239 
CHAP. XIX. 
Benyowsky s Arrival in France—Proposal to the British 
Gvvernment—Sails to America , and from thence re¬ 
turns to Madagascar—-Lands at Anlangara Bay — 
Attacks the French Posts—The Government of the 
Isle of France despatch a vessel to secure him•—His 
Death—Summary of his Character . 
We have experienced some difficulty in the pre¬ 
ceding pages in avoiding the appearance of writing a 
history of Count Benyowsky, instead of that of Ma¬ 
dagascar ; and the materials from which our account 
has been extracted, are of such a nature, that it was 
almost impossible to avoid it. But in speaking of 
the subsequent transactions in which that celebrated 
individual was concerned, no such difficulty can occur; 
as, by the important events which we have had occa¬ 
sion to relate, he became the absolute representative 
of the Madagascar nation—a sovereign and delegate, 
invested with full powers to treat in their and his own 
name, with any other nation whose alliance was 
worth seeking, or who considered such an alliance an 
acquisition. It is true, the character in which he now 
appears, is anomalous, being the result of a solemn 
and deliberate act of a people, still in a state of bar¬ 
barism ; and, according to the political logic of Eu¬ 
ropean powers, incapable of making such a choice. 
