HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
341 
CHAP. XIII. 
Government of Madagascar—monarchical and military—Extent to which 
the will of the sovereign is absolute—Instance of personal devotedness 
to the sovereign—Duties of the sovereign—Importance attached to 
hereditary rank—Gradations in rank—Members of the royal family— 
Civil and military officers—The king’s household—Native police—Num¬ 
ber and dignity of honours connected with the public service—Nature of 
ancient military tactics and fortifications—Formation of the army after 
the European model—Military punishment of burning—Employment of 
singing women during a campaign—Revenue of Madagascar—Enume¬ 
ration of the sources whence it is derived—Veneration of the natives for 
the popular traditions and usages supposed to be derived from the prac¬ 
tice of their ancestors—Combination of the regal and sacerdotal character 
in the person of the sovereign—National festivals—The feast of the new 
year—Description of the ceremonies observed—Benedictions pronounced 
—Number of the cattle slaughtered at the feast—Modes of admini¬ 
stering the oath of allegiance—Animals slaughtered on the occasion— 
Formation of new laws—Proclamations and edicts—Different modes of 
punishment: crucifixion, burning alive, flogging to death, fines, banish¬ 
ment, or reduction to slavery—The sovereign’s decision final—Operation 
of native laws on foreigners—National councils—Office and duties of 
the judges—Public mode of conducting trials—Code of laws promulgated 
by the present queen in the year 1828 . 
The government of Madagascar is in theory neither des¬ 
potic nor monarchical, but a mixture of both, with a 
preponderance of the former. It might with propriety be 
termed a modified despotism; there being on one hand too 
many public assemblies of the people, under the pretended 
necessity for consultation upon the affairs of the nation, 
to justify the designation despotic; on the other hand, 
the sovereign is invested with too much authority, beyond 
the control of fixed and definite laws, to be considered 
