pain, and even walked about the house within an hour of his death, exhorting all around him to attend to the salvation of their souls: then lying down, he quietly breathed his soul into the hands of that Redeemer he loved and followed to the last period of his existence on earth. His funeral was not only attended by those belonging to the Christian congrega tion, but also by numbers of heathen, many of superior caste, among whom real sorrow for his removal was manifested. Who, on perusal of this unvarnished statement of a faithful servant of Christ, would not exclaim, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my latter end be like his." THE LATE HURRICANE IN RAROTONGA. THE intelligence from Messrs. Buzacott and Gill, presented to our readers in October last, relative to this calamitous dispensation of Divine Providence, included a brief notice of the destructive effects of the hurricane at Gnatangiia, the station occupied by our esteemed brother, Rev. C. Pitman. Communications, dated in May last, have recently been received from Mr. P. himself, containing a detailed account of its terrific ravages in this part of the island; the sufferings which he and his family, in common with the native inhabitants, underwent during its desolating progress; the state of complete destitution in which they found themselves when the storm abated; together with the truly remarkable and merciful deliverance which they experienced-not a life having been lost, or any serious personal injury sustained, under the fury of a storm which, but for the special protection of the divine arm, would have ensured their common destruction. After speaking of the circumstances connected with the commencement of the visitation, our brother thus proceeds : With the assistance of our man-servant, and our kind friend Mr. H-, who had been spending the evening with us, we used every possible effort to block up the front door, but in vain: the wind blew with such fury that we could not stand against it; and, as it extinguished our lights, we were left in total darkness. Our next endeavour was to secure the safety of Mrs. Pitman and her sister, Miss Corrie, and with this view we requested them to go into the school-house, till we could come to them. On descending from the steps, they found themselves in water, knee-deep, but not for a moment imagining that it was the sea. On entering the school-house they found the water equally deep, and the affrighted children sitting in darkness on a long table used for writing: there with the children they also sat. As soon as they were out of the house, myself and Mr. H., with our servantman, returned, if possible, to fill up the doorway. We entered the house, and had advanced but a short way, when a crash in my study intimated that the house was falling. In total darkness, amidst falling rafters, beams, and posts, we ran from door to door, but could find no outlet. At length, bursting open our parlour-door, I escaped through the verandah, and instantly found myself nearly to the middle in water, but what had become of my kind companion I could not tell. To call was useless, for the wind was like thunder. I waded through the water, but from my excessive weakness, fell twice ere I could escape the falling walls of our house. Reaching the house where Mrs. P. was, I found the water almost up to the table on which they were sitting. Having told them the sad tale of the total destruction of our dwelling-house, I sent the servant-woman to see if she could find whether Mr. H. was dead or living. In a few minutes, to our joy, he came in unhurt; but scarcely had he entered ere our female servant returned, exclaiming with all her might, "Teachers, Teachers, run, run with all speed! the sea is rushing in upon us. Alas! alas! you will be drowned." The children screamed, and jumping from the table, said, "Oh! the house is full of water." It had risen to the top of the table. Where could we flee? We were completely hemmed in with a stone-wall; but the rush of the sea soon decided our course, for it involuntarily carried us out by the side-door. By the help of the servantwoman and Mr. H., Mrs. P. and her sister climbed a wall, where they sat without bonnet or shawl, amidst the most pelting rain and furious storm that can be imagined: the tremendous hurricane was sweeping all around us, tearing up the largest trees by the roots, and snapping asunder and levelling to the ground the highest cocoa-nut trees. All the children, except the two youngest, fled; but we knew not whither, till we heard in the morning, through the infinite goodness of God, they had arrived safe to the mountain. On the wall we sat, not knowing what to do, the sea rising till it reached our feet; and we found it almost impossible to make each other hear. From increasing weakness, I now began to feel very faint. Mrs. P. was persuaded to descend from the wall into the sea, hoping to make her way inland towards the mountain: the woman attempted to carry her, but this she could not do, owing to the dreadful wind. Just as Mrs. P. left, by a flash of lightning, we perceived a fresh rush of the sea, which, as she told us next day, almost overwhelmed her. Wading through the water, and climbing over the uprooted trees, which completely covered the ground in every direction, she at length, through exhaustion, sat down on the remaining part of a broken wall, and told the woman she could proceed no farther, but must remain where she was and risk the consequences. The woman, perceiving the peril of her situation, by main strength forced her through the flood, till they arrived in shallow water and found themselves beyond the reach of danger. At this time the rain was pouring in torrents, the wind blowing with a violence absolutely beyond description, and not the least shelter any where to be found. The woman went to see if she could find a house or shed into which they might enter; but, alas! not a single dwelling was