PREFACE. 
vii 
Beyond these, and other points of deep and lasting 
interest, these volumes supply a faithful record of the 
means employed for introducing among five millions 
of our species, a written language, a knowledge of 
the use of letters, of some of the useful arts of civi¬ 
lized life, and an acquaintance with the sacred truths 
of Divine Revelation. The measure of visible success, 
which for a time attended these efforts, and the 
melancholy reverses they have recently experienced, 
with the fierce and destructive persecution which has 
lately burst forth, and raged with such fearful 
violence in Madagascar, have excited deep and gene¬ 
ral interest throughout our country. An account of 
this persecution—which continues to rage against the 
native Christians, from whose numbers, there is rea¬ 
son to fear, additions are still made to the noble 
army of martyrs who have sealed their testimony 
with their blood—will be found in these volumes, 
recorded with greater explicitness than in the state¬ 
ments hitherto made public. 
I have availed myself, as far as practicable, of 
every means within my reach for rendering the work 
acceptable and useful to all interested in the history 
and prospects of Madagascar ; with very few excep¬ 
tions, the whole has been re-written, and arranged in 
the order in which it now appears, and will, it is 
hoped, not only be found a faithful record of the 
