CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
IN WHICH TERRIBLE BUT TRUE MARTYRDOMS ARE DESCRIBED.
Matters had now reached a crisis. Although suffering from illness--partly brought on, or aggravated, by her unrestrained passions--theQueen gave orders next day for the host to turn homeward. Travellingmore rapidly than she had yet done, she soon reached the capital.
There the arrival of the captives and the news of what had occurredprepared them for the worst. And the worst was not long of coming. Thevery day following the Queen's return, a great assembly, or Kabary, ofthe whole people was called. None were exempted from the meeting. Highand low, rich and poor, sick and healthy, were driven to the great placeof assembly near the palace--literally driven, for officers were sent asusual to break into the houses of the people, when necessary, and forcethem to attend. And there was no way of escape, for at the time of thesummons being sent out every outlet from the city was guarded bysoldiers, and the cannon along the heights thundered a salute by way ofstriking terror into the hearts of the rebellious. Well did the poorpeople know what all this foreshadowed. One who was an eye-witness ofthe scene said, "there was a general howling and wailing, a rushing andrunning through the streets, as if the town had been attacked by ahostile army." At last the great square of the city was crowded, asfull as it could hold, with hundreds of thousands of people, who wereoverawed by the presence of a body of troops fifteen thousand strong asthey awaited the announcement of the Queen's pleasure.
Mark Breezy was there, along with his comrades, on an elevated spot nearto the place where the Queen's messenger was to make the proclamation.
"We are utterly helpless here," said Mark in a low voice, as he gazed inpity on the groaning and swaying multitude. "The Queen's countenance ischanged to me. I feel sure that either we have been betrayed in thematter of Rafaravavy, or we are suspected. Indeed, if it were not thatshe is ill, and needs my aid, she would certainly banish us all from herdominions."
"I wish I was well out of 'em," growled Hockins. "The country is wellenough, no doubt, but a woman like that makes it a hell-upon-earth!"
"Has you hear, massa, whar dey hab put Ravonino an' our oder friends?"asked Ebony.
"No, I did not dare to ask. And even if we knew we could do nothing!"
The youth spoke bitterly, for he had become so much attached to theirformer guide, and the natives with whom they had sojourned andtravelled, that he would have fought for them to the death if that couldhave availed them. Strong and active young men are apt to become bitterwhen they find that superabundant energy and physical force are in somecircumstances utterly useless. To be compelled to stand by inactive andsee injustice done--cruelty and death dealt out, while the blood boils,the nerves quiver, and the violated feelings revolt, is a sore trial tomanhood! And such was the position of our three adventurers at thattime.
Presently the highest civil and military officers came forth, one ofwhom, in a loud sonorous voice, delivered the message of his terriblemistress.
After a number of complimentary and adulatory phrases to the Queenherself, and many ceremonial bowings towards the palace, as if sheactually heard him, the messenger spoke as follows--
"I announce to you, O people, that I am not a Sovereign that deceives.I find that, in spite of my commands, many of my people revile the idolsand treat divination as a trifle, and worship the Christians' God, andpray, and baptize, and sing--which things I abhor. They are unlawful.I detest them, and they are not to be done, saith Ranavalo-Manjaka. Iwill not suffer it. Those who dare to disobey my commands shall die.Now, I order that all who are guilty shall come in classes according totheir offences, and accuse themselves of being baptized, of beingmembers of the Church, of having taught slaves to read, and that allbooks shall be given up."
As on a previous occasion, many came forward at once and accusedthemselves, or gave up their Bibles and Testaments; but, as before,others concealed their treasures and held their tongue, although it wasevident that on this occasion the Queen uttered no vain threat, but wasterribly in earnest.
The proclamation ended, the people dispersed, and Mark and his friendswere returning to their quarters when they were arrested by a party ofsoldiers. As usual, their first impulse was to resist violently, butwisdom was given them in time, and they went quietly along. Of courseMark protested vehemently both in English and in broken Malagasy, but noattention whatever was paid to his words. They were led to a prisonwhich they had not before seen. As they approached the door the soundof singing was heard. Another moment and they were thrust into the roomwhence the sounds issued, and the door was locked upon them.
At first they could only see dimly, the place was so dark; but in a fewseconds, their eyes becoming accustomed to the gloom, they could seethat a number of other prisoners--both men and women--were seated roundthe walls singing a hymn. When the hymn ceased an exclamation from afamiliar voice made them turn round, and there they saw their friendRavonino seated on the floor with his back against the wall and chainedto Laihova and to the floor. Beside him were several well-rememberednatives, and on the opposite side of the room, also chained, were thewomen of the party, among whom were Ramatoa, Ra-Ruth, Rafaravavy, hermaid Sarah, and the poor mother of Mamba.
