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

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THE PRESS, EDCEMBER 4, 1858.
1199
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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 this
day. ear I tell became evident that the Christiana had become dingly invited Messrs. Ellis and 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 the Queen's mind was prejudiced against them by "in order to ascertain, as far as prr
himsel 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 officers 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 cnoun 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 palace at 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 armed with musket and 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 eager 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