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slave-trade had begun to make its ravages on the morals 
and the population; and, if the desire existed, it would 
have been preposterous to have made any attempt of 
the kind.* Thus, for a century and a half, were those 
people destitute of religious instruction, although, year 
after year, the fleets of the most powerful and enlightened 
nations of the world were continually touching upon their 
coasts. The period, however, which was destined by 
Providence for the bestowment of those two great bles¬ 
sings, religious instruction and personal freedom, upon the 
Madegasses, at length arrived. We have already endea¬ 
voured to give the reader a faithful detail of the means by 
which the latter was accomplished, and we have now 
before us the pleasing task of pointing out the circum¬ 
stances which led to the introduction of the former. 
In the year 1795, a few pious and benevolent indivi¬ 
duals, actuated by strong feelings of commiseration for 
the state of the heathen world, established a society for 
the purpose of sending missionaries to different parts of 
the globe to instruct the natives in the knowledge of true 
religion. It is not our intention to give a history of “ the 
London Missionary Society,” the name by which it is now 
generally known; but as this work may possibly be read 
by many who are not acquainted with the nature of this 
institution, with which also the present introduction of 
Christianity into Madagascar has originated, we trust the 
reader will excuse us if we so far digress from our subject, 
as to state the principles on which it is founded, and give 
a short account of those events which led to the result 
we are writing of. 
The London Missionary Society was established on the 
* If any Catholic missionaries visited the island, it must have been in a 
private way, as no mention is made of them in history. But it is more than 
probable, that the fate of Father Stephen and his associates was a sufficient 
damper to their zeal, and that the poor Madegasses were henceforth placed on 
the incorrigible list. 
