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MADAGASCAR 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS MARTYRS. 
 
 A 
 
 BOOK FOR THE YOUNG. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION 
 
i^ 
 
 Stereotyped by E. C. Allen, No. 51 Commerce Street, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 (2) 
 
rniiTGETOii 
 
 INDEX. !; 
 
 •^ Til SO LOGIC 2:T.v/.- 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Account of the Country of Madagascar • • - 11 
 II. Customs of the Malagasy 15 
 
 III. Religion of the Malagasy 19 
 
 IV. Early Visiters to Madagascar • • • • '22 
 V. Radama, first king of Madagascar • • • • 28 
 
 VI. Christianity introduced ...... 3(3 
 
 VII. The Usurpation of Ranavalona ..... 47 
 
 VIII. Christianity suppressed ...... 56 
 
 IX. The Q,ueen sends Ambassadors to England • • -65 
 
 X. The History of Rafaravavy *57 
 
 XI. Letters to the Missionaries 71 
 
 XII. Rafaravavy's House puUed down 77 
 
 XIII. Rafaravavy under Sentence of Death .... 80 
 
 XIV. The Martyrdom of Rasalama 83 
 
 XV. Four Christians in Slavery 86 
 
 XVI. The History and Martyrdom of Rafaralahy ... 88 
 
 XVII. The Flight 92 
 
 XVIII. The Forest 96 
 
 XIX. Rafaravavy again 99 
 
 XX. Rafaravavy and Sarah pursued 103 
 
 XXI. More Narrow Escapes ..••••. 106 
 
 XXII. Journey to Tamatave Ill 
 
 XXIII. Journey to Tamatave Continued ..... 115 
 
 XXIV. A welcome in South Africa ...-•- 124 
 XXV. A Welcome in England 128 
 
 XXVI. More Martyrs in Madagascar 133 
 
 XXVIl. Sarah's Illness and Death 135 
 
 XXVIIl. Letter from Shagdur 137 
 
 XXIX. Departure of the Refugees, and Letters from Madagascar 145 
 
 XXX. Light Breaking 150 
 
 XXXI. Conclusion • • . - 152 
 
 (3) 
 
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 Explanation of the Frontispiece. 
 
 Rafaravavy, or Mary, sitting on the left. 
 Razafy, or Sarah, standing by her side. 
 Ratsarahomba, or David, pointing. 
 Andrianisa, or James. 
 Adrianomanana, or Simeon, standing. 
 Rasoamaka, or Joseph, on the ground. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Infanticide in Madagascar 21 
 
 Queen Adelaide and the Embassy from Madagascar . . .66 
 Martyrdom of Rasalama 83 
 
 (4) 
 
( ■ 
 
 p R E F ^35 E J^o j; nr ii iir J 
 
 As books for children usually pass through 
 the hands of parents or teachers, it is pre- 
 sumed that the introduction of a few prefatory 
 observations to adult readers may not be 
 out of place. 
 
 This little book has been compiled from 
 the Rev. W. Ellis's " History of Madagascar," 
 in two volumes, and from the " Narrative of 
 the Persecution in Madagascar," by the 
 Rev. J. J. Freeman, and the Rev. D. Johns, in 
 one volume. Mrs. Jeffrey's "Journal" has 
 also been consulted, and the narrative has 
 been carried on to the present time, by infor- 
 mation obtained from the " Missionary Maga- 
 zine" for 1840-41. Those circumstances only 
 have been selected which appeared to be 
 most likely to come home to the minds of 
 children, the abundant and interesting mate- 
 rials afforded by the larger works rendering 
 even such a selection difficult. The frontis- 
 piece was painted while the refugees were in 
 England. 
 
 1* V 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 The extraordinary and deeply interesting 
 events which have recently transpired in 
 Madagascar, are as yet but partially known. 
 For six years the little band of Christian 
 sufferers in that island have been subjected 
 to the loss of property and home — to bonds, 
 imprisonment, and in some instances to death. 
 Surely it is high time that the sympathy and 
 prayers of all Christian people should be en- 
 listed in their favour. 
 
 It is hoped that the illustrations of Christian 
 principle thus brought to view may not be 
 unprofitable to the youthful reader. In this 
 favoured country, where the young convert 
 meets with so little to try his faith and 
 steadfastness, it may be well to set before him a 
 piety which can endure the loss of all things, 
 and count not life itself dear to win Christ. 
 And in a day when the word of God seems 
 in danger of being made of none effect by 
 the traditions of men, it may not be without 
 advantage to present an example of Christian- 
 ity in simplicity and purity, and to show how 
 the word of God alone, without even the stated 
 means of pastoral superintendence and of 
 public ordinances, has been proved sufficient 
 as a rule of faith and conduct, and has led 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 to the highest and holiest manifestations of 
 Christian character. 
 
 To the C^rz5//fl7i, Madagascar is an object of 
 intense interest. In converts whose principles 
 have been matured in an atmosphere of 
 surrounding heathenism, and in opposition to 
 the force of early association, he finds an 
 elevation and consistency of character which 
 many under the favouring influence of Chris- 
 tian light and liberty have failed to attain. 
 In regard to their Christian affection, the 
 testimony of their enemies is, " You would be 
 surprised at the love of these people for one 
 another." " These praying people w^ould 
 sooner be cut to pieces than impeach their 
 companions." Of their conscientious dis- 
 charge of duty, " These people would indeed 
 make excellent servants, if they would but 
 leave off their religion." " Among the soldiers 
 and bourgeois there are none more upright, 
 diligent, and trustworthy than these praying 
 people." The purity of their moral conduct 
 has been one of the accusations against them, 
 and their watchful enemies have been unable 
 to find any fault in them, except " concerning 
 the law of their God." Humility and gentle- 
 ness are their prominent characteristics, and 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 their love to the word of God is touchingly 
 evidenced, in a letter, dated June 26, 1841. 
 In destitution of all earthly comforts, they 
 write, " You ask us if we have any wants : 
 we have, indeed, one want — our Bibles are 
 worn out." 
 
 Many centuries have passed since the cry 
 of a hundred thousand voices, in persecuting 
 Rome, adjudged " the Christians to the lions." 
 Far distant, in point of time and space, from 
 the sphere of those events on which the 
 Christian's hope is based, he has a fresh proof 
 of the indestructibility of that principle which 
 the powers of this world have so repeatedly 
 laboured to extinguish. Instead of having 
 become dim in the lapse of ages, it bursts 
 forth with renewed brightness and purity; 
 and no admixture of party spirit, no fainting 
 in the day of adversity, no unlawful haste for 
 martyrdom, no vindictive feeling towards the 
 persecutor, has clouded that faith which has 
 enabled each Christian martyr of Madagas- 
 car meekly to receive the fatal spear, and 
 successively to testify, "I fear no evil" — 
 *' Into thine hands. Lord Jesus, I commit my 
 spirit." Carried back in imagination to the 
 days of primitive Christianity, each disciple 
 
PREFACE. nC 
 
 of Jesus here feels a renewed conviction, that 
 he has "not followed cunningly devised fables," 
 and rejoices in the assurance that these blessed 
 principles which have lately won so signal a 
 triumph in Madagascar, shall at no distant 
 day, subdue all nations to the obedience of 
 faith, and maintain undisputed empire through- 
 out the world. 
 
 MADAGASCAR RE-OPENED. 
 [from the christian spectator of march, 1853.] 
 The vast, populous, and beautiful island of Mada- 
 gascar has long been an object of intense interest 
 to the Christian mind. It is thirty-five years since 
 missionaries first landed on its shores, where they 
 were welcomed and encouraged by Radama, one of 
 the most remarkable potentates of his day. The gos- 
 pel was preached, numerous schools were established, 
 and the printing-press was actively employed, partly 
 at the cost of the Religious Tract Society. In 1828, 
 king Radama died, and with the accession of the 
 present queen all this promising commencement was 
 darkened ; at length, in 1835, the edict was issued 
 "which repelled both Christianity and civilization from 
 Madagascar ; the ports were then closed against Eu- 
 ropean ships. The persecuted missionaries were 
 compelled to flee to other regions, the religion of Christ 
 became a crime punishable with slavery and death, 
 the congregations were dispersed, forty or fifty of the 
 
X MADAGASCAR RE-OPENED. 
 
 converted Malagasses were martyred ; five hundred 
 of them escaped to the Mauritius. During the reign 
 of terror, we are told that tens increased to hundreds, 
 BO that thousands continued to study the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, to sanctify the Christian Sabbath, and to meet 
 on the mountains and in the caves of Madagascar, 
 uniting in acts of love, obedience, and worship to 
 God and to the Redeemer. 
 
 So late as 1851 persecution was renewed, and the 
 Buflferings of the native disciples were great. The 
 accounts received of their fortitude, when brought 
 forth to martyrdom, appeal to the most tender feel- 
 ings of the heart. 
 
 The surviving believers have at length their reward : 
 " The only child of the queen, and heir to the throne, 
 upon whom the government has now devolved, has 
 learned the faith in which the martyrs died; and the 
 only son of the late persecuting prime minister, the 
 bitterest foe of the converts, has professed himself 
 their friend.'^ With Christianity, civilization re- 
 turns, and the ports of Madagascar are to be opened 
 to the missionaries, and, at the same time, to the 
 commerce of the world. 
 
 The professing Christians are still numerous. At 
 Tananarive they are said to be five thousand, while 
 others are prepared to listen to the gospel. It is now 
 for those who once laboured and prayed for the con- 
 version of Madagascar to move forward promptly, 
 and avail themselves of the door which is thrown 
 open for their admittance. 
 
MADAGASCAE 
 
 &c. 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE COUNTRY OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 Madagascar is an island off the south-east 
 coast of Africa, rather larger than Great 
 Britain and Ireland. It is about 900 miles 
 long, and from 300 to 400 broad, and contains 
 upwards of 4,000,000 of people. All down 
 the centre of the island, there runs a chain of 
 mountains, while the land near the coast is 
 A'eiy low and damp. There are many large 
 lakes, in some of which aie beautiful green 
 islands, with people hving on them. There 
 are plenty of rivers, down which the natives 
 go in Uttle canoes, hollowed out of the trunks 
 of trees ; and they sometimes fasten their 1am- 
 bas, or long robes, to a pole, for a sail. Some 
 of these rivers are very narrow. There is 
 one river called Maty-tanana, or " the dead 
 
 11 
 
12 SOME ACCOUNT OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 hand," because there is a story that once on 
 a time, two immense giants were disputing 
 on the opposite banks, when one seized hold 
 of the hand of the other, wrenched it off, and 
 then threw it into the water. 
 
 In many places are large caverns in the 
 rocks. A whole army was once hid in one 
 of these caverns, while, without knowing it, 
 the enemy walked over their heads. In some 
 of these caverns, beautiful spar hangs, like 
 icicles, from the roof. Robbers often hide in 
 these caves, and of late years many of the 
 persecuted Christians have found shelter in 
 them. 
 
 There are also many large forests, into 
 which if you were to go far, you would never 
 find your way out again. Thither criminals 
 often escape, and there too, many of the 
 Christians have hid, and perhaps are hiding 
 now. In some other parts, as well as in the 
 forests, you might travel for many miles in a 
 death-like solitude, with no sound but here 
 and there the rushing of cataracts, and perhaps 
 you would think of the words of Jane Taylor^ 
 
 " If I could find some cave unknown, 
 Where human feet had never trod, 
 Yet there I could not be alone, 
 On every side there would be God." 
 
SOME ACCOUNT OF MADAGASCAR. 13 
 
 Some of the lakes near the coast look like 
 forests ; the water is shallow, and the green 
 plants grow in them so luxuriantly as to hide 
 the water. 
 
 There are often violent hail-storms with 
 dreadful thunder and lightning in Madagascar, 
 and sometimes whirlwinds and water-spouts. 
 All the low land near the coast is very hot 
 and damp, and people who stay there, fre- 
 quently get the Malagasy fever, which is very 
 trying and dangerous. About thirty miles 
 inland, the ground begins to rise, and the air 
 to get cooler, and all the middle part of the 
 island is healthy and pleasant. 
 
 In some parts there is plenty of iron, and 
 there are other metals besides. The soil is 
 generally very fertile, and almost all the trees 
 and plants which have been taken thither, 
 from other countries, have grown well. There 
 are tamarind and fig-trees, plantains and ba- 
 nanas, cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees ; there 
 
 the dreadful tangena tree, of which you will 
 hear more by-and-by; oranges, lemons, peaches, 
 pine-apples, and mulberries flourish; spices 
 and sugar-canes, cotton, tobacco, indigo, and 
 hemp ; rice, manioc, ginger, and arrow-root, 
 are grown in great quantities ; silk is culti- 
 2 
 
14 SOME ACCOUNT OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 vated largely, and coffee succeeds well ; po- 
 tatoes have been introduced, and are very 
 much liked ; honey, wax, oil, ebony, and gums, 
 are also to be had in abundance. 
 
 As for animals, there are plenty of horned 
 cattle, both tame and wild ; all of which have 
 a hump on their backs, like buffaloes. There 
 are sheep, swine, and goats ; wild hogs, cats, 
 and dogs ; beautiful lemurs, monkeys, foxes, 
 mice, and bats. There are fowls of all kinds 
 in abundance, and birds of beautiful plumage 
 are seen in the forests. Travellers sometimes 
 make a supper of little paroquets. There are 
 scorpions, lizards, and serpents ; and croco- 
 diles and alligators abound in the lakes and 
 rivers. In some parts the crocodiles are 
 fifteen feet long, and in others they are said 
 to be much longer. These creatures often 
 seize on bullocks that come to drink, or to 
 cross the stream. They often eat their own 
 young. The little ones run to the water as 
 soon as they burst from the shell, and some- 
 times a whole row of crocodiles are waiting 
 to devour them. The crocodiles are partic- 
 ularly dangerous to dogs, and it is said, that 
 sometimes when a dog wants to cross the 
 water alone, he will bark a long time at the 
 
CUSTOMS OF THE MALAGASY. 15 
 
 water-side to attract all the crocodiles to- 
 gether, and will then run away very fast, and 
 cross the river further up, at the place which 
 they have left. 
 
 II. 
 
 CUSTOMS OF THI MALAGASY. 
 
 The people of Madagascar are called Mala- 
 gasy. They have black hair, fine white teeth, 
 and bright black eyes. Some are olive- 
 coloured, others darker, and some quite black. 
 They do not all appear to have sprung from 
 the same race, as some have woolly hair like 
 tlie negroes, while others are like Arabs, 
 or Malays. Many of them have high fore- 
 heads, and fine intelligent countenances. Their 
 language is very much like that of the Malays, 
 and is soft and musical. The vowels have the 
 French sound. 
 
 The houses are built with sloping roofs, 
 high in the middle, and with long poles that 
 cross at the top, and are ornamented at the 
 ends. The height of the houses, and the length 
 of the poles, is according to the rank of the 
 owner. No one dares build his house higher 
 
16 CUSTOMS OF THE MALAGASY. 
 
 than that of the king. The good houses are built 
 of wood or bamboo : the poor ones of mud, 
 sometimes coloured with yellow or light pink 
 earth. There is only one room in a house, 
 but the rich often have several houses. There 
 is no chimney, and the soot which collects 
 over the fire-place is never cleared away, as 
 the more soot there is, the more honourable 
 they think it to the family. The rice-pits are 
 generally under ground, something in the 
 shape of a bee-hive, with a small opening at 
 the top. 
 
 The people live chiefly upon rice. They 
 eat poultry, beef, mutton, veal, and lamb, and 
 in some parts pork, and the flesh of the wild 
 boar. And what you will think strange, they 
 sometimes eat monkeys and hedge-hogs, 
 grasshoppers and silk worms in the chrysalis 
 state, fried or cooked in some particular way, 
 and great quantities of crocodiles' eggs. They 
 break the shell off* these eggs, and then dry 
 them in the sun : sometimes one family will 
 have a store of as many as five hundred. 
 Hens' eggs are also eaten, and those which 
 have chickens in them are thought a great 
 dainty. 
 
 The Malagasy keep a cock roosting in the 
 
CtJSTOMS OF THE MALAGASY. 17 
 
 house to call them in the morning, and they 
 keep time in the day by the shadows on the 
 ground. They are fond of going to market, 
 and of hawking things about like peddlers. 
 They amuse themselves with hunting wild 
 cattle and wild boars. Sometimes they will 
 bury a poor fowl in the ground all but its 
 head, and try who can first hit it with a stone: 
 he who hits it may have it. They much enjoy a 
 kicking game, in which they all try to kick 
 one another backwards, like so many donkeys. 
 They are fond of music, such as it is, and 
 make poetry after a fashion. The men have 
 powerful voices, and sometimes speak with 
 much native eloquence in the open air to 
 thousands of people. 
 
 The fathers carry their little boys sitting 
 on their shoulders, and hold them by one 
 hand to keep them from falling : the mothers 
 carry their children on their backs, or on their 
 sides. When the children grow older, they 
 have a custom of offering their mothers a piece 
 of money called " fofon damosina," or " the 
 remembrance of the back," meaning that they 
 do not forget all the care and kindness of 
 their mothers when they were little. It would 
 2* 
 
18 CUSTOMS OF THE MALAGASY. 
 
 be well if some Christian children thought 
 more of it than they do. 
 
 The servants in Madagascar are slaves. 
 They are often poor creatures who have been 
 taken prisoners in war. They receive no 
 wages : they must not run away ; and their 
 masters may punish them as severely as they 
 please, so that they do not kill them. 
 
 With the exception of one little band of 
 Christians, of whom we shall speak further on, 
 and a few Mohammedans, the Malagasy are 
 heathens. You will not therefore be surprised 
 to hear that there is much wickedness among 
 them. They lie, and steal, and cheat ; many 
 of them are indolent and dirty, indulge in bad 
 habits, and take pleasure in cruel sights. 
 There are, however, some pleasant things 
 about them even while heathens. They love 
 their country and there homes. They are duti- 
 ful children and affectionate parents. They are 
 often sincere and generous in their friend- 
 ships. They take great care of their sick rela- 
 tives. They are very hospitable and kind both 
 to one another and to strangers, and they think 
 it a very disgraceful thing to be selfish, espe- 
 cially in eating and drinking. 
 
RELIGION OF THE MALAGASY. 19 
 
 III. 
 
 RELIGION OF THE MALAGASY. 
 
 The Malagasy have some idea that there 
 must be a God who made all things, but they 
 know nothing about him. They worship 
 ugly wooden idols. Some of these, the chief 
 or national idols, must not be seen uncovered. 
 Their keepers say they are too sacred to be 
 seen : They are kept in houses by themselves, 
 and the people bring offerings to them. There 
 are more common idols which are made to 
 order by the idol makers, and which the 
 people keep in their houses, or carry in 
 some fold of their dress, for they never wear 
 any pockets. The people generally keep one 
 day in seven sacred to their chief idol : some 
 keep Friday, some Saturday, some Sunday, 
 according to which idol it is that they worship. 
 Besides these wooden idols, they seem almost 
 to worship the crocodile, for when they are 
 going to cross a river, they say this prayer : 
 " O Crocodile ! do not hurt us ! we do not 
 hurt you: our fathers never hurt you, and 
 we promise that our children never shall." 
 The Malagasy also worship at the graves 
 
20 RELIGION OF THE MALAGASY. 
 
 of their ancestors. They have no word for 
 soul, though they seem to think that something 
 remains of people after they are dead : — a 
 sort of ghost of which they are very much 
 afraid. They make fine tombs for themselves 
 and for their friends, and spend a great deal 
 of money at funerals. When a rich man dies 
 they bury money, clothes, and other things 
 with him. 
 
 The people of Madagascar are strong be- 
 lievers in witchcraft and in the power of 
 charms, and in lucky and unlucky days If 
 a poor little baby is born on an unlucky day, 
 they think they must put it to death : some- 
 times a cord is tied rather tightly round its neck, 
 and then its head is held down in a pan of 
 warm water till it is dead : sometimes it is 
 laid down on the ground, at the narrow en- 
 trance of a cattle-fold, and the cattle are 
 driven towards it into the fold, that it may 
 take its chance of being trampled to death. — 
 You may see this in the picture. — The poor 
 father and mother are hiding their heads that 
 they may not see the death of the child, for 
 they are much distressed at losing it. If the 
 cattle ^ould not kill it, they think it a sign 
 
RELIGION OF THE MALAGASY. 21 
 
 that the poor infant may be suffered to live, 
 but it is very seldom that it escapes. 
 
 When people are suspected of witchcraft, 
 they are generally put to the ordeal of " tan- 
 gena." This is a very disagreeable, foolish, 
 and cruel custom ; but as you wqll often hear 
 of it in this book, it is necessary for you to 
 understand what it is. The person who is 
 accused has first a meal of rice : then he is 
 made to swallow three pieces of the skin of a 
 fowl, and then to drink a draught mixed with 
 the nut of the tangena to make him sick, and 
 then large quantities of hot water. If all the 
 three pieces of skin come up, the man is said 
 to be innocent, but if only one remains behind, 
 he is considered guilty, and is usually put to 
 death. Sometimes the poor people thus found 
 guilty are at once killed with a club : — some- 
 times they are crucified ; — sometimes buried 
 alive : — sometimes all their limbs are broken, 
 by throwing them from a high rock ; some- 
 times a good many are put in a large rice-pit, 
 and boiling water poured in at the top, and 
 they are scalded to death ; if there is any fear 
 that this will not quite destroy the witchcraft, 
 the head of a black dog is cut off and thrown 
 into the pit. 
 
