervals of about every hundred yards; and tall 
green plantain-trees had, during the previous day, 
been brought from the adjacent gardens, and 
planted in groups of five or six together by the 
side of the v/ay." The rocky hills that rose precip- 
itously from the plain in various directions, were 
alive with people wlio were creeping up their sides, 
to obtain a view of the coronation; and the steep 
side of the long granite hill of Tananarivo, that 



210 MISSIOXS AND MARTYRS, 

overlooked the scene, was gay with men and 
women in their long white or brilHant colored 
lambas, eagerly watching for the coming of their 
beloved king. Below them extended a platform, 
upon which was fixed the throne. The royal fam- 
ily and foreign guests sat upon the right and left. 
Among the former was Rasalimo, the wife of the 
former Radama, whose marriage with him had 
sealed his peace with the Sakalavas, and who was 
the only wife then recognized by the missionaries. 
The handsome young Ramonja and the princely 
son of Rambosalama were conspicuous, among the 
noblemen. All were in rich uniforms of scarlet or 
green velvet and gold lace. 

In front of the platform, upon one side, was ar- 
rayed a great body of Christians. Mr. Ellis and 
the young nobles, his pupils, together with the 
missionaries and native pastors, were in front of 
this army of disciples, which so far exceeded the 
space allotted them that more than half their num- 
ber were necessarily excluded. On the other side, 
facing the throne, was a group of Catholic priests, 
with the few people wlio had listened to their in- 
structions. They had labored at the capital ever 
since the accession of Radama, but found it diffi- 
cult to attach the people to their faitli. As the 
natives had said long before, they were too strongly 



ACCESSION OF RADAMA II. 211 

reminded of the idols just thrown away, and now 
after a year's fifithful labor, one of the priests was 
constrained to acknowledge "one might just as 
well attempt to cut a rock with a razor as attempt 
to make Roman Catholics of the Malagasy ! " 
Yet they did not despair of influencing the chil- 
dren, and, in proof of it, several Sisters of Charity, 
with about forty children and elder girls, were 
grouped behind the priests. 

Between these representatives of the Romish 
Church and the platform was another group, tol- 
erated by the liberality of the king. Thirteen 
idol-keepers and a ^e\v adherents stood there, 
holding aloft, and in a place of equal honor with 
the ministers of Christ, thirteen idols ! It seems 
impossible to believe it, and yet it is quietly re- 
corded by an eye-witness. How could Radama's 
friends have permitted the scarlet symbols of idol- 
atry to float in the very face of Christianity, with- 
out protesting against it, and reminding the king 
of God's command, " Thou shalt have no other 
gods before me ? " 

But the vast multitude turn their faces now 
toward the cloud that rises out of the city, and 
signifies the moving of the royal cavalcade. The 
cannon booms, and the long train winds down the 
hill, still enveloped in a cloud of dust. A crowd 



212 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

comes before, shouting their joy ; the j^eople joiu 
in the applause, as they catch sight of the royal 
pair; and the Christians unite their voices in the 
national anthem, which peals a hearty welcome 
across the plain. There, out of the cloud of 
dust, gleams the scarlet palanquin of the queen. 
She sits within it, robed in white satin, and beside 
her is a little girl, an adopted daughter. By the 
side of the palanquin rides King Radama, in the 
uniform of a field-marshal, mounted upon a fine 
Arab horse. Guards clothed in green, and bearing 
silver halberts attend them, and closely following 
are the ministers and officers of the court in eror- 
geous dresses, and the officers of the English and 
French embassies in court dress. 

As the sovereigns approach, the royal family 
near the throne turn their faces toward them, clap 
their hands, and sing native songs ; and now the 
queen alights, and advance's to the throne, erected 
beneath a canopy and over the sacred stone, where 
Queen Ranavalona so many years before announced 
her trust in idols. The king follows. The officers 
in rich uniforms, and among them the minister of 
justice in a robe of green velvet and gold lace, 
with two train-bearers, leisurely take their respec- 
tive positions. The shouting and clapping and 
singing cease ; every eye is fixed upon the king as 



ACCESSION OF RADAMA II. 213 

he rises, takes the crown, places it upon his head, 
and advances to the sight of the multitude, — the 
crowned king, Radama II. As he stands there, 
cannons roar out the tidings to the people gathered 
on the hills ; the band peal forth the national 
hymn, and the great multitude shout the Malagasy- 
salutation, "May you live a thousand years!" 

