THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS' MISSION IN CENTRAL MADAGASCAR.
By Rev. James Johnston
BY THE REV. JAMES JOHNSTON. Kindred in missionary spirit with the Moravian Church, the members of the Society of Friends, through the agency of their own Friends' Foreign Mission Association, have done noble service in India, China, Syria, and Madagascar during the last three decades, with a staff numbering at the present day sixty-four missionaries,—medical and evangelizing. The zeal of the English Friends for the salvation of the heathen world may be inferred from the fact that of the 19,000 Quakers in England, one in every 280 was statedly engaged in the mission field. In the midsummer of 1867 the Friends sent their first ambassadors of the faith—those sterling souls, Joseph S. Sewell and Louis and Sarah Street—to Madagascar, the third largest island on the globe. Their advent was the outcome of a suggestion made by a director of the London Missionary Society, whose pioneer workers had reached the island so long ago as the year 1818. To these ardent fellow yoke bearers the London society's representatives accorded an affectionate welcome. A significant event occurred shortly afterwards, which opened wide the gateway for the incoming of Christ's day. That enlightened woman, Queen Ranavalona II., on her coronation, in 1868, broke with idolatry, declared herself a Christian, and consigned the most popular idol of the heathen party to the flames. This resolve of the sovereign was followed by throngs of the native heathen crowding into the chapels, and begging to be taught the new faith. The messengers of grace, who had been waiting through the long, dark night, were overwhelmed by the freshet of souls; and, like the fishermen of old, beckoned to their brethren "that they should come and help them." In response to the call, the Friends, in proportion to their resources and opportunities, fervently availed themselves. The nets were thrown in, and prayer offered that wisdom might be given to draw the ingathering safely to the shore. From that time the missionaries of the London society and the Friends have toiled in harmonious coöperation. Already Joseph Sewell had been teaching the young, remarking, "I had found work I could do"—a sphere of activity in which the Friends have since conspicuously excelled on the island. When683the Friends' reinforcements arrived in 1871, it was decided that, in addition to taking charge of the congregation at Ambohitantely, in the heart of the capital, they should carry on educational and other labors, and, if possible, undertake the evangelization of a tract of territory to the southwest of the capital, in the midst of a terribly benighted people. Only by men and women burning with the missionary passion could this district be contested. Lawless and heathen, the native population, utterly filthy in thought, speech, and habits, occupied an extensive region on the borders of No Man's Land, inhabited by the fierce Sakalava tribes, among which they found a refuge after forays in cattle lifting and men stealing. Their low type was also attested by cruel bullfights in the open lands, and the number of criminals they furnished to the rude prisons on the road to the capital. So suspicious were these natives of foreigners that they were often seen to flee from the face of the white man. The Friends' missionaries discovered three mud-walled erections in as many forlorn villages—a dim evidence of the presence of Christianity in persecution times. Here was virgin soil, and the trust which the fresh contingent essayed to bear has been signally honored. A quarter of a century has nearly gone by, and meanwhile the geographical area of the Friends' mission of mercy has been maintained. Educating and Christianizing, they have influenced hundreds of heathen villages, planted homes and stations, where lives have borne fruitful witness that "Life saved for self is lost, while they
Who lose it in his service hold
The lease of God's eternal day." Even incomplete tabulated returns show marvels of consecration on the part of the eighteen missionaries occupying the four central stations at Antananarivo, Arivonimamo, Mandridrano, and Ambohitsiadana. In the district of Imerina some 157 little thatched chapels are seen in an equal number of villages, where 14,000 people, at least, regularly attend worship, conducted by the missionaries and their helpers. At the two high schools in the capital the accommodation for 600 youths and maidens is fully used. The pupils are directly influenced by the missionaries, and from the youthful ranks teachers are chosen for work in town and isolated districts. These, again, are represented on a smaller scale by numerous village schools, where 12,000 children, or more, obtain an excellent elementary and Bible training. As might be supposed, such institutions have contributed to the prestige of Sunday schools, temperance effort, and Endeavor societies. Of the latter a missionary has written: "The Young People's Societies of Christian Endeavor in Madagascar, as in America, were a real hope of the future." The printing press, which was introduced in 1872, has widely disseminated schoolbooks, tracts, and papers, illustrated by means of the lithographic press. Last year alone 135,000 useful publications came from this source. In the printing department some three dozen Malagasy youths find an honorable vocation. More wonderful, perhaps, is the value of medical work. The four missionaries, who have charge of 80 beds in the hospital, report that during 1893 they admitted 1,105 in-patients, received 12,478 visits from out-patients at the hospital and 4 dispensaries, and visited 1,845 sick cases. Medical students are taught, and afterwards devote themselves to the needs of distant country places. And nursing, too, is popular among Malagasy women, whose services are prized at the village medical missions. The whole of Imerina will erelong be accessible to qualified native doctors. Skill in healing appeals to the heart, induces a favorable opening for the gospel, and anticipates the good time to come. The force of this was conveyed by a poor Malagasy youth, who, lying ill in the men's ward, remarked, "Many generations of Malagasy will thank you missionaries, who have done so much for our benefit." Heroic faith is required for the spiritual conquest of Madagascar. Of 4,000,000 souls the vast majority are unreached by the divine invitation, and, in grossest forms, cruelty and immorality, slavery and heathenism, abound. Happily the ambassadors of Christ have grasped the sureness of the promise, "I am God. . . . I will work, and who shall reverse it?" If immature the converts, and few in comparison with the surrounding heathen, they see that the morning is coming and the light increasing, since the humble beginnings in 1867, and thus eagerly expect the hour to strike when they may carry the sunshine of His name to the intractable Sakalava tribes scattered over the wilds of Western Madagascar.—Sunday School Times.