22 EARLY VISITERS TO MADAGASCAR. 
 
 Those who give the tangena can easily make 
 the person accused die under it. When the 
 nut is very red, it is a pretty sure sign that it 
 is poisonous, and the person who takes it 
 generally dies in dreadful pain. 
 
 It would shock you too much to tell you 
 of all the cruel things that are done in Mada- 
 gascar : these few are mentioned that you may 
 learn to pity those poor benighted people. 
 
 One would think that the Malagasy could 
 have little enjoyment in life with the dread of 
 death always hanging over them : their enemies 
 may at any time accuse them of witchcraft^ 
 and perhaps bring them to a violent death j 
 then their friends sorrow over them "as 
 those who have no hope;" they have no 
 bright world in prospect : — they know not of 
 the " life and immortality brought to light by 
 the gospel." 
 
 IV. 
 
 EARLY VISITERS TO MADAGASCAR. 
 
 Madagascar is said to have been discovered 
 by Lawrence Almeida, a Portuguese, in 1506. 
 In 1642, the French tried to form a settle- 
 
EARLY VISITERS TO MADAGASCAR. 23 
 
 ment there, having first taken possession of 
 Bourbon, and the Isle of St Mary. They 
 have again and again tried to get possession 
 of Madagascar, but have never succeeded : — 
 sometimes the Malagasy fever, sometimes 
 quarrels with the natives, and sometimes dis- 
 putes among themselves, have obliged them 
 to give up the attempt. They have often taken 
 missionaries with them, but their own conduct 
 has made the natives think very ill of their 
 religion. The Enghsh also at different times 
 have talked of settling a colony on the shores 
 of Madagascar : — this was proposed as early 
 as the time of Charles II. 
 
 The seas around Madagascar were for 
 many years infested by pirates, who attacked 
 all the ships which came in their way, seized 
 the cargo, and sometimes killed the crew. In 
 the year 1721, the European nations united to 
 put a stop to these robberies, and sent out 
 squadrons of ships to burn the ships of the 
 pirates; the robbers themselves escaped to 
 shore, and being obliged to find out some 
 other way of living, they set the peaceable 
 tribes of Madagascar quarrelling with one 
 another, and persuaded those who conquered 
 to sell their prisoners to European slave- 
 
24 EARLY VISITERS TO MADAGASCAR. 
 
 dealers. This was the beginning of the slave- 
 trade in Madagascar. The Malagasy for a 
 long time thought that the Europeans were 
 cannibals, and that they wanted men to kill 
 and eat. There is a hill on the way to the 
 principal seaport, called " The Hill of Weep- 
 ing," because there the poor slaves first caught 
 sight of the sea which was to separate them 
 for ever from their country and friends. 
 
 In 1702, an English ship returning from 
 the East Indies, was wrecked on the coast of 
 Madagascar. The only one of the crew who 
 was ever again heard of, was a boy named 
 Robert Drury, who was kept as a slave. 
 This boy had run away from his parents to 
 go to sea in this ship. O how often during 
 his long and dreary captivity, did he wish 
 that he had never left them ! After trying 
 many times in vain, he at length succeeded 
 in making his escape, and went on his lonely 
 way for several days, till he was stopped by 
 a wide and deep river. Just as he was going 
 to swim across the river, he spied an alligator 
 coming. He tried another place, and another, 
 but there were alligators every where. At 
 last he cut a long stick into splinters for a fire- 
 brand, and having waited till it was dark, he 
 
EARLY VISITERS TO MADAGASCAR. 25 
 
 lighted his firebrand to frighten the alHgators, 
 and swam across the river on his back, hold- 
 ing his lances and hatchet in one hand, and 
 his firebrand in the other. 
 
 When Drury reached St. Augustine's bay, 
 no ships were there, so he engaged in the ser- 
 vice of a chief Hearing, after a time, that 
 an English ship had come, he WTote on a leaf 
 this sentence : — " Robert Drury, son of Mr. 
 Drury, living at the King's Head, in the Old 
 Jewry, now a slave in the country of Young- 
 oule, in the Island of Madagascar." He 
 begged a man who was going to the sea-side 
 to give it to the first w^hite man he saw. 
 When the man came back, Drury asked what 
 was the answer. " None at all," he replied, 
 " for I suppose the white man did not like it, 
 since he threw the leaf away, though I am 
 sure it was as good, if not better than that 
 w hich you gave me ; it is true I dropped yours^ 
 but then I pulled one of the best I could find 
 oft' a tree." " My heart," says Drury, " was 
 ready to break at this disappointment ; where- 
 upon I turned from him and w^ent directly into 
 the woods to give vent to my tears." 
 
 Some years rolled by, when Drury again 
 heard that two slave-ships were at Young- 
 3 
 
26 EARLY VISITERS TO MADAGASCAR. 
 
 oule ; you shall hear what happened next, in 
 his own words. 
 
 " I was sitting with my master one evening. 
 Two men came in with a basket of pahnetta 
 leaves sewed up, and delivered it to the chief, 
 who opened it, and finding a letter, asked the 
 men what they meant by giving him that. 
 
 * The captain,' they said, ' gave it us for your 
 white man, but we thought proper to let you 
 see it first.' ' Pray,' said the chief, give it to 
 him. Here, Robin, your countrymen have 
 sent you a present ; what it is I do not know, 
 but to me it appears of little value.' I 
 took the basket, and with the letter there were 
 pens, ink, and paper, in order to my returning 
 an answer. The superscription was this : — 
 
 * To Robert Drury, in the Island of Madagas- 
 car.' " 
 
 The letter was from the captain of one of 
 the ships, to say that he had orders from 
 Robert's father to purchase his liberty, cost 
 what it might. The chief was astonished 
 that the piece of paper should have brought 
 such news ; he turned it about, and could not 
 at all understand it ; he thought there must be 
 witchcraft in it. Drury was exchanged by 
 the chief for a gun, and returned joyfully to 
 
EARLY VISITERS TO MADAGASCAR. 27 
 
 his parents, after having been away from 
 them sixteen years. We should have thought 
 that his own sufferings would have taught him 
 to pity poor slaves, but it is sad and strange to 
 find, that he afterwards became a slave-dealer 
 on the coast of Madagascar. 
 
 Count Benyowsky, a Polish nobleman, went 
 by permission of the French Government to 
 form a settlement in Madagascar in 1773. 
 His history is a most extraordinary one, but is 
 too long to relate here. He had many enemies 
 among the French who did all they could to 
 ruin him. The natives, to whom he was 
 generous and just, became very fond of him, 
 and took it into their heads that he was the 
 son of one of their chiefs. Hearing that the 
 French Government were going to send to 
 fetch him back, they determined not to let 
 him go. They invited him to a great " ka- 
 bary," or assembly of the people. When he 
 ra-rived, he found fifty thousand people of dif- 
 ferent tribes, who ranged themselves round 
 him, circle within circle; then they all fell 
 prostrate at his feet, and swore allegiance to 
 him as king of Madagascar ! He consented 
 to be their king, and was beginning to make 
 laws by which to govern them, when the 
 
28 RADAMA, FIKST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 French came, and attacked his settlement, 
 and shot him dead. This happened in 1786. 
 The island of Mauritius was ceded to the 
 English by treaty in 1814, and the treaty was 
 confirmed in 1816. In the same year, Mr., 
 afterwards Sir Robert Farquhar, was sent out 
 as governor of Mauritius, and about the same 
 time a part of the island of Madagascar was 
 ceded to the English by the native chiefs, and 
 it remains theirs, though not occupied, to this 
 day. 
 
 V. 
 
 RADAMA, FIRST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 Madagascar was formerly divided into many 
 little kingdoms. It contains twenty-two pro- 
 vinces, and these are again divided into 
 others. Thus the province of Ankova was 
 divided into those of Imerina, Imamo, and 
 Vonizongo ; and these into others still smaller, 
 governed by different chiefs. A chief, named 
 Andriamasinavalona conquered all the little 
 provinces of Imerina, and became the first 
 king of Imerina : the third in succession from 
 him, named lamboasalama, conquered the 
 other provinces of Ankova, and became king 
 
RADAMA, FIRST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 29^. 
 
 of that province, choosing for himself the 
 name of Andrianampoin-imerina, which means 
 *' the expectation of Imerina." His son and 
 successor, Radama, pushed his conquests still 
 further, and assumed the title of " king of 
 Madagascar." 
 
 Radama was ambitious and enterprising, 
 and very fond of praise. He had many good 
 qualities, and seemed a hundred years before 
 his people in wisdom and intelligence. When 
 quite a little boy, he observed that his father 
 and mother had quarrelled, and that his 
 mother had been sent away. One day when 
 his father was out, he managed to get a 
 chicken, and he tied it to the leg of a chair. 
 When the king came back, and asked who 
 had done this, he was told that it was Radama. 
 He called his little boy, and asked him why 
 he had so treated the little animal ? Radama 
 replied that it was " a little chicken crying for 
 its mother." The father listened to the cry 
 of the little chicken Radama, and sent for his 
 mother back. 
 
 Radama began to reign in 1808. When 
 
 the British governor was sent to Mauritius in 
 
 181G, one of his chief objects was to put a 
 
 stop to the slave-trade in Madagascar. Having 
 
 3* 
 
30 RADAMA, FIRST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 heard that Radama was clever and powerful, 
 he sent a Captain Le Sage to try to obtain the 
 king's help in this matter. 
 
 Now Radama was very jealous of foreigners, 
 especially of the French, and he thought it 
 the safer plan to have no road to his capital, 
 lest they should feel inclined to make rather 
 more use of it than would be agreeable: 
 he wished to keep them on the coast where 
 the fever prevailed. Once when he was told 
 that the French were just going to invade 
 Madagascar, he answered, " Very well, let 
 them try ; I have an officer in my service. 
 General Tazo (the name of the Madagascar 
 fever.) I'll leave them in his hands for a 
 while, and have no doubt of the result." 
 
 There being no road, Captain Le Sage 
 found it a dreadful journey ; he had more than 
 two hundred miles to go to Tananarive, the 
 name of Radama's capital. He had to cross 
 mountains and forests, rivers and marshes; 
 the violent rains often made the ground almost 
 too slippery for him to stand, and some of the 
 hills were so steep that it was necessary to 
 slide down. It was the most unhealthy season 
 of the year, and many of his company fell 
 sick of fever, and some died on the road. 
 
RADAMA, FIRST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 31 
 
 However, he persevered, and sent on a letter 
 to Radama to say that he v^^as coming. As 
 Captain Le Sage and his party drew near the 
 capital, from time to time parties sent by 
 Radama met them, bringing presents of food, 
 and saying how glad he should be to see him, 
 and how sorry he was that his palace having 
 just been burnt down, he should not be able 
 to receive them with so much state as he 
 could wish. This message he sent again and 
 again. When near the capital, eighty people 
 of the first families in Radama's court, in 
 parties of twenty, finely dressed, and bearing 
 on their heads rice, fruit, and other presents, 
 came running to meet the travellers. When 
 six miles from the capital, a letter came from 
 the king, to say how pleased he was that the 
 Captain would sleep so near him that night. 
 The next day, ten or twelve men came with 
 a kind of chair to carry Le Sage into the 
 capital. There was firing from the town and 
 the mountains round ; and an immense num- 
 ber of soldiers came dancing to meet the visi- 
 ters. We should think it very odd to see 
 soldiers dance, but it is the custom in Mada- 
 gascar. A multitude of people, perhaps about 
 seventy thousand, kept humming a dull kind 
 
^2 RADAMA, FIRST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 of hum as the strans^ers moved on towards 
 the palace. This humming was another w^ay 
 of bidding them welcome. 
 
 Then Le Sage and his people were intro- 
 duced to the king. Radama shook hands 
 with them, and said that Madagascar be- 
 longed to Captain Le Sage, and Mauritius 
 only to himself. He afterwards asked his 
 people whether they were willing that this 
 should be the case, and they said, " Yes." 
 This exchange of countries was a piece of 
 politeness. 
 
 It was not long before the Captain himself 
 fell sick of the fever, and the king watched by 
 his bed-side with the most anxious attention : 
 he was so concerned at the illness of his 
 visiter, as to show little pleasure in the pre- 
 sents that were brought to him. Captain Le 
 Sage recovered, and when he left, the hospi- 
 table king went with him three or four miles on 
 foot, and sent with him two little princes, his 
 brothers, to be educated in Mauritius. They 
 were placed under the care of j\Ir. James 
 Hastie. 
 
 In 1817, Mr. Hastie took the two little 
 princes back. At the port of Tamatave they 
 were met by Radama himself, with thirty 
 
RADAMA, FIRST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 33 
 
 thousand men. The king and Mr. Haslie 
 went different ways to the capital, and Ra- 
 dama reached home first. When Mr. Hastie 
 arrived at the palace at Tananarivo, the king 
 called him, and laughing loudly, shook him 
 heartily by the hand. Mr. Hastie began to talk 
 about the bad road, or rather about there being 
 no road at all ; and said what a good thing it 
 would be for the people, if Radama would 
 make good roads for them. Radama agreed 
 to it all, and repeated it to his people : indeed, 
 Mr. Hastie had not time to say much, for the 
 king repeated every thing to those around, 
 making his own comments by the way. Mr. 
 Hastie soon proceeded to business about the 
 slave-trade; but before speaking about that, 
 perhaps you will like to hear of the presents 
 which he took to Radama. 
 
 One of the presents which Radama liked 
 best was a clock ; but he was much put out 
 to find that something was amiss with it, and 
 that it struck at the half hour. While he was 
 out Mr. Hastie managed to set it to rights, 
 and the king's joy was unbounded : he sat by 
 it on the ground for a whole hour, and danced 
 when it struck. He was also very much 
 pleased with a map of the world, and a pocket 
 
84 UADAMA, FIRST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 compass ; but more than all was delighted with 
 the horses, of which there were none in Mad- 
 agascar. 
 
 The people were so anxious to be kind to 
 the horses, that they nearly stuffed them to 
 death with rice ; and Mr. Hastie had much 
 trouble to get them well again. When fit to 
 be used, the king asked leave to mount one of 
 them ; he put a little charm in his mouth, for 
 fear any accident should happen to him. 
 After riding round the court-yard his fears 
 left him, and he laughed and screamed, and 
 danced, in very unkingly fashion, declaring 
 that he never had so much pleasure before. 
 He soon became rather proud of his horseman- 
 ship, and enjoyed putting some of his officers 
 on horseback, that he might laugh at their 
 awkwardness. 
 
 Mr. Hastie was very sorry to find that his 
 young pupils, the princes, soon forgot the 
 good instructions they had received in Maur- 
 itius, and were fast returning to the habits of 
 the people. One morning the elder of the 
 little princes did not come to him, and Mr. 
 Hastie went to see after him. He found him 
 sleeping, in the dirtiest little room you can 
 imagine ; and when Mr. Hastie talked to him 
 
RADAMA, FIRST KING OF MADAGASCAR. 35 
 
 about it, his answer was, that "Dirt was 
 warm and the weather was cold." 
 
 Mr. Hastie did not find it very difficult to 
 persuade the king, that it was a bad thing for 
 his subjects to be sent out of the country as 
 slaves ; but it was hard work for the king to 
 persuade his officers, as many of them gained 
 money by the slave-trade. At length, how- 
 ever, he promised to put a stop to it, on con- 
 dition that the English Government should 
 every year send him a certain supply of arms 
 and ammunition, and clothing for his soldiers. 
 Mr. Hastie left, promising to return again. 
 
 About this time Sir Robert Farquhar was 
 obliged to go to England, for his health ; and 
 as there had not been time for the British 
 Government to confirm the treaty with Rad- 
 ama. General Hall, who was left in Sir Ro- 
 bert's place, broke the new engagements ; sent 
 back six youths, whom Radama had sent to 
 Mauritius for education, and, for a while, the 
 slave-traders carried on their wicked work 
 with more vigour than ever. 
 
36 CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 
 
 VI. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 
 
 Christians in England had for some years 
 been wishing to send missionaries to Mada- 
 gascar, but it was not till the year 1818, that 
 two missionaries named Jones and Bevan 
 were sent out. When they reached Mauritius 
 and found that the treaty about the slave-trade 
 had been broken, and that Radama had so 
 much reason to be angry, they settled at Ta- 
 matave, and began a school there. In a little 
 while they and their families were taken ill of 
 the fever ; Mrs. Jones and her little daughter 
 died ; Mr. and Mrs. Bevan and their little girl 
 died also, and Mr. Jones returned alone to the 
 Mauritius for the recovery of his health. 
 
 In 1820, Sir Robert returned with full 
 powers from England to treat with Radama ; 
 he sent Mr. Hastie over again, and Mr. Jones 
 went with him. 
 
 Mr. Hastie was half afraid that Radama 
 would not wish to see him any more, having 
 been so ill used. On his way, however, he 
 received this letter : — " Come along, saith Ra- 
 dama. I shall receive you. Do not be afraid. 
 
CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 3f 
 
 I am glad that you are coming, my friend, 
 Mr. Hastie, to see me again. Come along — 
 fear not. I am not so ready to cut off heads 
 as people say I am." 
 
 Letters, and messengers, and the firing of 
 cannon, bade Mr. Hastie welcome as before. 
 The king came out of his old court-yard to 
 meet him, and led him into his palace. He 
 hugged Mr. Hastie in his arms, and laughed 
 so much with delight that he could not keep 
 his seat, often calling out his visiter's name in 
 the most friendly tone, and taking hold of him 
 as if to be sure that he was really there. 
 
 When the subject of the treaty came up, 
 Radama said that he had faithfully kept his 
 part for twelve months, and had put some of 
 his people to death for breaking the law and 
 selling slaves ; and that he could not believe 
 that the English had broken their w^ord till 
 the six boys were sent back to him. He also 
 said, that it had become a kind of proverb 
 among his people, " False as the English." 
 When at length satisfied by Mr. Hastie, Ra- 
 dama laboured day after day, and even night 
 after night, again to bring his chiefs to con- 
 sent to the treaty. They also gave way, and 
 the treaty was once more signed; Radama 
 4 
 
88 CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 
 
 making it a condition that besides arms and 
 
 ammunition, the English should send school- 
 masters and artisans to teach his people, and 
 that some Malagasy youths should be sent to 
 England to be taught. Radama generously 
 gave up the twelve months' balance due to 
 him, and said that it should go towards the 
 expenses of teaching his people. 
 
 How glad Mr. Hastie was when the firing 
 of cannon announced that the treaty was 
 sealed ! He wrote in his jonrual, " the first 
 peal of Radama's cannon gave me more joy 
 than thousands of gold would have done." 
 The poor people rejoiced, because now their 
 children were safe; and when letters from 
 Sir Robert finally sanctioned the treaty, the 
 king himself danced with delight. Mr. Jones, 
 with the king's approbation, immediately be- 
 gan a school for little boys, and soon after 
 Mr. Griffiths, another missionary, came to 
 assist him. 
 
 The king's brother-in-law. Prince Rataflfe, 
 went with Mr. Hastie to Mauritius, and thence 
 to England. The prince was present at the 
 London Missionary Meeting in May 1821, 
 and more missionaries and artisans were sent 
 back with him. 
 
CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 39 
 
 The king received the teachers with much 
 pleasure, and from first to last was exceed- 
 ingly kind to them. One or two anecdotes 
 will give you an idea of how much the people 
 had to learn. 
 
 Radama's favourite horse had lost a shoe : 
 and no one knew how to shoe it, or even how 
 to make square nails. Mr. Jones made a 
 model of a horse-shoe, and of a square nail, 
 and then the native smiths imitated it. Then 
 the horse was brought out, and the king, his 
 officers, and many other persons came out 
 also to see Mr. Jones shoe the horse. While 
 he was driving the nails into its hoof, the king 
 kept calling out, " Take care ! take care ! 
 don't hurt the horse ! don't hurt the horse !" 
 It was soon done, and the horse was led out 
 unhurt, and Mr. Jones was looked up to as a 
 very clever man. 
 
 It had never been Mr. Jones's business to 
 shoe horses, but he had watched the black- 
 smiths doing it, and had several times nailed 
 on an old shoe in Wales. It is well to know 
 how to do every thing that we can. Mr. 
 Jones did not know how useful this accom- 
 plishment would be to him in Madagascar. 
 
 The Malagasy knew little of medicine, and 
 
40 CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 
 
 less of surgery. One day Radama fell from 
 his horse, and the people, in great alarm, ran 
 to fetch Mr. Jones. The king had been hurt 
 by the fall, and to nnake up for the loss of 
 blood, the people were cutting off the heads 
 of a number of live fowls, and were busy 
 pouring the blood from the bodies of the fowls 
 into the king's mouth. They were quite 
 shocked when Mr. Jones recommended them 
 not to add any more blood from the fowls, 
 but to take some from the king instead : — they 
 were proposing to consult the sikidy, when 
 the king, who could trust the missionaries, in 
 a faint voice said, " Bleed me — let the sikidy 
 not be consulted; bleed me immediately." 
 He was bled, and recovered ; and then the 
 people went to Mr. Jones, and begged that he 
 would bleed them also, that they might be 
 prepared for any accident ! 
 
