Thirty years in Madagascar

‘Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee.’—Psalm lxxvi. 10.

Naturally the French regarded the rising against their rule as rebellion. It was very foolish of the Malagasy to rise against the French rule under the circumstances, but in the true sense of the term they were no more rebels than were the Scotch at Bannockburn, the French themselves at the siege of Orleans, or the Americans at Bunker’s Hill. They had never, as a people, given in their allegiance to the French, nor accepted their rule. They and their queen had been basely betrayed, and their fatherland sold. As a people they had had no say in the matter.

General Gallieni was sent out as governor-general to put down the rising, which, many people thought, had been purposely allowed to assume the dimensions it did, in order that the régime of M. Laroche might be discredited, and his recall made possible. The right man was chosen for the work the French government wanted done. The rising was put down by drastic means, although it took longer to stamp it out than was at first anticipated. Martial law was proclaimed all over the island. The idea was to strike terror into the hearts of the Malagasy by the severest measures. The policy was not the wisest; for although it cowed and crushed the people, it did not really conquer them; because you cannot conquer any people worth their salt by means of bombs and bullets, shooting and banishment. Such actions only send the iron deeper into their souls. Crushed, cowed, and seemingly subdued they may be, but never really conquered.

So long as you apply martial law, you can prevent the people from rising again, or from hindering you in carrying out your task successfully, and such a result may justify your measures of severity; but below, the fires are smouldering and will burst out afresh, unless other and more merciful measures are taken. A people can only be really and truly conquered, as God conquers human hearts, by love, mercy, justice, and kindly treatment. The iron was made to enter the souls of the Malagasy people, the Hova—‘the haughty Hova’—in particular; and they were a sad example of the truth of the text, ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.’ Some of their tenderest and most patriotic feelings, traditions, and associations were trampled on by the expatriation of their queen, and the treatment of the tombs and ashes of their former sovereigns.

Much that was done then was most unwise, even as policy. The wisest and most politic thing to have done was to have tried every means of conciliating the people, and reconciling them to the new régime. The traditional opinion of many people in France in regard to the work of the London Missionary Society in Madagascar was that it was necessarily inimical to French influence in the island, and that its raison d’être was more political than religious in character, or, in the words of M. Le Myre de Vilers: ‘Depuis cinquante ans rien ne lui a coûté pour arriver à ses fins: l’annexion de Madagascar à l’Angleterre.’ To all who really know the Society this was a gross libel; but to many of our French friends, in whose ears it has been so repeatedly dinned, it appeared to be the truth.

General Gallieni, on his arrival in the island, appears to have believed in the truth of this tradition, a belief which was not likely to be diminished by the numerous signs he saw around him of the influence of the Society on the general community; an influence, however, which had only been gained by long years of patient and earnest toil and prayer. Taking for granted that this influence was of necessity antagonistic to the interests of the Republic, he determined to destroy it, if possible; but, in any case, to cripple it. The appropriation of the hospital (in which, though belonging to the Friends, the London Missionary Society was in part financially interested) was the first blow; then came the compulsory sale of the college and the normal school. In regard to the two latter buildings, however, it must be stated in fairness that, by way of compensation, the government promised to give on reasonable terms the freehold of the five memorial churches, as well as that of other property belonging to the Society. The sum of £4,800 was also given for the college buildings, and £1,050 for the normal school.

This attitude of the government towards the London Missionary Society opened the door to all kinds of accusations against the natives connected with our mission. In addition to the time-serving informers among the natives, who sought to ingratiate themselves with the authorities, and to gain a position by sacrificing the good name of men of altogether superior character to themselves, it is not difficult to detect the hand of the Jesuit priest. Our evangelists, pastors, teachers, in fact the whole body of our adherents, and even our school children, were supposed to entertain disloyal sentiments, and also, in many cases, to be instigators and leaders in the rebellion. Even the missionaries themselves were not spared. Absurd charges were brought against some of them of preaching rebellion, and even of supplying powder and guns to the insurgents; but it is needless to say that, in those cases where the accusers and accused could be brought face to face, these charges were seen quickly to vanish into thin air.

General Gallieni was surrounded by some of the worst advisers—both French and Malagasy—that he could possibly have had. It was little wonder, therefore, if at the first he committed serious errors of judgement, and made some most reprehensible mistakes;—for example, the shooting of the Governor of Tàmatàve upon a baseless charge trumped up against him by his malignant enemies to get rid of him.

The General was, however, far too shrewd and able a man to allow himself to be held long in leading-strings, or to have dust permanently thrown in his eyes. Still, it took him over a year to get at the real state of affairs, and to find out the facts for himself. He found that those whom he had sought to make tools of to harass the Protestants, and upset the work of the British missionaries in the supposed interests of France, were really making a tool of him, and a stalking-horse of France in the interests of Rome! He may have been as greatly deceived as the German professor, who published a book on Madagascar some time ago, so packed with fiction and false conceptions, that he gravely informs his readers that: ‘The London Missionary Society had a colony (sic) in Madagascar,’ and that ‘the clerical gentlemen were the real rulers,’—the late queen and prime minister seemingly being little better than their aides de camp!

The General told a deputation of missionaries who waited on him to pay their respects that a good deal had been done for the education of the people, but that religion had been a failure. There may have been more truth in that reflection than there ought to have been; still, he was neither an authority on religion, nor a judge in the case. He had not met with any of the really Christian portion of our people. His opinion on that and other points underwent a great change, after he had been round the island, and had seen for himself the difference between the heathen and the Christianized tribes. But it is from men who know as little about the mission field, and who are as ignorant of missionaries and their work, and as prejudiced against them as he then was, that too many take their ideas about foreign missions. No community would dream of impanelling a jury of cannibals to try a case of culpable homicide, or of appointing blind men judges at a flower-show, or deaf-mutes examiners for musical degrees. Even if they could and did do so, they would not act more irrationally than those who take their conceptions of missionaries and of their work from those who are destitute of all personal religion and all interest in missions.

As the general believed that we were political agents of the British government, he was determined—as he was reported to have stated—‘to break the power of the British missionaries in Madagascar.’ Until his eyes were opened to the real state of affairs he probably would have liked, had it been possible, to have expelled them from the island. Perhaps this result was hoped for by trying to make the place too hot for them, and their remaining seemingly useless. For this end the smashing of the machinery was resorted to. But then it was found that the power of the missionaries was a moral power, and could not be touched by such means.

