, 1885-05-02

Cue udlllS Vi lu0 LcUpUldfy ElCHCH ou-
thorities in Tamatave. But he does not
pose as a martyr, or thrust himself forward
Extensively and he modestly says nothing
about his FL, 900 indemnity. He shows no
bitterness towards the French; for al
though he speaks Of the "wily" tactics OF
the Jesuit missionaries, he obviously re-
CARDS these from the professional and Pro
~teStant, not from the racial and English
point Of view. The French have been
desperately, and indeed l~udicrously, anx-
ious to acquire Il footing in Madagascar,
ever since Richelieu, who was in his day
quite as much of an expanSionist as Prince
Bismarck or NJ. Jules Ferry. gave, in 1912,
a concession (row seriously regarded as a
historical right of madagascar 10 Il certain
Captain Rigault. The most potable event
in the whole history Of the French dealings
with Madagascar was the all but success
full effort of the Polish a%dventurpr Benyow-
ski to establish himself as King of the
island about a hundred years ago, only to
be shot as a rebel by the French authorI-
ties in the MauritiuS. At the same time,
neither Mr.. shaw nor Mr.. Little seems to
be aware of the fact that much doubt-to
put the matter m'ldly-haS been thrown
upon the character and career OF this
rather melodramatic, if not M~UnchauSeniSh
parsonage. AS for the present reality, as
distinguished from the historical origin, of
the claims of France in Madagascar, it
will be enough to quote Mr.. Shaw
"The trade Of Madagascar is III the hands
of Americans, English, Germans, French,
and Italians, and the proportional annual
value of the imports and exports OF each
of those nations is in the order they are
named. The valne Of the American com
merce with the island is about equal to the
vaI1a of thA transactions in the hands of
the English and French put together.
Their imports are grey S%Ileeting and shirt
ing. kerosene oil, and timed goods while
the exports embrace chiefly hides, india.
rubber, WAX, and gum. The English trade
is about five times the value of that OF the
French, who are surpassed considerably
by the Germans, although the latter are
represented by but one o. two firms. 1t is
also a mistake to take for granted the inn
preston the French coloniStS of Bourbon
try to give, that French subjects are very
numerous in Madagascar. 1t IS we'll known
that the British subjects in the island Tar
Outnumber them; and the proportion OF
British to French settled there IS Sald TO
be as five to one"
1t is impossible for the French to fight
against time ana trade. Even could they
conquer the Hovas, which is exceedingly
doubtful and would be eminently undeSira-
Bile, they would be compelled, as III North
America, to make way for some nation
that has truer ana larger interests III
Madagascar.
The Hovas, with their late and present
Queens, Ranavolona II. and Ill and their
remarkable Prime Minister, still III Office,
are the true heroes Of Madagascar, ana OF
these two volumes. There are few thingSln
history more remarkable than the rise and
progress of this energetic Malay tribe-for
such Mr.. Shaw and Mr.. Little agree in re-
garding the HovaS-which established itself
on the coasts of Madagascar before the
Norman Conquest, advanced into the in
terror, subdued the Central region Of Imeri-
ma, built the capital city AntananarivO, Of
which a European Stat need not be
ashamed, then under it's first great king, Ra.
dana l., conquered nearly The whole Of the
country, including even the turbulent and
warlike Sakalavas of the West, whom the
French have taken under their i'll ompned
protectorate, and finally, within the last
quarter of a century, has thrown itself as
heartily into Evangelical Christianity and
civilization as it formerly did into con-
quest.
at is not too much to say" says Mr..
Shaw ''that no nation, with, perhaps, the
exception of the Japanese, has made so
much progress, and has shown so much
vigOur for development i'm civilization and