standing, and the inhabitants had fled, with their families, to the foot of the mountain. Finding two or three individuals, she placed Mrs. P. under their care, and returned with a man to take me, if possible, to that place of safety. By this time I was so completely exhausted, that I could not support myself on the wall, Our Chief's little granddaughter sat behind me, and clung around me-her pressure was a relief to my back; and, leaning my head on Mr. H.'s shoulder, whilst he held me by one of my hands, and Miss Corrie by the other, I was prevented from falling into the sea, and thus mercifully preserved from drowning. Our situation was now very alarming, for so furiously was the wind blowing upon our school-house, only two feet from us, that we knew it could not stand. To the Lord I lifted up my soul, and sought him in this hour of distress; and He was graciously pleased to hear our broken cries for help. Just then our servant-woman returned, and brought us the good news that Mrs. P. had arrived safe inland. The man took me first from the wall, thinking he could carry me; and the woman and Mr. H. assisted Miss Corrie; but for the man, with me in his arms, to stand against such a storm was impossible, and down we fell into the sea. He raised me up, and helped me to get upon a large cocoa-nut tree lying in our path, and from thence on the roof of a house blown down, the rafters and rubbish being under. Almost breathless, I lay for about a quarter of an hour, unable to move, the wind and rain continuing as before. When the man again attempted to move me, I put my mouth to his ear and told him it was useless, for my breath was spent, and my strength gone. He came and laid down by my side, and said, "Teacher, are you dying? Alas, what shall we do?" The poor man actually crept into the ruins of the house under water to see if he could find anything to protect me from the dreadful rain. After several attempts he found a broken door, and as he was contriving how he might screen me a little from the awful storm, another man whom Mrs. P. found, with the wife of one of our servants, came to my assistance: together they took me off the thatch, and with great difficulty, amidst the trees falling in all directions, conveyed me to the place where my dear partner was: there, also, through the kind interposition of our heavenly Father, our sister and Mr. H. had arrived in safety. A few natives had also collected on the spot, and hearing of our approach, called out to the men to know of my state; when they said, perhaps I was alive, but they could not tell. Mrs. P. inquired if we were near, and they replied, "Yes."-"Where is the Teacher?" Kua mate takiri, (He is quite dead,) was the reply. When they put me down, and rubbed me for a considerable time, I was able to breathe more freely, but for two hours afterwards was scarcely able to articulate. It was now about midnight. On the cold, wet ground, without hats, bonnets, or shoes, we sat till dawn of day, when Maretu, the Chief, and others, sent messengers to search for us. When they found that we were living, they ran back to carry the information, and soon were we surrounded by our old and tried friends. Our escape can only be ascribed to the watchful care of that blessed and glorious Being, to whom we had committed ourselves both body and soul. We now sought for a place of shelter, but where could we look ? Not so much as a shed was to be seen, with the exception of a portion of our storehouse, five or six feet of the thatch remaining; but when we entered, we found every thing had been turned upside down, and our flour, sugar, oil, &c., all mixed together. Soon as the natives had cleared out a little of the rubbish, we screened off the part remaining, whilst our kind friend, Mr. H., whose attentions were unremitting, and to whom we are greatly indebted, went to seek a change of apparel for us, and to procure fire to boil a little water. In an hour we were able to sit down with dry clothes, and after taking a little tea we felt refreshed, and grateful to the Father of mercies for his distinguishing favours. We procured a little shed, the ridge-pole not six feet high, into which we crept, and made it our abode for four or five days, till our people could make our school-house tenantable: this we have since strengthened as well as we could: we are now residing in it, and expect it will be our habitation for some time to come. We have now our work to commence again, i. e., to make a new settlement, to build dwelling-houses, chapels, schoolhouses, &c., which will be the labour of years. Whether we shall build on the present spot, or remove to another part of our district, is yet uncertain. MADAGASCAR. Ir is with unfeigned thankfulness and joy we communicate the details of the cheering intelligence recently received from Madagascar. The brief notice published last month, of a large accession to the number of the Christian converts in that island, will have prepared our readers for the following enlarged account, which happily confirms our hopes, and constrains us with devout gratitude to say, Surely this is the hand of the Lord. Our friends will join with us in ascribing praise and honour to the God of all grace, for this new and wonderful manifestation of his mercy,-the power of his Word,-and the influence of his Spirit. We affectionately commend, for their special and earnest intercession, the new converts, with the highly interesting youth, the young Prince, who has so nobly befriended them in the hour of trial, and who, as far as the evidence reaches us, appears to be himself under the influence of the truth as it is in Jesus. There is still hope for Madagascar. God is hearing the prayers of his people, and the things we now communicate are answers to prayer. We have often been called to weep for that land we may now rejoice, but not without trembling, for the spirit of persecution yet survives, and the dangers to which the