 As soon as the other missionaries and arti- 
 sans arrived, Tananarivo became a very busy 
 place compared with what it had been. Some 
 of the people were taught to work in iron ; 
 some to tan and curry leather ; some to spin 
 and weave; while some were employed in 
 building a school-house, and a palace for the 
 king ; some in cleaning up the town, some in 
 
CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 41 
 
 making gardens, and some in making roads. 
 The missionaries' wives taught the women to 
 sew, and to manage their houses. The prin- 
 cipal missionaries were engaged in preaching, 
 in translating the Scriptures and little books, 
 and in teaching children in schools. The 
 people were at first rather afraid of sending 
 their children to school. They thought that 
 the missionaries wanted to get their children, 
 and then to send them out of the country for 
 European eating; some of them hid their 
 children in the rice-pits, and the poor little 
 things were suffocated for want of air. Ra- 
 dama sent all the little chiefs and princesses 
 to school as an example. He used to attend 
 the examinations, and was particularly pleased 
 to hear the children sing. The first piece of 
 needle-work that was done, by the little girls, 
 was presented by Mrs. Griffiths to the king. 
 
 The little Malagasy boys and girls were 
 found to be quite as quick in learning as English 
 children, and much more attentive; they 
 never yawned or looked about as if quite 
 tired of their lessons, and very early in the 
 nnorning the missionaries were often disturbed 
 by the children gathering around their doors, 
 and repeating the multiplication table, or other 
 4* 
 
42 CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 
 
 lessons for the day. One day the missionary, 
 Mr. Jeffreys, was catechizing the children, 
 and he asked them which of the ten command- 
 ments was most difficult to keep. A boy 
 about twelve years old, said, " The last is the 
 hardest." "Why so, my boy?" said Mr. 
 Jeffreys. "Because," replied the boy, "for 
 one who is poor to see another with a great 
 deal of money, a great deal of clothes, and 
 much cattle and rice, without wishing for 
 some of them, is very hard indeed : I think 
 no person can keep this commandment." 
 
 The following anecdote was related by the 
 late Mr. Jones, when on a visit to England. 
 It appeared that King Radama was very kind 
 to the missionaries. On one occasion, when 
 the teachers were in the school teaching the 
 children, a little boy told his neighbour that 
 his father's god was nothing but a block of 
 wood! The teacher, hearing of this, was 
 astonished, as the boy was a priest's son, and 
 so by that means his father's craft might be 
 in danger. Still the boy, fearless of conse- 
 quences, cried out, " I say, my father's god is 
 just a block of wood !" By and bye the na- 
 tives came to hear of this insult to their god 
 Ramaasin, and a fearful hail storm coming 
 
CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 43 
 
 on at the time, the people thought the damage 
 that was done by it was a judgment from their 
 god for the insult that had been done him by 
 that little boy ; and they set off, with one con- 
 sent, to the school, there to call upon the boy 
 for the truth of what he had said. 
 
 The boy was then called for, and his teach- 
 er brought him before them. Now was the 
 time for the trial of his principles ; and, oh ! 
 his conduct may put many older Christians to 
 the blush. For, rising up before all the school, 
 and his infuriated countrymen ready, if they 
 but dared, to tear him in pieces, he nobly 
 said, " My teacher has taught me that I must 
 not tell a lie, and I again say that my father's 
 god is nothing else than a block of wood." 
 The people, more enraged than ever, but 
 afraid of going too far without the sanction 
 of the king, set off in a body to the capital, 
 to complain to the king against this young 
 David ; but they were much disappointed to 
 hear him exclaim, " What business have you 
 to meddle with the teachers and their school? 
 Go back to your homes, your spades and 
 your hoes, and leave the teachers to them- 
 selves to mind their own business." Such 
 was the noble answer of the King of Mada- 
 
44 CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 
 
 gascar ! The children, hearing that the king 
 would not protect the idols that took the place 
 of God, resolved to show their deluded coun- 
 trymen that they could not protect themselves, 
 and so ran off to the field where the god 
 Ramaasin was set up to be worshipped, and 
 began to pelt him with stones, till he, like 
 Baal of old, fell down a poor helpless block 
 of wood ! — the little boys exclaiming, " Now, 
 Ramaasin, if you be a god you can help your- 
 self!" 
 
 My dear reader, let us learn from this a 
 noble lesson to do our duty, and leave the 
 consequences to Providence. This little Ma- 
 dagascar boy may yet rise up as a witness 
 against those who would sell the truth for a 
 piece of bread. Think then, if ever tempted 
 to tell a lie to save yourself from suffering or 
 from trouble, oh, think you see the all-seeing 
 eye of Him who never slumbers nor sleeps 
 gazing on you, and think of the little Mada- 
 gascar boy standing up for the truth before 
 his savage countrymen, saying, " My teacher 
 has taught me that I must not tell a lie." 
 
 The children became very fond of their 
 teachers. The first time that Mr. Jeffreys 
 went from home, three of the younger boys 
 
CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 45 
 
 went to Mrs. Jeffreys, and said to her, " We 
 will sleep in your house till Mr. Jeffreys comes 
 back ; no rogue shall come to you, and we 
 will do all we can to keep you from feeling 
 sorrowful." They did as they said they 
 would, and came every evening and slept on 
 the mat in the sitting-room. 
 
 Supposing that the children of Madagascar 
 would like holidays as well as English child- 
 ren do, the missionaries dismissed them for a 
 few days. This made a great commotion. 
 A kabary of the judges and people was held, 
 and they began to abuse the missionaries, 
 caUing them "owls," "pigs," "cats," and 
 " dogs," for sending away their children. 
 The king wrote to the missionaries, asking 
 whether the children had behaved ill, and sayr 
 ing that if so, he would punish them, though 
 they were in his own family. The missionaries 
 explained : the king said, " It is all well and 
 good," and the matter ended. 
 
 By the advice of Mr. Hastie and the mis^ 
 sionaries, the king made many good laws for 
 his people : he forbade thieving and idleness : 
 any person found idle for two days or more 
 was to be made to work the same number of 
 days on the public roads : he encouraged the 
 
46 CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 
 
 people to cultivate their land, giving them 
 seeds and tools: he improved his army, and 
 gained many victories ; but as I think it w^ill 
 not answ^er any good end to tell you how 
 many people were cut to pieces, or give you 
 any pleasure to hear how the weeping widows 
 and children used to go and search for the 
 dead bodies of their husbands and fathers on 
 the field of battle, I shall leave that part of 
 the story. 
 
 Radama would no longer allow the children 
 who were born on " unlucky days" to be put 
 to death : he discouraged the trial by ordeal, 
 and whenever he could slily make the idols 
 and the sikidy appear ridiculous without 
 openly opposing them, he did so. Though 
 more and more convinced of the folly of idol- 
 atry, he did not live to become a Christian. 
 Would that he had ! Then, perhaps, as far 
 as we can see, his life might have been spared 
 to Madagascar, and Madagascar might have 
 been spared her present sufferings. He fell 
 into habits of intemperance, and died July 
 27th, 1828, at the age of thirty-six. 
 
THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 47 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 
 
 On the death of Radama, Rakotobe, the son 
 of Rataffe and Radama's eldest sister, was to 
 have succeeded to the throne. Radama, how- 
 ever, had left twelve wives, one of whom was 
 named Ranavalona. As soon as Radama 
 was dead, Ranavalona sent for two officers 
 of great power in the army, and promised to 
 reward them well, and to pardon whatever 
 crime they might commit, if they would help 
 her to be queen : this they promised to do. 
 Radama's death was kept a secret, and on 
 the 29th of July, two days after his death, a 
 great assembly of the people was summoned 
 to swear allesriance to whomsoever Radama 
 should appoint as his successor. On the 1st 
 of August, the king's death was made known, 
 and to the great surprise of all the people, 
 Ranavalona was proclaimed queen. 
 
 Ranavalona knew well that she had no 
 right to the throne, and that many would dis- 
 pute her title; so she began her reign by 
 putting all who were likely to do so out of the 
 way. 
 
48 THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 
 
 The young prince Rakotobe was the firs* 
 scholar in the mission school in 1820, and he 
 had for some time given the missionaries 
 reason to hope that he had become a true 
 believer in Jesus. Ranavalona sent men to 
 seize him, and to put him to death : his grave 
 was dug before his eyes ; he asked for time 
 to pray, and was then speared by the soldiers, 
 and buried on the spot. 
 
 Rataffe, the father of Rakotobe, was next 
 taken, and also speared to death. This was 
 the mild and amiable prince who had visited 
 England in the year 1821. 
 
 The mother of Rakotobe was then starved 
 to death by order of the queen. This was the 
 eldest sister of Radama. 
 
 The next who was put to death was the 
 mother of Rakotobe's mother. She was sent 
 to a part of the country where fever prevailed : 
 a little food was given her just to make her 
 sufferings last longer, and every now and then 
 the soldiers and guards terrified her by pre- 
 tending that the executioners were cominj^ 
 and asking her whether she would like to be 
 killed in the house or out of it. Thus by cruel 
 alarms, fever, neglect, and want of food, she 
 
THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 49 
 
 was destroyed. Her brother, Andrianilana 
 was put to death at the same time. 
 
 Ratafikia, the brother of Radama, was 
 killed by starvation. He hved eight days. 
 For four or five days his cries were most 
 distressing. Some hours after he had ceased 
 to groan, the captain of the guard opened a 
 window to see if he was dead. Poor Ratifi- 
 kia could no longer speak, but he moved his 
 hand earnestly toward his lips to beg for food : 
 his guard was touched with pity, but durst 
 not give him any, and he died. 
 
 Radama had two cousins, and the queen 
 sent to seize them. The younger one, Rama- 
 nanolona, was stabbed to death, but the elder 
 one, Ramanetaka, was too clever for the 
 queen. She sent a few soldiers to tell him 
 that she wanted him at the capital. She had 
 prepared two hundred soldiers to murder him 
 on the way. He told the officers, who came 
 to summon him, that he was ready to go, 
 only he wished to go part of the way by 
 water, as he could then get to the capital 
 much sooner than if he went the whole way 
 by land. All the night he was packing up, 
 and the next morning, he, with his family and 
 property, embarked on board a small Arab 
 5 
 
50 THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 
 
 sloop. The officers were delighted to think 
 that they had got hold of him and of all his 
 money so easily. He persuaded them to be 
 placed in a little canoe, and towed along by 
 the ship, that they might not be so sea-sick as 
 in the large sloop. When fairly out, the rope 
 which held the canoe was cut. The Arabs 
 made sail. Ramanetaka cried, " Life is sweet 
 I am off." The vessel was soon out of sight, 
 and the disappointed officers with difficulty 
 made their way to the land and to the capital. 
 How foolish they must have looked when they 
 told their story to the queen ! Ramanetaka 
 continued to live in safety at Mohilla, one of 
 the Comoro islands, waiting an opportunity 
 to claim the crown of Madagascar, but died 
 in 1841. 
 
 There was a young officer of the name of 
 Andriamihaja, who had been the principal 
 person in helping Ranavalona to the throne, 
 and whom she liked very much. Some of 
 the other officers were jealous of him, and 
 they persuaded the queen that Andriamihaja 
 himself wished to be king, and that she would 
 not be safe as long as he lived. They made 
 Ranavalona drunk, and in that state persuad- 
 ed her to pronounce his sentence of death. 
 
THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 51 
 
 Andriamihaja had been a great friend to 
 education, and wished all the people to be 
 taught. He would have attended the Chris- 
 tian service if he had not been afraid of dis- 
 pleasing the queen. He often read the New 
 Testament, and was reading it alone when 
 the messengers came from the queen. A pious 
 officer happened to come in, of whom he 
 asked many questions, as indeed he had often 
 done before, about the way of salvation. 
 While they were thus talking, four soldiers 
 came in and plunged a knife into his throat 
 The queen had promised that whatever crime 
 he committed, he should never be put to death. 
 After he was executed, her conscience so 
 troubled her that she could not rest. To 
 make her easy, the body was dug up and 
 laid in a shallow grave : the head was cut 
 off and placed at the feet, and the head of a 
 black dog put in its place. Still the queen 
 could not rest, and in the night she was 
 troubled with fearful dreams. The bones 
 were again taken up and burnt, and the ashes 
 scattered to the winds. One of the young 
 man's wives, his sister, and one of his servants 
 were strangled, and the queen is said to have 
 been satisfied. 
 
62 THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 
 
 Do you not feel very sorry that this young 
 man did not live a little longer to understand 
 more about the gospel of Jesus 1 
 
 The two cruel brothers who had persuaded 
 the queen to have Andriamihaja murdered, 
 took his place at the head of the queen's gov- 
 ernment, and the poor people of Madagascar 
 think that all that they have since suflered is 
 to be placed to the account of these men. 
 The younger of them died last year. 
 
 But for the gospel, England might now 
 have been in the same state as Madagascar, 
 As Mr. Freeman observes in his book, we have 
 only to read English history to find many 
 stories just as cruel and dreadful as these. 
 How thankful we should be, not only for be- 
 ing born in this happy country, but also in 
 this happy age ! 
 
 We must return to our sad story, however, 
 for it is not nearly at an end. Ranavalona 
 having secured the kingdom to herself by so 
 many single murders, has endeavoured to ex- 
 tend its boundaries by wholesale massacres. 
 The finest children of her country are taken 
 to serve in the army, which amounts to be- 
 tween twenty and thirty thousand men. They 
 have no regular pay, but get a small share of 
 
THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 53 
 
 the plunder they take in war. About every 
 six months large parties of these soldiers go 
 out into the neighbouring provinces, surprise 
 the peaceful and unoffending villagers, kill the 
 men, and take the women and children as 
 slaves. The queen hopes by this means to 
 get the whole of Madagascar under her 
 power. 
 
 In the year 1831, two parties of soldiers 
 were sent out, one to the south, and the other 
 to the west. Rainiharo, the officer who head- 
 ed the troops that went to the south, invited 
 all the villagers of one place to a friendly 
 feast, and as soon as they were seated he 
 gave a signal to his soldiers to seize their 
 guests, to tie their hands, lead them out, and 
 then spear them to death. The women and 
 children were taken as plunder. 
 
 The soldiers who went to the west, seized 
 all the chief men of another district, threw 
 them into a deep ditch, and after letting them 
 lie without food for two days, took them out, 
 and crucified them at short distances all round 
 the village. Many of their wives, sisters, and 
 daughters, refused to go into slavery. " This," 
 said they, " is the land of our husbands, our 
 fathers, and our brothers, whom you have 
 6* 
 
54 THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA. 
 
 murdered in our sight, and shall we now ac- 
 company you far away to Imerina, to live and 
 die there ?" The spears of the soldiers sooa 
 silenced them in death. 
 
 The next year, Rainiharo and Ramboasal- 
 ama went with a body of troops to another 
 district. They promised the poor people of 
 the place that if they would but give up their 
 arms, no harm should be done to them. They 
 kept on repeating this promise for three days. 
 Some of the people would not believe them, 
 and they made their escape to the forests in 
 the night-time. About twenty thousand re- 
 mained, and consented to give up their arms. 
 They had no sooner done this, than the sol- 
 diers began to tie the hands of all the men 
 with cords, and then to put them to death. 
 The soldiers were busy from early in the 
 morning till late in the evening about this 
 horrid work. Seven thousand were killed, 
 and thirteen thousand women and children 
 taken captive. Many that were young and 
 sickly could not keep up with the army, and 
 were driven on at the point of the spear. You 
 would have seen many a widowed broken- 
 hearted mother trying to carry two, or even 
 three children, till fatigue, or famine, or thq 
 
THE USURPATION OF RANAVALONA 55 
 
 spear, put an end to her sufferings and theirs. 
 Tiiose mothers and children who hved to 
 reach their journey's end, were often sold to 
 different masters, and saw one another no 
 more. Two little boys, between eiglit and 
 nine years of age, slipped away from the 
 army, and hid themselves among the bulrushes 
 on the bank of the river for several hours, 
 with their heads just above water ; — they were 
 found, severely beaten, and sold into hopeless 
 slavery. These cruelties are still continued, 
 and it is supposed that more than one hundred 
 thousand of the people of Madagascar have 
 been killed since Ranavalona began to reign. 
 Since Radama's death, the little children 
 have been killed as they used to be in former 
 days. The trial by ordeal has been more in 
 use than ever, and the number of robbers has 
 frightfully increased. So many people being 
 taken to serve in the army, or put to death, 
 there are not enough to cultivate the land, and 
 the price of rice is three or four times as great 
 as it was in the time of Radama. The peo- 
 ple are often in great distress for food ; many 
 can only get one meal of rice in a day, and 
 some cannot get that, and are obliged to live 
 upon manioc or other roots. 
 
56 CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 
 
 Who would not pity and pray for suffering 
 Madagascar 1 
 
 VIII. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 
 
 For some time after Radama's death, the 
 queen showed kindness to the Missionaries, and 
 allowed the native Christians to be baptized. 
 The French had again been sending ships 
 and soldiers to try to get possession of Mada- 
 gascar, and perhaps her fear of the French 
 made the queen wish to keep friends with the 
 English. It was not till the year 1835 that 
 tlie persecution of the Christians began. 
 
 For fifteen years the Missionaries had 
 laboured with little interruption. In their schools 
 they had about five thousand scholars. The 
 Bible and many tracts had been translated. 
 Bible classes were formed, and about two 
 hundred natives had professed their faith in 
 Jesus, had been baptized, and were accus- 
 tomed to partake together of the Lord's Sup- 
 per. The native Christians carried the Gos- 
 pel into all the villages around, and it seemed 
 to be taking great hold on the minds of the 
 
CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 57 
 
 people. Very many also had for years been 
 learning those useful arts which the Mission- 
 aries and artisans taught, and so great a 
 change was to be seen in the manners and 
 habits of the people, that the government be- 
 came alarmed, and " doubted whereunto this 
 would grow." 
 
 Rainiharo, one of the queen's favourites, 
 was keeper of one of the chief idols, and he 
 and many other idol-keepers found that their 
 craft was in danger, and did all they could to 
 set the queen against the Christians. The 
 queen herself was much attached to idol wor- 
 ship. Being very ignorant and hardly able 
 to read and wTite, she felt no pleasure in see- 
 ing the children taught. She was jealous of 
 foreigners, and did not like English worship 
 to prevail, or for her subjects to do any thing 
 which she had not herself commanded. But 
 the greatest cause of alarm and displeasure 
 seems to have been that which was urged 
 against the apostles, that the Christians were 
 " changing the customs" of the country. 
 
 A young Christian, named Andriantsoa, 
 having been heard to speak disrespectfully of 
 one of the idols, was put to the ordeal, and 
 found innocent. A few days after, he came 
 
58 CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 
 
 up to town in a public procession, and many 
 of the Christians, dressed in their white lamhas, 
 joined the procession to show their joy at his 
 deUverance. The queen and some of her offi- 
 cers happened to see the procession. She 
 asked, " What crowd is that wearing white 
 lamhas V " The procession of Andriantsoa," 
 said they, " and those who are wearing white 
 dresses are native Christians. You would be 
 surprised at the love of those people one for 
 another. When any one of them happens to 
 be in distress they all feel distress, and when 
 any one is happy they are all happy ; when 
 any are poor they form a society to relieve 
 them." " I am indeed surprised," said the 
 queen, "to see such things in my country. 
 Was it not I that ordered him to take the or- 
 deal ] and why do they now make such an 
 exhibition, as if they had overcome an enemy? 
 All this is meant for me, I suppose !" 
 
 The officer who had accused Andriantsoa 
 also saw the procession. He was very much 
 mortified, and, like Haman, who wished to 
 destroy all the Jews for the sake of killing 
 Mordecai, he resolved to accuse the whole 
 body of the Christians. He went to the judges, 
 and managed to make his tears come, and to 
 
CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 69 
 
 cry a great deal, saying that he was in great 
 trouble, because he was sure that the Chris- 
 tians wanted to take the kingdom from the 
 queen, and to give it to the English. 
 
 When the queen heard this tale about the 
 Christians, she was very angry, and she sum- 
 moned a great kahary of all the people. Only 
 one person was to stay at home in each house 
 throu2:hout all Imerina. Violent as was the 
 queen's passion, there was one of her chief 
 officers who, though he was not a Christian, 
 was courageous enough to speak in their de- 
 fence. He told the queen that he had for 
 years had many of the Christians under him, 
 and knew them well, and that there were none 
 so upright, so diligent, so obedient, so trust- 
 worthy, or so intelligent as they. He finished 
 thus, " Should you put to death any of those 
 intelligent young people, I fear, madam, you 
 will be the loser, and be sorry for it. When 
 once they are killed you cannot purchase back 
 their lives with money. These are my thoughts, 
 madam, and I cannot but tell them, whatever 
 may be the consequence." Another officer 
 agreed to this, and spoke of the many useful 
 things which the Europeans had taught them. 
 
60 
 
 CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 
 
 The queen took this advice in good part, and 
 for that time seemed disposed to attend to it. 
 
 Two days after, a letter was sent to the 
 Missionaries forbidding them to teach Chris- 
 tianity. The letter was brought to the chapel 
 by a great enemy of the Christians, and read 
 before all the people. In this letter the queen 
 declared that she would not allow the customs 
 of the country to be changed, that the sabbath 
 was not to be kept, nor baptism, nor any 
 religious worship allowed. The Christians 
 were all so frightened, that for some time 
 they did not venture to meet again, or even 
 to visit one another. There were spies all 
 around them, and every thing they did was 
 closely watched. 
 
 On the first of March the great kabary was 
 held. The soldiers were all placed in long 
 lines to keep order, and they kept on firing 
 muskets and cannon to frighten the people. 
 
