Part 3 (1/2)
True civilization springs from pure religion. Where grace touches the heart of a man, it quickens all his powers.
”The transformation of apostate man From fool to wise, from earthly to divine, Is work for Him that made him.”
Among a barbarous people the gospel effects changes in one generation which ages without its grace have failed to secure. ”In coming back to the station on the Kuruman,” says Livingstone, ”from the tribes in the interior, I always felt that I had come back to civilization.”
It is the Gospel which has made the Kuruman; and what it is, other stations are already beginning to be. Apart from its christian church and christian community; apart from the many who have lived a holy life and died in the Lord; apart from the well studied translation of the Bible to which Mr. Moffat has given the strength of his life,--all over the northern territory the tribes which have heard the Gospel are waking up to new, strange thought; conscience is struggling upward into power; and life is taking for them a new form, and is exhibiting a higher purpose. Peace is desired more than ever; towns and settlements are becoming seats of constant industry; waggons are purchased by chiefs and people; cottages and gardens multiply. When Sechele and five thousand of his people hold a meeting to pray for rain, and gather again to offer thanks for the blessing bestowed, the influence of the rain-maker must be on the decline.
And when the Matebele hope that the successor of Moselekatse, wandering in other districts, will have learned the religion of the gospel, and rule gently according to its precepts, surely the time for their deliverance is nigh at hand.
X.--MADAGASCAR.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP OF THE COUNTRY 20 MILES AROUND ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR.]
The MADAGASCAR MISSION is peculiarly dear to the friends of the London Missionary Society; and not to them only, but to all the supporters of Foreign Missions. It is the child of their affection; the object of their most tender compa.s.sion, their yearnings, and their prayers. Its long trial of suffering, the grace given to its scattered members, their patience, their fidelity, have drawn to its churches the love, the confidence, the reverence of all christian hearts. Its history is a very simple one. Founded in 1818, it was between 1820 and the death of Radama in 1828, that the Mission Schools, the printing press, and instruction in the industrial arts, laid deep the foundation of that education and enlightenment which have so greatly benefited the population at large. And it was during those brief years the seeds were sown of that true spiritual life and christian principle which produced a native christian church, and enabled it, nourished by Divine grace, to bear the bitter persecution of twenty-six years. No fiercer resolve to maintain an old national idolatry has been witnessed in modern days, than that from which this persecution sprang. It was steadfast, uncompromising, and unrelenting. Maintained throughout the lifetime of the persecutors, it was especially bitter and violent on three occasions. _a_. In July, 1837, when the profession of christianity was forbidden, when all christian wors.h.i.+p was stopped, and all books were ordered to be given up, our first martyr, a true christian woman, RASALAMA, was speared.
RAFARALAHY followed her, a year after. In 1840 nine were speared; many hundreds were made slaves; two hundred at least became fugitives.
In 1842 the persecution extended to VONIZONGO, and, of five brethren who suffered, two were executed, and three were poisoned. By this time seventeen had lost their lives: and both christian and heathen had learned the great lesson, that a true faith in Christ enables its followers without fear to meet all penalties for conscience' sake, and even with gladness to lay down life itself. _b_. The second great trial, intended to be more severe, fell on the scattered church with the year 1849. Nineteen confessors were seized, but they answered their persecutors bravely, and looked on death without fear.
Fourteen were thrown over the lofty precipice; the four n.o.bles sang hymns amid the burning flames, while the bright rainbow arched the heavens and inspired them with more than mortal joy. Nineteen hundred of their faithful companions were fined; a hundred were flogged; many others were enslaved, and made ”to serve with rigour” in public works, in felling timber and hewing stone. But still was it true of these ”children of Israel,” ”the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and grew.” _c_. The third persecution was more bitter and resolute still. In July, 1857, when mutiny and ma.s.sacre were at their height in Upper India, fourteen were stoned to death at FIADANA, followed by seven others; and sixty-six were loaded with heavy chains.
The church was still more scattered; but many of the leading brethren were securely hidden, and ”had their lives given them as a prey.”
In 1861 the church obtained its long-lost liberty, and was permitted again to profess its belief in open day. Rich in faith, steadfast in principle, it only needed a wider range of Scripture knowledge and some little guidance in its public affairs. Singularly free from the admixture of foreign elements in its const.i.tution, it had pastors and teachers; the brethren were accustomed to edify one another, and were zealous for the spread of the truth among their fellow-countrymen.
The progress of the churches during the last eight years has been sound as well as rapid. Conviction has ripened where the good seed was sown; thousands have become members; many thousands more have joined our congregations; numerous churches have been organized both in the capital and in the country round. The members of the churches have been true missionaries where they have gone; and thus many, whom public duty or private interest had led far away from home, have been the means of planting churches in the district of Vonizongo, and even in the distant town of Fianarantsoa.
If the measure of our suffering be the measure of our greatness, we cannot wonder that this martyr church is strong in faith, giving glory to G.o.d. Hence all the quiet but solid strength of their present prosperity. Hence the great but not too rapid increase, in their numbers. Hence it is that, though persecution left them poor, they have built nearly a hundred village chapels; that their search into the Word of G.o.d is deep, continuous, and unwearied; that their congregations are crowded; that, at a missionary prayer meeting held early in the day, sixteen hundred persons gather together; and that, when a volunteer preacher finds it inconvenient every Sabbath to visit a distant village, his brethren invite him permanently to reside there, and offer to pay him a sufficient income till that village shall be christianized.
[Ill.u.s.tration: AMBATONAKANGA CHURCH, MADAGASCAR.]
How shall we forget their grateful rejoicings when the first stone church in memory of their martyrs was set apart for wors.h.i.+p! By the entire christian population, and even by many heathen, it was felt to be a truly festive day. From early dawn they began to gather around the edifice, eager to secure a place on an occasion so memorable.
