Thirty years in Madagascar

by Thomas T. Matthews

‘From the religious point of view this change of régime is greatly to be regretted. It is not that General Gallieni is in any way hostile to Protestant missions, or that we have not found in him the aid and protection which we had the right to expect from the representative of France. The General, on the contrary, has been very kind to M. Lauga and myself; very courteous also to the English and Norwegian missionaries, who had assured him of the loyal sentiments they felt towards France. On that side everything is satisfactory, and we have only to congratulate ourselves on our new Resident. It is not less the fact, however, that the Jesuits have profited by the new arrangements, in order to try and restore in Madagascar the France of Louis XIV. Under the administration of M. Laroche, and previously also, they had indulged in skirmishes, partial combats. To-day war is declared, “war to the knife,” as an officer well acquainted with the situation said to us, and a war in which the Jesuits have an advantage over us in having at their disposal those redoubtable weapons which one calls calumny, lies, and deceit in all their forms.

‘Notice besides, that the condition of the country put all the advantage in their hands. The exploits of the fàhavàlos, who pillage, burn, or kill all that they find in their road, and the rigorous measures taken against high Hova dignitaries, accused of complicity with them, have terrified the Malagasy population, which by nature is timid. This suited the Jesuits admirably. They run over the island in every sense, repeating everywhere that the Catholics will be protected by French troops, while the Protestants who are Anglais will be considered as rebels, and accordingly put to death.

‘Still another thing: the General having issued a decree that, after the delay of a few months, French must be taught in all the schools, the Jesuits have hurriedly rushed out into the country, especially into Protestant villages, and there—thanks pretty often to the co-operation of local authorities—they have morally constrained the children to enter the French, i. e. the Catholic, schools, although the French taught in them is practically nil. The formality is a mere blind, that is all, but by means of it the innocent and simple are ensnared, and that is their whole aim.

‘I have just spoken of the support that the Jesuits found among local authorities. I must explain myself. The advent of the military régime has naturally given much authority in the settlement of the country into the hands of military men. There are indeed some cruel administrators, especially in the undisturbed parts of the island. In Imèrina and Bètsilèo there are principally officers, some in the capacity of residents, some of commanders. Now one must say, that if the superior officers instil generally in religious matters (the only ones with which I occupy myself here) ideas of justice and impartiality which are those of the mother-country, this is not always so in the case of the inferior officers. Many among them allow the priests under cover of their authority to accomplish acts of suppression absolutely condemnable, while others even (I own it is the exception) make themselves their humble servants and favour their propaganda. If I speak thus, it is as a duty, not a pleasure. What is done here should be known in France. People must learn how the Jesuits gather the adherents, the number of which they do not fail to publish to the whole world.

‘Besides, proofs of what I bring forward are, alas, only too numerous. Not later than this week I had to go twice into the villages situated in the outskirts of Antanànarìvo in order to come to the aid of the populations which were being terrorized by the priests. The latter, with the consent of the officers, had convoked a kabàry (public assembly) in order to announce to the natives that there was no longer any hesitation possible, that if they wished to please France they must become Catholics and send their children to his school. This is not all. This week from four different directions, I might almost say from four cardinal points, news has come to us that the Jesuits have made simultaneously at these points attempts to seize Protestant churches in order to say mass in them, and to take possession of some school buildings belonging to our mission, in order to place in them their own teachers. They tell those who are willing to listen to them, that they are all powerful with the government, and, unfortunately, the support given to them by some officers and administrators lends a semblance of truth to it.

‘We are in the midst of a plan of attack cunningly contrived, and in order to face it we are obliged to work with great activity. It will not succeed, however, that is indeed certain; for, thanks to God, there are in Madagascar some Christians who would die if need be for their faith, and on the other hand General Gallieni will do, we are persuaded, all in his power to prevent such attempts being perpetrated under cover of French authority. It is not less certain that these proceedings of another age will trouble and demoralize many of the population, which will give an excellent opportunity to the Jesuits for fishing in troubled waters. By what I say alone you will understand that the churches of Madagascar are passing through one of the darkest hours of their history.

‘You know already, but you will be glad to hear me repeat, that the English and Norwegian missionaries, in spite of the attacks of which they are the objects, rival each other in zeal in order to make France benefit by the moral and spiritual work which they have accomplished in this country. I have come into close enough contact with them to be able to affirm that they have accepted loyally and without any reservation the actual condition of affairs, that they work for the pacification of minds, and that they solicit only one favour—to be able to continue their work in peace, not with a political end in view, which they have never followed, but with the aim of converting the Malagasy people. They have spontaneously offered the French government their most devoted co-operation, and with their thousands of converts they represent a force morally incomparable. I do not hesitate to say, that to refuse this concurrence would be an enormous mistake from the political point of view, indeed almost a crime. For the honour of our country, as also for the good of our great African colony, we must believe that France will never make herself guilty of it.

‘October 17. We are certainly passing through a solemn period in the history of Evangelical Christianity in Madagascar. The country is indeed being tried by fire and furnace. The threats of the Jesuits, who are supported everywhere by the officers, the chiefs of departments, and the commanders, their acts of oppression, their violence even, constitute a persecution in rule, comparable to that of the seventeenth century. I do not exaggerate when I say that in Madagascar we have gone back two centuries in the principles of liberty of conscience.

‘Here is an example. One of the London Missionary Society missionaries having warned me that grave matters were happening in his district, I resolved to accompany him in order to restore things to order. It was a question of a Jesuit father, who had profited by the good disposition of the captain of Tsìafàhy, where there is not a single Catholic, in order to win over the inhabitants of the village. The day before he had summoned, by the help of the native governor, a great kabàry and at this kabàry in which, a grave action indeed, the captain assisted, he announced that henceforth he would come to say mass every Sunday, that the adults were free to do what appeared good to them, but that in all cases the children must from the ensuing Monday enter the French school (by which is meant the Catholic one) which was going to be established in their village. Now notice, that there has been for many years a native school of the London Missionary Society which has never ceased working.

‘After three hours of travelling to the south of Antanànarìvo we arrived at Tsìafàhy. I went first, naturally, to the captain, in order to obtain some explanations from him, and to tell him the nature of our thoughts. He tried to show himself agreeable to me, but I had the impression that he was absolutely hostile, and that it was with his authority, perhaps even by his advice, that the priest had acted as I mentioned above. He did not conceal from me that he had assisted at the kabàry of the day before, or that he had promised the priest the loan of the former Protestant church, although it belonged to the London Missionary Society, for the purpose of saying mass the next Sunday. These proceedings are all the more repugnant in that the house inhabited by the captain and troop is the missionary’s own house, a very pretty one, beautifully sheltered by trees of every kind which thrive in the garden. The English missionary asked him for the right of occupying one room of his house each time he went to see his flock. The captain replied with a plain refusal: “You may renounce any hope of ever reoccupying your house,” he said; “it is too well situated for the garrison not to keep it.” I tried not to intimidate him and replied with calmness and firmness, bringing to my aid the circular of the general, which recommended the residents and commanders of the circles to deal with the greatest equity in the cases of pastors and priests. “The priest had his kabàry yesterday,” I added, “I wish to have mine to-day. I wish equally also to have a witness that my words are not interpreted falsely.”