MADAGASCAR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 544, 15 September 1863, Page 6

MADAGASCAR.

UEPOKT THAT KING RADAMA IS NOT DEAD,

(From the Colonial (Port Louis), July 8.)

A vague rumour, the precise source of which was unknown to us, had already come to our knowledge, to the effect that Radama If. was not dead, but had been carried away hy night from his palace by a band of conspirators, who keep him a prisoner in some concealed spot in his dominions. That which, hitherto, had been merely a vague report, now assumes some tangible shape, in consequence of the narative which has been published in the Echo dv Peupie by an old native of Madagascar, Jacques Saide, recently arrived at Mauritius', "and who, as he himself states, was, in voluntarily, one ofthe actors in the more or less melancholy drama that has just been accomplished. The narrative to which we .allude contains details not wanting in piquancy, and bears a certain stamp oT truthfulness, whilst it corroborates private letters that have been received from Tamatave to which many parties here refused to attach any credence, alleging that they had nofc heen written by ocular witneesses and were merely the echo of rumours that had reached Tamatave from the capital. Everything that has of late taken place in so unforeseen a manner in the Great African Islands is of so strange a character, and is still enveloped in so much mystery, that we feel no slight difficulty in making our selection from amongst so many conflicting, reports. If that of Saide, the old Malagasy above alluded to, is exact (and why should this be doubted, since he positively asserts its veracity?) it would go to prove at least one important point—namely, that the conspirators have displayed more prudence and policy than was supposed.. ..Would it be astonishing, that, they should have reflected that the commission of regicide would have been, not only a great crime on their part, but that it would have constituted the greatest possible act of imprudence, by exposing,them to terrible reprisals at the.hand's "of those powers who were the allies of .their Sovereign ? It is, on the contrary, more than probably that these weighty considerations must have been maturely pondered over by them; nor is it too much to presume that their foresight and their astute policy may have led them to accomplish their coup d'etat without rendering themselves guilty of an irreparable crime, the consequences of which might have been incalculable ! In such a .case .their "object and their ulterior plans must have been traced out by them somewhat in this manner :—" Let us," they may have said, " put Radama out ot the way, and spread a rumour of his death. If England and France quietly regard this as an accomplished fact—if we And that we have nothing to dread at their bands—the fate of the King will thenceforward have been decided upon. If, on the contrary, these powers display any design of avenging the presumed death of their friend and ally, and we detect grounds for apprehension either on our own part or on that of the country, we may then put a stop to their animosity by delivering up the King. In this manner we can incur but little peril On the one hand, the alternative is entirely in our favor; on the other, it is completely null."

':* Such may have been, and we may almost assert that such was, the project of the conspiractors. Thus, then, the life or death of the King would depend on the attitude assumed by France and England towards the existing Government of Madagascar. We have no hesitation in saying that the attitude ot those two great powers should be at once firm and menacing, in order to ascertain the truth, and, if there be yet time, to save the life of a Sovereign who, although he may have displayed some weakness of character, has furnished abundant proof of praiseworthy intentions and the most noble sentiments.

It must not be lost sight of, that Radama did not stand alone in the accomplishment or the promulgation of those measures which his enemies have taken advantage of to bring about his ruin. Others, who would share in the benefits those measures would bring about, have co-operated therein, and may even have provoked them by their counsels. If the doubts now so painfully entertained were to be converted into a happy reality, all may yet be repaired. The legitimate sovereign of Madagascar, replaced on his throne by tne intervention of those powers with whom he had concluded a treaty of peace and amity, would continue to be the faithful ally of these latter, whilst by the introduction oC salutary measures, he might remove the causes of discontent which have delivered him up, defenceless, to the blind hatred of his personal enemies. If, which Aye consider to be impossible, England and France were to abstain from taking in unison such steps as the importance ofthe circumstances demands, one or the other of these powers ought, in our opinion, to act alone in the matter.

We confess that, having carefully considered the subject, our hopes are strongly aroused, not only by the mysteriousness which even no at surround? this revolt in the palace, but above all by the calculations we have suggested as affecting the probable, or at all events the possible, scheme we have attributed to the conspirators. We have, from the first, entertained serious doubt as to, the truth of the assassination of the king; we have been unable to satisfy our mind that those who are accused of the act of regicide, and who have the reputation of being both astute and intplligent, have, in fact, fully accepted the consequences of an act so irreparable, the whole bearing of which they must have carefully calculated beforehand. We feel great hesitation in admitting this; and yet we have seen no alternative, in presence of the letters that have reached us from Madagascar. It was, it is true, stated—

although in the absence of any authentic ! document, and without any name being cited as an authority—that certain persons had affirmed that Radami had not been put to death. Now that this assertion is substantiated in a considerable measure by the declaration of au eyewitness, some faith may be attached thereto, particularly in the absence of any official information, either from the English or the French consular residents, concerning events of such weighty importance. The most recent private letters received announce that a general prohibition has been issued by the new Government against any person inquiring what has become ofthe King, or approaching the tomb of the late Queen Mother. Such a measure would seem to be perfectly explicable by the fact of the secret captivity of the King at or near that sacred spot. The more surely to secure the silence of the military escort under whose charge the King was removed—to set up an impassable barrier against tlieir accusing testimony— these latter have, in all probability, been massacred. Nevertheless, an overruling Providence may have allowed one of their number to eflect his escape to this island, in order that the truth might be divulged..