 Then the queen's proclamation was read, 
 forbidding Christian w^orship, and desiring the 
 people who had attended it, to come and ac- 
 cuse themselves. She said that she would 
 then tell them what their punishment should 
 be, but that if they did not come and accuse 
 themselves, they were to expect no mercy. 
 
CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 61 
 
 This is a specimen of the lofty style in 
 which the queen sends her messages to the 
 people : " I announce to you, O ye Ambani- 
 andro, (sons of light,) I am not a sovereign 
 that deceives, nor are the servants deceived. 
 I, therefore, announce to you what I purpose 
 to do, and how I shall govern you. To whom 
 has the kingdom been left by inheritance, by 
 Andrianimpoina and Radama, but to me ? If 
 any then would change the customs of our 
 ancestors, I abhor that, saith Rabodonandrian- 
 impoina. 
 
 "As to baptism, societies, places of worship, 
 and the observance of the sabbath, how many 
 rulers are there in this land ? Is it not I alone 
 that rule? These things are not to be done, 
 they are unlawful in my country, saith Rana- 
 valomanjaka.* 
 
 " As for the sabbath, you are not to use or 
 observe it, for I, the sovereign, do not observe 
 it at all ; and it shall not be done in my coun- 
 try, saith Ranavalomanjaka." 
 
 And this is a specimen of the humble and 
 
 flattering style in which the people answer : 
 
 " May you, madam, attain to old age, not 
 
 suffering affliction ; may you equal, in length 
 
 * Manjaka, means Sovereign. 
 
 6 
 
62 CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 
 
 of days, the human race ! and first of all it is 
 ours to express to you our thankfulness, for 
 that which you say and do is pleasing, ac- 
 ceptable, and sweet to us; you are a sove- 
 reign not condemning too hastily, but first 
 taking time to examine matters well. We 
 crave forgiveness for the offences we have 
 committed; and whatever you determine to 
 do with us, may that cause you to attain to 
 old age. Take courage, Ranavalomanjaka, 
 for as long as life is here, we shall not relax 
 in your service, for to whom did Andrianim- 
 poina and Radama leave the kingdom, but to 
 you alone ? And if we do these things again, 
 kill us, madam, for we must be hogs and not 
 men, for men dare not venture to challenge 
 the sun." 
 
 The usual conclusion is, "to whom did 
 Andrianimpoina and Radama leave the king- 
 dom, but to you alone ?" Perhaps this is just, 
 because Ranavalona knows that they did no 
 such thing. 
 
 A week after the kahary was the time fixed 
 for the people to bring in their self-accusa- 
 tions. Now came the testing time of who 
 were Christians and who were not. Some 
 came with excuses, such as these, " I went 
 
CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 63 
 
 from curiosity, and seeing the evil of it, I 
 ceased to go." " I observed the sabbath, but 
 was never baptized." " I never beHeved, but 
 went because others went." Some said, 
 " Since God will not protect us, we may as 
 well do as we please;" and became more 
 wicked than ever. But some there were who 
 feared God, and feared a lie, far more than 
 they feared the queen and her punishments, 
 and boldly told the judges that they had pray- 
 ed, and had attended worship at every pos- 
 sible opportunity. One of these Christians 
 being asked how many times he had prayed, 
 said he could not tell. " But I can tell 
 you," said he, " that for the last three or four 
 years, I have not spent a single day without 
 offering prayer several times a day." The 
 judges asked for a specimen of his prayer, 
 which he cheerfully gave, in the presence of 
 multitudes. He first told them how he con- 
 fessed his sins before God and implored for- 
 giveness, and asked God's help to enable him 
 to Hve without sinning ; to wash him from his 
 sins, to make him holy, and to prepare him 
 for eternal happiness. He said that he asked 
 these blessings for his family and friends, for 
 the queen and her subjects. The judges con- 
 
64 CHRISTIANITY SUPPRESSED. 
 
 fessed that his prayers were good, but as the 
 queen did not approve of them, they ought not 
 to be offered in her country. Some of the 
 Christians who were there, said that they did 
 not think the judges had ever heard so much 
 of the Gospel before, for this good man spoke 
 to them a good deal of the Saviour, and how 
 he died for the guilty. This excellent man 
 afterwards risked his life by concealing some 
 of the Christians. 
 
 The punishment of the common people was, 
 to pay a fine of a dollar and a bullock ; and 
 that of the officers to be lowered in rank. 
 All who had voluntarily learned to read, or 
 been to chapel, or had prayer-meetings, were 
 punished : these were between two and three 
 thousand persons. 
 
 One officer of high rank, was so struck 
 with what he now saw and heard, that he 
 became a Christian; and he and his wife 
 afterwards sheltered some of the persecuted 
 in their house. 
 
 Soon after this, the people were ordered to 
 deliver up all their Bibles, and other books. 
 Those who did not care about them, immedi- 
 ately obeyed the order; but some would 
 almost as soon have parted with their lives as 
 
AMBASSADORS SENT TO ENGLAND. 65 
 
 with their Bibles. They hid them in their 
 houses, or buried them in the earth. 
 
 THE BURIED BIBLES, 
 
 By James Edmeston, Esq. 
 
 When those who loved God's holy name 
 Their treasures kept of greatest worth, 
 
 Hiding them, (misers do the same,) 
 Safe in the bosom of the earth ; 
 
 Was it their glittering gold or gem ? 
 
 Their shining silver ? beauteous dress ? 
 Ah no ! they do not value them 
 
 The greatest treasure they possess. 
 
 One pearl of value they concealed, 
 A precious pearl of price unknown ; 
 
 That holy book, where God revealed 
 And made his love and mercy known. 
 
 This, as their dearest gem, they took, 
 Dearest of all beneath the skies : — 
 
 What shame that we that sacred book, 
 Compared with them, so little prize ! 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE QUEEN SENDS AMBASSADORS TO ENGLAND. 
 
 The missionaries being forbidden either to 
 preach or teach, and the natives to hsten to 
 them, on pain of death, they found it was of 
 httle use to remain any longer in Madagascar. 
 6* 
 
66 AMBASSADORS SENT TO ENGLAND. 
 
 Four of them left in June 1835. Mr. Johns 
 and Mr. Bixker waited another year, to see 
 what would take place, and they spent part 
 of this time in finishing a translation of the 
 " Pilgrim's Progress," a book which the Ma- 
 lagasy Christians love next to the Bible. In 
 July 1836, these two missionaries also left, by 
 order of the queen. 
 
 Just about this time the queen sent six of 
 her officers as ambassadors to England. As 
 they could not speak English perfectly, they 
 were very glad to have the help of the re- 
 turned missionaries in England as interpreters. 
 They were taken to see many of the buildings 
 and schools, and public works of London. 
 They went to Windsor, and were kindly re- 
 ceived by King William IV. and Queen Ade- 
 laide. Mr. Freeman was with them, as in- 
 terpreter, and presented to his Majesty a copy 
 of the Scriptures, in the Malagasy language, 
 beautifully bound, with which the king ex- 
 pressed himself as much pleased. Queen 
 Adelaide met them a second time, in another 
 oart of the castle, and sent a message to the 
 Queen of Madagascar, telling her " that she 
 could do nothing so good for her country, as 
 to receive the Christian religion." 
 
THE HISTORY OF RAFARAVAVY. 67 
 
 THE HISTORY OF RAFARAVAVY. 
 
 How lonely must the Christians in Madagas- 
 car have felt when their last missionaries had 
 left them ! Yet One was still with them, who 
 has said, " I will not leave you comfortless, I 
 will come to you." They also, by degrees, 
 began to know each other, and to hold secret 
 meetings in each other's houses. Sometimes 
 they met on the solitary mountains, where they 
 could see strangers coming at a distance, and 
 could venture to join in a hymn of praise. 
 
 In July 1836, a devoted Christian woman, 
 named Rafaravavy, was accused to the gov- 
 ernment. As her history is very interesting, 
 I shall tell you a good deal about her. 
 
 Rafaravavy was at one time a zealous 
 idolater. Sometimes, when her family want- 
 ed food, she would give the little money that 
 was left for the service of an idol instead. A 
 few years ago she and her husband set off to 
 an idol-maker, who lived fifteen miles from 
 the capital, to purchase an idol. The idol- 
 maker had none made, but told them to come 
 the next day. They went the next day, and 
 
68 THE HISTORY OF RAFARAVAVY. 
 
 then he told them that he would have one 
 ready by the evening. He chose a large 
 bough from a tree in the forest, and made a 
 god. In the evening, he invited them to take 
 their meal of rice with him, and they saw 
 him put some of the little branches, which he 
 had cut off the large branch, into the fire to 
 boil the rice. They paid two dollars for the 
 god, and returned home. Soon afterwards, 
 a young Christian called on Rafaravavy, and 
 he read to her the 44th of Isaiah, where it is 
 said of the idolater, " He burneth part (of the 
 tree) in the fire ; he roasteth roast, and is sat- 
 isfied ; and the residue thereof he maketh a 
 god," &c. Rafaravavy was so struck with 
 this, that from that time she began to believe 
 in the Bible, and in the end became a true 
 Christian. 
 
 Then she was just as zealous in the service 
 of God, as she had been in that of idols. 
 When the persecution began, and public wor- 
 ship was forbidden, she took one of the largest 
 houses in the capital, that the Christians might 
 meet there. Three of her servants went and 
 accused her to one of the judges, and said, 
 " If you go and listen at the window of an 
 evening, you may hear her and her friends 
 
THE HISTORY OF RAFARAVAVY. 69 
 
 reading the book which the queen has for- 
 bidden." A man was sent to Hsten. Rafar- 
 avavy had been reading just before he came, 
 but had left off, and had moved from the 
 window. Tiie man heard nothing, and went 
 away. He told a friend of Rafaravavy's, 
 and that friend went and told her. Rafara* 
 vavy spent much of the night in prayer that 
 she might have strength to confess Christ be- 
 fore men, and if such were his will, to lay 
 down her life for his sake. The next morn- 
 ing her father came to try to persuade her to 
 give up prayer. He said, " What is this that 
 I hear, child 1 It is said that you still con- 
 tinue to pray; is it true?' She replied, " Yes, 
 I do pray." The old man was grieved. 
 ♦* Astonishing !" said he, " you do pray, and 
 are not ashamed to own it. I know not what 
 to think of you." " But, dear father," said 
 she, " I have done it, and how can I deny the 
 truth ?" " Who are your companions 1" ask- 
 ed her father. "Ask the accusers," replied 
 Rafaravavy ; " I cannot tell you w^ho are my 
 companions." A man came and called the 
 father out, and said, " You had better go to 
 the judge, and do what you can for her at 
 once ; there is no use trying to get her to 
 
70 THE HISTORY OF RAFARAVAVY. 
 
 accuse her companions. These praying peo- 
 ple are so stubborn, that if you were to kill 
 them and cut them in pieces, they would not 
 impeach their companions/' 
 
 As Rafaravavy would neither give up 
 prayer herself, nor accuse her companions, 
 the accusation was sent to the queen. On 
 hearing it, the queen became extremely angry, 
 and said, " Is it possible that there is any one 
 so daring as to defy me, and that too, a wo- 
 man ? This is annoying to me. Go and put 
 her to death at once; it cannot be borne.'* 
 Rafaravavy's father and brother had held 
 a high rank in the army, and had done good 
 service to the queen. Her friends begged 
 hard for her on this account, and for that 
 lime her life was spared ; only she had to pay 
 a heavy fine. 
 
 Rafaravavy's father was very angry with 
 the servants who had accused her, and he put 
 them in irons. Rafaravavy, instead of feeling 
 angry with them, pitied them, a^id entreated 
 her father to release them. As soon as she 
 was let go, she went and talked to them, and 
 prayed with them, and wept over them, till at 
 last they wept for themselves, and said, " We 
 thought there was something in this religion 
 
LETTERS TO THE MISSIONARIES. 71 
 
 when we saw you, instead of reproaching, 
 pitying us ; and now we begin to feel in our 
 own hearts what this rehgion is." Two, if 
 not all three, became Christians, and one of 
 them has since endured persecution for the 
 sake of Jesus. 
 
 Rafaravavy sold her house in town, and 
 took another in a more quiet place. The 
 little band of Christians continued to meet 
 sometimes at her house, sometimes at that of 
 another friend, and sometimes on a mountain. 
 Now and then, they used to go a distance of 
 twenty miles to meet in peace. 
 
 XI. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 In 1837, Mr. Johns visited Tamatave, and 
 sent word to the Christians that he was there. 
 Joseph and a few others went to meet him, 
 and took letters from the Christians. This is 
 part of one of the letters : — 
 
 " Antananarivo, 2Ath Asonibola [June.) 
 " Health and happiness to you, beloved 
 friends, say the few disciples of Jesus Christ 
 here in Madagascar ; let us unite in praising 
 
72 LETTERS TO THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 God, for he has not forsaken us, but guarded 
 and kept us by day and night till the present 
 time, that we might not be overcome by evil, 
 nor conquered by the temptations of Satan ; 
 but he has enabled us to tread the narrow 
 path till now\ 
 
 "We do not perceive any change in the 
 mind of the queen with regard to Christianity. 
 She remains the same. But we have less in- 
 terruption since the Europeans, our friends, 
 left us, as it is perhaps thought that we shall 
 certainly forget the word of God, now that 
 we have no teachers here. The queen, how- 
 ever, does not know that the best Teacher of 
 all is still here with us, the Holy Spirit. 
 
 " When we consider our guilt and our pol- 
 lution, and the evil that dwells in our hearts, 
 then we soon faint ; but when we remember 
 the mercy of God, and the redemption there 
 is in Jesus, and when we call to mind the 
 promises, then our hearts take confidence, 
 and we believe that Jesus can cleanse us, and 
 can bring us to heaven, though the way be 
 difficult; and when we meet there, we will 
 tell you all that has befallen us by the way 
 while here on earth. 
 
 " By the strength of God we shall still go 
 
LETTERS TO THE MISSIONARIES. 73 
 
 forward, and not fear what may befall us; 
 and if accused by the people we will go 
 straight forward, for we know that if we deny 
 him before men, Jesus will deny us before his 
 Father ; but if we confess him, he will also 
 confess us when he shall come in clouds to 
 judge the world, and present them that are 
 his, blameless, before his Father for ever. 
 
 " We had some suspicions when the mis- 
 sionaries left us, lest God also should forsake 
 us like our friends ; but we have seen that the 
 word of promise is true, * I will never leave 
 thee, I will never forsake thee.' He has in- 
 deed remained with us, and exceedingly great 
 has been the joy of our hearts in prayer, and 
 in conversing together on the things that re- 
 late to the life to come." 
 
 Then they beg for some Bibles in small 
 print, to be easily carried about, and also 
 some with references. They say how de- 
 lighted they are with the Pilgrim's Progress, 
 and how much they wish to have it in print. 
 The letter concludes thus : — 
 
 " All the Christians here are teaching 
 others to read. There are ten learning with 
 one friend, and six with another, and four 
 7 
 
74 LETTERS TO THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 with another, and so the number is quietly 
 augmenting. 
 
 " Here are our beloved friends, the messen- 
 gers of the church, conveying our letter to 
 you ! Our special salutations to the congre- 
 gations in England, and this is our request, 
 * Do not forget us in your supplications, but 
 let us unite in our petitions before God.' " 
 
 Here is part of another sweet letter written 
 to Mr. Freeman by the four messengers who 
 took the other letters to Tamatave. 
 
 " Tamatave, August 1st, 1837. 
 
 " Beloved Friend, — You are not forgotten, 
 but still remembered by us. Our salutations 
 to you. We have now reached Tamatave, 
 and have met with our beloved father, Mr. 
 Johns, and he told us how the good people 
 every where are praying on our behalf, and 
 supplicating God to aid us and to bless us 
 with all his favours. 
 
 " Yes, dearly beloved friend, cease not to 
 ask God that he would cause us to tread the 
 narrow path, and pass through a land where 
 there are many adversaries. We know per- 
 fectly well that through the narrow gate is 
 
LETTERS TO THE MISSIONARIES. 75 
 
 the way to the heavenly gate, and we fear 
 not to say, however steep should be the ascent, 
 yet we will go up, or however difficult the 
 path, it shall not weary us, for we perceive 
 that the painful shall not last long, but we 
 shall obtain the good. We know that the 
 King of the heavenly city has himself trodden 
 that difficult path : much more then should the 
 Christian go there, who has yielded himself 
 to the King of kings. 
 
 " How much does the compassion of the 
 Saviour console us now ! The word is indeed 
 true that says, ' I will send unto you the Com- 
 forter. It is expedient for you that I go away.' 
 Precious to us now is Jesus. He is our Rock 
 and our Shield, our Hope and our Life. 
 
 " Whither should we go in our distress, but 
 unto Jesus, for he has the words of eternal 
 life? 
 
 " Farewell till we meet, whether in this life 
 or the life to come. Still we shall not forget 
 to pray to God that you may yet return again 
 to us here ; and if we do not meet in this life, 
 yet through the mercy of God we hope we 
 shall meet there, and then we will tell the 
 difficulties of the path, and the tribulation we 
 had whilst still on earth." 
 
76 LETTERS TO THE MISSIONARIES.' 
 
 In another letter some other Christians 
 write word to Mr. Johns of the death of one 
 of their number. They say, " Our beloved 
 friend Ramamonjihasina died on his way 
 home from the expedition to the north. We 
 must not now grieve for him ; he is now with 
 the Saviour whom he loved. One of our 
 friends was with him in his tent when he died, 
 and asked him whether he had any fear of 
 death. He replied, ' Why should I fear to 
 die, while Jesus is my friend 1 I am persuad- 
 ed he will not leave me now, and I am full 
 of joy in the thought of leaving this sinful 
 World to be for ever with my Saviour.' " 
 
 The Malagasy, while heathens, have the 
 greatest dread of death. It surprises them 
 much when they hear the Christians say, " I 
 do not fear to die." Can you, dear readers, 
 say the same? 
 
 Some of the Christians who knew this 
 young man, said that he could never speak of 
 Jesus without tears. Being one day asked 
 how this was, he said, " How can I do other- 
 wise than feel when I mention the name of 
 that beloved Saviour who suffered and died 
 on the cross for me ?" 
 
hafaravavy's house pulled down. T^ 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 By James Edmeston, Esq. 
 He could not speak the name without a tear : 
 
 So gratitude and love would fill his heart, 
 And memory of Christ's sufferings endear, 
 
 That at the thought the constant tear would start 
 To us it seems an old and worn-out tale, 
 
 Feeble in interest, and so often heard. 
 
 That like a common and accustomed word, 
 The power and sweetness of its accents fail. 
 Oh, for some portion of that holy fire. 
 
 To kindle in our icy hearts more love ! 
 
 Descend, celestial Spirit, from above ! 
 And recollections of our Lord inspire ! 
 So should that sacred name have power to wake 
 Deep thoughts of all he suffered for our sake 
 
 XII. 
 
 rafaravavy's house pulled down. 
 
 While Mr. Johns was meeting the Christians 
 at Tamatave, ten of those in the capital were 
 accused. Among these was Rafaravavy, and 
 also one of the servants who a year before 
 had accused her. The queen's messengers 
 came four times to Rafaravavy. She at once 
 confessed to them that she prayed, but they 
 could not get her to betray her friends. The 
 7* 
 
78 rafaravavy's house pulled down. 
 
 third time they came, they said they were 
 sent by the queen to ask her the names of her 
 companions, and they said also, " the queen 
 knows as well as you do who they are, but she 
 wishes to give you the opportunity of telling 
 the whole truth." " If the queen knows as 
 well as I do," said Rafaravavy, " why then 
 do you ask me again ?" " You are indeed," 
 said they, *' exceedingly obstinate. Razafit- 
 sara told us that you were her companion ; 
 we shall fetch her here to force you." When 
 Razafitsara was brought, Rafaravavy said, 
 " We have prayed together, and we do not 
 deny it." " Where then did you pray ?' said 
 the men. " We prayed in this house," said 
 the two women, " and in the house of Raza- 
 fitsara, and in many other places; indeed 
 wherever we went we tried to remember 
 God, and prayed to him to forgive us, and to 
 do us good." " Have you not prayed on 
 Ankatso?" (the name of a mountain) said 
 they. " Yes," said the women, " but not there 
 only ; but as we told you, wherever we went 
 we remembered God, in the house or out of 
 it, in town, in the country, or on the moun- 
 tains." Then the messengers went to the 
 
79 
 
 other Christians to try the same arts with 
 them. 
 
 For a fortnight the Christians did not know 
 what would be done to their ten friends who 
 were taken up. On the fourteenth day, the 
 people in the market had a message from the 
 queen to go and seize every thing that belong- 
 ed to Rafaravavy for themselves. She knew 
 nothing of this order till the people came rush- 
 ing to her house, and snatching up every thing 
 that they could lay their hands on. Soon the 
 house was full of strange people, and every 
 thing she had was gone. Then they pulled 
 the house down, and carried it all away. 
 
 KAPARAVA^n^'S HOUSE DESTROYED. 
 
 By James Edmeston, Esq. 
 
 How like to wolves, all eager for the prey ! 
 
 Her home, her little wealth, her all they seize : 
 But injured meekness sees them pass away. 
 
 And feels that she has better things than these. 
 
 These perishing possessions cause their strife ; 
 
 All that they love, and all they wish they make : 
 But she has treasures of eternal life. 
 