The situation was very trying to all the members of the mission, but to some much more than to others. Two members gave up and left; and it was thought advisable, under the circumstances, that another should retire; but the rest kept at their posts and at their work, making up by deskwork for the work they were prevented from doing out in their districts. They were determined that, unless expelled, they would not retire until their furloughs were due. A few words would have secured expulsion; but as they had no anxiety to incur martyrdom for a word, they stuck to their work, and put up with much to which British subjects find it hard to submit.

In justice to the General it must be told that when he did find out his mistakes, and how grossly he had been imposed upon, he was man enough and gentleman enough to own his errors—though not in public. That could hardly be expected. He admitted that he had ‘wronged the Hovas and misjudged the London Missionary Society’s missionaries,’ and reversed his policy with regard to both. It ought also to be told that he did his best to atone for the grave error into which he was led with regard to the Governor of Tàmatàve, by his treatment of the family, especially of the eldest son. The guilt of that ‘judicial murder,’ as a French gentleman called it, must be laid mainly at the doors of the ‘good governor’s’ malignant enemies.

As he once admitted, the General went to Madagascar with the intention of stamping out Protestantism and making the people Roman Catholics, as the simplest way with the religious difficulty, and the easiest way of ruling the island, as he thought. From what he had seen of the so-called religion of the natives of the Soudan, and from what he had been told—that the people would be quite ready to change their religion, if he expressed a wish for it—he thought the matter would be very easily managed. He found that the religion of the Malagasy was of a very different kind from what he had met with in Africa. Their Protestantism was made of sterner stuff than he had imagined. The people, whose forefathers had died rather than renounce their faith at the bidding of their own sovereign, were not likely to renounce it now at the word of a European governor-general. Had he persisted in his course, a religious war would have been the result. Four-fifths of the people of the central provinces are Protestant.

General Gallieni and the French government came to see this, and wisely left the religion of the people severely alone. Religious liberty, which had been proclaimed before, became now more of a reality. The Radical government of M. Brisson, to their honour be it told, the day after they entered into power, ordered their colonial secretary to telegraph to Madagascar that the forty village churches which had been seized by the Jesuits in the Bètsilèo country were to be restored at once. This order had to be obeyed, and was a great blow to the arrogance and assumption of the Jesuits.

It was hardly to be wondered at, that it was almost impossible for the French people, the French officers, and colonists to believe that the British missionaries were not agents of the British government—even permanent officials of the French Foreign Office believed it!—and that their missions were not political agencies, under the guise of religion, as that of the Jesuits had been. At one time the Jesuits received a large sum yearly, afterwards reduced to 15,000 f., for services rendered to the French government. The Jesuits are banished from France, but supported abroad. When M. Laroche freed the slaves, they took the credit of the measure, though they had less to do with it than the British missionaries had; for they were consulted, and the Jesuits were not.

By deception they imposed on the people, and induced a large number of the freed slaves and poorer people to attend their chapels, and an immense number of their children to enter their schools. The freed slaves were told that the Jesuits had secured their freedom, and the common people were informed that France was a Roman Catholic power, and that if they did not become Roman Catholics they would certainly be regarded with the greatest suspicion, and might be shot as suspects. In some cases they were told that all the Protestants would ultimately be shot. While their chapels were filled and their schools crammed by this and other means, they drew up and sent to France their claims on the government for educational grants. Even for the children they really had in their hands, the grants would have been large; but according to their returns they made claim for more children than there were in all the schools—Roman Catholic and Protestant—in the island. How they made out these long lists can never be understood, unless they included the ignorant adults along with the children as their scholars.

The superintendent of the Norwegian Mission told me (and we had the missionary in whose district the thing actually took place as a fellow passenger on our last voyage home), that a Jesuit priest went through one of their districts, going from hut to hut with two small notebooks, a red one and a black one. Into the red notebook he wrote the names of the Roman Catholics, and into the black all the names of the Protestants, and all who would not consent to be Roman Catholics. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘the government is going to make roads all through the island, to build railways, erect government buildings, and complete the telegraph, and all the work is to be done by fànompòana (corvée), and it will all have to be done by the Protestants, and after it is all finished they will all be shot. The Roman Catholics will have no fànompòana to do, they will have a good time of it here, and then when they die they will all go straight to Paradise!’ Among an ignorant and semi-heathen people, it was not to be wondered at, if great numbers professed themselves Roman Catholics in order to escape the hated fànompòana and shooting. When religious liberty became a reality, however, and the people found out the true state of matters, and saw that, on the whole, the corvée was very fairly dealt out, irrespective of religion, they ceased to be Roman Catholics by the thousand; and their opinion of their teachers underwent a most decided change, their language about them being much more energetic than elegant. Their hatred of them now is more bitter than ever.

The queen’s uncle was shot along with the late Governor of Tàmatàve. Another uncle, Her Majesty’s chief chaplain, her chamberlain, and several nobles were transported to the island of Réunion, while the rank and file suspected of sympathy or connexion with the rising, and those of the so-called rebels who had escaped, or who had thought better of their action and returned to their homes, were shot all over the country by irresponsible officers at Postes, who thought no more of shooting Malagasy than they did of killing vermin, until the central provinces may be said to have reeked with human blood. No doubt the rising was a most serious affair, and, in the interests of all, had to be put down; but that might have been done with less severity, and in a much more humane and merciful way. What took place at Fort Dauphin in the seventeenth century should have been a warning against undue severity.

As the heathen party was the backbone of the rising, some 750 Protestant churches and Roman Catholic chapels were wrecked, 500 of these being connected with the London Missionary Society’s Mission. One poor Roman Catholic priest, and several Protestant pastors, preachers, and evangelists were murdered, while many had very narrow escapes. A few were able to ransom themselves. All Bibles, Testaments, and other religious books found in the churches or in the huts of the pastors or evangelists were burned, while bonfires were made of the pulpits and pews of the churches. The heathen cast in the teeth of their Christian captives, that their teachers had sneaked into the island under the guise of being teachers of a new religion, and through them the fatherland had been lost. ‘While we worshipped the gods of our forefathers,’ they said, ‘we had our fatherland, our own sovereign, and our own army; but you enraged the gods by forsaking them for the new religion, and praying to the white man’s ancestor, Jesus Christ, and now we have lost all.’