"Ravonino!" exclaimed Mark, in tones of profound sorrow, as he sat downbeside his old guide, "I little thought to find you in such a strait."
"Even so, sir," returned the man in a gentle voice, "for so it seemsgood in His eyes! But still less did I expect to find you in prison--for the way they thrust you in shows me that you are no mere visitor. Ifear me, the cruel woman has found out how kind you were in helping me."
"But surely dar some hope for you! Dey nebber kill you all!" said thenegro, waving his hand round as if to indicate the whole party.
"No hope, no hope," returned Ravonino, sadly, "Not even for you, Ebony,because you are only a black man. But they won't kill _you_, sir, orHockins. They know better than to risk the consequences of putting aBritish subject to death. For the rest of us--our doom is sealed."
"If the Lord wills it so," remarked Laihova, quietly.
"How do you know that the Lord wills it so?" demanded a voice fiercely,and a man who had hitherto sat still with his face buried in his handslooked up. It was the stout chief Voalavo, all whose fun of dispositionseemed to have been turned to fury. "You all speak as if you werealready dead men! Are we not alive? Have we not stout hearts andstrong limbs? While life remains there is hope!"
He leaped up as he spoke and began to wrench at his chain like amaddened tiger, until blood spurted from his wrists and the swollenveins stood out like cords from his neck and forehead. But iron provedtougher than flesh. He sank down, exhausted, with a deep groan--yeteven in his agony of rage the strong man murmured as he fell, "Lordforgive me!"
While the men conversed, and Ebony sought to soothe Voalavo, with whomhe had strong sympathy most of the poor women opposite were seated in astate of quiet resignation. Some there were, however, who could notbring their minds to contemplate with calmness the horrible fate thatthey knew too well awaited them, while others seemed to forgetthemselves in their desire to comfort their companions. Among the timidones was pretty little Ra-Ruth. Perhaps her vivid imagination enabledher to realise more powerfully the terrors of martyrdom. It may be thather delicately-strung nerves shrank more sensitively from the prospect,but in spite of her utmost efforts to be brave she trembled violentlyand was pale as death. Yet she did not murmur, she only laid her headon the sympathetic bosom of her queen-like friend Ramatoa, who seemed toher a miracle of strength and resignation.
In a short time the door of the prison opened, and a party of armed menentered with Silver Spear, or Hater of Lies, at their head. Aninvoluntary shudder ran through the group of captives as the manadvanced and looked round.
"Which is Razafil?" demanded Hater of Lies.
The poet rose promptly. "Here I am," he said, looking boldly at theofficer. Then, glancing upwards, and in a voi
ce of extreme tenderness,he said, "Now, my sweet Raniva, I will soon join you!"
"Ramatoa--which is she?" said the officer, as his men removed thefetters from the poet and fastened his wrists with a cord.
Ramatoa at once rose up. "I am ready," she said, calmly. "Now,Ra-Ruth, the Master calls me. Fear not what man can do unto thee."
"Oh! no, no! do not go yet," exclaimed Ra-Ruth in an agony of grief, asshe clung to her friend. "The good Lord cannot mean this--oh! take_me_! take _me_! and let her stay!"
The sentence ended in a low wail, for at the moment two soldiers forcedthe girls asunder, and Ra-Ruth sank upon the floor, while Ramatoa wasled away.
Poor Laihova had watched every movement of Ra-Ruth. It was, no doubt,the fiercest part of the fiery trial he had to undergo; and when thesoldier grasped her arms to tear her from her friend he could restrainhimself no longer. He sprang up and made a wild leap towards her, butthe chain arrested him effectually, and three bayonets were quicklypointed at his breast. His head fell forward, and he sank down like onewho had been shot.
Meanwhile Hater of Lies selected Ra-Ruth and twelve others from thegroup of prisoners, but only the three whom we have mentioned are knownto the reader. They were led into an outer room, where they werefurther pinioned. Some of them had their feet and hands tied together,so that, by thrusting a pole between the legs and arms of each, theycould be suspended and carried by two men. Others were allowed to walkto the place of execution. The rage of Ranavalona, however, was sogreat on finding that the Christians would not submit to her that shehad given orders to the soldiers to torture the martyrs with theirspears as they marched along the road. This was done to all exceptRamatoa and Ra-Ruth, as the blood-stained road bore witness. Thecomfort of being together was not allowed to the two ladies. They wereplaced in different parts of the procession.
Mats were thrust into the mouths of the suspended victims to preventthem from speaking, but some of them managed to free their mouths andprayed aloud, while others sang hymns or addressed the crowd. Thus theypassed along the road that led to the Place of Hurling Down.
