The vigour with which Prince Rakota put down the attempt at usurpation
was followed by characteristic deeds of leniency and kindness. Instead
of taking the usual method of savage and semi-civilised rulers to crush
rebellion, he merely banished Rambosalama from the capital, and confined
him in a residence of his own in the country; but no fetters were put on
his limbs, and his wealth was not forfeited, nor was he forbidden to
communicate with his friends.
Moreover, before the sun of that day in 1861 had set, the new King
caused it to be proclaimed far and wide that all his subjects might
depend upon receiving equal protection; that every man was free to
worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience; that the
prison-doors should be thrown open to those who had been condemned for
conscience sake, and their fetters knocked off. He also sent officers
to announce to those who had been banished to the pestilential districts
that the day of deliverance had come.
To many of these last, of course, the good news came too late for this
life. Disease, and hard labour and cruel fetters, had done their work;
but the deliverance that came to these was grander and more glorious
than the mere removal of earthly chains and pains.
It was a glad day for Madagascar, and the people of the capital were
wild with joy, for condemned ones who had long been given up as lost,
because enslaved or imprisoned for life, were suddenly restored to
family and friends, while others could entertain the hope that those who
had been long banished would speedily return to them. Many a house in
the city resounded that day with hymns of praise and thanksgiving that
the tyrant Queen was dead, and that the gentle Prince was crowned.
But the change did not bring equal joy to all. Some there were whose
smitten hearts could not recover from the crushing blows they had
sustained when the news of loved ones having perished in exile had been
brought to them--though even these felt an impulse of pleasure from
Christian sympathy with the joy of their more fortunate friends.
Among these last was poor Reni-Mamba. She, being very meek and
submissive, had tried hard to join in the prayer and praise; but her
voice was choked when she attempted to speak, and it quavered sadly when
she tried to sing.
"Oh! if it had only pleased God to spare thee, Mamba--thou crumb of my
life!--my dear, my only son!" She broke out thus one day when the
sympathetic Ra-Ruth sought to comfort her. "I was beginning to get over
the loss of his father--it was so many years ago that they took him from
me! and as my boy grew up, the likeness to my Andrianivo was so strong
that I used to try to think it was himself; but--now--both--"
"Are with the Lord, which is far better," said Ra-Ruth, tenderly laying
her hand on Reni's arm.
"You are young to give such comfort," returned Reni, with a sad smile.
"It is not I who give it, but the Lord," returned Ra-Ruth. "And you
forget, mother, that I am old in experience. When I stood on the edge
of the Rock of Hurling, that awful day, and saw the dear ones tossed
over one by one, I think that many years passed over my head!"
"True--true," returned the other, "I am a selfish old woman--forgetting
others when I think so much of myself. Come--let us go to the meeting.
You know that the congregation assembles to-day for the first time after
many, many, years--so many!"
"Yes, mother, I know it. Indeed I came here partly to ask you to go
with me. And they say that Totosy, the great preacher, is to speak to
us."
Many others besides these two wended their way to the meeting-house that
day. Among them was a group in which the reader is perhaps interested.
It consisted of Mark Breezy, John Hockins, Ebony Ginger, Samuel
Ravoninohitriniony, Laihova, and Voalavo.
"Well now, this is the queerest go-to-meetin' that I've had to do with
since I was a babby," remarked Hockins, as he looked from side to side
upon the varied crowd of men and women, black, brown, and yellow, rich
and poor, noble and slave, who were joyfully and noisily thronging to
the house of God!
"Das true,--an' look dar!" said Ebony, pointing to a young woman who was
standing as if thunder-struck before a worn-out, feeble, white-haired
man in tattered garments, with a heavy iron collar on his neck.
Recovering from her surprise, the young woman uttered the word "Father"
with a wild shriek, and rushed into the old man's arms.
"Easy to see that he is a banished one returned unexpectedly," observed
Mark, as the young woman, after the first wild embrace, seized the old
man's arm and hurried him towards the meeting-house, while tears of joy
streamed from her eyes.
And this was not the only case they witnessed, for constantly, during
the days that followed the accession of Radama the Second, exiles were
hastening home,--men and women in rags, worn and wasted with want and
suffering--reappearing in the city to the astonishment and joy of
friends who had supposed them long since dead. Yes, the long-desired
jubilee had come at last, and not only was there great rejoicing over
those lost and found ones, but also over many who, through the power of
sympathy, were brought at that time to the Saviour and repentance.