On August 5, 1890, the British government concluded a treaty with France in which, very unjustly as most people think--because he was giving away what did not belong to England, and granting what he had no right to grant--Lord Salisbury recognized a French protectorate over Madagascar. The French government consented to the following clause, which most of us knew was hardly worth the paper it was written on:--‘In Madagascar the missionaries of both countries shall enjoy complete protection. Religious toleration and liberty for all forms of worship shall be guaranteed.’ Immediately on the seizure of the island, that clause practically became a dead letter, as the Jesuits were let loose and allowed to work their own will for a time, until they overreached themselves, and had to be first checked and then repudiated. During 1891 there was a slight religious movement in the capital. There were not ‘showers of blessing,’ but the dew of the Spirit descended, and the churches were quickened and refreshed. Perhaps more was made of it than should have been; but this was not much to be wondered at, seeing it was the first experience of the kind in the capital. There was a good deal of blossom, but not much fruit came of it, only what did come was genuine. Some of the best, most satisfactory, and most devoted of the younger Christian workers in the capital and neighbourhood to-day are among those who found their way into the Kingdom then. One lad was converted through reading a story in English, in a volume of the _Herald of Mercy_, which I had given to a friend of his, from whom he borrowed it. He went to the secretary of the Imèrina district committee, and confessed to having stolen two shillings from the normal school money, some years before, when I was in charge of the institution. He was a scholar there then. He pleaded for forgiveness, and returned the money fourfold! The secretary told him how glad he was to hear of his conversion, and to see the fruit of it in his confession and restitution. Political difficulties began to arise, and a spirit of unrest spread among the people during 1893. The prime minister, deceived by those whose interests it served, was led to believe that his son and son-in-law had conspired against his life. They were tried and sentenced to death, but the French resident and others remonstrated so strongly against such a course, that the sentence was reduced to banishment for life. All these things affected the work, but still the consolidation of the best of the country churches, and the work in the village schools, made most satisfactory progress.