It was in vain for the Protestants to try to convince them that their teachers had had nothing to do with the war or loss of the fatherland. As all the foreign teachers were white men and friends of each other, they were looked upon as equally guilty in the eyes of the heathen. ‘If the Protestant missionaries had not agreed to the war, and “piratical seizure” of the fatherland, why did they not appeal to their sovereign-lady to send her soldiers to help the Malagasy to drive back the invaders?’ Such was the argument of the heathen. In the light of such sentiments, how absurd the tales circulated in France, and accepted by thousands of the credulous there as true! The British missionaries were accused of instigating the rising, and the London Missionary Society of supplying arms and ammunition to the rebels!

Many old scores were cleared off by malignant heathen and semi-heathen Malagasy during that reign of terror. Slaves who had been harshly and cruelly treated by their former masters took the opportunity of retaliating, and accused them of being connected with the rising; such people were at once arrested and shot. Debtors got rid of their creditors in the same way, while others cleared off many old grudges against Protestant pastors, preachers, evangelists, and even church members, by simply insinuating their suspicions to the officer of the Poste. After this these were marked men. Being found outside their huts or the village after dark, or returning from a visit, or from the market after dark, or some other trivial offence, was enough to stamp them as suspects, and they were arrested and shot. Arrested after dark, many of them were taken out and shot at daylight next morning, without the semblance of trial.

My wife and I were wakened a dozen times during those terrible months by the rattle of musketry about 5.30 in the morning, and we knew that another batch of poor Malagasy were shot as suspects. According to British law, every man is regarded as innocent until he is proved guilty; but according to French law any one can be arrested on suspicion, and must prove himself innocent. Many a poor Protestant pastor, evangelist, or church member, was arrested at night, brought out at daylight and shot, without getting the chance of proving anything, until even the French colonel-commandant of the capital said, ‘there had been a great deal too much indiscriminate shooting’; and himself rescued some who were to be shot.

Some of the French officers treated the Malagasy very humanely, and some few even kindly. I knew one who confessed he could not sleep at night for thinking of how unjustly they had been treated; but, he added, ‘I am determined they shall have justice in my jurisdiction,’ and they had, with the result that the people adored, almost worshipped that officer, and wept like children when he left.

On the subject of the shooting of innocent Protestant pastors and church members, I content myself by allowing the late Pasteur B. Escande to bear his testimony, by quoting some extracts from the private letters to his wife, written during his stay in the island, which she has published since his murder under the title ‘Nine Months in Madagascar.’

‘October, 1896. You know the events which have changed the political and religious outlook in Madagascar:—M. Laroche recalled, General Gallieni given the charge in the interim of the general residence, finally the state of siege proclaimed in the disturbed parts of the island, notably in Imèrina and Bètsilèo, where the great mass of Protestant missionaries are located.

‘From the religious point of view this change of régime is greatly to be regretted. It is not that General Gallieni is in any way hostile to Protestant missions, or that we have not found in him the aid and protection which we had the right to expect from the representative of France. The General, on the contrary, has been very kind to M. Lauga and myself; very courteous also to the English and Norwegian missionaries, who had assured him of the loyal sentiments they felt towards France. On that side everything is satisfactory, and we have only to congratulate ourselves on our new Resident. It is not less the fact, however, that the Jesuits have profited by the new arrangements, in order to try and restore in Madagascar the France of Louis XIV. Under the administration of M. Laroche, and previously also, they had indulged in skirmishes, partial combats. To-day war is declared, “war to the knife,” as an officer well acquainted with the situation said to us, and a war in which the Jesuits have an advantage over us in having at their disposal those redoubtable weapons which one calls calumny, lies, and deceit in all their forms.

‘Notice besides, that the condition of the country put all the advantage in their hands. The exploits of the fàhavàlos, who pillage, burn, or kill all that they find in their road, and the rigorous measures taken against high Hova dignitaries, accused of complicity with them, have terrified the Malagasy population, which by nature is timid. This suited the Jesuits admirably. They run over the island in every sense, repeating everywhere that the Catholics will be protected by French troops, while the Protestants who are Anglais will be considered as rebels, and accordingly put to death.

‘Still another thing: the General having issued a decree that, after the delay of a few months, French must be taught in all the schools, the Jesuits have hurriedly rushed out into the country, especially into Protestant villages, and there—thanks pretty often to the co-operation of local authorities—they have morally constrained the children to enter the French, i. e. the Catholic, schools, although the French taught in them is practically nil. The formality is a mere blind, that is all, but by means of it the innocent and simple are ensnared, and that is their whole aim.

‘I have just spoken of the support that the Jesuits found among local authorities. I must explain myself. The advent of the military régime has naturally given much authority in the settlement of the country into the hands of military men. There are indeed some cruel administrators, especially in the undisturbed parts of the island. In Imèrina and Bètsilèo there are principally officers, some in the capacity of residents, some of commanders. Now one must say, that if the superior officers instil generally in religious matters (the only ones with which I occupy myself here) ideas of justice and impartiality which are those of the mother-country, this is not always so in the case of the inferior officers. Many among them allow the priests under cover of their authority to accomplish acts of suppression absolutely condemnable, while others even (I own it is the exception) make themselves their humble servants and favour their propaganda. If I speak thus, it is as a duty, not a pleasure. What is done here should be known in France. People must learn how the Jesuits gather the adherents, the number of which they do not fail to publish to the whole world.

‘Besides, proofs of what I bring forward are, alas, only too numerous. Not later than this week I had to go twice into the villages situated in the outskirts of Antanànarìvo in order to come to the aid of the populations which were being terrorized by the priests. The latter, with the consent of the officers, had convoked a kabàry (public assembly) in order to announce to the natives that there was no longer any hesitation possible, that if they wished to please France they must become Catholics and send their children to his school. This is not all. This week from four different directions, I might almost say from four cardinal points, news has come to us that the Jesuits have made simultaneously at these points attempts to seize Protestant churches in order to say mass in them, and to take possession of some school buildings belonging to our mission, in order to place in them their own teachers. They tell those who are willing to listen to them, that they are all powerful with the government, and, unfortunately, the support given to them by some officers and administrators lends a semblance of truth to it.