Now Radama turns to the queen, standing at 
his side, and places an open-work golden crown 
upon her head. The shoutings still reverberate ; 
the officers come forward to offer their congratu- 
lations, and the queen resumes her seat. The ac- 
clamations are hushed. Radama again advances 
and addresses the people, "assuring theni that his 
confidence in and toward them, that his purpose 
for the welfare of his country and the prosperity 
of all classes, w^ere the same as when he was 
raised to the throne." There is genuine happiness 
in the upturned faces of the listening people, for 
they know these are not the smooth words of de- 
ceit, such as were uttered by the last crowned 
sovereign, and they can not shout their joy loud 
enough to satisfy their hearts, as the king resumes 
his seat. The ceremony of the hasina finishes 
the formalities of the coronation, and the crowd 
rushes to and fro, to get nearer the royal pair, as 
thoy descend from the canopied tlirone and i)re- 



214 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

pare to return to tlie palace. All the way back the 
surging multitude shout and sing and gaze at 
royalty, till the pageant disappears in the court- 
yard of the palace. Within tlie palace is a banquet 
waiting, and there tlie day is finished in festivities. 
When the reign of Radama was thus established, 
.the Christians began to consult upon measures for 
organizing theii* forces, and building churches large 
enough for convenient worship. They were now 
holding services in houses scattered over the city, 
and these poorly accommodated their numbers. 
As the most of these people had been robbed of 
their property during many years of persecution, 
it was impossible to meet the expense themselves; 
an appeal was therefore made by the missionaries 
to the British public, for the means to erect four 
churclies " on the several sites where the martyrs 
nobly died for the faith of Christ." These memorial 
churches are probably now in the course of erec- 
tion, if not already completed. 



CHAPTER XII. 



radama's dissipation and death. 



Disappointment of Hopes — The Bang's Love of Reveling and Intem- 
perance — Influenced by evil Companions — Jealousy of a Divine 
Rival — Superstitions — The Meua-Maso — Message from his An- 
cestors to stop the praying — The Heathen Plot to secure the As- 
sassination of the Christians — Radama's proposed Law of im- 
munity to Murderers — His Ministers alarmed — Troops sum- 
moned to resist the King's purpose — He is put to death in his 
Palace by the Nobles —Ruined by his Vices — Accession of Queen 
Rabodo to the Throne. 

It is witli great pain that we are compelled to 
record the blighting of the hopes which the ami- 
able disposition of Prince Rakoto, and his friendly 
offices toward the Christians during the long night 
of persecution had awakened respecting him. 
Gladly would we record that his reign so aus- 
piciously begun, proved worthy of a Christian 
prince. But alas, Rakoto, now Radama IL, was 
not a Christian. We have already stated that 
even while winning so many hearts by his natural 
amiability, he was still a heathen, licentious, and 
in many respects, weak. To this was now added 
intemperance. Being frequently in conference 
with him, and familiar with all his habits, it could 
not have escaped the notice of Mr. Ellis that Ra- 

215 



216 3nSSI0NS AND MARTYRS. 

dama indulged in midnight banquetings with the 
young nobles who surrounded him. Nightly 
revels were so common among the Malagasy, 
whether rich or poor, and wine had always flowed 
so freely in the palace, though prohibited else- 
where, that its present use was perhaps not so 
readily remarked. The customs of courtly society 
in requiring the wine-cup, might also have prevent- 
ed any one from presuming to warn the king of 
the danger of indulging in that which had ruined 
the former Radama ; or perhaps the fact that he 
had never distinctly declared himself a disciple of 
Christ, may have hindered his Christian friends 
from enjoining the duty of temperance on that 
ground. Of a lively and generous temperament, 
he sought the advice and companionship of inex- 
perienced and dissipated young men. He was 
easy and amiable to a fault; readily influenced by 
those who once gained his good-will and confi- 
dence. This pliability of character, and his ex- 
treme tenderness of heart, made him too free and 
lenient to be strictly just. He forbade the punish- 
ment of persons convicted even of crime ; and 
this extreme course threatened to overturn alllavv 
and order. The older councilors of the govern- 
ment shook their heads ominously. But as it was 
an amiable and not a vicious fmlt, and was the re- 



RADAMA'S DISSIPA TION AND DEA TH. 217 

suit of a sickened weariness of cruelty, his friends 
hoped for the best. 

