‘For these reasons this stone house, founded by me as a House of Prayer, cannot be destroyed by any one, whoever may be sovereign of this my land, for ever and for ever; for if he (or she) shall destroy this House of Prayer to God which I have founded, then is he (or she) no longer sovereign of my land Madagascar. ‘Wherefore I have signed my name with my hand and the seal of the kingdom. ‘(Signed) RÀNAVÀLOMANJÀKA, ‘Queen of Madagascar. ‘This word is genuine, and the signature by the hand of Rànavàlomanjàka is genuine,’ (says) Rainilaiàrivòny, prime minister and commander-in-chief of Madagascar. ‘Mr. William Pool, of the London Missionary Society, made the designs for this house of prayer[26].’ The building, when finished, was publicly opened by the queen in person, on April 8, 1880, when missionaries of the London Missionary Society and the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association preached and presided, having been requested to do so by Her Majesty. After the first day of the opening, the chapel royal was thrown open to the congregations of the twenty sections, or districts, into which the mission of the London Missionary Society and the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association were divided, and Her Majesty worshipped there with her people in her own chapel royal every day for twenty days! The chapel royal is certainly a beautiful building, and reflects the greatest credit upon the late Mr. W. Pool, the architect and builder for the London Missionary Society in Madagascar, by whom the plans were drawn, and who also superintended its erection, as well as upon the Malagasy workmen employed. It may also be very fairly said to have been ‘a visible manifestation to all of the unhesitating manner in which the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ had been adopted by the rulers of Madagascar, and confirmed the truth of what Queen Rànavàlona II repeatedly stated on public occasions after her accession to the throne: “I rest my kingdom upon God!”’ On September 8, 1869, Ikèlimalàza (the small but famous _Sàmpy_), the chief royal idol in Imèrina (the central province of Madagascar), was committed to the flames by the orders of Rànavàlona II, Queen of Madagascar. During the remainder of the month of September, a general burning of idols and charms took place all over the provinces of Imèrina and Vònizòngo; and the great majority of the people, in those two provinces at least, destroyed their idols--the objects of veneration and terror for ages--without any great signs of grief at their loss.