 Firm and unfading, which they cannot take. 
 
 What though her earthly house be overthrown, 
 And not a roof to shelter her be left ; 
 
 The secret place of God her soul has known, 
 And of that home she cannot be bereft. 
 
80 RAFARAVAVY UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH. 
 
 Lightly the maddened rage of man must fall 
 On hearts that in the Saviour's peace can rest : 
 
 With God our Father, Helper, Friend, not all 
 That men can do, can agitate the breast. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 RAFARAVAVY UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH. 
 
 As Rafaravavy stood without a roof to shelter 
 her, four executioners came to her and told 
 her to follow them. She asked whither they 
 were going to take her. They said, " The 
 queen knows what to do with you. The way 
 we go, you are to follow." She obeyed, and 
 followed. They took her along the road by 
 which criminals are taken to Ambohiposy, 
 the place of execution. She thought they 
 were going to kill her, but the fear of death 
 was gone. On the way she often repeated 
 the prayer of Stephen, " Lord Jesus, receive 
 my spirit." 
 
 One young and beloved Christian followed 
 her up to town, and she managed to say to 
 him, without being heard, " Go with me and 
 see my end, and hear my last words. If I 
 shall find by experience the strength of Christ 
 sufficient for my support, it may encourage 
 
RAFARAVAVY UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH. 81 
 
 our friends who may be called to follow my 
 steps." He replied, " I shall not leave you, 
 dear sister. Go on and cleave to Him on 
 whom you have built your hope." The exe* 
 cutioners led her into the house of one of Rai- 
 niharo's officers, and very heavy irons were 
 put on her. These irons are called, " Be rano 
 maso," which means " many tears." As the 
 smith was fastening them on, one of the men 
 said, " Do not put them on too fast, it will be 
 difficult to take them off; she is to be put to 
 death to-morrow morning at cock-crow." 
 
 That very night a fire broke out in the 
 capital, burnt down many houses, and caused 
 so much confusion, that Rafaravavy was for- 
 gotten. Some think that the queen, who is 
 very superstitious, was afraid to send another 
 order for her execution. She was kept in 
 irons five months, and could not move an inch 
 day or night. Five soldiers guarded her. 
 One day one of the soldiers left his post, and 
 came running back to tell her that the people 
 were boiling water to put some criminal to 
 death that day. She asked who he thought 
 it was for, and he told her he did not know, 
 but that people said it must be herself. Four 
 executioners came up just after, and the 
 
82 RAFARAVAVY UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH. 
 
 guards then felt sure that it must be for Raf- 
 aravavy, and began to take off her irons. 
 She commended herself to her Redeemer, and 
 thought that in a short time her sufierings 
 would be ended, and she should be present 
 with the Lord. In a little while she found 
 that it was some one else that was to be put 
 to death that day, and that the executioners 
 had come that way by accident. 
 
 Her father, though very fond of her, gave 
 her up as lost, and hardly ever came near her. 
 Her Christian friends, however, visited her as 
 often as they dared, and did all they could to 
 comfort her. Sometimes they took a Bible 
 or tract with them, and sitting down would 
 hide it with their lambas, and read to her in 
 a low tone. Others who were not Christians 
 visited her, and she always spoke to them of 
 the love of the Saviour. She also talked to 
 the soldiers who guarded her. One of them 
 was much impressed by what she said, and 
 hoped he should hear more. " I am delighted," 
 said she, " to hear you say so, and shall re- 
 joice to tell you all I know. I firmly believe 
 there is a world after this, and if I did not, I 
 should be the most miserable of beings. It is 
 this which enables me to bear all these afflic- 
 
MAllTYRllO.M OF UASALAWA. Pilge 83. 
 
THE MARTYRDOM OF RASALAMA. 83 
 
 tions with cheerfulness. My father, and mo- 
 ther, and relations, as you know, have for- 
 saken me, but I have a Father in heaven who 
 can make up the loss." There is reason to 
 hope that this soldier has become a disciple 
 of Jesus. 
 
 After five months there came from the 
 queen an order to sell her into perpetual 
 slavery. The wife of her new master was a 
 relation of hers, and they treated her kindly, 
 and gave her permission to go and come as 
 she pleased when she had finished her work. 
 Here she again saw her husband. He was a 
 colonel in the army, and stationed on the 
 coast, and, hearing of her distress, had begged 
 leave to visit the capital for a few months. 
 Thus freed from the fear of immediate death, 
 and in the company of one so dear to her, we 
 will leave her for a while, and visit the other 
 Christians who were in confinement. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE MARTYRDOM OF RASALAMA. 
 
 Among the ten Christians who were taken up 
 in 1837, there was one good woman of the 
 
84 THE MARTYRDOM OF RASALAMA. 
 
 name of Rasalama. When the messengers 
 of the queen went to her and said to her as 
 they had done to Rafaravavy and the others, 
 " the queen knows the names of your com- 
 panions, but wishes to see whether you speak 
 the truth," Rasalama beheved them, and told 
 the names of her friends. Among these were 
 seven fresh names, and these Christians were 
 directly taken up. When Rasalama found 
 how she had been deceived, she was very 
 much distressed, for she would gladly have 
 died to save her friends, and would never 
 have given up their names if she had thought 
 that they were still secret. She was confined 
 in the house of one of the most cruel men in 
 Madagascar, who loaded her with irons. Be^ 
 sides this, she was cruelly flogged for several 
 days, but she continued to talk and sing 
 hymns. She was sentenced to die. The night 
 before her death, instead of allowing her to 
 rest in peace, they put on her another sort of 
 irons, which forced all her limbs together, as 
 if she had been packed in a small case. 
 The next morning she was led to execution, 
 and she sang hymns by the way. As she 
 passed the mission chapel, she said, " There 
 I heard the words of the Saviour." When 
 
THE MARTYRDOM OF RASALAMA. 85 
 
 she reached the place of execution, she asked 
 leave to kneel down and pray. She calmly- 
 knelt down, and while committing her soul 
 into the hands of her Redeemer, three or four 
 executioners plunged their spears into her side 
 and heart. Such was her composure, that 
 even her executioners said, " There is some 
 charm in the religion of the white people 
 which takes away the fear of death." 
 
 One young Christian named Rafaralahy, 
 and only that one, ventured to the place, fie 
 saw the calmness with which she died, and 
 returned home a martyr in spirit. " If," said 
 he, " I might die so tranquil and happy a 
 death, I should not be unwilling to die for the 
 Saviour too." He did not know how soon he 
 was to be put to the test. 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 By James Edmeston, Esq. 
 Is there no power in the glorious beam 
 Of the bright sun ? Hath hfe so little worth ? 
 Or the rich garden of the joyous earth ? 
 
 Or the warm gushing of the spirit's stream, 
 
 To tempt thee back ? Dost thou so worthless deem 
 The ties of friendship, and of love, that bind 
 Within their silken cords the captive mind? 
 
 That so unmoved by terror thou dost seem, 
 And shrinkest not at the cold touch of death, 
 
 Nor the devouring dogs that wait their prey, 
 8 
 
b FOUR CHRISTIANS IN SLAVERY. 
 
 Ready to seize, whene'er shall pass away 
 
 That airy chain of life — thy fleeting breath. 
 No ! suns unsetting, heaven's far fairer bloom, 
 Life purer, never parting love, attend thy doom. 
 
 XV. 
 
 FOUR CHRISTIANS IN SLAVERY. 
 
 The rest of the ten Christians were sold as 
 slaves. Five of them v^ere bought by the 
 same master, and w^orked in the same field. 
 After working hard all day, they were put in 
 heavy irons every night. The rice that was 
 allowed them for a week, was only enough 
 for two days, and if their Christian friends 
 had not fed them, they must have been nearly 
 starved. An eminent Christian named Paul, 
 was the eldest of the party, and he did much 
 to strengthen them. He often repeated to 
 them the forty-sixth psalm, and at midnight 
 they used to pray and read the Scriptures to- 
 gether. Joseph and Ramanisa were after a 
 while sent to another master, still more cruel, 
 named Ramiandravola. If any accident hap- 
 pened to him, he accused them of being the 
 cause, and said that they used witchcraft to 
 injure him. Finding that they did their work 
 
FOUR CHRISTIANS IN SLAVERY. 87 
 
 better than the other slaves, he made them 
 overseers of all, and when the other slaves 
 were idle, he made it an excuse to beat the 
 overseers. He said, "It is your fault that 
 they are idle; it is because you are so mild. 
 I will show you how to treat those under you. 
 Do with them in this manner;" and then he 
 flogged poor Joseph and Ramanisa till the 
 whip cut into the flesh. 
 
 While Joseph and Ramanisa were working 
 under this cruel master, David and Simeon 
 were employed in the rice-ground of Raini- 
 haro. After three months, Rainiharo wanted 
 them to wait upon his son ; but first he caused 
 them to be put to the ordeal of tangena, to be 
 sure that they were free from witchcraft. 
 Simeon got over it very easily, and was soon 
 pronounced innocent. It made David very 
 ill; he was in dreadful pain, and thought he 
 was dying, and his friends came to bid him 
 farewell. He did recover, though he could 
 not see well for some months, and felt weak 
 and ill for a very long time. 
 
^ MARTYRDOM OF RAFARALAHY. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE HISTORY AND MARTYRDOM OF RAFARALAHY. 
 
 You will remember that when Rasalama was 
 put to death, a young man named Rafaralahy 
 was standing by. His father had left him 
 some property. He had learned to read, and 
 had opened his house for religious woi'ship for 
 some time, but did not give proof of being a 
 true Christian till after the persecution began. 
 He then gave up his heart to Jesus. He 
 taught several of his servants to read, and had 
 the joy of seeing many of his dearest friends 
 become Christians. He was very anxious to 
 see the same change in his beloved mother. 
 He prayed most fervently for her, and often 
 begged his friends to remember his "mother" 
 in their prayers. He often sent a trusty ser- 
 vant with food and other things for his perse- 
 cuted brethren. He divided his rice-ground, 
 and set the larger portion of it apart for those 
 who were in distress. He removed to a very 
 retired place, and his house became a home 
 for the afflicted Christians. 
 
 Rafaralahy spoke of the love of Jesus to his 
 neighbours also, and was the means of leading 
 
MARTYRDOM OF RAFARALAHT. 89 
 
 several to believe in the Saviour. There 
 were three lepers in a hut not far from his 
 house. This disease is very common in 
 JMadagascar, and those who are afflicted with 
 it are much to be pitied. They are separated 
 from their families, and live alone till death. 
 Their friends take food for them, and place it 
 at some distance from their huts that they 
 may fetch it. Rafaralahy felt much for these 
 three lepers, and often said to his Christian 
 friends, " How happy they might be if they 
 knew the Saviour ! How pleasantly they 
 might spend their time together in reading the 
 Scriptures and conversing on the love of 
 Christ. They might read, sing, and pray 
 without any fear of being discovered ; what a 
 pity they had not learned to read before they 
 were taken ill !" At last he resolved to go 
 and teach them. They were very grateful to 
 him, and in a few weeks they were able to 
 read the Testaments which he gave them. 
 One of them happening to lose his Testament, 
 all three went in search of it for a whole day 
 in vain. They returned to their shed, and 
 kneeling down together they prayed that God 
 would guide them to the place where their 
 8* 
 
VW MARTYRDOM OF RAFARALAHY. 
 
 treasure was. After the prayer they again 
 searched, and soon found the book. 
 
 There was a printer named Rafiakarana, 
 who had been one of the first to profess Chris- 
 tianity. He was also the first to speak to 
 Rafaralahy about rehgion. When the queen 
 forbade the worship of the true God, Rafiaka- 
 rana turned round and took part against the 
 Christians. Rafaralahy was so grieved that 
 he went and talked to his old friend about his 
 conduct. Rafiakarana pretended to be very 
 sorry, and said that if he were not so poor, 
 and had not a wife and children to support, 
 he would not do so. He then asked Rafara- 
 lahy to take him into partnership. Rafaralahy 
 did so, and was at length so imposed upon by 
 Rafiakarana's professions that he invited him 
 to meet the other Christians at his house. 
 Rafiakarana had part of Rafaralahy's goods 
 to sell, and when Rafaralahy asked him for 
 the money, he went to Rainiharo and accused 
 his kind friend and the rest of the Christians 
 who met in his house. Rainiharo was the 
 same cruel officer to whom David and Simeon 
 were slaves. 
 
 Rafaralahy was seized and put in irons. 
 Every thing was done to make him tell the 
 
MARTYRDOM OF RAFARALAHY. 91 
 
 names of his companions, but he always said, 
 " Let the queen do what she pleases with me, 
 but I will not accuse my friends." When the 
 executioners came to lead him forth, and 
 asked, "Which is Rafaralahy ?' he calmly 
 answered, " I am, sir." They took oft' his 
 irons, and told him to go with them. He 
 arose immediately and went with them, speak- 
 ing to them all the way of Jesus, and of the 
 happiness he felt at the thought of shortly see- 
 ing him who had loved and died for him. 
 W^hen he reached the place of execution, he 
 asked for a few moments to pray. He com- 
 mitted his soul to the Saviour and prayed 
 most fervently for his country, and for his 
 persecuted brethren. He then rose from his 
 knees, and the executioners were going to 
 throw him with violence on the ground. 
 "No," he said, "there is no need for that; I 
 have no fear of dying." He quietly laid him- 
 self down, and was immediately speared to 
 death. 
 
 One of the three lepers had died in the faith 
 of Jesus a few months before. The two others 
 were full of grief and sorrow when they heard 
 of the death of their dear kind friend. They 
 begged the first Christian whom they saw to 
 
»5S THE FLIGHT. 
 
 teach them in his stead : he promised to do so, 
 but was obliged only a few hours after to save 
 his own life by flight. 
 
 Rafaralahy's property was all seized. Ra- 
 fiakarana hoped to have come in for a share 
 of the spoil : he pretended that some money 
 was owing to him : instead of that, it was 
 found that he owed fifteen dollars to Rafara- 
 lahy, and he narrowly escaped being sold into 
 slavery. Who would not rather have been 
 the martyr Rafaralahy than the apostate Ra- 
 fiakarana 1 
 
 XVII. 
 
 THE FLIGHT. 
 
 VepvY soon after the death of Rafaralahy, the 
 government gave orders to apprehend several 
 more of the Christians. Rafaravavy was 
 sitting talking with two friends of hers in 
 a house not far from the capital, when some 
 one brought the word that her life was again 
 in danger, and that her two friends were also 
 among the accussed. Rafaravavy resolved 
 to return to her master's house, as she thought 
 she would rather be put to death at the capi- 
 
THE FLIGHT. 93 
 
 tal, where some Christian friends might be 
 near, than in that place where no one knew 
 her. The three women set out together, and 
 went on till they reached the foot of Ambohi- 
 potsy. As they went they talked together of 
 the Saviour, and of the joy they should feel 
 on seeing him for the first time in heaven. 
 They knelt down and commended each other 
 to his care, and then parted with the hope of 
 shortly meeting in heaven. The two women 
 went another way, and are thought to be still 
 in exile. Rafaravavy went on alone, and as 
 she went she ceased not to pray fervently that 
 God would give her strength to lay down her 
 life for his sake, if such were his holy will. 
 When she reached her master's house, she 
 found that he was out, and that the soldiers 
 had not yet been for her. She went out to 
 inquire further, and on her way she called at 
 Simeon's house. There she found that Simeon 
 and David were in the same danger. They 
 talked and prayed together, and remembered 
 the words of Jesus, " If they persecute you in 
 one city, flee to another ;" and they began to 
 think that it was their duty to try to save their 
 lives by flight. The names of Paul and 
 Andrianantoandro were also among the ac- 
 
d4 
 
 THE FLIGHT. 
 
 cused. Simeon and David sent a messenger 
 for them, but he could not find them. The 
 first part of the night was spent by Simeon 
 and David in settling accounts, and in making 
 up the money and other property vi^hich their 
 master, Rainiharo, had trusted in their hands 
 This time vv^as very precious to them, and the 
 delay might have cost their lives; but they 
 would not go till they had left in safe deposit 
 what was owing to their master. The parcel 
 in which they left the money did not reach 
 the hands of Rainiharo for two or three 
 months, and he thought that they had taken 
 the money with them. When he opened the 
 parcel and found the money and the unsold 
 cloth, he was astonished at their honesty; and 
 he said, " This is not the general custom of 
 people, and especially of slaves who run away 
 from their masters; these would, indeed, make 
 excellent servants if they would leave off their 
 religion." 
 
 Simeon's wife was in ill health, and she felt 
 so much when she saw her husband prepare 
 to go, that he resolved to run the risk of stay- 
 ing in the capital, that he might still be near 
 her. He was hid three months in a friend's 
 house. He had a warm hiding-place, espe- 
 
THE FLIGHT. 95 
 
 cially in cooking time. He was hid in a kind 
 of rack over the hearth. One day when he 
 was there alone, a thief came in and stole 
 some rice and meat. Simeon told his host, 
 and he charged the man with stealing. The 
 thief was much frightened, for he thought that 
 God must have seen him and have told of 
 him. Another time an officer and his dekana 
 came in, and sat down under the place where 
 Simeon lay, and they talked of the danger in 
 which the Christians were, and how impossi- 
 ble it was that they could hide in any place 
 where they would not be found out. Simeon 
 heard it all, and yet they did not find him out. 
 After three months he could no longer hide 
 safely there, and he was obliged to leave the 
 capital and go to his other friends. 
 
 We must go back to the Christians who 
 were busy making up accounts. When the 
 money was all made right, and they had 
 again knelt and prayed together, Joseph, 
 David, and his wife, Andrianimanana, and 
 Rafaravavy, set out together at midnight. 
 They walked that night and the next day, and 
 though there were many watchmen about, 
 they were not caught ; and in the evening they 
 safely reached the house of some friends who 
 
06 
 
 THE FOREST. 
 
 lived fifty miles west of the capital. The 
 names of these friends were Rafaralahy,* 
 Andrianilaina, and Sarah his wife. 
 
 The morning after the five Christians had 
 started, the officers went to seize Rafaravavy, 
 and of course they could not find her. They 
 took Paul and Andrianantoandro,put them in 
 heavy irons, and tied up their hands in a 
 small basket, which was a sign that they were 
 sentenced to die. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 THE FOREST. 
 
 Though Rafaravavy and her friends had es- 
 caped from the capital, they could not be 
 feappy without knowing what had become of 
 Paul and Andrianantoandro. Joseph and 
 Andrianimanana were very tired, and they 
 had been up the greatest part of three nights, 
 but the next day they set out again, and walk- 
 ed back thirty-five miles to Paul's village. 
 There they heard the sad news that he had 
 
 * This was another Rafaralahy. Rafaralahy, means 
 the youngest son ; and Rafaravavy, the youngest daugh- 
 ter. These are common names in Madagascar. 
 
THE FOREST. 97 
 
 been taken up. The day after, they went 
 back the thirty-live miles again, and joined 
 Rafaravavy and their friends late in the even- 
 inor. 
 
 o 
 
 Next morning they heard that soldiers were 
 in search of them in all directions, and they 
 were much perplexed to know whither to go 
 for safety. At length Joseph and David re- 
 solved to hide in the forest. As their wives 
 were not yet accused, it was thought better 
 for them to remain at home, because the 
 more there were together, the more ditiicult it 
 would be to hide. 
 
 In the depth of the dark night, and in a 
 pouring rain, Joseph and David once more 
 set out on their dangerous journey. Before 
 day-break they reached a friend's house, eight 
 or ten miles from the capital. This friend 
 did all he could to comfort them. He lighted 
 a fire, dried their wet clothes, gave them food, 
 a little money, a Bible, Testament, and tracts. 
 He then sent them on part of the way till they 
 had crossed some large streams, which were 
 swollen by the torrents. Next day they plung- 
 ed into the forest, and there they remained 
 nearly six months. 
 
 Their friend came to them, and helped 
 9 
 
98 THE FOREST. 
 
 them to build a little shed, and brought them 
 rice from time to time. As he had forty or 
 fifty miles to come every time, and could not 
 venture to send any one else, if any thing had 
 happened to him, they might have been 
 starved. They suflered much from cold and 
 rain, and more than once they were in danger 
 of being taken up as robbers, by people who 
 came to cut timber. They had, however, 
 plenty of wood to make fires : and, what to 
 them was the greatest comfort, they had plenty 
 of time for reading and prayer. After three 
 months, Simeon was obliged to leave his hid- 
 ing-place in the capital, and he came and 
 joined them. After four months, their friend 
 had spent all his money, and he was obliged 
 to go to another part of the forest to cut wood 
 and make bowls, to sell at the capital. David, 
 who was not so well known as the rest, was 
 to go and help him, and they fixed a time and 
 place to meet. Simeon and Joseph were so 
 ill and weak from the cold and damp, that 
 they could hardly stand upon their feet. David 
 thought he would try to make them a more 
 comfortable shed, before he went to join his 
 friend ; and in cutting wood for the new shed, 
 he cut his foot so badly that he could not 
 
RAPARAVAVY AGAIN. UVl 
 
 walk. Now they were in a sad plight ; their 
 friend would not be back for three weeks, and 
 he had only left just rice enough for two. 
 They finished the rice in two weeks instead 
 of three : then they tried to find roots and wild 
 fruits to eat, but they could not ; and they 
 thought they had better run all risks, and try 
 to reach their friends at the capital, than stay 
 there and be famished. Lame, feeble, and 
 half starved, they set out together, reached 
 the capital in safety, and were concealed by 
 their friends. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 RAFARAVAVY AGAIN. 
 
