hymns amid the burning flames, while the bright rainbow arched the
heavens and inspired them with more than mortal joy. Nineteen hundred
of their faithful companions were fined; a hundred were flogged; many
others were enslaved, and made "to serve with rigour" in public works,
in felling timber and hewing stone. But still was it true of these
"children of Israel," "the more they oppressed them, the more they
multiplied and grew." _c_. The third persecution was more bitter and
resolute still. In July, 1857, when mutiny and massacre were at their
height in Upper India, fourteen were stoned to death at FIADANA,
followed by seven others; and sixty-six were loaded with heavy chains.
The church was still more scattered; but many of the leading brethren
were securely hidden, and "had their lives given them as a prey."

In 1861 the church obtained its long-lost liberty, and was permitted
again to profess its belief in open day. Rich in faith, steadfast
in principle, it only needed a wider range of Scripture knowledge
and some little guidance in its public affairs. Singularly free from
the admixture of foreign elements in its constitution, it had pastors
and teachers; the brethren were accustomed to edify one another, and
were zealous for the spread of the truth among their fellow-countrymen.

The progress of the churches during the last eight years has been
sound as well as rapid. Conviction has ripened where the good seed
was sown; thousands have become members; many thousands more have
joined our congregations; numerous churches have been organized both
in the capital and in the country round. The members of the churches
have been true missionaries where they have gone; and thus many, whom
public duty or private interest had led far away from home, have been
the means of planting churches in the district of Vonizongo, and even
in the distant town of Fianarantsoa.