THE SPIES AND THE SECRET MEETING--THE PRIME MINISTER FOILED BY THE
PRINCE.
The sun was setting, the air was balmy, the face of nature was
beautiful, the insects and birds were buzzing, humming, and chirping
happily, as if there were no such things as care and sorrow in the wide
world, when Soa, the prime minister's nephew, with his guide, approached
the forest in which was the cavern where the persecuted Christians had
arranged to hold their secret meeting.
"I am to go as a Christian!" thought Soa, as he walked on swiftly and in
silence, "as a Christian hypocrite and spy!"
The young man's countenance relaxed into something like a smile as he
thought thus; then it became solemnised as he offered the silent prayer,
"Lord, enable me to do the work honestly and well."
The way was long, but the youth's limbs were strong and agile, so that
night had not long overspread the land when he reached the end of his
journey. The night was unusually dark--well adapted for deeds of
secrecy and crime. If it had been lighter the two spies would have seen
a number of men and women, and even children, hurrying along stealthily
in the same direction with themselves. They observed only two or three
of these, however, who chanced to fall in their way. They loomed up
suddenly like spectres out of the surrounding darkness and as quickly
melted into it again. Soa paid no attention to these apparitions,
neither did he utter a word to his companion during the journey.
Most of the way he kept a pace or two in advance of his guide, but when
they reached the more intricate and broken grounds of the forest, he
fell behind and suffered the other to lead.
At last the path wound so much among broken rocks and over steep knolls
that their progress became very slow--all the more so that the
overshadowing trees rendered the darkness profound. Sometimes they had
to clamber up steep places on hands and knees.
Suddenly they were arrested by what seemed to them a faint cry or wail.
Listening intently, they perceived that the sounds were musical.
"The Christians are singing," said the spy in a tone which, low though
it was, betrayed a touch of contempt. "They hold their meeting in a
cave on the other side of this mound."
"Remain here, then, till I return to you," said Soa. "They know you to
be a spy. They will not suppose that _I_ have come in such a capacity."
The man gave vent to a slight laugh at the supposed joke and sat down,
while the courtier advanced alone.
On the other side of the mound the sounds which had reached the
listeners' ears as a wail, now swelled upon the young man as a
well-known hymn, in which he had many times joined. A feeling of joy,
almost amounting to triumph, filled his heart as he stood there
listening. While he listened he observed several indistinct forms glide
past him and enter the cave. He crept after them.
A strange sight met his eyes. The cave was so large and high that the
single torch which burned in it merely lighted up a portion of the wall
against which it was fixed. Even in the immediate neighbourhood of the
torch things were more or less indistinct, while all else was shrouded
in darkness profound. Here more than a hundred dusky figures were
assembled--those furthest from the light melting, as it were, into the
darkness, and leaving the imagination to people illimitable space with
similar beings.
Soa slipped in, and sat down on a jutting rock near the entrance just as
the hymn was closing. Few people observed him. Immediately after, an
old man who sat nearest the light rose to pray. Beside him stood our
friend Ravonino. On the other side sat a young man with a remarkably
intelligent countenance.
With intense earnestness and great simplicity the old man prayed, in the
name of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit might bless their meeting and
deliver them from the power of their enemies. He also prayed with much
emphasis that their enemies might be turned into Christian friends--at
which petition a loud "Amen" arose from the worshippers.
"Now Totosy will speak," said the old man, after a brief pause, turning
to the young man with the intelligent countenance. "Let the Word be
brought forth."
"Stop!" cried a man, rising in the midst of the crowd, "it may not be
safe to bring out the Word just now."
"Why not, my son?" asked the old man. "Are not all here to-night our
friends?"
"I think not," returned the man. "As I came along I saw one of the
Queen's spies, who is well-known to me. He was walking with the nephew
of our deadly foe Rainiharo, and Soa himself sits _there_!"
He turned as he spoke, and pointed straight at Soa, who rose at once and
advanced to the front.
"My friends," he said, in a gentle voice, "the last speaker is right. I
am here, and I was led here by one of the Queen's spies. But the spy is
not here. He awaits me outside. Let two of your young men guard the
entrance of the cave so that our conference may not be overheard."
Two stalwart youths rose at once and hurried to the outside of this
primitive meeting-house, where they mounted guard.
"I have been sent," continued Soa, "by my uncle, with orders to enter
your meeting `_as a Christian_,' take note of your names, and report
them to him!"
There was a tendency on the part of some to shrink into the background
on hearing this.
"Now," continued Soa, "I have come to obey only part of his orders. I
have come, _as a Christian_, to warn you of the dangers that surround
you. The Queen is exceeding mad against you. It will be your wisest
course to refrain from meeting together just now, and rest content with
worshipping in your own homes. But let not this distress you, my
friends. The God whom we love is able to turn darkness into light and
to make crooked things straight. Neither let it break up our meeting
just now. We are safe at present. Let us get out the Word and enjoy
the worship of our Saviour while we may."
