HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
485 
convened and conducted by natives themselves. They frequently 
request our attendance, to give an exhortation, and lead the service ; 
but the houses are their own residences, and they consider them¬ 
selves as acting on their own convictions—at the movement of their 
own minds, and from a consideration of present obligation to 
employ the means in their power of spreading around their respect¬ 
ive neighbourhoods the knowledge of the true God, and of eternal 
life. 
“ It is not, however, exclusively in connexion with these stations 
that fall immediately under our own personal observation, that a 
spirit of hearing and inquiry is awakened ; God appears to manifest 
his purposes of mercy to this people, in raising up an agency of 
his own from among themselves, to carry on his own work. He is 
forming for himself his own instruments—giving them zeal and 
knowledge—imbuing them with love to the truth, and compassion 
for their countrymen, and thus supplying the exigencies of his 
cause by their unexpected instrumentality, and so compensating 
for our lack of service. And as a specific illustration of this point, 
we may remark, that in a district to the west of the capital, at a 
village about sixty miles distant, a small chapel has been lately 
erected by the zeal and devotedness of the natives, chiefly excited, 
however, by the exertions of a pious woman, of whom we have 
already written to you. A very delightful spirit of inquiry is 
awakened in that district; and several of the adult natives, men of 
rank and importance in their station, conduct prayer-meetings, 
and engage themselves in those exercises with much apparent 
fervour, pleasure, and propriety. Another chapel is also being 
erected in a district to the south, perhaps 120 miles distant. Public 
worship, chiefly for prayer and reading the Scriptures, is held in 
many distant parts of the country, principally raised and conducted 
by those who were formerly scholars or teachers in the missionary 
schools. Applications from all these for books, and especially for 
the Scriptures, are very numerous. 
Signed, “D. Johns—J. J. Freeman.” 
The hopes cherished when this communication was made 
were not continued long; the month had scarcely closed 
before the Missionaries were informed that the queen had 
forbidden any persons to learn to read or write, except in 