 Now let us go back, and see what has become 
 of Rafaravavy. We left her with Rafaralahy 
 and Andrianilaina and Sarah, just after her 
 first escape from the capital. For some time 
 she remained with these kind friends. They 
 were very poor, and provisions were scarce ; 
 but they always shared their last morsel with 
 her. In the day-time Rafaravavy used to 
 hide herself among the crags of a neighbour- 
 ing mountain, and Sarah generally kept her 
 
100 RAFARAVAVy AGAIN. 
 
 company. At night, they used to get back to 
 the house. They were often drenched with 
 l*ain, and in danger from storms and light- 
 ning, and two or three times in great danger 
 of being taken. Rafaravavy had one day a 
 very remarkable escape, of which you shall 
 hear. 
 
 The day was very cold, and she and Sarah 
 had ventured to stay at home. Sarah heard 
 the crows near the house making a noise. 
 She thought they were eating the rice which 
 had been put before the door to dry, and she 
 started up. As soon as she got outside the 
 door, she saw two men with spears coming. 
 She turned, and in a low voice w^arned Rafa- 
 ravavy. The men were so near, that she 
 could not speak loudly. Rafaravavy had just 
 time to get under a bedstead, and to cover 
 herself with a piece of matting. If the crows 
 had not made a noise, she must have been 
 caught. 
 
 Sarah and her husband sat down by the 
 fire-side. The two soldiers came in, and said 
 that they had come to search for Rafaravavy. 
 Andrianilaina evaded their questions as well 
 as he could, without telling a falsehood. The 
 soldiers remained talking for about an hour. 
 
RAFARAVAVY AGAIN. 101 
 
 All this while, Rafaravavy saw and heard 
 them through the matting. At first her heart 
 beat, and she breathed so hard, that she was 
 afraid they would hear her ; but after a little 
 time she committed herself to God, and peace 
 returned, as she trusted in him. Many sweet 
 passages of Scripture came to her mind, and 
 comforted her. 
 
 Sarah quite gave her up : she went out, and 
 w^hom should she see coming but Simeon's 
 brother-in-law ! He came to tell how Simeon 
 had been obliged to leave the capital, and was 
 waiting near the house, to know whether he 
 could take shelter with them. Here was an- 
 other difficulty. Sarah called Andrianilaina 
 out. The soldiers thought that perhaps Rafa- 
 ravavy was on the mountain, and that Andri- 
 anilaina had gone out to give her warning ; 
 so they came out too, and went to seek for 
 her there. Simeon was very near being 
 caught; the soldiers saw him, but they thought 
 that he was a man who had just been to the 
 house for some money. As soon as they were 
 gone, Rafaravavy made her escape. She 
 went out, not knowing whither to go, and 
 saw the two men at some distance. She 
 thought she would go to a village, whither 
 9* 
 
103 RAFARAVAVy AGAIN. 
 
 Rafaralahy had gone to see some sick friends. 
 Night came on, and it was very dark, and 
 the coarse long grass was often higher than 
 her head, and it was very difficult to find her 
 way. She thought of Christian going through 
 the valley of the shadow of death. Late at 
 night she reached the village, and found Ra- 
 faralahy, who got her a lodging for the night. 
 Rafaralahy and Andrianilaina were also 
 obliged to escape, as they would soon have 
 been taken up for hiding Rafaravavy. After 
 they had gone the soldiers returned, and they 
 came again and again to search the house by 
 night. They found a Bible and a Testament. 
 A Christian friend gave up his house to the 
 "wanderers for a little while, till they found 
 that they could no longer hide securely there. 
 Then they went to another village where an- 
 other friend hid them for a few days. They 
 soon found this place also unsafe, and the men 
 and women agreed to separate. Rafaralahy 
 and Andrianilaina hid for some time in a cave, 
 while one hundred soldiers were searching for 
 them. Before long they were obliged to leave 
 the cave, and to seek some other hiding-place. 
 
RAFARAVAVY AND SARAH PURSUED. 103 
 
 XX. 
 
 RAFARAVAVY AND SARAH PURSUED. 
 
 The two women did not know whither to go. 
 Sarah took Rafaravavy to a friend of hers at 
 some distance. This friend was very glad to 
 see Sarah, and she told her that soldiers had 
 been there from the capital seeking for " some 
 woman who had run away." Sarah did 
 not tell her that Rafaravavy was " the wo- 
 man." This news made the two friends very 
 uneasy. They stayed the night, and the next 
 morning set off on their journey back again to 
 the friends whom they had left the day before. 
 As they reached the village in which their 
 friend lived, they passed a house in which they 
 heard many people talking. When they 
 reached their friend's house, she could scarce- 
 ly speak to them for some time. At last she 
 told them that soldiers were searching for 
 them in every house, and that some of them, 
 with Rafiakarana, the accuser of Rafaralahy, 
 at their head, were in the house where they 
 heard the talking. " And where," she said, 
 "shall I hide you to-night and to-morrow 
 .morning r' After thinking a little, she put 
 
104 RAFARAVAVY AND SARAH PURSUED. 
 
 them in a pit near her house, and covered it 
 over with thorns and briers. There they were 
 hid a night and a day. Perhaps they thought of 
 the good woman who hid the messengers of 
 king David in a well, and spread corn over 
 the top. 
 
 Next day they came out, and their friend 
 hid them for a few days in a small plantation 
 of manioc. Some nights they slept between 
 large stones on the river-side, and sometimes 
 on the top of a grave, the long grass hiding 
 them from sight. One day Rafiakarana and 
 eight soldiers passed close by them, and did 
 not see them. After ten or twelve days, they 
 thought it was not safe to stay longer in one 
 place, and they set off to another friend. The 
 wife of Rafaralahy was now with them. 
 They set out at cock-crowing, and had to 
 pass through a market-place. They sent a 
 lad on before them to give them a sign if he 
 should see soldiers coming. Just as he reached 
 the top of a hill, he saw twenty soldiers, and 
 he made signs to the women. Sarah and Ra- 
 faralahy's wife ran fast, and got out of the 
 way. Rafaravavy was so frightened that she 
 could scarcely move. She turned into a bog 
 close by, and hid herself among the rushes. 
 
RAFARAVAVY AND SARAH PURSUED. 105 
 
 She was not quite hid, but the soldiers passed 
 by without seeing her. She had sunk so 
 deeply in the mud that she could not get out 
 alone, and what grieved her most was, that 
 her dear Bible on her back was being spoiled 
 by the mud. Her two friends came up, and 
 helped her out, and then they went on as fast 
 as they could till evening, to get out of the 
 way of the soldiers. Tired and hungry they 
 sat down to rest awhile, and then fearing that 
 their friends would be anxious about them, 
 they went on their journey in the dark. It is 
 a very different thing to travel in the dark in 
 Madagascar from what it is in England. 
 There are no nice, straight, broad roads, and 
 mile-stones, and sign-posts ; no gas-lights ; and 
 robbers, and fierce men are there in plenty to 
 frighten women. Once four men ran after these 
 poor hunted Christians, but they hid themselves 
 in the long grass and escaped. They reached 
 their friend's house, and found Rafaralahy and 
 Andrianilaina there. Next morning, before 
 dawn, they started again, and travelled ten 
 miles to the house of another Christian friend, 
 who was a great man in that district. 
 
 This kind friend had suffered much anxiety 
 about them for the last fortnight, knowing 
 
106 MORE NARROW ESCAPES. 
 
 that so many were seeking for them. When 
 he saw them safe and well, he burst into tears. 
 He fixed a tent in his manioc plantations 
 where the grass grew higher than the tent, 
 and took them plenty of food every day. 
 Here they remained in safety for three months. 
 Several of this good man's family became 
 pious at this time, and they and many of his 
 servants learned to read the Bible. The 
 Christians met in his house on the Sabbath. 
 Very dear must they have been to one another, 
 and very pleasant must those meetings have 
 been. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 MORE NARROW ESCAPES. 
 
 About this time Mr. Johns visited Tamatave. 
 He wished to see the Christians, and if possi- 
 ble, to lay some plan for their rescue. He 
 could not write to them, as he did not know 
 where they were hid. He therefore wrote 
 letters to the queen, to Rainiharo, and to seve- 
 ral of the officers, on purpose that his visit to 
 Tamatave might be talked about, and that the 
 Christians might hear of it. Rafaravavy and 
 
MORE NARROW ESCAPES. 107 
 
 her friends did hear the news, and so greatly 
 did they long to see their missionary, that they 
 were ready to run all risks to get to him. 
 The way lay through the capital, the very 
 heart of danger: — it was fifty miles to Tana- 
 narivo, and two hundred miles further to 
 Tamatave, but danger and difficulty could 
 not hinder them. 
 
 Rafaralahy was ill and could not go. An- 
 drianilaina, Sarah, and Rafaravavy set off to- 
 gether. Andrianilaina and Sarah went first 
 in white lamhas as if they were master and 
 mistress. Rafaravavy followed them as their 
 servant, dressed in common rojia cloth, and 
 with a bundle upon her head. So they went on 
 for three days. On the third day, as they 
 came within sight of the capital, two or three 
 slaves overtook them. They knew Rafara- 
 vavy, and one of them said, " You are the 
 sister of Razakamanana," which was the name 
 of Rafaravavy's brother. Then the slaves 
 turned off to the market. The Christians were 
 very much frightened, for they thought that 
 the slaves had gone to tell the people. One 
 of them did go and tell Rafaravavy's old 
 master, but he did not believe her. Perhaps 
 he thought that it could not be Rafaravavy, 
 
lOS MORE NARROW ESCAPES. 
 
 for that she could not be so bold as to venture 
 again to the place where she had three times 
 narrowly escaped death. However it might 
 be, the Christians safely reached their friends, 
 and Rafaravavy was hid in the house of one 
 friend, and Sarah in that of another. Mean- 
 while, Andrianilaina and a friend went on to 
 Tamatave, to ask Mr. Johns what they had 
 better do. 
 
 It was very difficult to hide Rafaravavy, as 
 almost every one knew her. One day, after 
 she had been hid for a fortnight, fifteen or 
 twenty men came to search the house, not for 
 her, but for some other purpose. They tried 
 to push open the door of the place where she 
 was, and found it difficuh to open. That was 
 because Rafaravavy was pushing hard on the 
 other side. The men saw that the master of 
 the house looked very uneasy, but they did 
 not suspect the real reason. They thought 
 that he had put his " ody " or charms there, 
 and they hinted this to him. He did not think 
 that he was obliged to correct their mistake, 
 and they went out for a minute to give him 
 time to put his charms away. Then he open- 
 ed the door, and Rafaravavy ran out at a door 
 on the other side of the house, and climbed 
 
MORE NARROW ESCAPES. 109 
 
 over a wall, and reached another friend's 
 house without being caught. In less than a 
 minute the men came back, and went to the 
 place where she had been hid. Several Chris- 
 tian friends stood near, trembling for her. 
 
 Andrianilaina and his friend reached Tama- 
 tave safely. Mr. Johns was very anxious 
 when he saw Andrianilaina, for he did not 
 know how to hide him. He sent for an 
 officer named Ramiandrahasina, and told him 
 his difficulties. This kind friend took an 
 empty house for Andrianilaina, and left his 
 nephew James and a trusty servant to take 
 care of him. He fixed a " kiady " or order 
 that no one should enter, over the door. Then 
 the friend who had travelled with Andriani- 
 laina made haste back to the capital to fetch 
 the other Christians. Mr. Johns sent them 
 money and directions how to act, and ex- 
 pressed the hope that there would be a ship to 
 take them all to Mauritius as soon as they 
 should arrive. Simeon, David, and Joseph, 
 had been obliged to leave the forest, and had 
 reached the capital just before this, so the 
 whole party resolved to set off together. 
 
 Rafaravavy wished much to see her nephew 
 Andrjanantoandro once more. He had been 
 10 
 
110 MORE NARROW ESCAPES. 
 
 in irons for six months, ever since the death 
 of Rafaralahy. She dressed herself hke a 
 slave, and went to him after dark. The 
 soldiers thought that she was a servant of one 
 of his friends who used to take rice to him. 
 He was asleep, and she did not dare to speak, 
 lest the soldiers should know her voice. She 
 pressed his hand, and left him, believing that 
 she should see him no more. In the morning 
 he heard of her visit, and was deeply affected. 
 
 RAEARAVAVY'S VISIT TO HER NEPHEW. 
 
 By James Edmeston, Esq. 
 How like an angel visitant by night, 
 
 Did she in silence mark the captive's sleep ; 
 To give with sad yet exquisite delight, 
 
 One parting pressure of the hand, and weep 
 
 Did not a gentle dream then speak her near ? 
 
 And sympathy of spirit shed a calm? 
 Some wondrous influence quiet every fear, 
 
 And breathe across the weary bosom, balm? 
 
 That single pressure, and that parting gaze, 
 The last perchance on earth's dark shadow plain, 
 
 Shall change to welcome ! breathed amidst the blaze 
 Of Heaven's bright glories, when they meet again. 
 
THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. Ill 
 
 XXII. 
 
 THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 
 
 It was late at night when Rafaravavy, Sarah, 
 David, Simeon, and Joseph, set out from the 
 capital. The prayers of the Christians who 
 remained followed them, and many tears 
 were shed at parting. Two friends went 
 with them as servants. One of these servants 
 was to go on before them, and if he saw any 
 enemies coming, he was to call out, " Fain- 
 gana leyiry," " Make haste." This did not 
 really mean, " make haste," but, " Get out of 
 the way as soon as you can." The other ser- 
 vant was to go behind, and if he saw any 
 following them, he was to call out, " Andraso- 
 kely," "Wait a little;" which was to mean, 
 " Go on as fast as possible." 
 
 In the morning, when about ten or twelv^e 
 miles from the capital, they met some people. 
 One of these people knew Joseph, and looked 
 after him. The Christians turned into the 
 forest, that the men might think they were 
 going that way, and when the men were out 
 of sight, they turned back into the high road. 
 As they drew near a village, they again turn- 
 
112 THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 
 
 ed out of the road, prepared some food, and 
 read Luke xviii. They took courage, espe- 
 cially from the twenty-seventh verse : " The 
 things which are impossible with men, are 
 possible with God." It seemed almost impos- 
 sible that they could go that long and danger- 
 ous journey without being caught, but they 
 knew that it was not impossible with God. 
 They went on in the evening by the light of a 
 lamp which a friend had given them. When it 
 was dark they divided, and passed through 
 the village, hiding their lamp in their cooking 
 vessels. 
 
 Beyond the village there was a very steep 
 hill to go down. The rain poured, and the 
 travellers slipped at every step, and were ob- 
 liged to hold by each others' hands. Then 
 they came to a hill just as steep and difficult 
 to go up as the other had been to go down. 
 They thought of Christian going up the Hill 
 Difficulty, and like him they pressed on for 
 life, till they reached the top. Then they had 
 to go down again, and as they went they saw 
 a light at a distance. They thought that per- 
 haps one of the queen's letter-carriers was 
 there, so they put out their light, and turned 
 out of the road. 
 
THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 113 
 
 It was midnight, and they lay down and 
 tried to sleep, but could not. They had no 
 fire or shelter. The rain poured in torrents, 
 and they were soaked through. They com- 
 forted each other with the thought of a world 
 *' where the wicked cease from troubling, and 
 where the weary are at rest." 
 
 About cock-crow, they went on their way. 
 They had much to fear from this day's jour- 
 ney. Two or three hundred soldiers were 
 going on before them to Tamatave. Many 
 of these soldiers knew them well, and the 
 Dekana of Rainiharo, and some of the officers 
 who had been in search of Rafaravavy, were 
 with them. The Christians had heard that 
 these soldiers were encamping about ten miles 
 off, and there was no way except through the 
 camp. They thought that it would be the 
 best plan to pass through them near the dawn 
 of day, because as it is colder then than at 
 any other time, the soldiers would be more 
 likely to be keeping closely in their tents. 
 They made haste on to get up to them in 
 time, reached the place, and to their joy, found 
 not a soldier there ! 
 
 About nine o'clock they stopped to take 
 some food. Presently they saw several men 
 10* 
 
114 THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 
 
 in white lambas coming towards them. They 
 turned out of the path, and the men followed 
 them, and an instant after they saw many 
 more turn out of the path to follow them too. 
 Now they felt sure that these people were 
 pursuing them. They hurried on to a hollow, 
 and hid among the bushes, and the men pass- 
 ed by. They had not gone on again far be- 
 fore the servant who went on first called out^ 
 " Make haste there," which meant " Turn 
 again into the wood." Thus they travelled 
 on till they came to the great Mangoro river. 
 
 This river is so full of crocodiles that it is 
 very dangerous to swim across it, and there 
 is only one canoe kept by government to take 
 people over. The boatmen had just taken 
 some soldiers over when the Christian party 
 came up, and thinking that they belonged to 
 the soldiers they took them over without ask- 
 ing any questions. 
 
 As the Christians drew near the village 
 where the soldiers really were, they turned 
 aside to find another path. It was night, and 
 they lost their way, and wandered about, 
 thinking of Christian's trouble when he had 
 lost his certificate. At last they found the 
 path, and went on till they came to some wide 
 
THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 115 
 
 and deep water, with only a high and narrow 
 plank across. Rafaravavy and Sarah lelt 
 afraid of venturing on the plank, and they 
 tried to find some other way round without 
 ffoins: over the water, but there was none. 
 They thought of Christian and Hopeful asking 
 the Shining Ones if there was no way to the 
 Celestial City but through the river. With 
 some trouble they got over in safety. Again 
 they lost their way, and tired and hungry, with 
 neither sun, nor moon, nor stars, nor guide, nor 
 compass, they lay down to watch for the 
 morning. They were too cold to sleep, and 
 so weary that they could scarcely move their 
 feet. At length morning broke in the east, and 
 told them that that was the way they were to 
 go. Then they thought of the star which 
 guided the wise men to the infant Saviour. 
 They travelled several hours, and then sat 
 down to rest, and to join in prayer and praise. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE CONTINUED. 
 
 The travellers had now to go through the 
 great forest, where it would not be so easy to 
 
116 THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 
 
 turn quickly out of the way to hide. They 
 dressed Sarah Hke an officer's wife, that it 
 might seem as if she were going to meet her 
 husband on the coast, and Rafaravavy was 
 dressed as her servant, with a straw hat and 
 a bundle on her head to hide part of her face. 
 Thus they went on for four days. Once a 
 party of soldiers passed near them. Another 
 time they met several persons whom they 
 knew, and they covered their faces as much 
 as they could. They heard the persons whom 
 they met say, " These people are ill of the 
 small-pox; that is why they cover their 
 faces." Another time they met a party of 
 traders, who knew Simeon and saluted him. 
 When the traders had passed, one of the ser- 
 vants lagged behind and listened to what they 
 were saying. One of them said, " That is 
 Andrianomanana (Simeon) who was sold to 
 Rainiharo on account of his religion. Where 
 can he be going now?' The other said, 
 " Most likely Rainiharo has sent him to sell 
 goods on the coast." 
 
 A little further on two men overtook the 
 Christians, and asked questions as if they sus- 
 pected them. The Christians sat down as if 
 tired, hoping to get rid of them, and the men 
 
THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 117 
 
 sat down too. They turned aside to a village 
 to rest for the night, and the men turned also. 
 Then they said that they had altered their 
 minds, and should go on to the next village, 
 and presently they sav^ the men following 
 them. These men kept dodging them, and 
 frightening them for two or three days. 
 
 The fifth night of their journey the party 
 rested in a village. The next morning Rafa- 
 ravavy was near being caught by a party of 
 soldiers: she had only just time to turn out of 
 the way. Another party of soldiers passed 
 by, and did not observe the wanderers. 
 
 That night (the 6th) they came to a village 
 where was a dekana, who knew them well, 
 and they could find no other w^ay than going 
 through the village. A number of the people 
 were sitting out in the middle, and the two 
 troublesome men and another man who knew 
 Rafaravavy were among them. The Chris- 
 tians tried to pass on, but the people cried out, 
 " Where are you going so dark a night as 
 this ? Why not sleep in the village as others 
 do ]" They answered, " We intended to go 
 forward to the village before us." " Is there 
 no food with us 1" said the people. " Stop 
 here as other people do." So the Christians 
 
118 THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 
 
 were obliged to stop, lest it should seem as ii 
 they were afraid. They turned into a house, 
 and it happened to be the very next to the 
 one in which the dekana lived. Rafaravavy 
 lay down and covered herself with a lamba 
 as if she did not feel well. The two men 
 came in and left their packages under the care 
 of the Christians, and went out. The friends 
 thought that they had gone to fetch the 
 soldiers to take them up, and they prayed ear- 
 nestly to God that he would shut the mouths 
 of these men. Soon the men fetched away 
 their packages, and went to another house. 
 This was the sixth night. 
 
 At cock-crow, the Christians went on their 
 way again as fast as possible. They sat 
 down to take some rice. The two men came 
 up and sat down too, but would not take any 
 rice with them, which looked the more suspi- 
 cious. The men went on first and placed a 
 large leaf in the road. The friends could not 
 tell what that was for ; they thought that it 
 might be a signal to some of their enemies to 
 follow them, so they threw the leaf away. 
 
