Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1883-08-24

A Maiagascan Remlnlscenee.
The prohibition oi Christian preach
Ing Ia 1885 was speedily followed B.
the flaming out Of a persecution iha
waved ever ilercer aud nerrer, en- !
grew into soyen-iold furnace Of wrath
Neither age nor sex was spared. oil
men, children, weak women, tendel
girls, went iearlessly 90 death lnsig
nliicanee could not shield the peasan
who loilod In the ricq-frlds. high hirtl
and long service could not save The
noble who stood beside the throne. ~
must obey God rather than man Ia thi,
matter said one gallant fellow. "bul
will serve tho Queen faithfully never
iholess" The words were hardly
spoken when he was a corpse. And Al
last there came day whea eighteen
victims at once, amoug whom were sew
eral Of the nobest names IN Madagas.
car, were dragged before the Judges
amid the yells Of a bloodthirsty multi
tude and all condemned 10 dle-iour-
teen 10 be hurled from the Rock Of
Nampaminarina and the remaining four
10 be burned alive,
Then the little band Of heroes hav-
ing refused every offer Of life-came
the last scene Of all, the description Of
which, by q native eyewitness, may
bear comparison with anything in
Foxes Book OF Martyrs or the annals
OF the Scottish Covenantcrs: "And the
eighteen appointed to die, as they sat
upon the ground surrounded by the sol
diers, sang the hymn
There Is blessed land,
Making most glad.
There rest shall never end,
There none be sad
"And when the sentences were all
pronounced and the officer had gone
back TO the place Of the chief author-
ties they took those eighteen away to
put them 10 death. They tied them by
the hands and feet TO long poles and
carried them on mems shoulders. And
those brethren prayed and spoke to the
people as they were being carried along
And some who looked upon them said
that their faces were like the faces of
angels. And as they took the
four that were TO be burned alive to the
place OF execution, these Christians sang
the hymn, When our hearts are
troubled then remember us. And when
they came TO Faravohitra there they
burned them, fixed between split spars.
And there was a rainbow in the heavens
at the time. They prayed as long as
they had any life, and they died softly
and gently. And all the people were
amazed who beheld the burning Of them
there. -
Equally cruel was the fate of the
heroic fourteen who were doomed to
the fatal rock With savage refine
ment Of torture, their murderers pro-
longed the last agony by suspending
them with cords passed round their
bodies over the brink of the fearful |
precipice, as if to make them taste the |
full bitterness Of that hideous death be-
fore it came. An awful hush fell upon
the fierce multitude that crowded the
summit of the rock as the executoner's |
gaunt black figure came gliding like n
spirit Of evil up to the spot where the
swinging forms lowered in mid-air,
with the glorious panorama below out
spread as if in mockery before the eyes
that were so soon to be closed forever.
Once more. and for the last time, mercy
was offered to each victim in turn on
condition of renouncing the Christian
faith. The firm refusal that answered
ii was barely uttered when the dooms-
mans AK flashed and fell, and in the
tomb-like silence were heard the snig"
of the parted rope and the dull thud of
the mangled body on the cruel rocks
far below.
No churches have been founded, no
shrines decorated, to honor these name
less heroes: but many saint whose
name stands high on the muster-roll Of
The noble army of martyrs, and whose
lives in costly silver and inn
peGishable marble might fairly yield
his place to the witnesses of Nam
OF all that doomed band
onc only escaped with life from that
1olgotha. This was young girl,
who walked quietly to the place Of exc
'ution, saving that there was no need
o bind or carry her for she was quite
'eady to go. Hopes were entertained
hat she might be induced TO recant,
md with this view orders were pr-
Tately given to the native officers who
uperintended the butchery to reserve
Ter to the last She was set close to
he edge of the precipice and held there
" the eXecutioners while the slaughter
proceeded. One by one her fellow
martyrs were crushed into shapeless :
before her eyes till she
lone was left But the brave girl new
r ilinched To all offers of life she re- It
lied simply: 81 will not give up my ,
aith; let me go TO nv friends lnfu- !,
lated by her steadfast ealmness the !
hief of the ruilans who directed the =
Massacre struck her savagely on the ],
ace and bade her take the oath Of ab-
irgation and do homage TO the gods l
( the country or die forthwith. But !
er answer was still the same: II will y
blow my friends "She is an idiot. = =
nd knows not what she saysr roarcd 7
he batiled savage; take her awayN :
he was accordingly removed from the !, =
pot and dragged away toa distant part u =
T the island. where she Survived TO re- Z
cunt, years later. all the details Of a Al
'ene worthy 20 be commemoratcd in =
-ords Of fire like those wherewith the II
reatest Englishman Of the seventeenth y
sniury branded the Piedmontcse mas y y
lcre. London Cor n T. Times. N