‘We are in the midst of a plan of attack cunningly contrived, and in order to face it we are obliged to work with great activity. It will not succeed, however, that is indeed certain; for, thanks to God, there are in Madagascar some Christians who would die if need be for their faith, and on the other hand General Gallieni will do, we are persuaded, all in his power to prevent such attempts being perpetrated under cover of French authority. It is not less certain that these proceedings of another age will trouble and demoralize many of the population, which will give an excellent opportunity to the Jesuits for fishing in troubled waters. By what I say alone you will understand that the churches of Madagascar are passing through one of the darkest hours of their history.

‘You know already, but you will be glad to hear me repeat, that the English and Norwegian missionaries, in spite of the attacks of which they are the objects, rival each other in zeal in order to make France benefit by the moral and spiritual work which they have accomplished in this country. I have come into close enough contact with them to be able to affirm that they have accepted loyally and without any reservation the actual condition of affairs, that they work for the pacification of minds, and that they solicit only one favour—to be able to continue their work in peace, not with a political end in view, which they have never followed, but with the aim of converting the Malagasy people. They have spontaneously offered the French government their most devoted co-operation, and with their thousands of converts they represent a force morally incomparable. I do not hesitate to say, that to refuse this concurrence would be an enormous mistake from the political point of view, indeed almost a crime. For the honour of our country, as also for the good of our great African colony, we must believe that France will never make herself guilty of it.

‘October 17. We are certainly passing through a solemn period in the history of Evangelical Christianity in Madagascar. The country is indeed being tried by fire and furnace. The threats of the Jesuits, who are supported everywhere by the officers, the chiefs of departments, and the commanders, their acts of oppression, their violence even, constitute a persecution in rule, comparable to that of the seventeenth century. I do not exaggerate when I say that in Madagascar we have gone back two centuries in the principles of liberty of conscience.

‘Here is an example. One of the London Missionary Society missionaries having warned me that grave matters were happening in his district, I resolved to accompany him in order to restore things to order. It was a question of a Jesuit father, who had profited by the good disposition of the captain of Tsìafàhy, where there is not a single Catholic, in order to win over the inhabitants of the village. The day before he had summoned, by the help of the native governor, a great kabàry and at this kabàry in which, a grave action indeed, the captain assisted, he announced that henceforth he would come to say mass every Sunday, that the adults were free to do what appeared good to them, but that in all cases the children must from the ensuing Monday enter the French school (by which is meant the Catholic one) which was going to be established in their village. Now notice, that there has been for many years a native school of the London Missionary Society which has never ceased working.

‘After three hours of travelling to the south of Antanànarìvo we arrived at Tsìafàhy. I went first, naturally, to the captain, in order to obtain some explanations from him, and to tell him the nature of our thoughts. He tried to show himself agreeable to me, but I had the impression that he was absolutely hostile, and that it was with his authority, perhaps even by his advice, that the priest had acted as I mentioned above. He did not conceal from me that he had assisted at the kabàry of the day before, or that he had promised the priest the loan of the former Protestant church, although it belonged to the London Missionary Society, for the purpose of saying mass the next Sunday. These proceedings are all the more repugnant in that the house inhabited by the captain and troop is the missionary’s own house, a very pretty one, beautifully sheltered by trees of every kind which thrive in the garden. The English missionary asked him for the right of occupying one room of his house each time he went to see his flock. The captain replied with a plain refusal: “You may renounce any hope of ever reoccupying your house,” he said; “it is too well situated for the garrison not to keep it.” I tried not to intimidate him and replied with calmness and firmness, bringing to my aid the circular of the general, which recommended the residents and commanders of the circles to deal with the greatest equity in the cases of pastors and priests. “The priest had his kabàry yesterday,” I added, “I wish to have mine to-day. I wish equally also to have a witness that my words are not interpreted falsely.”

‘In the afternoon I stood before a reunion of 100 persons, not in the public place, as it was raining slightly, but in a sufficiently large hall, in which the school actually was accustomed to meet. The captain himself was seated on my right, and Mr. E. on my left interpreted my words into Malagasy. I declared clearly that the French government gave liberty of conscience to all, and that those who said the contrary went against the orders of the General. I would not have been in the captain’s place, as he knew quite well that I had right on my side. I have expatiated on this affair because it will give you a sample of the methods employed to combat Protestantism.

‘Two events by which the situation is complicated further, are the recent order of the General concerning the teaching of French, and the existence of rebellion. All the natives suspected of having sympathy with the rebels are imprisoned, or put to death! It is by these means that the Protestants are terrified. Lastly, an officer of high rank, in addressing one of our best evangelists, who was hindering the priest of the district, said, while he showed the heads of some robbers: “You see these; before long a similar fate will be yours!” When there is no longer rebellion there will be a double danger no less to the English Protestants. They have suffered much from the ravages of the brigands, hundreds of their churches have been destroyed, missionaries have been massacred, and flourishing stations have been ruined. And, in spite of all that, the Protestants and the English are constantly affirmed as being friends of the rebels and enemies of France.

‘From the bottom of my heart I admire those English missionaries who submit to all these humiliations, who let themselves be trampled under foot, and treated as outcasts, as pestilential, even in certain cases to such a degree that the members of their church dared no longer to touch their hands, and throughout all showing their greatness of soul by the patience with which they have supported all these insults for the sake of their congregations, and for the love of the Gospel. Their submission edifies me. It is worthy of such Christians as they are.

‘Tuesday, 20th. I have just arrived from a visit to a village Fènoarìvo. The priest is revolutionizing the district by seeking to intimidate its inhabitants. I have proof that five Protestants have been put in prison under pretext that they were rebels, and would be freed on the day that they declared themselves Catholics. Since then they have gone to mass. Last Sunday the officer in command there held a kabàry in the village near, and, interpreted by the priest, said that from henceforth it was necessary for all children to go to the Catholic school. I went to see him, and spoke to him as the case demanded.

