never regained, but by the aid of revelation; and till the light of revelation illuminate and raise the mind of the Malagasy, it will continue fearfully true of his position, that he is without God; and as painfully true, that he is "without hope;" for on what basis can the hope of a fallen creature rest, from whose mind God is excluded?

That some superior being, power, genius, or influence is intended by the native expression, God, is unquestionable; but what precise notion is affixed to it in the mind of a native, it is extremely difficult to ascertain. The Malagasy have no idea that the world is self-created ;"they affirm that God is the creator, and that he resides somewhere far above, in heaven. But then the title is not restricted to that being. It is equally applied to all the numerous idols they worship, taken individually and collectively. This, however, would not create much difficulty, as the idols might be regarded as the representatives of God. But the term is also employed to denote the state of the dead. "He is gone to be God," is an expression commonly used of any one deceased, an idea that seems to involve something of the Pantheistic theology. Then again, the same term is applied to the sovereign, not merely as an adjective, "divine," but as a noun, our divinity;" it is applied to the "genius" of their tangena, used in their ordeals, and frequently, to any phenomenon of nature, or curiosity in manufactures, beyond their comprehension. The elementary notion of a God being thus vague, we are little surprised to find their whole religious system indefinite, discordant, puerile, and ineffective.

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The religious creed of the natives of Madagascar, if

ORIGIN OF NATIVE CREED.

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that term may be at all applied to the few and confused notions entertained on the subject, seems to be a compound of most heterogeneous elements, borrowed in part from the superstitious fears and practices of Africa, in part from the opinions of the ancient Egyptians, and in part from the prevalent systems of idolatry in India, blended with the usages of the inhabitants of the Malayan Archipelago, to some of whom a portion of the natives of Madagascar evidently owe their origin. Still, it can scarcely be said that a creed exists. Usages exist, and the religious notion of a Malagasy must be sought for rather in the practice than in the theory, and hardly ten natives could be found assigning the same reason even for those practices, except indeed the unsatisfactory one that "these things are done now because their ancestors did so before them.”

A Malagasy is the victim of puerile fears, from his infancy to his old age. He fancies himself perpetually exposed to some invisible, but malignant, influences, and hence is anxious to guard himself by charms and amulets, and by carefully avoiding to give offence to the idols he recognises and worships, by any violation of their "fady," or prohibitory regulations. The general notion of these charms or amulets corresponds with that so extensively prevalent throughout Africa. The charms, or "ody," derive their mysterious virtue from some inexplicable link of association with the "sampy," or idols, and yet these latter possess no inherent power till they have been "constituted" by a process of ceremonies performed on them; after which, whatever the material may be of which they are made, (and it is usually wood,) the object becomes God, and is worshipped as God, and confided in,

by its deluded votary, as having power to bless and to withhold blessings. This practice, called by the natives "manangana," to raise up, nearly corresponds with the Hindoo notion of the Prán Pratisht'ha; that is, of imparting animation to the object selected for worship. The people obtain their idols as property belonging to the family, and passing from one generation to another; or they purchase them of some person supposed to be famous for the success of those who purchase their gods of him. He makes and constitutes them, and the cost is a matter of bargain between the buyer and the seller.*

Every individual in the country may have as many charms as he pleases, or can afford to maintain. He determines for himself also, by inclination or circumstances,

*A married couple went, some few years since, to a person of this description, living about fifteen miles from the capital, and wished to purchase an idol. He had none to sell, but desired them to come next day. They went; he was still without any, but promised to have one by the evening. They remained till evening. The man went to a neighbouring forest, selected his tree, cut down a large bough, brought it home, and prepared his idol, leaving the smaller branches littered about near his fireplace. In the evening he invited our married friends to take their meal of rice with him, and they saw him put some of these self-same branches in the fire to boil the rice. They returned home, having paid about two dollars for their new god. Shortly afterwards a young man, a Christian, called at their house, and happened to read to the wife that graphic description of idolatry, in the 44th chapter of Isaiah, "With part thereof he roasteth roast, maketh a fire, warmeth himself, and the residue thereof, he maketh a god, &c." She was astonished. It reminded her of what had just occurred, helped to convince her of the truth of the sacred volume, awakened deep attention, and led to the abandonment of the idol. She continued a learner; became a true disciple, and is now well known as Rafaravavy.

as to the idol or idols he will have in his house, and Most families, or clans, have their

whether any or none. own idols respectively, and to these somewhat greater honour is attached than to those belonging to individuals. There are some also considered as the guardian idols of the sovereign and kingdom; these, of course, claim greater homage than the rest, and are regarded with deeper awe. Nearly all these are domestic divinities, and of any shape, size, and name, their makers may choose to have given them. They have seldom any resemblance to the human form; but consist of uncouth pieces of wood, that might be conveniently carried in one's pocket, and ornamented fantastically, just as taste directs, or means can be afforded. The general notion of them seems to correspond with the tutelary gods of the ancients, rather than with the greater gods of Greek and Roman mythology. They are perhaps nearly identical with the Teraphim, mentioned in the account of Laban, who seems to have been more frightened about the loss of his "images,' than grieved for the departure of his daughters, and Jacob, and all the cattle the latter had obtained.

There are no public temples in honour of any divinity, nor any order of men exclusively devoted to the priesthood. The houses in which the principal idols are kept are considered in some way sacred. People are not permitted to enter them, but with the sanction and under the direction of the keeper of the idol, who usually resides in the house. He it is who receives the offerings of the people, intended as acts of worship, or sacrifices to the idol; he it is who presents the requests or prayers of the people, and who professes to give the responses of the

idol or god, and those responses are usually said to be audible, that is, the keeper pretends that by listening with his ear close down to the divinity, he catches his meaning; so, at any rate, he entraps the credulous worshipper into the belief of it, and receives the fee for his services.

The notion of some supreme or superior being is not associated in the mind of the natives with any idea of a Supreme Ruler, or of moral government. So far as their minds are exercised at all on such matters, they seem rather believers in fate than Providence; and they consider that each one's fate is determined by the age and position in the heavens of the moon, at the moment of his birth. An evil fate, or destiny, may, however, they think, be averted, by certain ceremonies. That fate is somewhat regarded as a distinct personal divinity; since it is believed that every individual has his own proper and personal divinity, and that his fate infallibly corresponds with the condition of that divinity; if the latter be rich, he will be rich; if poor, he will be poor; if renowned and powerful, so will he; and if the reverse, obscure and feeble, he must yield to so unenviable a condition. This fate is called either his vintana, " destiny," or his andriamanitra, "god."

The Malagasy offer their worship usually at the graves or tombs of their ancestors, who are thought in some way to have become God, although retaining their identity sufficiently to be distinct objects of worship. Over a large part of Madagascar, there are ancient tombs, called vazimba, and thought to contain the ashes of some of the earliest inhabitants or aborigines of the soil. Though few of these are kept in repair, great respect is paid to