You see the little parties of christian villagers making their way across the western plain; coming in from the southward, where many churches lie; or from the north, where, in the sacred village of Ambohimanga, the man who should have been chief guardian of its heathenism, is now the teacher of its christian church. Streaming along the public roads of the city, the many processions, headed by their singers, mount to the n.o.ble platform of rock on which the Church of AMBATONAKANGA stands. The building will hold eleven hundred people, but over four thousand have gathered around it: the doors are opened at eight; sixteen hundred manage to squeeze in, and the remainder wait in patience for five hours more, to get their turn in the afternoon service. Attended by a procession, duly marshalled with music, high officers of the government bear from the Queen a condescending message of congratulation and encouragement. And then the native pastor opens the service. He is one of the earliest Christians in the island; a man of great ability, of n.o.ble, long-tried character. He was a convert in the old chapel that stood on that very ground. For years he was hunted for his life; but the Lord kept him. His n.o.ble wife, a true martyr, died in chains; but, hid in hollow walls, in holes of the rock, in solitary huts and cowhouses, he marvellously escaped. And when at last, like the rest of the ”slain” church, after long silence, he walked once more through ”the streets of the city,” his ”enemies beheld him” in wonder.
There he stands in the face of day, honoured and known, the native pastor of that church, and the appointed tutor of the Queen's adopted children.
When the late Queen took her journey to the sea, large numbers of christians attended the camp on official duty, and, by faithfully observing the Sabbath and holding meetings for wors.h.i.+p, afforded numerous opportunities to their heathen companions of hearing the gospel preached and of listening to christian prayers. The impression produced was deep and widespread. When the camp returned to the capital, hundreds of new faces were seen in the churches, and the congregations increased so greatly, that chapel building and enlargement were necessitated on a very extensive scale.
With the reign of her youngest sister, the new Queen, all hesitation on the part of the Government respecting christianity seemed to pa.s.s away. The leaders had doubted whether it did not necessarily involve the introduction of purely foreign elements into the general government of the island. But rea.s.sured by the steadfast loyalty of the Protestant missionaries, who have adhered strictly to their position as religious teachers, and whose prudent, sober conduct in difficult circ.u.mstances the Directors consider deserving of high praise, the n.o.bles, believing that christianity had proved itself a great public blessing, began to accept it heartily for themselves.
Kind messages were sent from the Queen to the missionaries on her accession; with a.s.surances of public protection for all their converts. The diviners and idol keepers, who had been so influential in the palace, were dismissed to country villages. Numerous members of n.o.ble families joined the several congregations in the city, and many of the highest rank were baptized. The congregations both in town and country grew larger and larger, and it was most difficult to find them room. Next a law was pa.s.sed, putting a stop to all official work on the Sabbath-day: and was followed by another law, which directed that Sunday markets should be held on some other convenient day. After full consideration, the Council repealed the ancient law, which forbade the erection of stone buildings within the capital, and had sanctioned only palaces, houses and walls of wood. Such a step may appear to be a trifle. It may seem to be a matter merely of economy, safety, and convenience, whether a people shall build in wood or earth or stone. But the repeal meant more than this.
It was a veritable Reform Bill: it swept away old traditions, conservative customs, and those rules and motives of the past which were the b.u.t.tresses of idolatry, and which had hitherto hindered all public progress. It was a sign that this young nation had entered on a new career of life and thought and happiness.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MADAGASCAR--GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE FOR THE MAKING OF LAWS.]
On the day of the coronation three hundred thousand people gathered to meet their sovereign. Preceded by a hundred ladies, and by her Ministers and Council, the Queen was borne to the a.s.sembly in simple state. The old scarlet banners, which were the emblems of the idols'
presence, were wanting in the procession. Around the canopy that shaded her throne, were written the words of the angels which welcomed the Redeemer into the world. In front and to her right stood the table which bore her crown. On another table to the left, was the Bible presented to her predecessor by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Her royal speech contained many elevated sentiments: but it specially announced to all her people liberty of conscience in regard to christianity of the fullest kind. ”This is my word to you, O ye under heaven, in regard to the praying: it is not enforced: it is not hindered: for G.o.d made you.”
For several weeks in a quiet way wors.h.i.+p was maintained, and the Bible read in the palace on the Sabbath-day: the native ministers were invited to conduct the service. In the country districts gratifying advance has been made. Village chapels have increased in number. In the sacred city of Ambohimanga which foreigners may not enter, two churches have been gathered outside the walls: and on one occasion one of the missionary brethren addressed a vast congregation in the open market near. In Vonizongo the churches have increased. Far away to the south of the capital, the visits of our brethren to the BETSILEO awoke new life among the converts; and, among the forests of Ta.n.a.la, the n.o.ble princess Ittovana, one of the ablest among the able n.o.bles of the island, has declared herself a Christian.
The most conspicuous manifestation of the sympathy of the Queen and her leading n.o.bles with this advance of religious opinion appeared in November last, on the opening of the second of the Memorial Churches, the church at AMBOHIPOTSY. Thirty years ago, in March, 1836, on a Sunday morning, the little prison of the capital at Ambatonakanga was opened, and a young woman was led forth to be put to death. She was just thirty, fair to look upon, and of gentle manners; and her face was lit with that bright radiance which springs from the conviction that G.o.d and heaven are very near. She walked forth with firm step; she was surrounded by the guards; and though going to die, she began to sing in a joyous tone the hymns that she had loved. Followed by a crowd, of which some hooted and some were lost in wonder, she pa.s.sed through the city, towards the dreary ditch at the south end of the long ridge on which the capital is built.
The scene before her and on either side was one of unusual beauty.