‘Wednesday. A very important affair has happened of which I must speak. It is concerning the arrest and execution of M. Ràtsimamànga, the uncle of the queen, and of M. Rainàndrìamàmpàndry, the minister of the interior. The military authorities, impatient to stop the insurrection, thought that they would lay their hands on two of the chief men in the persons of these two important Hovas, as well as on Ramàsindràzana, the queen’s aunt, who had shed a very great and beneficent influence over them. It was pretended that she was an accomplice of the rebels, and she was accordingly arrested; but on the intercession of M. Lauga she was only exiled to the island of Sante-Marie, while Messieurs Ràtsimamànga and Rainàndrìamàmpàndry were condemned to death by the council of war, and shot last Thursday. M. Lauga was present with them in their last moments. The ex-Governor of Tàmatàve died a Christian with a firmness and dignity truly admirable, which struck all those who saw him die. A scandalous incident was produced by the medium of a priest. He was introduced into the cell of the prisoners, although he had not been called, and while M. Lauga was discreetly removed, he re-baptized the uncle of the queen. Re-entering the cell, M. Lauga was very much surprised to see a flask of water, but to his questions the priest replied that it was nothing. Rainàndrìamàmpàndry shrugged his shoulders with a significant gesture when M. Lauga asked him whether his companion Ràtsimamànga had asked for baptism, in addition saying: “As for myself, I have not been baptized.” A quarter of an hour after, Ràtsimamànga, accompanied by the priest, and Rainàndrìamàmpàndry by M. Lauga, passed out to be shot. I ask myself if the government, in thinking to strike two blows, had not shot two innocent persons, and thus had deprived itself of two supporters who only asked to be allowed to use their influence in its service? One must cling to the hope of divine justice, which corrects sooner or later the errors of human arbitration.

‘I have, accompanied by M. Lauga, just seen the queen. Poor woman! she calls forth all one’s pity. Her principal supporters have been taken away from her. Her aunt, who was her confidante, yesterday took the road to exile; and now she has no one of trust near her. She trembles day and night, lest she should be accused of favouring the rebels, and so be expelled from her country. We said some words of sympathy which made the tears come into her eyes. Our words were interpreted into Malagasy by Ràtsimihàba, who visited France last summer, and whom I had seen at Paris. I think that our visit did her good. Her principal wish was to have as soon as possible the wife of a French missionary near her.

‘Antanànarìvo, Monday, November 16. I have important news to tell you: yesterday, Sunday, I was appointed pastor of the palace church. For a long time past the queen had shown a desire to have a French pastor at the head of her church. M. Kruger and M. Lauga, to whom she had offered the post, thought right to refuse, being here only on a temporary mission for a special purpose. I even had said to myself that, being here only for a few months, I could not accept the post, and that it was better to await the arrival of a regular permanent pastor. Since the departure of M. Lauga, however, I have been led to think differently, and for this reason. It will not be giving you any news to tell you that the Jesuits are prowling round the queen to try and convert her to Romanism. During these last weeks they have frequently renewed their attempts. Bishop Cazet in one fortnight went to see her four or five times, to ask her, if not for abjuration, at least for some preliminary concessions. He begged her especially to attend mass, now and again, in the cathedral. This began to be rumoured about the town and country, and the “fathers” were already taking advantage of it for their cause. I know, on good authority, that the queen is very anxious to remain Protestant, and that she is annoyed by all these proceedings of the Jesuits; but her position is so precarious, so difficult, so delicate, that it is not possible to foresee what effect fair promises might have on her. Besides, it is not a question of the queen alone, but of the whole court. The Jesuits have been hard at work for a long time on the persons about the queen, and that not without success. M. Lauga, who had known the palace church in better days, was painfully impressed at his farewell meeting there to find that a good number of princesses were absent.

‘Accordingly yesterday, Sunday, at nine o’clock, I betook myself to what is now my church. The building, situated close to the great palace of the queen, without being grand, has a certain style about it with its Gothic windows and the ornamentation running along its walls. On the left of the platform is the organ, on the right Her Majesty’s throne, under an immense carved daïs. At the foot of the throne was one of the ministers, at the foot of the platform another, who presently led the queen, leaning on his arm, back to her home. Opposite the platform, at the end of the church, or rather just inside the front door, was a company of native soldiers, together with the royal band, which played at the beginning and at the end of the service.

‘All the first part of the service was taken by the three chaplains of the queen, who were present for the occasion. Then, with one of our good Malagasy friends, Ramònta by name, as translator, I preached my sermon from Heb. xii. 1, 2. After I had done, he who is called “the Malagasy Spurgeon” rose. I do not know all that he said, but he ended by proposing to the assembly to elect me as pastor. All hands were raised. I thanked Her Majesty and the assembly in a few words, then, in the name of the attendants, each of the three pastors shook hands with me in turn and made a speech. It was touching and affecting. All this lasted more than two hours. When no one remained in the church, the queen came down from her throne, and sent for me. I shall not tell you all the kind things she said to me, only this: “Now this church is no longer ours, it is yours. Dispose of it as you will, come to it as often as you like. To my house come when you think fit, I shall always receive you.” She whom I had found so sad on my first visit with M. Lauga smiled and looked happy. Oh! how I should like to do her some good, and keep up her courage during the dark days she is passing through.

‘Saturday, Nov. 21. I congratulate myself more and more that I consented to be appointed pastor to the queen. The General sent for me to express his pleasure at it; he even gave me to understand that this might perhaps save the situation. The queen’s position is in fact very precarious; should the difficulties last much longer, she runs the risk of being deposed. The General hopes that, thanks to my nomination, I shall be able to exercise a good influence over her and over her advisers. He asked me that prayers for France should henceforth be offered in the palace church services.

‘The General’s approval was of course very gratifying to me. Two others gave me great pleasure also—that of all the English missionaries, who said to me: “You have saved a great number of the churches of Imèrina, which would have been broken up if the queen had become Catholic”; and that of the superintendent of the Norwegian Missions, who told me in these very words: “You have saved our Norwegian Mission in Bètsilèo.” The farther I go, then, the more I see what an urgent and important step I have taken.