 In the evening they came to a village which 
 was almost empty, the people having gone to 
 do work for government. The travellers 
 
THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 119 
 
 went into an empty house, and for the first 
 night since leaving the capital they slept in 
 peace. How sweet to them were these few 
 hours of safety and repose ! They called the 
 house " The Porter's Lodge." In the morn- 
 ing, being very tired with so many days' 
 walking, they tried to get a canoe to take 
 them the rest of the way by w-ater, but they 
 had not enough money, and were obliged to 
 go on by land. That evening they saw the 
 two men again, and waited till they had pass- 
 ed. They went on along the beach that night 
 to keep out of the way of the government 
 letter-carriers. They rested a little in the 
 morning, and journeyed on through the day. 
 At dark they rested again, and started long 
 before daybreak. 
 
 They were now drawing near the end of 
 their journey. Their feet were so swollen 
 that they could scarcely move, and some 
 could not keep up with the rest. The risk of 
 being taken was greater at every step. They 
 sat down in the jungle, and sent on the two 
 servants to their friends at Tamatave. Their 
 rice was gone, and they were a day and a 
 night quite without food. They then recol- 
 lected some stale fat which they had brought 
 
120 THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 
 
 with them for their lamp, and they boiled it 
 and ate it with thankfulness. Next morning 
 the servants came back with many kind words 
 of encouragement from their friend at Tama- 
 tave. His orders were, " Go back and take 
 them to such a place, and leave them there ; 
 then come and tell me, and I will take my 
 canoe and carry them across the lake after 
 dark. This is a dangerous place ; there are 
 many soldiers here guarding every spot. Tell 
 them to take courage, and I will do all I can 
 for them, and as long as I am safe they will 
 be safe." The servants brought some rice, 
 of which the party were very glad, as they 
 had now been nearly three days without any- 
 thing but the fat to eat. 
 
 They went to the meeting-place at sunset; 
 a man in a canoe came up : they thought it 
 was the canoe for them, and in their joy had 
 nearly discovered themselves. Soon after the 
 right canoe came, and they were safely taken 
 to their friend's house. O how joyful and 
 grateful they felt when they found themselves 
 there ! They read John xvi., and even ven- 
 tured to sing a hymn in a low tone. Ramian- 
 drahasina told them of the ship which was to 
 come in ten days. He gave them food, and 
 
THE JOTTENEY TO TAMATAVE. 121 
 
 left his nephew James with them to wait upon 
 them, and to take care of them. 
 
 They had yet two more narrow escapes. 
 One night Ramiandrahasina sent a person to 
 fetch something from the house where they 
 were. The man misunderstood, and thought 
 that he was to fetch them. They went down 
 close to the port. A heavy shower of rain 
 came on just at the time, and drove the guards 
 into the guard-house. If it had not been for 
 this shower of rain, the Christians must have 
 been caught. Ramiandrahasina was very 
 much frightened when they reached his house. 
 He had no place to hide them in, and he was 
 obliged to take them back again. He told 
 them not to speak, and that he would answer 
 for them. As they went back, the guards 
 came round them, and asked them whither 
 they w^ere going. Ramiandrahasina answer- 
 ed that " he and his friends were going to his 
 country-house on business." As he was a 
 great man, they let him and the party pass, 
 and they safely reached their resting-place. 
 
 Mr. Johns had been at Tamatave, and made 
 arrangement for the Christians to come there. 
 Then to avoid creating suspicion by remain- 
 ing too long, he sailed for the Mauritius, and 
 11 
 
122 THE JOURNEY TO T AM AT AVE. 
 
 made an agreement with a captain there to 
 bring away the refugees from Madagascar, 
 and some kind Christian friends in Mauritius 
 helped to pay the money for their passage. 
 
 In a few days the ship arrived. Ramian- 
 drahasina sent the refugees word to cut their 
 hair, and to go and wait for him in the jungle. 
 He and some other friends came to them and 
 brought them each a suit of sailors' clothes 
 to put on. Then one of their friends went to 
 the guards to amuse them with some tales, 
 while the others took the Christians privately 
 on board. The ship weighed anchor, and as 
 they sailed away the captain said to them in 
 Malagasy "Efa Kabary," which means, 
 " The business is over," " All is safe." Then 
 they asked his leave to join in a song of 
 praise. How they felt, dear young friends, I 
 leave you to imagine ; I cannot attempt to tell 
 you. 
 
 THE EMBARKATION OF THE REFUGEES. 
 
 Hark ! o'er the waves a sound 
 
 Of hallowed minstrelsy, 
 Waking the slumbering echoes round 
 
 With its deep melody, 
 Now loudly pealing o'er the seas, 
 Nov7 softly dying on the breeze. 
 
THE JOURNEY TO TAMATAVE. 123 
 
 Whence is that music's tone? 
 
 See ye across the tide, 
 While brightly gleams the morning sun, 
 
 A stately vessel glide ? 
 She robs the spoiler of his prey, 
 She bears the rescued ones away 
 
 Wandering in deserts wild, 
 
 Or on the mountain's crest, 
 ' Mid caves where sun-light never smiled, 
 
 Tormented and oppressed,* 
 Yet did faith's calm and stedfast light 
 Burn brightly through the darksome night. 
 
 And now that night grows pale, 
 
 ' Tis freedom's blessed day ; 
 Hark ! they are singing as they sail. 
 
 O'er the blue waves away ; 
 Weary and faint, yet " safe" they raise, 
 Unfeanng now, their song of praise ! 
 
 But, who their thoughts may know ? 
 
 Earth still hath tender ties. 
 And tears of mingled joy and woe 
 
 May well bedim their eyes. 
 Who mourn the martyrs' cruel death, 
 Yet share their calm unswerving faith ; 
 Who leave their own beloved land, 
 Suffering, yet in a Father's hand. 
 
 E. M. I. 
 Manchester. 
 
 Heb. xi. 37, 38. 
 
124 A WELCOME IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 A WELCOME IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 The exiles reached Port Louis in Mauritius, 
 October 14th, 1838, and were most kindly re- 
 ceived by the Christian people in that island. 
 Ramiandrahasina and James arrived there in 
 November. They were now eight in number, 
 and on the 2nd of December, six of them set 
 sail for South Africa on their way to England. 
 Rafaravavy, Sarah, Simeon, David, Joseph, 
 James and Mr. Johns, made up the party. 
 Andrianilaina had thought of a plan for re- 
 scuing his persecuted brethren, and chose to 
 be left behind. He wished Sarah his wife to 
 go with Rafaravavy to England, that she 
 might get useful knowledge there, and teach 
 him when she came back. Ramiandrahasina 
 remained with Mr. Baker. 
 
 At Algoa Bay, the Christians saw Mr. and 
 Mrs. Chick, and Mr. Kitching, who had lived 
 a long time in Madagascar. At Port Eliza- 
 beth, the Hottentot Christians showed them 
 much kindness. The Hottentots generally 
 speak the Dutch language, though it is not 
 their own original language. They found a 
 
A WELCOME IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 125 
 
 man who could speak both Dutch and iMala- 
 gasy, and tried to talk tp their visiters through 
 him as an interpreter, but he felt no interest 
 in religious subjects, and could not explain 
 their feelings. Then they found out another 
 way to converse with each other. It was 
 through their Bibles. They each turned to 
 the same passage in the Dutch and Malagasy 
 Bibles, Gen. xi. 1st to 7th verse, which tells 
 of the confusion of languages at Babel. Then 
 the Hottentots begged their interpreter to say 
 for them, how much they were grieved that 
 they could not converse with their Malagasy 
 friends, for their hearts were full of love to 
 them. " Do not fear," said they, " you are 
 now among friends ! Our fathers were once 
 cruel and savage, murdering strangers, and 
 devouring them ; but God has had compassion 
 on us, and has sent us missionaries who have 
 taught us concerning Jesus Christ." They 
 asked their friends to read Eph. ii. 2 — 5. 
 " Among whom we all had our conversation 
 in times past." &c. The Malagasy were de- 
 lighted, and in their turn pointed to the 14th 
 and 15th verses, " For he is our peace, who 
 hath made both one, and hath broken down 
 the middle wall of partition;" &c., and to 
 11* 
 
126 A WELCOME IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 Gal. iii. 28th, " Ye are all one in Christ 
 Jesus." 
 
 Another time the Hottentots came and 
 pointed to John xvi. 33. " In the world ye 
 shall have tribulation," &c., also to 2 Tim. iii. 
 12 ; Acts xiv. 22 ; and the Malagasy answered 
 by turning to Rom. viii. 35 to 39. " Who 
 shall separate us from the love of Christ? 
 Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution I" 
 &c. 
 
 When these dear though newly found 
 friends were about to part, they joined in sing- 
 ing a hymn. They could not sing the same 
 hymn because their languages were different, 
 but the tune was the same. The poor Hot- 
 tentots made a little collection among them- 
 selves to help in paying the expenses of the 
 voyage to England. They went down to- 
 gether to the beach, and while they waited for 
 the boat which was to take the refugees to 
 the ship, they knelt and commended each 
 other to God, and parted with warm affection 
 and with many tears. 
 
A WELCOME IN SOUTH AFRICA. 127 
 
 THE MEETING OF THE HOTTENTOTS AND 
 THE MALAGASY. 
 
 Though on the wide world rests the curse by God 
 spoken, 
 
 "When He scattered the nations by Babel's proud wall, 
 One bright bond of union remaineth unbroken, 
 
 The language of Canaan speaks sweetly to all. 
 
 From the isles on whose strand rolls the dark Southern 
 Ocean, 
 
 The strangers sought refuge on Africa's shore ; 
 And the soft tones of love and the heart's deep devotion, 
 
 Blend sweetly in tones which ne'er mingled before. 
 
 All one in Christ Jesus, one home they are seeking, 
 And gladly the pilgrims converse by the way ; 
 
 The children of God, — of His love they are speaking. 
 And " the wall of partition " is broken away. 
 
 How precious that volume of blest inspiration. 
 Which teaches the strangers the language of love ! 
 
 Oh ! wide let us spread it, till each distant nation 
 On earth learn the tones which are spoken above. 
 
 E. M. I. 
 J^Ianchester. 
 
 The refugees next touched at the Cape, and 
 were as kindly welcomed there as at other 
 places. There, too, they saw Mr. Cameron, 
 another missionary artisan, from Madagascar. 
 A few days before they left. Dr. Philip spent 
 an afternoon with them, and gave them much 
 
128 A WELCOME IN ENGLAND. 
 
 good advice. Perhaps he feared that from so 
 much kindness and attention, their hearts 
 might be lifted up, and that they might grow 
 proud and self-indulgent. They were very 
 thankful for his kind advice ; and when they 
 reached their lodgings, they wrote down all 
 that they could remember, and each kept a 
 copy, and read it often. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 A WELCOME IN ENGLAND. 
 
 In May 1839, the Malagasy Christians reach- 
 ed England. A meeting was held in Exeter- 
 hall, on Tuesday, the 4th of June, to bid them 
 welcome to this happy land. The hall was 
 crowded. The six refugees were in front of 
 the platform, in their white lambas, and they 
 rose and answered questions put to them in 
 their own language by Mr. Freeman. They 
 were afterwards taken, one or two at a time, 
 to many other meetings, in different parts 
 of England, as well as in Scotland and 
 Wales. They were very much surprised with 
 all that they saw, and wished very much that 
 iheir own dear country might become as 
 
A WELCOME IN ENGLAND. 129 
 
 happy as England. They were very grate- 
 ful for all the kindness shown to them ; and 
 before they could say so in words, would ex- 
 press their thanks with a bright smile. They 
 did not seem at all puffed up by the attentions 
 paid to them. They believed that the Chris- 
 tians of England loved them for the sake of 
 Jesus ; not for any great merit in themselves ; 
 so it did not make them proud. 
 
 Perhaps you will suppose that they w^ere 
 now perfectly happy, but think how many sad 
 and anxious thoughts must at times have filled 
 their minds about their dear suffering friends 
 in Madagascar. There Simeon and David 
 and Joseph had left their wives, and Rafara- 
 vavy her husband and her daughter. Parents, 
 and brothers and sisters, too, were there, and 
 friends as dear to them as these for Jesus' 
 sake. How anxiously they must have looked 
 for letters ; and yet, with what a trembling 
 hand they must have opened them, fearing to 
 find sad news therein. Their friends at Wal- 
 thamstow purchased a printing-press for their 
 use, and they soon employed it to print a letter 
 to their friends in Madagascar, that they 
 might send copies to many. The letter was 
 quite their own writing. You shall see a 
 
130 A WELCOME IN ENGLAND. 
 
 little of what they say. After telling how 
 many friends they have found in England, and 
 what a favoured land England is, they say, 
 " Although we are thus happy, in the enjoy- 
 ment of many mercies in this land, yet our 
 hearts are full of grief and sighing, when we 
 remember you, with whom we often united in 
 prayer and praise, and who are still enduring 
 persecution. Dear friends, we cannot forget 
 you : we are partakers of your sorrows, and 
 sympathize with you in your afflictions. 
 When we heard of your enduring cruel 
 scourgings, we felt as if we also had been 
 scourged with you. When we heard of your 
 being subjected to hard and cruel labour, we 
 felt as if we were under your burdens. When 
 we heard of your being compelled to leave 
 your houses, and, without any settled abode, 
 wandering about in the wilderness, hiding 
 yourselves in dens and caves of the earth, 
 exposed to the heat of the sun by day, and 
 the cold air of the night, we felt as if we were 
 with you in all your journeys, and taking a 
 part in all your troubles." 
 
 Then they go on to tell their friends, that 
 they had sometimes spent a whole day in fast- 
 ing and prayer on their behalf, and particu- 
 
A WELCOME IN ENGLAND. 131 
 
 larly for the queen, that God would change 
 her heart. They say, " we feel no resentment, 
 only pity. We cry to God, if it be his will to 
 cause us and our persecutors to inherit to- 
 gether eternal life, as Saul and Stephen are 
 now in heaven." 
 
 Then they add many words of encourage- 
 ment. " Be strong, beloved friends, and do 
 not be discouraged ; these afflictions will not 
 last long ; better days are at hand. If you 
 should not be delivered from them while you 
 continue in this world, in Heaven you will bo 
 free from them all. And in all your wander- 
 ings and afflictions be not discouraged, for 
 God is the Rock of ages ; upon him you can 
 stand firm ; he is a pillar, on him you can 
 lean without fear ; he is a shield and a strong- 
 hold for you, and his word is a lamp to your 
 feet ; wait for him and trust in him, and he 
 will uphold you with the right hand of his 
 righteousness. He shall cover you with his 
 feathers, and under his wings shall you trust. 
 He will gather you as a hen gathereth her 
 chickens under her wings ; he will increase 
 your strength, and will guide you even to 
 death." 
 
 Rafaravavy and Sarah remained with jNIrs. 
 
132 A WELCOME IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Johns, and had lessons every day. David 
 was placed w^ith a minister, Joseph went to 
 school at Walthamstow, and James to the 
 school in the Borough-road, to learn to be 
 teachers to their countrymen. These three 
 young men learned to speak English very 
 well before they left England. At first, as 
 you may suppose, they sometimes made 
 rather curious mistakes. You shall hear of 
 one that Joseph made. When he had only 
 been a short time in England, he went to 
 Bristol to attend some meetings, and was 
 taken ill of small-pox. The good woman who 
 nursed him wished to give him something to 
 remember her, and she offered him the only 
 thing she had that was likely to be useful to 
 him — a steel pen, Joseph had learned the 
 word steal, and when the good woman said, 
 " a steel pen," he thought from the sound that 
 it was the same word, and that she had stolen 
 the pen. He shook his head and drew back 
 quite shocked, and nurse could not persuade 
 him to take it. As she could not imagine why 
 he would not accept her present, she felt very 
 much hurt. No missionary was by to ex- 
 plain, and it was not till months after that 
 Joseph found out his mistake. It was a joke 
 
MORE MARTYRS IN MADAGASCAR. 133 
 
 against him for some time. I do not know 
 whether poor nurse heard the explanation. If 
 not, perhaps she may see it in this Uttle book. 
 Simeon was very anxious about his wife, 
 whom he had left in Madagascar. What he 
 had himself suffered, with the thought of what 
 his dear friends were suffering still, was quite 
 too much for him, and his spirits sank. Mr. 
 Johns left England, August 16, 1840, to try 
 to rescue some more of the Christians, and he 
 took Simeon with him to Mauritius, hoping 
 that the change would do him good. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 MORE MARTYRS IN MADAGASCAR. 
 
 You will wish to hear a little of what was 
 passing in Madagascar all this while. 
 
 A Christian woman, of the name of Rava- 
 hiny, was taken up at the time of Rafaralahy's 
 martyrdom, and may be called the third 
 martyr of Madagascar. Her husband sepa- 
 rated from her, her father shut his door against 
 her, she was sold into slavery, put to the 
 ordeal, and died. 
 
 About the time that the refugees sailed from 
 12 
 
134 MORE MARTYRS IN MADAGASCAR. 
 
 Tamatave, three more women were accused 
 of meeting for prayer. These were Raza- 
 naka, the wife of Simeon; Raminahy, the 
 •wife of David ; and Ratsaramiarana. Rami- 
 nahy and Razanaka escaped to a desert part. 
 Ratsaramiarana was scourged till she swoon- 
 ed, to make her tell the names of her com- 
 panions, which she still nobly refused to do. 
 She was sold into slavery, and ordered to take 
 the tangena, but contrived to escape. 
 
 In 1840, persecution broke out again, and 
 sixteen more Christians, who had been hiding 
 themselves for nearly two years, were caught 
 as they were on their way to Tamatave, try- 
 ing to escape to Mauritius. For three days 
 they were brought before the judge and ques- 
 tioned. On the third day, they resolved boldly 
 to speak the whole truth; and they said, 
 *' Since you ask us again and again, we will 
 tell you. We are not banditti nor murderers 
 — we are praying people ; and if this make us 
 guilty in the kingdom of the queen, we submit 
 to suffer." " Is this, then," said the examiner, 
 " your final reply, whether for life or death?" 
 <' It is our final reply," said the Christians, 
 " whether for life or death." " Who sent you 
 from Tananarive ?" said the examiner. " No 
 
Sarah's illness and death. J 35 
 
 one," they answered, " we went forth of our 
 own free will." 
 
 After the Christians had thus openly con- 
 fessed Christ, they were filled with peace and 
 joy. They said to one another, " Now we 
 are like Christian, and Faithful, when they 
 were led to the city of Vanity Fair." Nine 
 of them were led out and speared to death. 
 Paul and his wife, and Joshua and his wife 
 w^ere among them ; also David's wife Rami- 
 nahy, who had escaped once, and had now 
 been taken up again. How she must have 
 longed to see her dear husband once more, 
 and how he must have felt when the 
 news reached him of her death! Simeon's 
 wife also died before he reached Mauritius, 
 but not by martyrdom. She had been ill a 
 
 long time. 
 
 The nine Christians who were speared, 
 were some of those whom Mr. Johns had 
 hoped to rescue. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 SARAH'S ILLNESS AND DEATH. 
 
 Sarah's health had been declining for some 
 time before Mr. Johns and Simeon left Eng- 
 
136 Sarah's illness and death. 
 
 land, and there were thoughts of sending her 
 also to Mauritius, but before the time came 
 she was too ill to be moved, and she saw An- 
 drianilaina no more. Her mind was in per- 
 fect peace — in simple repose upon her Savi- 
 our's love, and she had no fear of death. She 
 loved the Scriptures and prayer. Before her 
 illness, she would sometimes join with Rafa- 
 ravavy in spending a whole day in their own 
 room, in prayer for their country. A few 
 weeks before she died, she heard of the 
 martyrdom of her friends in Madagascar, and 
 she spoke with much delight of her hope of 
 soon meeting them in glory. She wept much 
 to think what Mr. Johns's disappointment 
 would be when he reached Madagascar, and 
 found that he was too late. She spoke of 
 her husband also. A few days before her 
 death, she tried to thank the friends who had 
 been kind to her in her illness. When faint- 
 ing in death, she said in Malagasy, " Jesus, 
 Jesus, thou art now taking me." Her breath- 
 ing became shorter and shorter; she turned 
 her head and smiled on a friend who was 
 kindly watching her, and gently " fell asleep." 
 She died at Walthamstow, on the 2C)th of 
 
LETTER FROM SHAGDUR. 137 
 
 December 1840, being twenty-two years of 
 age. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 LETTER FROM SHAGDUR. 
 
 The four remaining Christians could not re- 
 turn to Madagascar, for the punishment for 
 only leaving the country, without the queen's 
 leave, was to be burnt alive. But there are a 
 great many Malagasy living in Mauritius, 
 and it was thought that the Christians could 
 be very useful as teachers among them, till 
 there should be some change in Madagascar. 
 They, therefore, prepared to leave England 
 with Mrs. Johns in 1841. I must tell you of 
 a letter that came to them before they left. 
 
 This letter was not from Madagascar, nor 
 from any country which the Malagasy had 
 visited, nor from any person whom they had 
 ever seen. It came from a country far dis- 
 tant both from England and from Madagas- 
 car, where the people speak a strange lan- 
 guage and are for the most part in heathen 
 darkness. Thither missionaries have carried 
 the gospel, and there, as in Madagascar, a 
 12* 
 
138 LETTER FROM SHAGDUR. 
 
 little band of Christians have gathered, and 
 from them as from the Christians of Mada- 
 gascar, the missionaries have been driven 
 av^ray. The name of that country is Siberia, 
 and the people are Mongol-Buriats. The 
 country is cold, but the hearts of the Chris- 
 tians there are as warm as are the hearts of 
 those who come from the sunny isle of Mada- 
 gascar. These are some of the words of 
 Shagdur, the Siberian convert, to the Mala- 
 gasy refugees : — 
 
 " Dearly beloved Friends, and Brethren 
 IN our Lord Jesus Christ, — I send you a salu- 
 tation of peace. I am a Mongol-Buriat of 
 the Chorina tribe, living in Siberia, towards 
 the rising of the sun ; and my dwelling is on 
 the south side of the Ona river which flows 
 Westward, close by the house of our mission- 
 ary, Mr. Swan. 
 
