MADAGASCAR. 



Chri-tiaiH. About 60,000 of thorn had 



enrolled an nominal members of the 



1 t iuu Clmrch. There wore, doubtless, 



among these who were not ripe for mem- 



;;>, tlmsame as is the case in the churches 



K-, hut it was believed that nearly all of 



;uO,000 were open to receive instruction, 



ami to Itc guided in their lives by the doctrines 



of Christianity. There were at least 25,000 



real, trustworthy Christians, in whom the 



onaries had entire confidence. While he 



:i tho island, Dr. Mullens had attended 



the opening of a memorial church erected 



on the spot where fourteen Christian mis- 

 sionaries were put to death in 1849. The oc- 

 casion was celebrated on the twenty-fifth an- 

 niversary of that event. The deputation had 

 been cordially received by the Queen and her 

 husband, the prime-minister, and he believed 

 them both to bo real and earnest Christians, 

 and extremely anxious for the progress of their 

 people, "in all that is wise, holy, and good." 

 They found, however, no commingling of the 

 officers of tho church and the state, and were 

 able to deny explicitly the reports of a con- 

 nection of that kind which had been circulated 

 in England. By far the larger number of tho 

 people of tho island, Dr. Mullens said, felt that 

 tho affairs of the church should be kept within 

 the bounds of the church, and conducted en- 

 tirely by its own officers. 



The deputation brought homo with them an 

 illuminated address of thanks from the native 



Christians to the London Missionary Society, 

 in reply to an address from the society which 

 they had taken out with them. 



Sir Hurtle Frero made an address at the an- 

 niversary of tho London Missionary Society, 

 May 14th, in the course of which he spoke of 

 u visit which ho had made to the port of Ma- 

 junga, on tho west coast of Madagascar. JI<- 

 had had no reason to expect, so far as he had 

 been able to learn from the books and reports 

 at his disposal, that he would meet there a 

 single convert to Christianity. Yet he fonnd 

 the whole of the ruling race, all of the Kovas 

 who were under tho direction of the Queen, 

 united in Christian worship, and acting upon 

 Christian principles, so far as he could ascer- 

 tain, in all the ordinary affairs of life. He at- 

 tended religions services at two lar e 'o churches 

 in this place, and was, according to his account, 

 pleased in the highest degree with the evidences 

 of spirituality and Christian culture which were 

 exhibited in the several features of worship. 

 He was introduced to the leading members 

 of this community, and formed the judgment, 

 from their faces and from their words as they 

 were interpreted to him, that " those men and 

 women and children were mostly disciples of 

 the Saviour." Sir Bartle showed that the re- 

 ligious activity he described had been all devel- 

 oped by tho work of the native ministry, for 

 no European missionary had been at this place 

 for several years. 



Besides the London Missionary Society, mis- 

 sionaries of a Norwegian society and of the So- 

 ciety of Friends are laboring in the island with 

 considerable success. The Church Missionary 

 Society has had a few missionaries on the east- 

 ern coast of the island, but it is understood to 

 have determined to withdraw them, in order 

 to avoid being involved in the proceedings of 

 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. 

 The latter society has recently appointed a 

 bishop for Madagascar, but has as yet no mis- 

 sionaries there. All of the societies named, 

 except the Society for the Propagation of the 

 Gospel, labor in harmony and cooperation 

 with the London Missionary Society. 



A letter from the prime-minister of Mada- 

 gascar to the directors of tho London Mission- 

 ary Society, in reply to an address from them 

 to Queen Kanovalomanjaka, has been published 

 in the Missionary Chronicle. It expressed, in 

 the Queen's name, the utmost satisfaction with 

 the labors of the English missionaries in Mad- 

 agascar, and the hope that tho kingdom of 

 God may advance in her dominions until the 

 joyful words shall be fulfilled, which say "They 

 shall all know me, from the least of them unto 

 the greatest of them, saith the Lord." It as- 

 sured tho society that the missionaries and 

 teachers sent to Madagascar will continue to 

 enjoy the Queen's protection, and be allowed 

 full liberty to preach the Gospel, and to impart 

 useful knowledge in accordance with the laws 

 of tho kingdom. 



The following is the translation of a procla- 