‘Antanànarìvo, Saturday, Nov. 21, 1896. So M. Lauga has left. His departure was a real mourning, not only for me, who lose in him a sure adviser and a true and trusty friend, but also for the Malagasy churches who appreciated the extent of the services he rendered them. All the good he and M. Kruger have done in Madagascar will never be known in France. I dare not picture to myself what would have happened to Malagasy Protestantism if our delegates had put off their coming. Humanly speaking, and with the help of God, they saved the situation. They gave back strength and courage to the native congregations; they upset a number of Jesuit plans which aimed at the destruction of Protestantism.

‘Truth to tell, this departure has been in many respects very much to be regretted. To begin with, it deprives us of great strength and experience at a time which is perhaps the darkest and most critical that the country has gone through since the conquest. Moreover the Jesuits, who turn everything to good account, take advantage of this departure for their side. “You see,” they tell the natives, “what we told you has come true. We had foretold that M. Kruger would be driven from Madagascar: so he was; then M. Lauga, he is gone. In the same way M. Escande will soon be driven away.”

‘Oh! those Jesuits! What infernal cleverness they have to take advantage even of what seems to turn against them! Lately a proclamation was issued by the government forbidding missionaries of any sort from taking part in politics. Well, in Malagasy the word missionary is always used to designate English missionaries, either of the London Missionary Society or the Friends’ Mission. The Jesuits are only known by the name of mon père—so that they had a trump card when they declared everywhere that the English missionaries are the only ones aimed at by the proclamation; that it was known that they meddled in politics, and that measures would be taken against them at the earliest opportunity.’

‘How sad it is! I add, how humiliating it is for us Frenchmen to think that France is represented in Madagascar by such men! When one sees the means of intimidation and compulsion which they use to extend their propaganda, when one sees them threatening with the irons, or even getting native governors condemned as rebels, for the simple reason that they will not turn Roman Catholic, nor favour their fierce proselytism; when one sees them falsely accusing evangelists and Protestant teachers, in order to have them thrown into prison, and thus be able to lay hands on their chapels and schools, one is obliged to think the worst enemies of France in this country are not the fàhavàlos (and they are terrible enough), but the Jesuits.

‘Another cause of sorrow to me is the position in which the three pastors of the queen are placed. Last Sunday they were sent for to the staff-office, and there they were accused of inducing “dark and melancholy thoughts” in the mind of the queen—of not helping her to make the best of the present state of things. In one word, they were forbidden to put their foot in her house on ordinary week-days (they used to go and have worship with her every night). They were only allowed to go to church for service on Sundays. They are narrowly watched, and have been warned that, on the first complaint brought against them, they will be imprisoned for a while; and the second time, they will be shot! I was deeply grieved at this. I am convinced it is a Jesuit plot. Thanks to their intrigues, these honourable native pastors are kept under suspicion, and charged with misdeeds, so as to get them condemned. What success it would be for them, if they could say that the queen’s pastors were discharged from their office, and put in irons! It would make all the other pastors of the land tremble, would discourage the Protestants, and perhaps even the queen herself. That is really their aim and object—to discourage the queen, bring her to bay, take away from her the last persons in whom she has confidence, and who bring her any comfort. They are in hopes that, wearied and disgusted with everything, she will finally throw herself into their arms to better her position. One might really believe in a return to seventeenth-century methods! It is a disgrace to France, that in the year of grace 1896, and notwithstanding the good intentions of her government, it should be possible for such things to take place under her flag. I am humbled, heart-broken at the thought! Words fail me to express what I feel.

‘A new detachment of black gowns has just arrived, and is beginning to spread everywhere. The Jesuits have sworn to stamp out Protestantism from the island; that is what they are fighting against, and not heathenism, which has still three or four millions of adherents. It is a fierce war, a hand-to-hand fight, of which no one in France has any adequate idea. The misfortune is, as I have said a hundred times, that part of the French army upholds them publicly, and favours their propaganda by putting her sword on their side.

‘Here is a fresh instance: at Tsìafàhy, the captain has had the chapel divided into two by a low partition, so that it may be used for the two services. One Sunday lately, when the missionary, Mr. E., arrived for service, the priest was performing mass. He and his congregation waited patiently. When the Catholics had gone out Mr. E. began divine worship, but the Catholic teacher started playing the harmonium and making the children sing so noisily that it was almost impossible to hold a service. The captain declares to all that he considers Mr. E. as his greatest enemy, and that those who go and speak to that missionary will be looked upon as his personal enemies. This sudden exasperation is due, I think, to the fact that the London Missionary Society committee has written to the staff-office to have the house at Tsìafàhy given back to the missionary who wishes to return there, and the staff-office has granted it. The captain is perhaps also vexed to see that notwithstanding all his efforts the number of Catholics in his village remains very small. In the surrounding villages the situation is also critical. A lieutenant was angry lately with an evangelist. The latter had received a note from Mr. E., explaining that he sent him in his name to carry on the religious and scholastic work of that place. He had shown this to the native governor before showing it to the lieutenant, who drove him away, saying: “There are no Protestants here; you have nothing to do in these parts.”’

‘Antanànarìvo, Friday, January 1, 1897. A new year is beginning. What will it be for Madagascar? Shall we advance further into the dark night? Or shall we walk towards the dawn? We can repeat with the Mussulmans: “God alone knows!” I have just spoken of the dark night. We are in fact in it, at least from a religious point of view. Sometimes while listening to the complaints which reach me day by day from the four quarters of the country, I fancy myself carried back two centuries, into the later years of the great king. Those bands of men with no faith of their own, who go about in the pay of the Jesuits, spreading terror among the people by their lies and violence, threatening with death those who pray with the “English,” and even in some places ill-treating the Protestant pupils, and beating their masters as they come out of school; those evangelists and native pastors accused of treason and cast into prison after the most cursory trial; those schools closed under pretext that the Catholic school is the only authorized one; those chapels used as barracks; and those others confiscated by the local authorities and given over to the priests; that quasi-royalty exercised by the Jesuits in the country, and thanks to which no governor, interpreter, or native magistrate is appointed without their advice and approval; those officers of every grade (if not all, at least a great number) lending the aid of their sword to that cassocked race to hasten the conversion of the heretics; does not all this remind one of some of the proceedings so dear to the heart of Père la Chaise and of the Maintenon?

