The Press. — London, England, 1858-12-04 00:00:00

1 _ ....- -, . . ..._ .. . • . • . . THE PRESS, EDCEMBER 4 , 1858. 1199 ........._ ' -- Tli. deep again at Thy rebuking fled, was of only too short a duration. In 1828 heir-apparent to the Crown, embraced the pro and hastened from the hearing of Thy thunder, Radama died, in the 36th year of his age, his scribed religion. Through his example and ir the waves the mountains heaved their head, nephew and successor, Prince Rakatobe, was fluence other princes and nobles were encourar Till from toil the wide vales appeared stretched out thereunder. assassinated shortly afterwards, and the present to profess Christianity, and a brighter pror In a few concluding verses the reader is corn- Queen ascended the throne. During the first two opened out on the horizon. The London mended for his patience, and requested not to turn years of her reign no attempts were made to sion . ary Society then judged that the ti away, subvert this happy order of things, but it soon arrived for renewing their labours, ar Who Till in thy cou to therteou thi s day. ear I tell became evident that the Christiana had become dingly invited Me ssrs . Elli s an d Cr sang e s objects of hatred and suspicion. It is said that proceed to Madagascar "on a visit of' Haling sketched a faint and modest outline of t h e Q ueen ' s m i nd was prejud i ced against them by " in order to ascertain , as far as prr hi ms el Mr. Robertson bewails in an agony of two of her chief officers who had acquired a " actual state of the people and tb grief the scarcity of pence and the super- smattering of English and hoped, through a " Government." Owing to circ abundance of sense, and we much fear that the monopoly of learning, to retain their ascendancy which it is unnecessary to en result of his present labours will give him but in the State. On the Ist of March, 1835, a sort achieved for the moment ave little cause to change his opinion. However, he of National Assembly was accordingly con- The first step, however, had ' is hopeful to the last, and is willing to account vened, when the extirpation of Christianity was Ellis remained at Mauritiu even a failure as some gain : decreed and its followers declared liable to fine able opportunity for prow ome ! the world is bare of pence, and imprisonment. In the following year the the presence of the Qr lint rich in wits and men, missionaries and their coadjutors, the Christian time ,he was doomed t A dearth of pence, a glut of sense, artizans, were compelled to withdraw from the last he was enabled ' Full many a cunning pen. To each his talent : well ! let each island, and in 1837 the fires of persecution burst held so dear, of cog Employ it as he may ; forth with terrible fury. The first martyr was a prince and the ot; E'en this poor trick of measur'd speech woman, and others quickly perished from the the true faith. I May turn to good some day. effects of the ordeal called Tangena. This ordeal several visits to The assassin-poet Lacenaire was not less philo- was administered in two ways—by mingling very readable .ophieal when he chalked over his mantel-piece poison with water, or by spreading it on a piece Cape of Go' hi' last lament : of chicken-skin. Three or four years later nine public in e TA vie est pleine d'embarras, more were put to death in a cruel and ignominious illustrated Tons mes malheurs ici l'attestent ; manner; but the sorest trial of the faith of these wings tat Nous avons des hauls et des bar, f neophytes was in 1849. Numbers were then indeed. iieureux grand cot- derniers nous restent. sold into perpetual slavery under the condition standr that they should be kept at severe and continuous " Cif nree Visits to Madagascar. By the Rev. labour, so that they should wear out a miserable mi. existence, "like weeds of the waste bowing down re William Ellis, F.H.S. London : Murray. " their heads till they died." Others were thrown THE island of Madagascar, though 900 miles in into prison, or scourged, and some were loaded length by 300 in breadth, contains no more than with heavy and cumbrous fetters. In one place three millions of inhabitants, distributed into alone 64 preachers or expounders of the Ho' ieveral distinct tribes, virtually semi-independent, Word were reduced to slavery, with their NO but acknowledging the recently acquired supre- and children ; 42 were sold into captivity macv of the Hovas. With the chief of this their property confiscated for having be tribe. the late King Radama, an alliance was their possession ; 6 were imprisoned ; 2,0' concluded by the Governor of Mauritius in the fined one dollar each; 4 were burnt a' rear 1817. The object of the British Govern- 14 hurled headlong from a steep and ! went was most praiseworthy, though scarcely in In all cases escape from punishme accordance with the character for selfishness and curable by recantation ; but faith we practical good sense attributed to our nation by and believers were daily added to ' continental writers. It was simply the abolition Those who had been appointed to 13 . of the slave trade, and to compensate Radama the greatest indignity. They were v and his chief officers for the loss of income de- dirty mats, sail rags were staffer' rived from this source an annual subsidy was Seventeen of them had been tied granted to them in arms, ammunition, and money. had been thus carried between t' on their shoulders to the place A few non-commissioned o ffi cers were at the pronounced. One of their nv Fame time despatched to the island to instruct walked behind the rest. Fo . the native soldiers in the European drill. The not killed in the ordinary v naval and military uniforms of the different the shedding of the blood i European nations thence became quite the sentenced to be buTel fashion, and cocked hats and epaulettes are still c noun ed_ , some deride sated away to the p a high object of ambition. Some of the external were burned alive symbols of discipline also survive, and the them, vii. Andri' " Grenadiers' March " is one of the favourite husband and wit' pieces of music played on state occasions at the At the place royal pala ce a t Antananarivo. The words of would take the this, they we command are likewise retained, though occasion- placed bete illy with ludicrous effect. Arriving one ciay at them, and a military post in the interior of the country, and bla - Mr. Ellis was saluted by two soldiers on sentry 7,1 . e, a duty, the one arme d wi th mus k e t an d bayonet, info ' the'other with a spear. The former gave the the word of command : " Rear rank, take open w " order —present—fire ! " The Brook Green Volunteer forming himself into a square to re ceive cavalry could not have been more startlinf . is a military spectacle. But it must not be au Posed that the Malagasees gathered from t ) friendly intercourse with a civilized peop' advantages of a higher order than " arm , hero." Inestimable, indeed, might haw the consequences to them had the cord; standing originally established sufferer' ruption. any useful arts were ' a number of native youths were board British ships to learn se come others were sent to Englar .‘hove all, a Mission was pe head -quarters at the capital, ir ( hristian faith were imparte ^ i eag er disciples. " Thy '•what complex languar "acquired by the iv " duced an alphabet ir grammar, pre •' and translated " the native tr 'pace of ten ye' natives had lea , to write, wb' dements of ' Pr Ird he he of he bi