This was a tremendous precipice of granite, 150 feet high. Thither themultitude streamed--some influenced by hatred of the Christians, some bydeep sympathy with them, but the majority, doubtless, prompted by mereexcitement and curiosity. And there they crowded as near as they daredventure to the edge of the precipice and gazed into the awful gulf.
Slowly the procession moved, as if to prolong the agony of the martyrs.Suddenly a young man pushed through the crowd, advanced to the side ofRamatoa, and grasped one of her hands, exclaiming in a loud voice,"Dearest! I will go with you and stay by you to the end."
For a moment the calm serenity that had settled on the girl's finecountenance was disturbed.
"Mamba!" she said, "this is not wise. You cannot save me. It is God'swill that I should now glorify the dear name of Jesus by laying down mylife. But you are not yet condemned, and your mother needs your help."
"Full well do I know that," returned the youth, fervently. "Were it notfor my dear mother's love and claim on me, I would now have gone withyou to heaven. As it is, I will stay by you, dear one, to the end."
"Thank you, dear friend," returned the girl, earnestly. "I think itwill not be long till we meet where there are no more sufferings ortears."
Soon the procession reached the brow of the terrible cliff. Here themartyrs were ranged in such a way that, while they were cast over one byone, the rest could see their companions fall.
The first to perish was the poet Razafil. After the Queen's messengerhad pronounced the sentence of each, the poor man was seized and thrownviolently on the ground. A rope was then fastened round his waist, andhe was asked if he would cease to pray in the name of Jesus.
"Cease to pray to Jesus!" he exclaimed, while the fire of enthusiasmgleamed in his eyes--"to Jesus who saved my Raniva, and who holds outHis blessed hands to me--even me--to take me to Himself? _Never_!"
Razafil was instantly slung over the precipice, and held suspended therein the hope that the awful nature of his impending fate might cause hiscourage to fail, while the executioner knelt, knife in hand, ready tocut the rope.
"Once more, and for the last time," said the officer in command, "willyou cease to pray?"
The answer was an emphatic "No!"
Next moment Razafil went shooting down headlong into the abyss. Therewas a projecting ledge of rock about fifty feet down the precipice. Onthis the body of the martyr struck, and, bounding off into space,reached the bottom with incredible violence, a shattered and mangledheap.
With trembling hearts and straining gaze the other victims watched thedescent. It seemed to be more than human nature could endure tovoluntarily face such a fate when a word would deliver them. So thoughtmany of the spectators, and they were right; mere human nature could nothave endured it, but these Christians were strengthened in a way thatthe ungodly will neither believe nor understand. One by one they wereled to the edge of the cliff, suspended over the edge, and had thetesting-question put to them, and, one by one, the answer was a decisive"No!"
But where was the tyrant Queen while this scene of butchery was beingenacted? In her chamber in the palace--comparatively, yet notaltogether, regardless of the matter.
Her son Rakota stood beside her. Our friend the Secretary stood at thedoor.
"Mother," said the Prince, quietly, "they are being hurled down now--andlittle Ra-Ruth is among them."
The Queen looked up, startled. "No, no!" she said, hesitatingly."Ra-Ruth must not--but--but--I must not seem to my people to be weak--yet I would save her."
Rakota gave a gentle nod to the Secretary, who instantly vanished. Hereached the place of execution only just in time. The rope was alreadyround the girl's slender waist, and the testing-question had been put--but her timidity had flown, and was replaced by a calm, almost angelic,expression, as she gazed up to Heaven, clasped her hands, and, with aflush of enthusiasm, exclaimed--
"No--Jesus--no, I will _never_ cease to worship Thee!"
A murmur of mingled surprise and pity broke from the crowd. At thatmoment the Secretary came forward.
"The Queen," he said, "has sent me to ask you, Ra-Ruth, whether you willnot worship our gods and save your life."
"No," answered the girl, firmly. "I have been weak--a coward--but nowGod has sent me strength by His own Holy Spirit, and my fixeddetermination is to go this day with my dear brothers and sisters toHeaven."
"You are a fool! You are _mad_!" exclaimed an officer standing by, ashe struck her on the head.
"Yes, she is _mad_," said the Secretary to the officer in command."Send a messenger to tell the Queen that Ra-Ruth has lost her reason.Meanwhile, let her be taken away and guarded well till the Queen'spleasure regarding her is known."
But although this poor girl was thus snatched from death at the lastmoment, no mercy was extended to the others. All were thrown over thecliff and dashed to pieces at that time except Ramatoa. When thequestion was put to her, last of all, she, as might have been expected,was not less firm in her reply than her companions; but, instead ofbeing thrown over, she was informed that as it was not allowable to shedthe blood of one of noble birth she was to be burnt alive!