‘I do not speak of General Gallieni, whom I am pleased to recognize as doing all in his power to ensure liberty of conscience to all.

‘Can all this take place, a hundred years after the Revolution, in a French colony? Alas, yes! it does happen, and in the present day under our very eyes, and yet more, as lamentable and heartrending. In future years, when the religious history of Madagascar is written, this period will be denoted by a name which will recall to us who are Huguenots sad but glorious memories, the name of “The Church under the Cross.”

‘There are a few high-born spirits here who foresee the danger, without, however, daring to point it out openly. I have been told that one of our most noted magistrates said recently to some friends: “They (the Jesuits) will go so far that the result will be that the decree of expulsion which is applied against them in France will be applied here as well.” Those who think with him are quite the exception. The mass of the colonists and officials are under the yoke of the “good Fathers.” They vie with each other in bowing and scraping to them, for they look upon the Jesuits as the predestined saviours of Madagascar. They consider them the only ones capable of wrestling against what is commonly called the English influence; although that influence (as far as it is exercised by the missionaries) is entirely on the side of France. And the priests feel their power, and they look upon their position as impregnable, hence their unprecedented boldness.

‘What is needed to avert the peril is a change of the public opinion; a firm and loyal campaign led by the French press, to enlighten our people on the doings of the disciples of Loyola, and to force the government to recall them to a more evangelical conception of the duties of their ministry.

‘Caveant consules! If they are allowed full swing much longer, it will not only be a question of Protestant flocks dispersed or destroyed, but it will mean religious struggles of the severest kind. It means defiance, revolt, and hatred sown and taking root in the hearts of the Malagasy; the work of civilizing the great island (entrusted by Providence to our beloved France) thrown back, and may-be for ever compromised.

‘8 p.m. I had an hour and a half’s interview with the General to-day. Although I did not obtain satisfaction on all points, I am none the less pleased with the interview. I was touched by the confidence the General showed me, by making me acquainted with a number of documents on the religious question. I saw once more that he wishes to remain absolutely neutral on religious matters. He means the orders that he gives on that point to be scrupulously carried out by his subordinates. He is perfectly in earnest, and declares himself ready to punish most severely those who favour either the Catholics or the Protestants. The misfortune is that he receives from his subordinates reports which do not correspond with the truth. He read me the letters he had received from the Minister of the Colonies, and the order which he had sent, on receipt of these letters, to the various residents and commandants of the circle. All would be well if these officers executed them loyally. Unfortunately they take their own way, and if complaints are brought up against them they know how to arrange that the inquiry should result to their favour. The General takes the word of his officers, and their accusers are put to confusion.

‘Tanànarìvo, Tuesday, Jan. 26. The General wishes to remain impartial on religious matters, and he intends assuring religious liberty to all Malagasy, no matter to what church they belong. Unfortunately, there is an officer, whom I might name, who does his own sweet will with the General’s orders. Again, certain governors, especially in the south of the Imèrina, are readier to obey the orders of the priests than those of the General.

‘This storm, thanks be to God, does not rage with the same violence everywhere. There are even some parts where it is perfectly calm. I am happy to acknowledge that there are some residents and officers who are prompted by sentiments of justice and kindness, and who are in no wise desirous of making Madagascar into a settlement of Capuchin friars. That is how the district of Ambòhimànga, in spite of the efforts of the Jesuits, remains attached to Protestantism. Our schools there have fifteen times the number of the Catholics; three thousand against two hundred. Let us guard ourselves against despair; there are more than seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. The Christian churches of Madagascar have bright days before them; we have only to do our duty, all our duty; that is, accept all the task it may please God to commit to us.

‘I heard very edifying things at Tsìafàhy about Captain Y., among others his views on religious liberty. Some time ago he assembled all the people of Tsìafàhy, and said to them, “You know the French government allows you liberty of conscience; you are therefore quite free to be either Catholic or Protestant; only, if you remain Protestant I shall shoot you.” He said this in the presence of his soldiers; but, as you know, the latter cannot bear witness against their chiefs.

‘Just one episode. Mr. J. had called to my notice the governor of a certain village as distinguishing himself by his Catholic zeal. Recently the “father” of Antànamalàza went there to pour out his usual calumnies against the English and Protestants. He had informed the people that those who remained Protestants should be subjected to a very heavy statute-labour, whereas those who became Catholics would suffer lightly, and the governor calmly gave his consent to these orders of the priest. As this village was on my way, I stopped there for a few minutes. The whole population, informed of my arrival, was waiting for me on the square, headed by the governor. I addressed a few kind words to them; then, in answer to my questions, the governor told me that formerly they were Protestants, but now, with the exception of the pastor and his family, all had become Catholics, so they had given the priest their chapel and their school. Now, I know that many are of a different mind, but dare not say anything, for fear of being ill-treated by the governor.

‘Antanànarìvo, Sunday, Feb. 28. I am overwhelmed with sadness.... The queen left Antanànarìvo at midnight for Réunion. I was not able to bid her farewell, as all was carried out with the greatest secrecy. This morning early, I received a letter from the General informing me of the event. Not knowing whether I was to hold a service at the palace as usual, I went there. A squad of soldiers were barring the entrance to the chapel. That is not all; one of the queen’s pastors, J. Andrìanaivoràvèlona, was taken by the police this morning at four, and cast into prison. What will happen to him? I shall soon know, for I shall go to the General, if needs be, to obtain justice for him. He is innocent, I am sure. Ever since I have known him he has been doing all he could to serve France loyally. He could not have done better than he did. The General has just sent me his orderly officer to ask my advice as to the procedure to be used with the arrested pastor. Between the two alternatives offered—court martial and exile to Réunion—I chose the second. My decision was prompted by the consideration that he would leave without being condemned, that is, with the hope of returning later on. Besides, he will be sent as the queen’s chaplain. He will also be the pastor of the Protestant Malagasy who have been exiled to Réunion, and who are rather numerous. He will thus fill a double and precious ministry. Seeing he was thought guilty, and was to be punished, the situation I accepted was the very best. I think with sympathy of his two sons, one of whom is in Paris, and the other at Montpellier.