The full extent of his faults was not known at 
tnis time. It was not known that after attending 
divine worship witli apparent seriousness, he would 
excite the mirthof his frivolous young companions 
by mimicking the peculiarities of the preacher, and 
that after giving audience to foreigners with the 
utmost courtesy, he would permit them to be ridi- 
culed in his presence, and would join in the merri- 
ment prevailing at their expense. Hrs mobile char- 
acter, quick to catch every impression seemed in- 
capable of giving such a lodgment to good impres- 
sions as should allow tlieni to fructify. He be- 
lieved in God, but troubled himself little to as- 
certain what relations the Saviour bears to God. 
Whoever Christ might be, he seemed convinced 
that he was below himself, whom he reckoned the 
second beinof in the universe. But with these 
blasphemously exaggerated conceptions of his own 
dignity, it is not strange that he, when on the 
throne, soon began to be jealous of having even a 
Divine rival in the hearts of his people. He was 
heard to complain that when any one became a 
Christian, his heart was at once turned away from 
him. But for awhile these things remained un- 
known, or privately suspected. The Christians 



218 MISSIONS AXD MARTYRS. 

were content with their king, and happy in the 
freedo!n and encoiirao-ement he 2:ranted thera. 

It soon became apparent that superstition was 
gaining tl]e ascendency over the mind of Radama. 
Dreams and supernatural wonders influence'd him 
more than any argument tliat could be presented, 
and he confirmed his own opinions of right by the 
invariable announcement, " God told me so." Of 
this weakness the heathen party took advantage. 

Radama employed tliirty or forty persons as 
spies, and theee constantl}^ surrounded him, bring- 
ing intelligence of all that was transpiring among 
friends or enemies. The inquisitors who sat in 
judgment upon tliis secret intelligence were 
called mena maso^ i. e. "because their eyes were 
su])posed to be red with the strain or continuance 
of difficult investigation." Many of these were 
easily secured to the interests of the idol-keepers, 
and such information was given them for the secret 
ear of the king, as served to increase Ids awe for 
the supernatural. 

A mental epidemic began to appear in the capi- 
tal and the adjoining provinces. Persons affected 
by it pretended to be unable to avoid leaping, run- 
ing, and dancing, as did the idol-keeper who once 
appeared in the presence of Radama. Had Ra- 
koto-Radama exposed these impostors with the 



EADAMA'S DISSIPA TION AND DEA TH. 219 

same boldness and sarcasm with which Radama I. 
shamed them, the unhappy consequences might 
even now have been averted. So f;xr from this, 
the king Ustened to the accounts brouglit by the 
mena maso^ and was filled with wonder. Visions 
and stranore dreams were related to him. Voices 
announced the coming of his ancestors to tell him 
what he was to do for the good of his country. 
When his imagination was thus sufficiently worked 
upon for the idolators to venture on bolder pro- 
ceedings, a message was sent as from his ancestors, 
that if he did not stop " the praying " he might 
expect a great calamity. Here was a blow aimed 
at the Christians ! They saw plainly whither it 
tended. Could it be possible that God would again 
permit them to be cast into the dust ? 

The king was deeply moved. The frantic actors 
in the strange drama thronged daily to the palace, 
delivered messages from the spirit-world, sounding 
continually in his ears the command, " Stop the 
praying." Persons under the same influence, insti- 
gated by idol-keepers, poured in from the country, 
and added to the cry, " Stop the praying." Ra- 
dama was alarmed, and to conciUate the spirits, 
issued an order that all persons meeting these " so- 
called sick," should take off their hats ; thus offer- 
ing them the same token of respect as was formerly 



220 MISSIONS AND MAltTYIiS. 

paid to idols. Here was another blow against the 
Christians ! 

And now the plotters grew bolder. The king's 
ministers and the chief nobles had firmly opposed 
him in so weakly yielding to the demands of these 
creatures, who seemed possessed by the Evil One, 
Their assassination was proposed to Radama ; and 
he consented ! To shield the intended murderers 
" he announced his intention to issue an order, or 
law, that any person or persons wishing to fight 
with fire-arms, swords, or speai-s, should not be pre- 
vented, and that if any one v/as killed, the mur- 
derer should not be punished." This occasioned 
intense excitement and alarm through the city. 
No one was certain of his life. All lost confidence 
in the king, in whom they had so firmly re23osed 
their trust for liberty, happiness, and the rising 
glory of Madagascar. 

" On the 7th of May (1863)," says Mr. Ellis, 
" Radama repeated before his ministers and others 
his determination to issue the order (of murder), 
and among all the inena maso present, only three 
opposed the issuing of that order; many were 
silent ; the rest expressed their approval. The 
nobles and heads of the people spent the day in 
deliberating on the course they should pursue; 
and the next morning the prime minister, with 



RADAMA'S DISSIPATION AND DEATH. 221 

about one hundred of the nobles and heads of the 
people, including the commander-in-chief, the 
king's treasurer, and the first officer of the palace, 
went to the king, and remonstrated against legal- 
izing murder, and besought him most earnestly 
not to make such an order. It is said that the 
prime minister went on his knees before him, and 
begged him not to issue this obnoxious law ; but he 
remained unmoved. The minister then arose and 
said to the king, — 

" ' Do you say, before all these witnesses, that if 
any man is going to fight with fire-arms, sword, or 
spear, that you will not prevent him, and that, if 
he kill any one, he shall not be punished ? ' The 
king replied, * I agree to that.' 

