ABSOLUTE GOVERNMENT. 319 



note down a few of them. They will afford, I venture to 

 think, not only some new light upon Bible customs and 

 allusions, but also be of service as illustrating the habits of 

 the Malagasy people. 



Royalty and Government. — It is not very easy for a 

 foreigner to immediately understand the absolute character of 

 a government like that of Madagascar, where every person, 

 from the highest to the lowest, is a servant of the sovereign, 

 and where no one can take any step in life — change his 

 residence, built a house or a tomb, go on a journey, be 

 married, or even be buried — without reference to his imme- 

 diate superior in rank, or directly to the head of the State. 

 But all this is much more like the state of society described 

 in the Bible, like the autocratic character of the Jewish 

 monarchy, to say nothing of other monarchies referred to in 

 the sacred records, than is our own social and political 

 system. And, therefore, such sayings as, " The king's wrath 

 is as the roaring of a lion, but his favour is as dew upon 

 the grass " (Pro v. xix. 12); " The wrath of a king is as 

 messengers of death ; " &c, are in thorough harmony with 

 Malagasy ideas. 



It should, however, be understood that there are many 

 influences now at work in the spread of Christianity, and the 

 growth of European ideas, to modify the absolutism of former 

 times. What this was may be gathered from an incident 

 related of Queen Bimavalona I. Soon after the promulgation 

 of the laws against Christian worship, some of the people 

 came to certain of the missionaries and asked if they did not 

 tremble at the word of the sovereign ? They replied that 

 they were indeed grieved that the Queen wished to prevent 

 the knowledge of the Word of God, but that they did not 

 tremble, because, after all, the Queen was only human. The 

 natives rejoined, " It may be well for you to say so, because 

 you are white people; but as for us Malagasy, when our 

 sovereign frowns upon us we are as people soon dead ! " The 

 ascription of divine honours to King Agrippa in the shout, 

 " It is the voice of a God, and not of a man," was paralleled 

 (but, of course, with a far less degree of blame) by the former 

 appellation of Malagasy sovereigns, who were called Andria- 



