478 



LYMAN, HANNAH W. 



MAHAN, DENNIS H. 



tion is to be held in Milwaukee, Wis., on the 

 second Wednesday of July, 1872. If all the 

 six synods adopt the constitution and finally 

 join the body, the synodical conference will 

 embrace a membership exceeding that either 

 of the General Synod or of the General Coun- 

 cil. 



LYMAN, Miss HANNAH VF., an eminent and 

 successful teacher, born in Northampton, Mass., 

 in 1816; died at Vassar College, Poughkeep- 

 sie, N. Y., February 21, 1871. She was of 

 Puritan ancestry, and one of her brothers, 

 Heury Lyman, was one of the missionaries of 

 the American Board of Commissioners for 

 Foreign Missions, who was murdered at his 

 post. She was herself deeply imbued with 

 the missionary spirit, and took a lively inter- 

 est in missionary operations, and in cheer- 

 ing and aiding those who had gone to foreign 

 lands. Her early education was very thor- 

 ough, and, at the age when impressions are 

 most abiding, she came under the influence of 

 the celebrated Mary Lyon. Thenceforward the 



idea of duty to God, and to those whom God 

 had placed under her charge, dominated her 

 whole life. So long as one duty remained to 

 be done, or one requirement to be performed, 

 she knew no rest until it was accomplished. 

 She early commenced life as a teacher, and, 

 through her earnestness and devotion to her 

 work, soon attained a high reputation. Prior 

 to 1865, she had been for many years known 

 as a successful and thorough educator in Mont- 

 real, Canada. She left that position six years 

 before her death, to become vice-principal of 

 Vassar College, and to assist in its organiza- 

 tion. It was the broadest experiment in female 

 education which had ever been made, and 

 Miss Lyman proved equal, and more than 

 equal, to her reputation, in her organiza- 

 tion of its various departments. Having ac- 

 cepted the work, she threw into it all her 

 energies of body and mind, and remained at 

 her post till health and life gave way, and 

 death released her from a toil which was too 

 much for her strength. 



M 



MADAGASCAR, a kingdom in Eastern 

 Africa. Queen Ranavalona II. ascended the 

 throne on April 1, 1868. Area 232,315 square 

 miles. Population, according to Pakenham, 

 about 5,000,000. The capitol, Atanarivo, or 

 Tananarive, has, according to Pakenham, about 

 80,000 inhabitants. The movement of English 

 vessels in the ports of Madagascar in the years 

 1866 and 1867 was as follows : From Mauri- 

 tius to Madagascar, in 1866, there were sixty- 

 nine vessels, of 20,412 tons, and in 1867, fifty- 

 three vessels, of 17,406 tons. From Madagas- 

 car to Mauritius there were, in 1866, eighty 

 vessels, of 24,223 tons, and in 1867, sixty-seven 

 vessels, of 20,064 tons. 



The Government of Madagascar now gives 

 an effective support to the Christian religion, 

 and exerts an active influence for the advance- 

 ment of education. The present queen, Rana- 

 valona, was crowned in 1868, with a Bible at 

 her side, and underneath a canopy bearing in 

 gilt letters the inscription, " Glory to God in 

 the highest, and on earth peace, good-will to 

 men ! " On the 21st of February, 1871, the 

 Queen and the Prime-Minister were baptized 

 by one of the native pastors, and made a pub- 

 lic profession of faith in the Christian religion. 

 This event was the signal for the influential 

 men of the country to give their adherence to 

 Christianity. The queen takes great interest 

 in the building of churches. She attended the 

 opening of one at Amparibe, near the close of 

 1870. 



The Prime-Minister attended the meeting 

 of the Congregational Union in December, 

 1870, having come, he said, not as Prime-Min- 

 ister, but as a deputation from the church in 

 the palace, to consult with the Union as to 



the best means of promoting education and of 

 spreading the religion of Jesns Christ. 



Some progress has been made in providing 

 for the general education of youth. The 

 school at the palace has twenty-six pupils, 

 most of whom are adults. Another school 

 meets at the house of an important officer. A 

 large central house for the training of native 

 school-masters is in course of erection. Eight 

 of the town churches have schools attached to 

 them, and a good number of schools have 

 been established in the country districts. 



Three printing-presses are kept nearly con- 

 stantly at work at the capital. During 1869, 

 Si5,243 books were issued from the printing- 

 office store; in the first six months of 1870, 

 81,000 books, lessons, tracts, Bibles, and Tes- 

 taments, were issued. 



MAHAN, DENNIS HART, LL. D., an eminent 

 military teacher and critic, for forty-seven 

 years an instructor in the United States Mili- 

 tary Academy, at West Point, born in New 

 York City, April 2, 1802 ; committed suicide by 

 drowning while temporarily insane, in the 

 Hudson River, near Stony Point, September 

 16, 1871. His parents removed to Norfolk, 

 Va., in his infancy, and there his early boy- 

 hood was spent. He was at first destined for 

 the medical profession, but, while studying in 

 the office of Dr. Packer, of Richmond, Va., ho 

 learned that drawing, for which he had a de- 

 cided talent, was taught at the Military Acad- 

 emy, and he determined to become a cadet. 

 He obtained an appointment through Hon. 

 Thomas Newton, and entered in 1820. So 

 marked was his preeminence as a scholar that 

 there was no doubt, before the close of his first 

 year, that he would receive the highest honors 