There were murmurs of assent and satisfaction at the close of this brief
address, and one of the young men, with grave--almost mysterious--looks,
took up a small spade and went towards that part of the wall where
Ravonino sat. The latter rose to let the young men get at a particular
spot, which was marked on the wall with a small--almost imperceptible--
red square. Here, after turning up a few spadefuls of earth, he struck
upon a stone. Lifting it, he disclosed a hole about a foot square. The
old man who presided at the meeting thrust his hands into this hole and
gently lifted out a thick volume, which he laid reverently upon a flat
rock that formed a sort of natural table in front of him.
This was "the Word" to which reference had been made--an old,
much-soiled and worn Malagasy Bible, which had been buried there, so
that, whatever might become of its Christian owners, it might escape
being found and condemned to the flames, as so many of its fellows had
been.
It was a curious Bible this, in more respects than one. In Madagascar
the Bible was printed first in sections by the natives, under the
superintendence of the missionaries; these sections got scattered, for
teaching purposes, and various editions of different sizes were printed
at different times. The original owner--if we may not call him
fabricator--of the Bible, now referred to as having been dug up in the
cave, must, in his desire to possess the Word of God complete, have been
at considerable pains to secure every fragment and leaf that came in his
way, and then had them all bound together. A clasp of leather and a
European hook-and-eye fastened the edges. The different portions, of
course, did not fit exactly, and some of the verses necessarily
overlapped. Nevertheless, a nearly complete and substantial Bible was
the result of his labours. _See Note 1_.
Taking up the treasured book with great care, the young man before
mentioned by the name of Totosy opened it and selected a text. "Fear
not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom."
From this he preached an admirable sermon, full of hope and consolation
to men and women situated as his companions were at that time, and
holding up Jesus not only as the deliverer of the world from sin but
from fear of physical death. Strengthening of this sort, truly, was
much-needed, for during the previous persecutions of 1837 and 1849 Queen
Ranavalona had given terrible evidence of her fierce and relentless
nature, so that Christians were now well aware of what they had to
expect if another cruel fit came upon her.
The sermon finished, another hymn was sung, followed by a prayer, after
which, before finally breaking up and dispersing, the worshippers
collected in various groups; and exclamations of surprise, joy, and
fervent thanksgiving were heard, now and again, when friends who had
parted as enemies on account of religious differences unexpectedly met
as brothers in the Lord.
It has ever been a result of persecution that the persecuted cause has
made progress--naturally so, for trial and suffering winnow out the
chaff and leave the good seed to flourish with increased vigour. Few
false professors attended those midnight meetings, which were so full of
joy and danger, and none of these ever got the length of Ranavalona's
fiery stakes or the fearful "rock of hurling."
For fully a quarter of a century, (from 1836 to 1861), did the
persecution of the native Christians last in Madagascar. During most of
that dark period Queen Ranavalona the First endeavoured, by cruel
prohibitive laws, torture, and death, to stamp out the love of Christ
from her dominions. Through most of that period she tried to prevent
her people from meeting for worship, praying to God in the name of
Christ, or reading the Scriptures or any other Christian book, and those
who disobeyed her did so at the risk of losing property, liberty, or
life. Nevertheless, in spite of this, worship was kept up in secret--in
secluded villages, in recesses of the forest, in caves, even in
rice-holes; the Word was read, faithful natives preached, and Baptism
and the Lord's Supper were continuously observed. Small portions of
Scripture--even leaves--were carefully treasured and passed from hand to
hand until "these calamities" were past; and now, at the present time,
the Church in Madagascar is ten times stronger than ever it was before!
Of course active persecution was not maintained throughout the whole
period of twenty-five years. The volcano smouldered at times. For
brief periods it almost seemed as if about to become extinct, but at
intervals it burst forth with renewed violence. At the time of which we
write, (1857), there were mutterings of the volcano, and portents in the
air which filled the persecuted ones, and those who loved them, with
grave anxiety.
In a dark corner of the cavern Soa and Ravonino stood apart, after the
service was over, and conversed in subdued tones.
"Do you think the lives of my comrades are in danger?" asked the latter,
anxiously.
"It is difficult to answer that," replied Soa. "The Queen fears to
offend the English by putting European subjects to death; but she is in
a savage mood just now, and your friends have intermeddled with matters
that they would have been wise to let alone. Banishment is more likely
to be their fate, but that will be almost equal to death."
"How so?" asked Ravonino.
"Because Ranavalona will probably treat them as she treated the
Europeans who lately tried to overthrow her government. She sent them
down to the coast with orders to their conductors to keep them so long
on the way--especially on the unhealthy fever-stricken parts of the
route--that sickness might have time to kill them."
"And was the plan successful?"