‘Thursday, March 4. What I had foreseen for some months past has come about: the queen has been sent away. I was officially informed of it on Saturday night. The queen was only told after her dinner, at seven, and at one a.m. she left the capital, escorted by a captain and some soldiers. Every precaution had been taken, and with the greatest secrecy, so that the departure should take place without any disturbance. Next morning, on waking, the Malagasy might read on the walls of their city the proclamation of the General announcing the suppression of royalty in Madagascar.... If what is declared is true, I only half pity the poor queen after all. For some months past her position has been most miserable. All those in whom she trusted had been taken away from her one after another. At Réunion she will be free, and will live quietly with some of her family who have joined her. She will also have her faithful pastor. I told you how he left. Moreover, the General, considering the information I supplied to him about the family, granted my request, and decided not to confiscate his goods. It would be well if this affair could be brought to light, and the lying accusations directed against this pastor exposed....

‘The Jesuits gloat over the measures taken just lately; they take advantage of the state of affairs to thrust themselves upon the people more and more, and to make proselytes through fear. Naturally they distort the facts; they affirm that the reason of the queen’s departure was her refusal to become Catholic; for J. Andrìanaivoràvèlona’s, that he was the most influential Protestant pastor. The uneducated country folk fall into the snare, and the good Jesuits rub their hands.

‘Antanànarìvo, Monday, March 15. I received a deputation from Bètsilèo begging me to go to their help. At Ambòsitra they are in a most critical position. It is impossible to conceive of what is happening there. The medical missionary of the place writes heartrending accounts. The Catholics seize all the churches by main force and plant crosses on them. They had placed one on a church entirely built by the London Missionary Society. The doctor himself took it off, to show clearly that the Jesuits had no right to that building. This almost brought about a revolution. Accusations were showered upon him, and he was brought before a tribunal composed of two Malagasy, who ordered him to replace the cross. He refused, and is determined to hold out, even if he is expelled.

‘The deputation told me the method of the Jesuit “father” in making converts. He sends bands of his partisans who bind the Protestants with cords, and belabour them with blows if they persist in their firmness. One of the deputies told me he had been seized by the priest’s emissaries, raised into the air, then, when in that position he refused to turn Catholic, he was thrown violently to the ground and trampled under foot.

‘Wednesday, March 24. To-day I went to Ambòhimànambòla. That village is already famous by the events which have taken place there. The governor does not lose one chance of threatening the Protestants. He is terrible when he makes up his mind. More than three hundred and fifty children had come from different villages, and a good many adults met together to hear me. Besides, many Catholic novices were listening at the windows. After service I questioned the children, to see whether they knew French. They repeated the Lord’s Prayer and Apostles’ Creed very fairly. Then we went to the teacher’s house for lunch. There I heard all about the affairs of the place. The imprisonment of the evangelists has caused a great commotion, and the people are paralysed with fear. That is not all. The governor and mayor of Tsàrahonènana (both Protestants) have been arrested, as well as the pastor and our schoolmaster at Ihamàry, who were found guilty of not becoming Catholic. Seeing this, the boldest lose courage, and the priest of Antànamalàza brings them within the pale of the Roman Church.

‘Thursday, April 8. Are we on the eve of new times? God grant it! In our dark sky it seems as though a little light were breaking. To begin with, the prohibition against the confiscation by Catholics of our chapels is like the dawn of a new era. More than that, the General now seems disposed to make certain concessions to the English missionaries. During these few months he has been able to see their blameless conduct and the indisputable services they have rendered to the colony.

‘The General has done still more with regard to our claims. I have already told you that the Jesuits claim ninety-one chapels in Bètsilèo, without counting those they have already seized. All those chapels are closed lately pending the General’s decision. The latter has given us to hope that he would have them reopened and left to the Protestants, in accordance with the minister’s orders.

‘Further good news: the “father” of Antànamalàza has been removed. He is in Mandrìdràno, a day’s march from here. The Friends’ Mission have now the perilous honour of wrestling with that madman who did us so much harm in the Ambàtomànga circle. Another has taken his place at Antànamalàza. But he will need some time before he can gain the influence Father G. enjoyed.

‘Saturday, April 10. The agents of the “fathers” were causing agitation at Andòhatànjona. The frightened Protestants no longer dared send their children to our school, and the Catholics boasted aloud that they were about to seize the chapel. Two or three times they had disturbed the services; in short, things looked very bad when, a couple of weeks ago, I went there myself. My visit had a very good effect. Seeing this, the Catholics were very vexed. They had the three chief members of the church arrested the day before yesterday, and yesterday I heard to my dismay that the pastor and teacher of Ampàngabè had been taken and led bound to Fènoarìvo! They are supposed to have said that the English would soon arrive to drive the French away from Madagascar. I was preparing to defend them when I heard they had been brought with their accusers to Tanànarìvo. I was reassured by this, especially as I heard their judge would be Colonel B., whose uprightness I know. This morning I heard they had been released. Not only have they not been condemned, but their accusers have been severely reprimanded. They have been warned that if they again attempt to disturb the Protestant congregation they will be condemned to six months’ imprisonment. The judge added: “The priest who led you on to act in this way is bad; beware of him.”

‘Jubilation of our people and confusion of the Catholics! they who thought they had only to raise their voices to get what they wanted! That is a verdict, and many more like it are needed. Nothing would convince our adversaries better that French justice is not an empty phrase.

‘Tanànarìvo, Monday, April 12. The religious situation is greatly improving, at least in certain parts. General Gallieni’s circular, dated March 26, forbidding the appropriation of religious buildings by the Roman Catholics, had produced a cessation. The Protestant congregations, hoping to be no longer disturbed in their worship, begin to take courage. On the other hand, the Jesuits, no longer able to intimidate the Protestant people by taking their chapels, have adopted another plan. More than ever (for the system has always been dear to them) they forge lying accusations against our most influential members (governors, pastors, teachers, deacons) in order to have them condemned. They know by experience that when the head has fallen the rest of the body does not offer much resistance.

‘From all sides they are begging me to go to Bètsilèo, and it would not be surprising if I did accompany M. Minault. There will be ample work for two, and more. I shall, of course, wait till my colleagues have quite got into the work. It is important that our brethren in Bètsilèo should have a helping hand, especially those of the London Missionary Society, whose work has been three-quarters destroyed.’