little flock is still exposed are many and serious. Our consolation is, that "greater is He who is with them than all that can be against them." (From Mr. E. Baker, Port Louis, Mauritius, Oct. 25, 1846, to the Rev. J. J. Freeman.) MY DEAR FRIEND,-Joyful news from Madagascar! I enclose you the chief particulars, and will send by the first vessel all the original letters. Madagascar is not lost. The Prince Rakotondradama converted, and one hundred new converts added almost at once to the church, show a vitality that leaves no room for unbelieving fears as to the ultimate result of the struggle be tween light and darkness. I congratulate the Directors and the churches on this wonderful work of God. If I see my way in Providence open, I shall be ready to make any sacrifice to further it. At present all we can attempt is, to send books by way of Foulepointe, if possible, and wait the result of events.] The above letter contained the following statement, drawn up by Mr. Baker, from the various native letters which had come to hand : I have just received from Madagascar, seven letters of the deepest interest, from the Native Christians. Their chief topic is the conversion to the Christian Faith of Rakotondradama, the Queen's only son, and Heir-apparent to the throne. This great event appears to have occurred towards the middle of last year. Abandoned to the power of their persecutors, and all human help apparently afar off, the Christians, after seeing at least twenty of their number suffer martyrdom, were becoming discouraged, when they found in the young Prince, now seventeen years of age, if not an all-powerful support for the present, at least a bright hope for the future, should an overruling Providence place him on the throne of his ancestors. My first letter, dated "Tamatave, June 24th, 1845," makes no mention of the Prince. The second letter, dated "Tamatave, Dec. 8th, 1845," conveys an urgent petition for religious books to be sent to Foulepointe. The Prince's conversion had then taken place; but the writers do not mention the circumstance, probably not having the Prince's authority to do so. They had been sent up to the Capital since May, 1845, and were just returned. There they had found twenty-one Christians in bonds, on account of having held religious meetings; and they write: "Nevertheless, the Queen's orders respecting these twenty-one were by no means severe; for when they had been ordered to give up the names of their companions, and had refused, the Queen ceased to make inquiry."-" All the rest of us are well, by the blessing of God ; and the kingdom of God is progressing and extending exceedingly-the people of God multiplying greatly in number, although dark is the working of Satan." I find from subsequent letters, that this moderation of the Queen was owing to the influence of the youthful Prince, who seems to have acted with equal prudence and courage. The next letter, in the order of dates, is dated, "Antananarivo, January 8th, 1846," addressed to the Malagasy Refugees in this island, and states: "The increase of people believing the word of God is very great, and the Prince, Rakotondradama, has received the word of God; so that the twenty-one captive Christians were not put to death by the Queen, for Rakoto prevented it, by the blessing of God, and the Queen has not slain them. The land is full of robbers, and the Queen is continually putting them to death; yet they will not be stopped, but continue to increase." My next letter, of the same date, gives some particulars of the Prince's conversion: 66 This is our state here: the Christian assemblies became lukewarm and discouraged, after the martyrdom of the nine Christians in 1840; but a certain youth received the word of God, and became exceedingly bold and powerful in proclaiming it; and we had assemblies every Wednesday, and Saturday, and Sunday, in a large house, and we became very numerous (more than 100 new converts were made.) The name of this young man is Ramaka; called by us, for secrecy, Rasalasala (the bold one.) It was he, through his courage, that obtained the Prince to receive the word of God. If it had not been for the help of God, through the intercession of Rakoto, the twenty-one Christians would have been destroyed. Tell all our friends that Rakotondradama does indeed receive the word of God in much love; but his mother remains [a heathen."] Antananarivo, The next letter, dated 10th January, 1846," addressed to me, contains similar details: "We received your letters, and were exceedingly delighted to obtain the Gospels and Pilgrim's Progress,' for they are easy to be concealed during the darkness of our country, but are quite insufficient, for we are exceedingly numerous, and have obtained Rakotondradama to embrace the word of God, by the Divine blessing, and he does receive it with true affection and joy, and without wavering." The Prince's fidelity was soon put to the test by the apprehension of the twenty-one Christians, five months after his conversion, when he seems to have acted with all the devotedness and prudence of Queen Esther, for the deliverance of her people from the machinations of Haman : "And we, five months after we had gained over the Prince, were the subjects of a persecution, twenty-one being made prisoners, and nearly put to death by the Queen; but by the help of God, afforded to Rakotondradama, it was prevented: the Queen's heart relented. These twenty-one were out of one hundred who had recently received the word of God, and had been accused to the Government; but, by the blessing of God, the accusation was not pursued; for Raininiharo (the Queen's Prime Minister) burnt the list of names, having found amongst them his own aide-de-camp. The believers augment very much." Another letter contains a list of the names of the twenty-one Christians, and further particulars, by which it would appear that the Prince begged for their lives, and succeeded; but the punishments