MACWHORTER
626
MADAGASCAR
June. 1800, he was ordained and installed pastor of the united congregations of Cross Koads and Three Springs. During this connection he had an important agency in the revival in Western Pennsylvania, and was one (if those who formed the '• Western Miss. Society." In 1823 he went on a mission to Maumee, and on his return ^vas obliged, from ill health, to resign his cliarge of the church of Three Springs, and to contine himself to that of Cross Koads. He died July 22, 1845. See Sprague, Annals, iv, 2-41.
Macwhorter, Alex^vnder, D.D., a Presbyterian divine, born in Newcastle County, Delaware, July 15, 1734; graduated at Princeton College, N. J., in 1757; settled near Newark in 1769; was employed as a mis- sionarj' to North Carolina in 17G4-6; was chaplain to Knox's Brigade in 1778; settled in Charlotte, N.'C., in 1779, but removed in 1780 to Newark, N. J., where he preached until his death, in July, 1807. In 1788 he was prominent in settling the Confession of Faith and form- ing the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church. The degree of D.D. was conferred on him by Yale College in 177(j. See Sprague, Annals, iii, 208 sq.
Mad. See Madness.
Madagascar, an island situated to the south-east of the African continent, in lat. 11° 57'— 25° 38' S., and longitude about 43^ — 51°; length, 1030 miles; greatest breadth, 350 miles; area estimated at 225,000 square miles, therefore covering a territory larger than the Brit- ish Isles, contains a population of nearly five millions.
Jlistonj vp to Ihe Introduction of Christianity. — The early history of this interesting island is involved in the deepest mystery. It is supposed to have been known to the ancients, by whom it was generally considered as an appendage to the main land, and was probably discovered by the Phoenicians. As an island, we find it first men- tioned by Marco Polo, in the 13th century, as Magascar or Madaigascar ; but its discoverer is now admitted to have been the Portuguese Antao Gonc^alves, who named it Isla de San Louren^o. The unhealthy climate made the stay of Europeans for a long time impossible. In 1774, Europeans attempted to establish a colony at An- tongil Bay, on the eastern side of the island ; it was mainly composed of Frenchmen ; but, failing to receive encouragement and assistance from the French govern- ment, the settlement proved a failure. With the Chris- tian missionaries (1818) skilful mechanics and tradesmen entered Madagascar, and to-day the island contains, in spite of its unhealthfulness of climate, quite a number of Europeans.
The natives consist of many tribes, of which the Hovas inhabit the centre and northern portion of the island, and are at present so powerful as to hold in subjection most of the others. The features of the inhabitants of this section present a striking resemblance to those of the South Sea Islanders ; they are evidently of different extraction from the other and darker tribes, whose feat ures are wholly African. The men are generally well made, having finely-proportioned limbs, and usually present a high tj'pe of physiological development. The women are well formed and active, but by no means so prepos- eessing in feature as the other sex. The complexion of the Ilovas is a ruddy brown or tawny color, while that of the other tribes is much darker. Another and very peculiar distinction is the long, straight hair of the former as compared to the woolly growth of their neigh- bors. The principal article of dress in use among the Hovas is the lamba, a garment very similar to the Ro- man toga, and made of cotton or linen materials.
The religion of these natives, not converts to Christian- ity, is strictly heat hen. Mohammedanism never made its way to them, and has no converts among them. Aside from Christianity, they ha-ve no accurjite conception of (iod. The Supreme Being they style Fnif/rant Prince. "Their ideas of a future state, and, indeed, their whole religious system, is indefinite, discordant, and puerile; it is a compound of heterogeneous elements, borrowed in
part from the superstitious fears and practices of Africa, the opinions of the ancient Egyptians, and the prevalent idolatrous systems of India, blended with the usages of the Malayan Archipelago. There are no public u mpUs in honor of any divinity, nor any order of men exclu- sively devoted to the priesthood, but the keeper of idols receives the offerings of the people, presents their re- quests, and pretends to give the response of the god. They worship also at the grave or the tomb of their an- cestors" (Newcomb, p. 521). They practice circumcis- ion, have the division of weeks into seven days, abstain from swine's flesh, and follow other Jewish practices. Marriage is general, but polygamy prevails, and conju- gal fidelity scarcely exists among the non-Christianized.
Introduction of Christianity. — In 1810, Kadama, the king of the Hovas, virtually even then the prince of all ^Madagascar, entered into diplomatic and commercial re- lations with the English. Onlj^ two years later — in 1818 — Protestant missionaries set out for it, and ulti- mately this African isle became " one of the countries where the rapid and easy triumph of Christianity equals the most brilliant episodes in the history of Christian propagandisra," and a lasting rebuke to those Roman Catholics who have dared to pronoiuice Protestant mis- sions & failure. The first Protestant missionaries were sent out by the London Missionary Society ; and their mission, from the beginning, was very successful. The whole Bible was circulated in the native language; about one hmidred schools were established, and from ten to fifteen thousand persons received Christian in- struction. Suddenly, however, Radama died (July 27, 1828), and was succeeded by Ranavala Manjaka, a wom- an of great cruelty, and inimical to Europeans. With her accession to the throne of Madagascar opened a fiery ordeal of persecution, lasting for nearly thirty years. Europeans were banished from the isle ; the public pro- fession of Christianity was forbidden; churches and schools were closed, and many of the members of the churches were persecuted to death. The conduct of the converts was most exemplar}' ; by their constancy, and many by their death, they refuted the slanders of Ro- manists that the converts of the Protestant mission churches consist, for a large part, of men who seek to obtain a lucrative position. In 1862 queen Ranavala Manjaka died, and her son was proclaimed king under the title of Radama II. With his accession to the throne of Madagascar the period of religious toleration recom- menced, and, although for a moment the assassination of the king (in 1863; he was strangled, and his own wife selected as his successor, the government having been modified into a constitutional form) spread alann among the Christians, the missionaries of the London Society resumed their labors, and they were agreeably surprised in seeing that, in spite of all persecution, the Christian congregations had maintained themselves. In 1867, the erection of four memorial churches on places where the first martyrs of Christianity fell a prey to heathen super- stitions of Madagascar was projected; three of these have already been completed, and the fourth is in prog- ress. (See Christian A drocate, Nashville, Tcnn., Dec. 2, 1871.) But the greatest triumph the Gospel achieved in Madagjjscar in 1869 was when the now reigning queen, Ranavala II (she succeeded to the throne April 1, 1868), and, with her. a majority of the natives, threw away their idols, and embraced Christianity much in the same way as the ancient Britons did many centuries ago. See the Missionary Advocate (N. Y., Feb. 15, 1870).