The work of the revision led us to think more highly than ever of the splendid work done by the early missionaries during the thirteen years they were in the island. Reducing the language to writing, founding churches and schools, making those noble--one might almost say marvellously idiomatic--translations of the Bible, the _Pilgrim’s Progress_, and other books, and so planting Christianity in the hearts of the people that it could not be uprooted, was a work that has never been surpassed in any mission field, and seldom, if ever, been equalled. There were certainly giants in the mission field in those days; but, as we have lately seen, the race has not quite died out. We saw in the work of revision some fine examples of ‘the word-moulding power of Christianity.’ To give a few of them: _Fitòndràntèna_ meant carriage of the body, or one’s self; hence _tsàra fitòndràntèna_ meant good carriage--as we would say, a lady, or a person of good carriage--debonair; but it has come to mean good conduct, hence moral character. _Fièritrèrètana_, which meant the faculty of meditation, has come to mean conscience. _Fàhadiòvana_, an abstract noun from root _dìo_, whence adjective _madìo_, clean, pure, hence white, meant cleanness, purity or whiteness of, say, a garment, or a cotton _làmba_ (plaid); it has come to mean moral purity (a virtue formerly unknown in Madagascar, as it is in all heathen lands), as _fàhadiòvampanàhy_, the purity or whiteness of the soul. _Hàmasìnana_ and _fàhamasìnana_, from root _hàsina_, probably connected with _hàsina_--if not really the same word--_the sacred tree_, meaning sacredness, has come to mean holiness. _Fanàtitra_ meant a present, a gift; it now means, and is used almost exclusively for, a religious offering. Thus: _Fanàtitra nòho ny òta_, a sin-offering, lit. an offering on account of sin. _Fanàtitra alàtsa-drà_, a sacrificial offering, lit. an offering in which there is shedding of blood. _Fandràisana_ meant the time or place of receiving, now _Ny Fandràisana_ stands for the Communion. _Fàhaverèzana_, abstract noun, meant disgrace, of an officer or an official, or any one who lost their position, now stands for the loss of the soul. _Fanàhy_, if derived from the root _àhy_, which means care or solicitude, anxiety, would mean the faculty of care, solicitude or anxiety; but if, as seems more probable, it is derived from the root _nàhy_, which signifies will or intention, it would mean the faculty of will, or choice; but it has come to mean (if it did not always mean that, in a vague sort of way at least) the soul, the spirit. The existence of a soul or spirit, as distinct from the _tèna_, body, and _nòfo_, flesh, seems always to have been recognized; for so much was certainly implied in the belief of the people in ghosts, _matòatòa_, and _àmbiròa_, shades, or second selves. Radàma I’s father when dying said: ‘It is my body that will be buried, but my (_fanàhy_) spirit will be with you to whisper to you