next in severity to death were inflicted-nine taking the tangena ordeal, three others being reduced to slavery, and five left in bonds, not having petitioned for a decision. One died of the tangena-the rest were all living-the three reduced to slavery had been redeemed-and four had escaped. In three or four of these cases, the wives were involved in the same persecution, and their names went to make up the number twenty-one; proving the influence of Christianity over the domestic relationship. My last letter, addressed to the Missionaries and myself, is signed with the Prince's name, as under his sanction, dated "Foulepointe, February 7th, 1846:" "We went up to Antananarivo, and there met (in a religious assembly) with the Queen's son and the persecuted Christians, nothing disheartened by the temptations of Satan, though they may suffer in bonds: and those Christians not persecuted we found increasing exceedingly; yea, becoming indeed many. And Rakotondradama, the Queen's son, makes very great progress in the love of the Lord, by God's blessing, and is able to assemble some Christians with himself every night, to thank and praise God. Oh, blessed be God, who has caused his mercy to descend upon Rakotondradama and all the people! Neverthe less, the laws of the Queen (against Christianity) are very severe; but the kingdom of our Lord, and yours, makes progress; and the Christians augment greatly in numbers, say "RAKOTONDRADAMA, "And the Christians at Antananarivo. "And we at Foulepointe want books, say "JESOA, HAREM," &c. They add, that many Christians, being in the army, must perish in the ranks, in case of war with England, unless we can provide for their safety. From the above signature of the Prince, I infer he is looked upon as the head of the Christians at Antananarivo. A perilous office! There is, indeed, something heroic in his position. It reminds one of the olden times. It is a striking instance of that decision of character nobly characteristic of the Hovas; and I may add, it is a signal instance of the grace of God. Once convinced, he took no counsel with political expediency and unmanly fears, but joined himself to the poor persecuted Christians, and I have little doubt he would prove, like the earlier martyrs of his nation, "faithful unto death." if called upon so to attest the sincerity of his convictions. But I cannot think the aged Queen would give up her only son to death; and the more he is persecuted the more he will inquire; and the more he inquires, the more his convictions will be deepened of the divine origin and authority of the Christian Religion. Yet the Christians, in their letters, beg that prayers may be offered up for him by Christians. They probably fear for the purity of his life, amidst general corruption and the temptations to which he will be peculiarly exposed; and all their hope is placed in the help of God. The following is an extract translated from a letter received from Rafaravavy, which, though almost similar to that from Mr. Baker, will be read with deep interest by many Christian friends in this country, who retain an affectionate remembrance of her as one of the Malagasy refugees. Her letter, addressed to Mr. Freeman, is dated Moka, (Mauritius,) Oct. 26, 1846 : I am exceedingly delighted with the news just received from Madagascar. It is, indeed, at present, as God said by the lips of Joshua, to the children of Israel, "Not with thy sword, nor with thy bow." Wouderful, indeed, is the providence of God; the Lord is gracious. He says, by Jeremiah, xxix. 11, "I know the thoughts which I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to do you good, and to give you the expected end." The Christians in Madagascar thus write: "This was the condition of things among us. Our assemblies, from the time when the nine were put to death (1840), were much enfeebled. But there was a youth whom we had been the means of leading to receive the word of God, who was exceedingly bold through the help of God: he preached with energy, and our number increased. We then held congregations on the Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Through the blessing of God a large house was completed, (in which we met,) and our number multiplied greatly. The youth mentioned has been the means of bringing many to join with us, and through his decision he has succeeded in bringing the young Prince to receive the word of God." Others also write to Mr. Baker, and say, "We have received your letters and the parcels you sent in 1845, and we have been delighted in receiving the Gospels and Pilgrim's Progress,' and we earnestly wished for Bibles; for they can be easily concealed, on account of the darkness of our land. Those sent are not sufficient for us, for through the blessing of God we are very many. The young Prince has received the word with affection and joy indeed, and without wavering. Five months after this a persecution broke out, and twenty-one were apprehended and were nearly put to death by the Queen; but through God's blessing it was prevented by the young Radama, and the Queen's heart relented. Most of the number were of the new converts: There were one hundred names put down; but when the principal officer found among them the name of one of his aides-de-camp, he burnt the document. Our members so much increase that we require more Spelling-books, Bibles, Testaments, Pilgrim's Progress, the Tract on the Resurrection, &c. If you can, send us a large number." The words of the Sovereign strengthen the kingdom of Satan, but the kingdom of Christ is increasing in strength too. Though the darkness of the land is such, the light of Christ is increasing in the midst of the darkness; for believers are greatly multiplying. Rafaravavy adds, that she has still a female congregation on the Friday, which assembles at Moka, and that she is doing all she can to be useful, knowing, however, that the Holy Spirit alone can change the heart. |