 " I have heard from my teachers concern- 
 ing you, beloved ones, and of your having 
 gone to reside in England. I have heard 
 also about your queen having put grievous 
 hindrances in the way of Christ's precious 
 and joy-giving salvation. It was painful for 
 me to hear of my dear brethren in the faith 
 
LETTER FROM SHAGDUR. 139 
 
 of Christ's blessed name suffering trouble. 
 We, with our teachers Mr. Swan and j\Ir. 
 Stallybrass, pray for you. One Sabbath even- 
 ing, Mr. and Mrs. Swan told us all about you; 
 and more than that they showed us your por- 
 traits in a book, and knowing your circum- 
 stances, I wished to write to you and to say 
 * Mender anoz' (health and peace) great health 
 and peace to you all. Is not this our Lord's 
 command, ' Love one another V Although 
 "we are far scattered, is not the Lord our God 
 always near us, and watching over us ? 
 
 " Ah ! beloved ones, at the time of my writ- 
 ing this letter I am in great trouble. I will 
 tell you of it. It is now Thursday. Next Sab- 
 bath will be our last day. I cannot write at 
 large, but the holy work of God is here 
 brought to an end. It is very grievous. 
 Christ's dear word was preached to us every 
 day. There was daily prayer, and there were 
 boys and girls at school. God's holy word 
 was translated and printed and distributed to 
 many people, and I also went about distribu- 
 ting the books to many of my brethren, and 
 conversed with them. But our joy and de- 
 light are ended ; the missionaries with their 
 families are all about to leave us, and I ai i 
 
140 LETTER FROM SHAGDUR. 
 
 my few friends are to be forsaken in this 
 great and frightful valley of destruction. Ah! 
 you believers in Christ have experienced v^hat 
 it is to see your dear missionaries who had 
 come to reside in your country, returning to 
 their native land. — Dear friends, we being 
 fellow sufferers, let us pray for each other in 
 the presence of God our Comforter. When 
 the heart and soul trust in God there is peace, 
 and yet to our weak flesh, separations are 
 very painful, very heavy. Ah! there is no 
 famine to be compared to a famine of the 
 word, yet great is his mercy, and all power 
 over heaven and earth being given to Christ, 
 nothing can happen without his permission. 
 May the shut door in your country, as well as 
 in ours, be soon opened." 
 
 " I would write a word about the false reli- 
 gion of this country. Our people say there 
 are gods without number; they say too that 
 let men's sins be very many, and let them die 
 in their sins, a lama (a priest) can forgive and 
 cleanse away their sins. In such vanity and 
 darkness I once was, but the mercy of God re- 
 scued me, opened my wicked heart, and show- 
 ed me the grace of Christ. God's grace, and 
 Christ's merciful love are wonderful, deep, 
 
ANSWER OF THE REFUGEES. 141 
 
 great. Ah! I was dead, but am alive, was 
 lost and am found. When I think of this, I 
 can only wonder. Ah ! if we few sheep have 
 not shepherds, we shall be like forsaken ones, 
 and mourn, but we trust God will keep us, 
 and show us what is right. 
 
 « My writing time is ended, and I must 
 stop. Farewell. Great peace to you! 
 " Your well-wisher, 
 
 " Shagdur, son of Kenat. 
 
 ^'January 1841." 
 
 This letter had to be twice translated, first 
 by Mr. Swan, into English, and then by Mr. 
 Freeman, into Malagasy. The refugees wrote 
 an answer to it, which again had to be trans- 
 lated into English, and then into the language 
 of the Buriats. This is part of their answer:— 
 
 "Beloved Friends,— We have received 
 your letter conveyed to us by the Rev. Mr. 
 Swan, and we rejoiced when we heard it 
 read to us in English, and again when we 
 heard it in our language, the Malagasy. We 
 are delighted to find that there are believers 
 in Christ in Siberia, who sympathize with us; 
 
142 ANSWER OF THE REFUGEES. 
 
 and we bless God, who has regenerated your 
 hearts and ours. 
 
 "We thank you for the kind salutations 
 you have sent us respecting our safe and 
 happy arrival in England — a land that God 
 preserves and watches over, that it may be 
 for the protection of all who are distressed. 
 We have been exceedingly grieved, dear 
 friends, to hear of your heavy afflictions. We 
 were ready to say as David formerly did, 
 * Deep calleth unto deep,' for so it seemed in 
 relation to our mutual afflictions, yours as to 
 your friends, and ours as to our friends. Yes, 
 beloved friends, our hearts were deeply affect- 
 ed when we heard of your painful separation 
 from your Christian teachers. It brought to 
 our recollection the day when we separated 
 from our missionaries also, for that was in- 
 deed a dark day to us when the messengers 
 of God left us. Nevertheless, we took confi- 
 dence from the words of Jesus to his disciples : 
 If I go not away, the Comforter will not 
 come unto you, but if I depart, I will send 
 him unto you.' That promise we turned into 
 prayer, and it strengthened our hearts, and 
 through his compassion we obtained strength 
 equal to the day of our trial, and the Comfort- 
 
ANSWER OF THE REFUGEES. 143 
 
 ter, the Holy Spirit, has led us into the truth 
 to follow it ; and many have continued sted- 
 fast to the end, and have resisted even unto 
 the shedding of blood, as it has been with 
 you. 
 
 " We would say to you, beloved friends, 
 under your present trials, be strong in your 
 prayers to God, and trust him for ever, for ho 
 is a Saviour at hand in the day of affliction, 
 and he knows them that put their trust in him. 
 He will never leave you nor forsake you, for 
 he said to his disciples, * Lo, I am with you 
 alway, even unto the end of the world ;' and 
 we trust that he will be with you, for his love 
 does not change towards them that put their 
 trust in him. 
 
 " We cannot write at any great length to 
 you, beloved friends, for the time for us to 
 leave England for the Mauritius is near at 
 hand, for we are preparing our packages, and 
 
 have only a few days left. It may be, we 
 
 shall never have the opportunity of meeting 
 in this world, yet we hope for a better meet- 
 ing with you when Jesus shall come to gather 
 in his elect from the four corners of the earth; 
 then shall we meet when Jesus shall say, 
 * Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 
144 ANSWER OP THE REFUGEES. 
 
 kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
 tion of the world.' And then shall we be 
 able to converse together on all the sufferings 
 which befell us while we were yet on earth. 
 God shall wipe away all tears from our faces, 
 and shall turn our grief into joy, for, says the 
 Saviour, * In the world ye shall have tribula- 
 tion,' as if he would say, there is none in hea- 
 ven, * but I have overcome the world.' 
 
 "May the God of love and peace be with 
 vour spirit, beloved friends. Farewell ! Say — 
 
 "Mary Rafaravavy. 
 
 "Joseph Rasoamaka. 
 
 "David Ratsarahomba. 
 
 "James Andrianisa. 
 " Walihamstow, October 1841." 
 
 How beautiful is that principle of Christian 
 love which can draw together hearts by na- 
 ture so widely separated. How sweet will 
 be their communion in heaven where the 
 infirmities of earth will be unknown, where 
 distance and persecution shall never separate 
 them, and they shall for ever rejoice in the 
 presence of their God and Saviour ! 
 
DEPARTURE OF THE REFUGEES. 145 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 DEPARTURE OF THE REFUGEES, AND LETTERS FROM 
 MADAGASCAR. 
 
 On the 5th of October, a public service was 
 held in London, to bid the Christians farewell. 
 The three young men spoke in our lan- 
 guage. They returned thanks for the many 
 kindnesses they had received in England, and 
 begged that English Christians would pray 
 earnestly for Madagascar, for their queen, 
 and for them. Rafaravavy answered ques- 
 tions in her own language, and Mr. Freeman 
 interpreted. On Tuesday, October 12, the 
 four refugees, Rafaravavy, Joseph, David, and 
 James, with Mrs. Johns, embarked for Mauri- 
 tius. A large party of Christian friends ac- 
 companied them to the ship. 
 
 A letter, written by Mr. Baker, the mission- 
 ary printer in Mauritius, dated August 1841, 
 mentions that two hundred Christians in Ma- 
 dagascar were then wandering from moun- 
 tain to mountain in search of food, and to es- 
 cape their persecutors. The queen had given 
 orders that wherever they were found they 
 should immediately be put to death ; that a 
 13 
 
146 , LETTERS FROM MADAGASCAR. 
 
 hole should be dug in the ground, and that 
 they should be put in head foremost, and boil- 
 ing water poured over them to destroy them. 
 Mr. Baker also sent over two letters from 
 those at the capital. Here is an extract from 
 one, to a friend on the coast of Madagascar, 
 dated 
 
 *^Tananarivo, June 25, 1841. 
 
 " Our salutations to you, say the little flock 
 in Madagascar. Through the blessing of 
 God on us, we are yet alive, and do not for- 
 get you, and all our friends. Affliction greatly 
 increases. Executions, miseries, and ordeals 
 throughout the country increase, so that three 
 thousand persons have lately taken the tan- 
 gena in Vonizongo, by order of the sovereign 
 and the officers, and at other places it has 
 been the same. The wretchedness of the 
 people is unutterable." 
 
 They then mention, that the bearer of the 
 letter may be safely trusted with messages, and 
 add, " Tell him what you advise us to do. Do 
 rescue us, beloved father, if possible. If God 
 be not our defence, we are dead men ; we 
 are as a city set on a hill, that cannot be hid. 
 
 " Our government service continues to be 
 excessively severe. When the children of 
 
LETTERS FROM MADAGASCAR. 147 
 
 Israel served under Pharaoh, peihaps they 
 gained some httle respite, at any rate by night; 
 but ours is incessant labour ; we must work 
 both day and night" 
 
 Here is part of a second letter, to the same 
 friend, written about the same time by four 
 other Christians : 
 
 " To you, beloved friend, health and happi- 
 ness. We have received your letter, and the 
 various things sent with it, cloth, soap, and 
 salt. May God bless you for the compassion 
 you have shown to the suffering and afflicted 
 people of God. We have, indeed, in you a 
 friend. It is not in our power to repay you. 
 May He bless you, and all that is yours. 
 
 "You desire us to come to you; that is 
 good ; but, as yet, there is too much public 
 business on the road to permit the attempt. 
 Many are engaged, going and returning, in 
 conveying timber from the forest, for building 
 houses for the queen. The path is therefore, 
 dear friend, too narrow as yet; but, through 
 the blessing of God, we do hope to meet you. 
 
 " You exhort us to take courage, and not 
 to be cast down. We accept your exhorta- 
 tion, and we take all confidence, and rejoice; 
 and you further ask us, if there is any thing 
 
\14B LETTERS FROM MADAGASCAR. 
 
 we want ; adding, that we should write and 
 tell you. Now there is one point on which 
 we are much afflicted — our want of Bibles. 
 We can conceal them, though there are many 
 enemies. Those we possess are quite worn out. 
 
 " And with regard to the means of our sup- 
 port, it may be said we have and we have 
 not. All our property was taken from us be- 
 fore we were reduced to slavery. However, 
 this is the word of the Lord, ' Consider the 
 ravens ; they sow not, they reap not, yet God 
 feedeth them ;' and just so, beloved friend, the 
 Lord has pity on us ! 
 
 " We have been in very great affliction and 
 danger, but God has mercifully preserved us 
 hitherto. Salutations to all the congrega- 
 tion with you, from the little flock scattered, 
 for the shepherds are gone." 
 
 Mrs. Johns and her four companions reach- 
 ed Mauritius on the 22nd of January 1842. 
 Mr. Johns made several little voyages to dif- 
 ferent parts on the coast of Madagascar. He 
 wished, if possible, to succour some of the 
 persecuted Christians, and to find out some 
 place out of the power of the queen, at which 
 teachers could be left. At last he succeeded 
 in fixing Rafaravavy and Joseph on a little 
 
LETTERS FROM MADAGASCAR. 149 
 
 island off the western coast. Here they be- 
 gan to teach the chiefs and people to read the 
 Bible. They had many pupils, and were 
 much encouraged, when the French came, 
 and brought a Roman Catholic priest instead, 
 and drove them away. 
 
 Letters from Madagascar in 1842 and 1843 
 tell the same tale as the letters of 1841. Here 
 is one of them : — 
 
 ^^ Antananarivo^ July 8, 1842. 
 
 " May you live and be blessed of God, 
 beloved friend ! I tell you that our trials are 
 greater now than ever, because the number 
 of the persecuted Christians is increasing 
 daily. The officers of the queen are search- 
 ing for them everywhere to put them to death. 
 We do not know what to do, as the road for 
 escape in all directions is almost impassable, 
 and our hiding-places are nearly all known to 
 our enemies, so that the persecuted Christians 
 are at present truly afflicted. If you can find 
 any way for us to escape, write to us imme- 
 diately, in answer to this letter. And may you 
 live and be blessed of God, O beloved friend !" 
 
 Other letters relate how more of the Chris- 
 tians have suffered martyrdom, and have been 
 
 faithful unto death. 
 
 13* 
 
150 LIGHT BREAKING. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 LIGHT BREAKING. 
 
 Now I am going to tell you of some glorious 
 news that has just come to England. The 
 prayers we have offered for Madagascar have 
 not been in vain. Dear children, your prayers 
 have helped to win this joy. 
 
 Who do you think has begun to love the 
 Saviour? The queen? No; not the queen 
 herself, but you are very near. The queen's 
 only son, Ra-kotond-radama, the heir-appar- 
 ent to the throne. 
 
 We will tell you how it was. After the 
 nine Christians were put to death in 1840, the 
 remainder became discouraged, and they 
 were almost ready to let go their faith. But 
 there was one young man, who did not yield 
 to fear. He was called by his brethren, 
 Ra-salasala, or. The Bold One. He grew the 
 more courageous as the others grew faint, and 
 he held meetings among them, and preached 
 to them every Sunday, and Wednesday, and 
 Saturday. Many came to hear and a hun- 
 dred were converted ; and amongst those who 
 were converted, was Ra-kotond-radama. See 
 what good one earnest Christian can do, when 
 
LIGHT BREAKING. 151 
 
 all beside are lukewarm. See what good 
 one youth may do. 
 
 Five months after Ra-kotond-radama had 
 begun to believe in Jesus, twenty-one of the 
 Christians were made prisoners by the cruel 
 queen. Every one thought they would be put 
 to death. Now, what did the young prince 
 do? Did he keep silence, and let them die, 
 lest his mother should be angry, and kill him 
 too? No, he spoke out. He begged his 
 mother to spare him. And God caused her 
 to hearken to the entreaties of the boy, and 
 she saved their lives. 
 
 Ra-kotond-radama is seventeen years of 
 age. It is a very hard word, but I hope you 
 will master it, so that you may be able to pro- 
 nounce it quite easily, and use it in talking to 
 one another, and use it in prayer to God, for 
 Ra-kotond-radama wants you to pray for him. 
 Kind Mr. Freeman, who lived in Madagas- 
 car some years, and knows all about the 
 Malagasy language, has explained to us the 
 meaning of the name, and told us how to pro- 
 nounce it. The letter a is to be sounded Hke a 
 in the word father; and the letter o is to be 
 sounded like o in the word who, i. e. as oo. 
 The emphasis is to be laid on the second and 
 
1 52 CONCLUSION. 
 
 fifth syllables. The meaning is, " the son, or 
 youth, of Radama." Radama was the name 
 of the late king, his father. Ra is simply a 
 prefix to proper names in common use in 
 Madagascar; Koto is "a youth," "a son;" nd 
 is for ny, a pronoun, signifying of him, y being 
 changed into d for the sake of sound before 
 the r. 
 
 Now you understand the word, and can 
 pronounce it, I hope. 
 
 Oh ! let this great answer to prayer, which 
 God has sent us, make us bold in asking for 
 other things ! Let us pray for the young 
 prince, that he may hold on his way, even 
 though his mother should threaten him with 
 degradation or with death. Let us pray on, 
 and, perhaps, the next news will be, that the 
 queen herself is converted, and that the perse- 
 cution has quite ceased. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Dear young Friends, — This little book is not 
 intended for your amusement only. It has 
 been written to excite your pity for the guilty, 
 miserable heathen, that you may resolve to 
 do your utmost to send the Gospel of the 
 
CONCLUSION. 153 
 
 blessed Jesus to all the world. When that 
 has touched all hearts, war, and torture, and 
 ordeals will be unknown: there will be no 
 bloody persecutors, no cruel queens then. 
 
 Especially do we want you to pity and 
 pray for the Christians of Madagascar. You 
 may send them relief; you may help them to 
 escape ; and you should be eager to do this ; 
 but God alone can change the hearts of the 
 queen of Madagascar and of her officers, and 
 to Him, therefore, must you chiefly look. If 
 the dear Christian people of that island were 
 in prosperity, and you were in affliction, they 
 would not be slow to feel for you; and because 
 you have every thing to make you happy, will 
 you forget how they are suffering ? . Oh ! when 
 in peace and plenty you gather around the well- 
 furnished table, and from day to day are 
 clothed, and warmed, and fed, think of those 
 who are enduring hunger, and thirst, and cold, 
 and nakedness. When sheltered beneath your 
 father's roof from summer's heat and winter's 
 cold, or resting your head on your pillow at 
 the close of day, to pass the night in dream- 
 less and refreshing sleep, think of those who 
 are " wandering in deserts and mountains, in 
 dens and caves of the earth." " In the day 
 the drought consumes them, and the frost by 
 
154 CONCLUSION. 
 
 night." When fathers and mothers, brothers 
 and sisters, smile upon you, and you rejoice 
 in their affection, think of those who have be- 
 come outcasts from the homes and hearts so 
 dear to them, for the sake of Jesus. When, as 
 the Sabbath morning returns, you go hand in 
 hand with dear parents to the house of God, 
 and join with them in the song of praise, and 
 kneel with them in prayer, and listen to the 
 words of life and love from the lips of your 
 pastors and teachers, think of the persecuted 
 wanderers on the hills of Madagascar, hiding 
 their Bibles in the earth, and forbidden to 
 mention the very name of Jesus. 
 
 And are there any of you, who, though 
 young in years, have already been called to 
 stand by the death-beds of dear parents, and 
 relatives, and friends, ministering to their 
 comfort by every means that love and ten- 
 derness could suggest, and following them to 
 the grave, while weeping friends united to 
 comfort you ? Surely you must have felt for 
 the rnartyrs of Madagascar. No pitying eye 
 but that of their heavenly Father looked on 
 them ; fierce soldiers stood around them ; they 
 perished by the hand of violence ; their bodies 
 were left to the dogs, and their bones to the 
 winds of heaven. Think of all these things, 
 
CONCLUiJlON. 155 
 
 and while with a grateful heart you bless your 
 heavenly Father for his goodness to you, ask 
 of him the same mercies for the Christians 
 who are yet suffering in Madagascar. 
 
 Did it ever come into your minds that days 
 of persecution may be in store for you ? Did 
 you ever ask yourselves whether you could 
 stand the test of martyrdom ? Would you 
 " choose rather to suffer affliction with the 
 people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of 
 sin for a season ?" If you would have the 
 faith, and fortitude, and joy of the martyrs of 
 Madagascar, you must seek strength where 
 they found it — at the foot of the Cross — in the 
 constant prayerful study of God's blessed 
 word — and in holding fast the hope of eternal 
 life through Christ Jesus. 
 
 If not called to suffer, are you at all events 
 ready to live for Christ? Are you resolved 
 to spend and to be spent for him ? To labour 
 for wealth that you may consecrate it to his 
 service ? For influence, that you may lay it 
 at his feet? To leave all whom you love, and 
 go and preach him among the Gentiles, if he 
 should so ordain? You must enter into the 
 labours of his servants, if you would share in 
 their reward. 
 
 And do not fix your thoughts on their pre- 
 
15G CONCLUSION. 
 
 sent sufferings alone. These are but the things 
 of a moment. Before the throne of God there 
 stands a glorious company, gathered " out of 
 all nations, and kindreds, and people, and ton- 
 gues." Rasalama and Rafaralahy, and others 
 from Madagascar are there. Do they now 
 regret the transient sufferings of earth 1 Do 
 they wish that they could have escaped the 
 spear which called them into the presence of 
 Him whose side was pierced for them ? Do 
 they think of the cave, the forest, and the 
 mountain, — the chilling cold, and the burning 
 heat of Madagascar now? No, they bless the 
 day which brought the gospel to their shores, 
 even though deadly persecution followed in its 
 train. They came indeed " out of great tribu- 
 lation," but they are now "clothed in white 
 robes, and have palms in their hands." They 
 "hunger no more, neither thirst any more;" 
 the sun lights not on them, "nor any heat;" 
 and God has wiped "away all tears from 
 their eyes." 
 
 Dear young friends, do you propose, by 
 God's grace assisting you, to meet them 
 there? 
 
 THE END. 
 
ceton Theoloqical Seminary-Speef Library 
 
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