" Then said the minister, ' It is enough ; we must 
arm ; ' and turning to his followers, said, ' Let us 
return.' 

" I saw the long procession as they passed my 
house, grave and silent, on their way to the min- 
ister's dwelling." 

All day, while they sat in deliberation, the people 
waited in trying suspense, and when their inten- 
tion to oppose the king with violence was made 
known, and when troops began to pour into the 
city at nightfall, women, children, and slaves has- 
tily gathered their valuables and fled from the 



222 MISSIGNU AND MARTYRS. 

town. By daybreak, Tananarivo and every avenue 
leading to it, was in possession of the army ; and 
the few soldiers who remained with the king, re- 
fused to fire upon those surrounding the palace. 
Even among the people, none were found willing 
to defend Radama in his strange measures. The 
mena maso alone supported him. All but twelve 
had been already arrested and killed, or had fled, 
and the surrender of these was now demanded. 
At first, the king refused ; but finding himself help- 
less, he consented, on condition that their lives 
should be spared. " On Monday, the 11th, they 
were marched by Andohalo, on their way to the 
spot where the irons were to be fixed to their 
limbs." Thus was the Scripture verified, " They 
shall fall into their own pit." 

Radama had declared to his ministers that " he 
alone was sovereign ; his word alone was law ; his 
person was sacred ; he was supernatu rally pro- 
tected ; and would severely punish tlie opposers 
of his will." This decided his fate. The morning 
after his adherents had been secured, he was put 
to death in his own palace by the nobles, and in 
presence of Rabodo, the queen, who vainly endeav- 
ored to save him. 

Thus perished Rakoto-Radama, who, as a prince, 
had shown many admirable traits and evil propen- 



HADAMA'S DISSIPATION AND DEATH. 223 

sities so evenly balanced that it was a matter of 
anxiety whether the evil or good should triumph. 
" No man can serve two masters ; " and, as he 
failed, to choose Christ, the foundation of all good- 
ness, he soon committed himself to the interests 
of Satan, and became the easy tool of wicked de- 
signers. While we stand in awe of the judgments 
of an offended God, we can not but feel painful 
regret that the lot of this amiable prince should 
have fallen in evil places. Possibly his intense 
abhorrence of cruelty, and the forced witnessing 
of it through many years, may have unsettled his 
reason; and the pressure of the cares of state, and 
the peculiar influence of the mena maso, together 
with intemperance, may have increased the un- 
happy state of mind. The gospel could have 
saved him from false steps, had its instructions 
taken root in his heart. But Radama, when " al- 
most a Christian," dallied with vices till they took 
possession of him, tolerated idols whose votaries 
accomplished his fall, and at last chose the faith of 
his ancestors, which, instead of granting the peace- 
ful death promised to the upright, occasioned him 
an isfnominious end. " Woe unto them that call 
evil good, .... that are wise in their own eyes, 
.... that are mighty to drink wine .... that 
justify the wicked, and take away the righteous- 



224 MISSIONS AND MARTYRS. 

ness of the righteous : Therefore as the fire de- 
voureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the 
chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their 
blossom shall go up as dust." Isaiah v. 20-24. 

The sovereignty of Madagascar was offered to 
the queen, on condition of her signing a constitu- 
tion which secures the rights of the nobles and 
heads of the people, protects foreigners, tolerates 
Christianity, secures the commercial interests of 
the people, and establishes trial by jury. It was 
also stipulated "that the queen shall not drink 
strong liquors ; " thus showing unmistakably what 
is presumed to have destroyed Radama. To all 
this, she gave her full consent, and now reigns. 
Queen of Madagascar. Her peoj^le present the 
remarkable spectacle of being as far in advance of 
their sovereign in Christian civilization, as their 
king was in advance of them, thirty-five years be- 
fore. They now dictate measures of progress. 
Much is hoped for the nation, in this advance to- 
ward a constitutional government. May the Gos- 
pel, which has been so illustriously exhibited there, 
soon reach every benighted spot in that beautiful 
island, cause every idol to be cast into the sea, 
and so renovate the nation that they shall stand 
before the world as a chosen, blessed, and sancti- 
fied people of God ! 



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