"Not quite, for the white people turned out to be tough. They managed
to get away from our island alive, but in a state of health, I believe,
that will very likely prevent them from ever wishing to return!"
"I have much love for these men," said Ravonino, after a pause. "You
have influence with Rainiharo. Can you not befriend them?"
"I shall have little influence now with my uncle," returned Soa, sadly,
"for I am a Christian, and he will soon discover that. But I will help
them if I can--for your sake."
"And Rafaravavy," said Ravonino, in a lower voice, "do you think she can
be induced to fly? If she were brought to me here, I should have little
difficulty in taking her to a place of safety."
"The difficulties in your way are greater than you suppose," said Soa.
"The Queen's spies and soldiers are out all over the land. Even now,
were it not that I am your friend and brother in Jesus, you would have
been caught here as in a trap. Besides, there is the greater difficulty
that Rafaravavy is filled with fidelity to her royal mistress, and
pities her so much that she will not leave her. You know that she
openly confesses Christ in the palace, yet so great is the Queen's
regard for her that she will not listen to my uncle, who would gladly
see her tossed over the `rock of hurling.' I had converse with her the
other day, and I see that she even hopes to be the instrument of the
Queen's conversion to Christianity."
"God bless her!" exclaimed Ravonino, fervently.
"Amen!" returned Soa, "and I doubt not that the blessing will come,
though it may not come in the way we hope. It is no easy matter to say
`Thy will be done' when we are suffering."
"Prince Rakota has done much for the Christians in time past," urged
poor Ravonino, who felt that all hope of delivering the girl he loved,
at the present time, from the dangers that surrounded her was gradually
slipping away from him; "surely he can and will protect her."
"I fear he has not the power," answered Soa. "He has interfered in
behalf of the Christians so often of late that the Queen is losing
patience; and you know that if she once gives way to her cruel rage, the
life of Rakota himself is not safe. But, you may trust me, my friend; I
will do my best to move him to aid you--and your friends also."
Most of the people had left the cave while these two were conversing,
with the understanding that they were not to return, as it was no longer
a safe retreat. Another and more distant rendezvous was, however,
appointed; the treasured Bible was not restored to its old place of
concealment, but carried off by Totosy, the young preacher, to be
reburied in a new place of refuge.
"Do you follow them?" asked Soa of Ravonino, when the others had all
gone and they were about to part.
"No. My companions will come here expecting to find me if they escape.
I must remain, whatever befalls. If the soldiers come, I will see them
before they arrive, and give them the slip. If they give chase they
will find it troublesome to catch me!"
When Soa returned to the city he went straight to the apartments of the
prime minister, whom he found impatiently awaiting him.
"You have been long," said the latter.
"The distance is great," replied the nephew.
"Well?" exclaimed the uncle, inquiringly.
"You ordered me to act as a Christian," returned the young man, with a
slight smile, "and you know it takes time to do that."
"True--true. And you have brought me the list?"
"No, uncle."
"What mean you, boy?"
"I mean that I have obeyed your first command; I have been to the
Christian meeting _as a Christian_."
A puzzled, inquiring look overspread the premier's countenance.
"Well, what then?"
"Well, then, of course I acted the part of a Christian to the best of my
power. I told them why I had been sent, warned them of the evil
intended them, and advised them to escape for their lives; but, as no
immediate danger was to be feared, I joined them in their worship."
"And you have brought no list?"
"None."
Rainiharo's visage, while his nephew spoke, was a sight to behold; for
the conflicting emotions aroused produced a complexity of expression
that is quite indescribable.
"Young man!" he said, sternly, "you have disobeyed my orders. Why have
you done this? Your head must fall, for you show that you are a
Christian."
With great simplicity and gentleness Soa said:
"Yes, my uncle, I _am_ a Christian; and if you please you may put me to
death, for I _do_ pray to Jesus."
Utterly confounded by this straightforward and fearless reply, Rainiharo
stood for some moments gazing in silent wonder at the youth who thus
calmly stood prepared to abide the consequences of his confession. At
first it almost seemed as if, in his anger, he would with his own hand,
then and there, inflict the punishment he threatened; but once again, as
in the case of Ranavalona, love proved more powerful than anger.
"No, no, boy," he said, turning away with a wave of his hand, as if to
dismiss the subject finally, "you shall not die. It is a delusion. You
deceive yourself. Go. Leave me!"
Soa obeyed, and went straight to the apartment of Prince Rakota to
relate to that fast friend and comrade his recent adventures, and
consult with him about the dark cloud that threatened to burst in
persecution over the unhappy land.
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Note 1. A Bible of the kind here described may now be seen in the
Museum of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 146 Queen Victoria
Street, London, just as it was dug up out of the earth, where it had
been buried by christian natives who probably perished in the
persecutions. The New Testament bears the date of 1830, the Old
Testament that of 1835.