At this dreadful announcement she turned paler than before, but did notflinch. At the same moment poor Mamba lost control of himself. Hesprang to her side, put an arm round her waist, and shouted--
"This shall not be! I, too, am a praying man. Ye shall not touch her!"
He glared fiercely round, and, for a moment, the soldiers did not dareto approach him, although he was totally unarmed. But they sprang onhim from behind, and he was quickly overpowered by numbers. At thecommand of their officer, they tore him from Ramatoa, carried him to thecliff, and hurled him over. His head struck the ledge, and his brainswere dashed out there. Next moment he lay dead among the rocks at thebottom.
This awful sight Ramatoa was spared, for, at the same insta
nt, they haddragged her away to the spot where a pile of wood had been prepared forherself. Four stakes were fixed in the midst of the pile, as threeother Christian nobles were to be burnt along with her, one of whom wasa lady. While Ramatoa watched the preparations for her death, herfellow-sufferers arrived--singing, as they walked, a hymn which beginswith, "When our hearts are troubled," and ends with, "Then remember us."Ramatoa raised her voice and joined them. There was no wavering orshrinking from the fiery ordeal. When all was ready the martyrs quietlysuffered themselves to be bound to the stakes, and, strange to say, whenthe flames roared around them, the song of praise still went on, and thevoices of praise and prayer did not cease until they had culminated inglad shouts of praise and victory before the throne of God!
We write facts just now, reader, not fiction! Men talk of the crueltyof devils! Assuredly there is not a devil in or out of hell who cansink to lower depths of cruelty than fallen man will sink to when leftto the unrestrained influence of that hateful thing--_sin_--from whichJesus Christ came to deliver us, blessed be _His_ name!
It is said that while these four martyrs were being fastened to thestakes, an immense triple-arched rainbow stretched across the heavens,one end of which appeared to rest upon them, and that rain fell intorrents. This so terrified many of the spectators, that they fled inconsternation from the scene.
But the cup of iniquity was not yet filled up. While the martyrs werestill in the fire, and praying, "O Lord, receive our spirits, and laynot this sin to their charge," a shouting yelling band arrived, draggingafter them the corpses of the men and women who had perished at thePlace of Hurling Down. These were tossed upon the pile to serve as fuelto the fire. The poor unrecognisable remains of Mamba were among them;and thus, even in their death, he and Ramatoa were not divided!
At this time of terrible suffering and trial--as in the previouspersecutions during the reign of this tyrant queen--hundreds ofChristians willingly submitted to the loss of position, wealth, andliberty for the sake of Jesus, besides those who witnessed a goodconfession, and sealed their testimony with their blood. Thirty-sevennative preachers, with their wives and families, were consigned to alife of slavery. More than a hundred men and women were flogged andsentenced to work in chains during their lives. Some were heavilyfined, and many among the "great and noble" were stripped of honours andtitles, reduced to the ranks, and forced to labour at the hardest andmost menial occupation.
Among these last was Prince Ramonja, who had been the means ofsheltering, secreting, and saving many Christians. Fortunately PrinceRakota retained his influence over his mother, and his power to dogood--a circumstance for which our three adventurers had ultimatelyreason to thank God, though, for a considerable time after that, theyremained in prison, in company with their friends Ravonino, Voalavo,Laihova, and others.
These last were not delivered from their chains, but lived in hourlyexpectation of being led out to execution. After Ra-Ruth's removal,Laihova was at first overwhelmed with despair, but when a friendlyjailor informed him of her having been spared under the supposition thatshe was insane, hope revived a little, though he could not help seeingthat the prospect ahead was still very black.
Another prisoner who was inconsolable was poor Reni-Mamba. From thetime that she was told of her son's fate she seemed to sink into a stateof quiet imbecility, from which no efforts of her friends could rouseher. She did not murmur or complain. She simply sat silent and callousto everything around her. She, Rafaravavy, Sarah, and the otherfemales, were removed to another prison, and for a long time their malefriends could learn nothing as to their fate.
"It is this prolonged uncertainty that's so hard to bear," remarkedRavonino to Mark one day, lifting his hands high above his head, andletting them fall, with the clanking chains, into his lap.
"True, true," replied the youth, shortly--for confinement was beginningto tell unfavourably on himself.
"Das w'ere it is," remarked Ebony, endeavouring to brighten up a little,but with only moderate success, "it's sottin still an' doin' nuffin datkills. What you tink, 'Ockins?"
"Ay, ay," assented the seaman; and as for a long time nothing more than"ay, ay," had been got out of Hockins, Ebony relapsed into silence.
Things had reached this lugubrious pass when an event occurred whichmaterially affected the condition of the prisoners, and considerablyaltered the history of Madagascar.