During that year we had several exhibitions of the power of the people to apply the knowledge acquired. I might give many instances, but let one suffice. The church at Antsàmpandràno had given much trouble from the time of its formation, in fact more trouble than all the other churches of the district. This had arisen almost entirely from the fact that there were seven àndrìandàhies (petty chiefs) in that village, and they all wanted to be leaders or pillars in the church. All desired to be pastors, preachers, or deacons, although there was not one of them fit even for church fellowship. They were all bad. But notwithstanding this, when the church was formed in 1865, as it was almost entirely composed of their own clansmen and slaves, two of these petty chiefs were chosen pastors and two preachers.
As Antsàmpandràno was a long way from Fìhàonana, I had not been able to visit it often (although I had visited it much oftener than many of the other churches) hence it was some time before I came fully to understand the real state of matters. Even after I did so, I found it quite impossible to take action, as I could find no pretext for expelling these men from their office and membership. No one was bold enough to bring any charge against them. This was little to be wondered at. At last, however, the two pastors and one of the preachers had a quarrel with the other preacher; and these three entered his hut, while he was in bed, beat him in a most brutal manner, leaving him bruised, bleeding, and senseless. He appealed to the queen, and his assailants had a narrow escape of being put in chains; but, I suppose, they had managed to bribe the judges and so got off. When I heard of what had taken place, I called a Quarterly Meeting of pastors, teachers, and deacons to meet at Antsàmpandràno, to suspend these men from office and fellowship. When we arrived at Antsàmpandràno, we found that this had already been done. The small church, mainly composed of their own clansmen and slaves, had expelled their chiefs and masters from church membership. The Quarterly Meeting of course ratified what the church had done.
After behaving fairly well—outwardly at least—for a year, these men applied to be restored to church fellowship; and the two teachers—whom the Quarterly Meeting had placed in charge of the church—sent on to me to ask what they were to do. I sent back word that neither they nor the church could do anything, as only the Quarterly Meeting could restore to membership in such cases. For we had been compelled by our peculiar circumstances to pass a by-law, that if any one was suspended from church fellowship, only by vote of the Quarterly Meeting could the party be restored. We had been compelled to pass this by-law because we found, when any of the petty chiefs or head men were suspended from church membership, generally they had only to say they repented, and they were restored to full communion, or if they were not, they managed to make things very uncomfortable for both office-bearers and members until they were. We had, therefore, as a body, to come to the rescue of these weak and harassed churches, in order to put a stop to such a state of matters. All suspended persons had to be restored by the Quarterly Meeting and not by the individual church as formerly.
After a time these men applied to the Quarterly Meeting to be restored; but we were unanimous in the opinion that they were unfit for church membership, and ought not therefore to be readmitted. At this they were very much astonished and angry. On the way home from the meeting, they managed to intimidate and terrify their slaves (who had been the representatives of the church of Antsàmpandràno to the Quarterly Meeting), so that they did not report to the church that their masters had been refused readmission. It was such an extraordinary thing for chiefs to be refused anything, that I suppose the church had taken it for granted that their application had been sustained, and they were received to the communion the following Sabbath. We heard on the Monday what had been done, and I sent on at once to inform the church that they would be cut off from all connexion with us, unless these men were at once expelled. On the Wednesday following, the two teachers, along with the deacons of the church, came to see me, and discovering how matters stood, they returned home, and to their credit be it told, notwithstanding threats and attempts to intimidate and terrify them, the small church, mainly composed of clansmen and slaves, expelled their chiefs and masters from fellowship, as being unfit for communion in the Church of Christ!
The three men came to our next Quarterly Meeting, but we again declined to restore them, and told them that we did not believe in their repentance; that we did not believe they were converted men, and would not receive them into church fellowship again, until we had good reason for believing they were. That we did right was proved shortly afterwards by the fact that one of these men, who had been chief pastor, was wanted by the queen for knocking out a man’s eye!
The total amount raised by the churches of the district during that year was large. This was an encouraging sign of progress, and of the hold of their religion on the hearts of the people. They had little money, and what they had they did not readily part with. The sum raised—exclusive of the usual church expenses—amounted to £62 12s. 0d., equivalent to £313! This too from a people who divided their money down to the fifteenth part of a penny, and who, ten years before, had not raised £10 in the interests of religion.
We were delighted on our return from our enforced holiday in the capital to find our new church thatched, and that the people had been so diligent and active in our absence. It proved that they had profited by our instruction and example to an extent for which we had not always given them credit.
On our return I set off on an itinerating tour through the two districts. Itinerating was very trying work in those days, mainly in consequence of the filthy huts in which we had to sleep, often with pigs and poultry on the other side of a bulrush partition, and with a copious supply of vermin. I was seldom allowed into the house on my return home, until I had changed my clothes. Boiling water had to be poured over my underclothing, and the rest of my garments aired for days, brushed, and minutely inspected before they could be worn again.
On this tour I had quite a novel experience. I had misjudged the distance to a large village, at which we were to have a Quarterly Meeting next day. At sunset we found ourselves a long way from it, and as it becomes dark quickly after sunset, we were compelled to turn aside to a miserable collection of some half-dozen bulrush huts on the ridge we were crossing. After tea, feeling tired, and not quite up to the mark, I turned in, and was soon fast asleep. I awoke to find I was being turned out of bed. An enormous pig had pushed aside the rush door, walked into the small hut in which I was sleeping, got under my stretcher, and turned me out of bed. I awoke struggling on the floor of the hut with my huge, dirty, uninvited visitor, whose grunts brought me to my senses. As I heard my men talking, I shouted for them. They immediately came. ‘Why did you allow this beast in upon me?’ I asked. ‘How could we prevent it, sir?’ they said. ‘It was roaming about, and pushed its way through the door into the hut.’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘take it away and tie it up, and prevent its return here.’
I did not fall asleep after that. The night had become so cold that I could not sleep. Being, as the village was, on an eminence, the cold east wind blew through the frail tenement with chilling effect, all the more that it was the middle of the cold season, when the nights are often piercingly cold. I was glad to get up, long before daylight, rouse my men to get my coffee and quinine, and be off for the village where our gathering was to be held, and where we had a Quarterly Meeting in the enjoyment of which I soon forgot the discomforts of the night. By sunset I was in my own house again.