THE NEW KING OF MADAGASCAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 6, Issue 281, 13 February 1862, Page 4

THE NEW KING OF MADAGASCAR

..The following description of Rakoto, the new King of. Madagascar, from the pen of Madam I dp, Jffeiffer, who had frequent opportunities, of seeing and, conversing with him when. he was Prince, will be read with much interest just now. Madame Pfeiffer tells many anecdotes of his good nature, generosity, and, anxiety for the - people’s welfare. The -statement that lie has placed himself under the protectorate of France is not unlikely to be true, for, in. conversation with Madame Pfeiffer about the condition of the country, “he declared it to be a matter of indifference to him whether the' French or the English, or any other nation, took possession of the island,, if only the people were properly governed. For himself, lie wished neither for the throne nor for the regal title, and would, a,t any time be ready to give a written, abdication of his claims, in 1 retire and live as a private, man, if 1 e conlcl, by such a course, ensure the prosperity of the people. “ Prince Rakoto, or, to call him by his fu,U name, Itakodond-Radama, is a young man twenty-seven years of age. Central y to my expectation, his appearance was far from disagreeable. He is short and slim [in stature, and his face does no,t betray a likeness, in form or colour, to any of the four races who inhabit Madagascar. His features have quite t,he tx'pe of the Moldavian Greeks. 'His black hair,is curly, but not woolly ; he has dark eyes, full of life and fire ; a well-slnvped liiouth and handsome teeth. If is features weal? an expression of such childlike goodness, that one feels drawn towards him from the first moment of s ieing him. He often goes about in European costume. “/The Prince is honoured apd beloved alike by high and low ; and I was assured by Mr. Lambert and Mr. Laborde that he fully deserved all this affeption and

honour. The son is, in fact, as kindhearted as the mother is cruel ; he is just as averse to tile shedding of blood as his mother is addicted to it, and his chief efforts are directed towards rixitigating the severe punishments the Queen is continually inflicting, and of obtaining a reversal of the sentences of death, which she is always too ready to pronounce upon her subjects. “ He is always ready to listen to the unfortunate, and to help them ; and. has strictly forbidden his slaves to turn any applicant- away oil the score chat he is sleeping or engaged at his meals. Well aware of this, people often come in the middle of the night and wake the Prince from his sleep, with petitions for their relations who are to be executed early next morning. If- he cannot obtain a pardon from his mother,- he manages to pass as if by accident along the road by which the poor culprits are led, bound with cords to meet their fate. Then ho cuts their bonds asunder, and either tells them to flee, or to go quietly home, according as their offences have been grave or venial. When the queen is informed of what her son has done, she never makes any remark, but only tries to keep the next sentences she pronounces as secret as possible, and to hasten their execution. Condemnation and punishment thus often succeed each other so rapidly, that if the Prince is absent from the town when sentence is passed, the application to him for assistance is almost sure to come too late.

“It is strange, considering how radically different their dispositions are, that mother and son should love each other so tenderly. The Prince is devoted to the queen with the utmost affection ; he tx*ies to excuse her deeds of sevei’ity by every conceivable argument, and it is a bitter reflection to him that she can be neither loved nor respected by the nation. “ The Prince’s character is the. more remarkable, inasmuch as he has had his mother’s bad example before bis eyes from, his earliest youth, and cannot escape from, her influence ; moreover, not the slightest care has been taken of Ins education. In. most similar cases, the son would certainly have imbibed the prejudices and acquired the vices of the mother.

“No one has attempted to teach him anything, with the exception of a few words of the English language;; what he knows, and what he is, he owes entirely. to. himself. What might this prince not Lave, been had a judicious education opened his mind and developed lus talents 1 I had frequent opportunities of seeing and observing him, for. a day seldom passed without Ms paying- Mir Lambert a visit. I found no fault in. him, except a certain want of independence and a distrust of his own abilities ; and the only tiling I fear, should the Government one day fill into his hands, is that he will not come forward with sufficient energy, and may fail in thoroughly carrying out his, good' intentions.”

His first act on mounting the thyppe ovßlonce of iaok oi energy