Their local president, his wife, and an unmarried missionary had to be recalled. Two of their best men (Pasteurs Escande and Minault) were basely and barbarously murdered. Most of them were very friendly and brotherly with us of the London Missionary Society at the first; but pressure of some kind, from some quarter, seemed to have been applied, and they drew off from us, and became less friendly, until their directeur, M. Boegner, came out to visit the mission, and greatly helped to put things on a more satisfactory footing. Some who had brought letters of introduction to us from friends in France, and were most friendly at first, cut us afterwards when they met us, from fear or prejudice, or for some unknown reason.
There is a temptation to all young missionaries and ministers to forget that other men have laboured, and they have entered into their labours, and are reaping what they have sown. They are prone to underestimate the labours of their predecessors. Most of the young French Protestant missionaries ignored all that had been done by the London Missionary Society and its agents, in a way that was hardly in keeping with Christian courtesy or creditable to their Christian profession. We felt very hurt by their conduct, because it was so different from what we had expected, judging from the behaviour of the deputation sent out from Paris, and of M. Boegner, the secretary of the Society. It is only fair to them, however, to say that they may have been, and very likely were, deeply disappointed with the state of things they found in some of the districts handed over to their charge; partly, perhaps, because they had expected too much.
Three of those districts were the furthest behind, and most unsatisfactory in the island. The largest of them had been for years under the thraldom of five or six Palace Church evangelists, which meant Christianity by coercion. When they were removed the people returned—and they had not a long journey—to their old heathenism. The rising, the doings of the Jesuits, and the feelings generated while under coercion, brought them into a condition which was worse in many respects than their original heathen state.
On the morning of Sunday, Feb. 28, 1897, the capital was startled by the news that the queen had been arrested the previous evening, and carried off into captivity during the night. The plea afterwards advanced for such a harsh measure towards a helpless and inoffensive woman was that her presence in the island prevented those who had risen against the French from surrendering. This step was severely censured in France by the best and most merciful of the French people; but they were unable to prevent it.
‘The last and crowning act in the annexation of the island by the French was the deportation of the queen to Bourbon. Though it is impossible for those who knew her best to believe that she was in any way implicated in the rebellion, it seems certain that the rebels made use of her name as a battle-cry. The presence of a sovereign, moreover, in a French colony was an anomaly which sooner or later would have to disappear. Rànavàlona III, like her predecessor, had always had the interests of the people at heart, and was in entire sympathy with the educational and religious work carried on in the island. All detractions notwithstanding, she will be remembered as a good Christian queen, but one who, unfortunately, was under the influence of ill-advisers among her courtiers and relatives. And so she passed away into private life with a character unsullied, and in her retirement she doubtless enjoyed, though an exile, a peace and a freedom which formerly she could have scarcely experienced.
‘The following is the translation of an extract from the proclamation published by General Gallieni at the time of her banishment:—
‘“Since the government of the Republic has declared Madagascar a French colony, royalty has become useless in Imèrina. I have therefore invited the queen to resign her functions, and, at her request, have authorized that she retire to the island of Bourbon, where she will receive the greatest hospitality from the French authorities. The last few months have shown you what the words ‘Madagascar, a French colony,’ mean. They signify that France is henceforth the sole sovereign power in Madagascar, and that it cannot share its power with any one. It alone is mistress over the entire island. They signify also that France will bring to you its civilization, and will endeavour to introduce among you the principles which govern it, that is to say, justice, peace, and equality for all[34].”’
The evening before the queen was arrested it was reported, that about 7.30 a French officer was seen to enter the palace yard, along with the arch-traitor. They were joined there by a Malagasy connected with the government press. The three entered the queen’s private house, and sent in to inform Her Majesty that an officer from the Governor-General wished a private interview with her. She received them in her private apartments. The officer informed her that he had been sent to communicate a message of the gravest importance to her, and handed a paper to the Malagasy printer to read. The paper was an order for her arrest, and informed her that she was to be exiled to the island of Réunion, as a political prisoner, giving her four hours to pack her things and prepare for the journey! Unless she was ready to start by that time, she would be removed by force.
The Malagasy printer had not been in the secret, and hence had no idea what the paper contained. He read it until he came to the part in which Her Majesty was ordered to prepare in four hours for exile. Then the whole purport of the paper flashed upon him. He faltered, began weeping, and finally broke down so completely that he could not proceed with his task. The arch-traitor had to take the paper, and finish his treacherous work, by reading to his sovereign, to whom he had sworn allegiance, the order for her banishment from her fatherland and kingdom!
The queen was so thunderstruck by the order, that she failed at first to realize its meaning; but when she did, she threw herself at the feet of the officer, it was said, and grasping his legs begged for mercy. He informed her that he had no power to alter a word of the order, his instructions were simply to see it carried out. She then wanted to go to the General and appeal to him for mercy; but was told that that could not be allowed. She then became violently hysterical, laughed and cried by turns, and, afterwards sinking into a sullen and sulky mood, she refused to prepare for her journey or give instructions for preparations to be made.