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Black Republic of Letters

Note - Cardinal Lavigerie

Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie (1825-1892) was a French Catholic clergyman who worked in Africa. He was a passionate opponent of slavery in Africa. Learn more about Cardinal Lavigerie.

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"The Necessity of a Haitian Newspaper in Paris"
Translation:

Despite the diversity of Parisian newspapers that permit all causes and all interests to have defenders, most of the civilized countries that have constant relations with France have managed to make themselves represented directly in this capital of contemporary intelligence, which has inherited the ancient renown of Athens and Rome.

England, the United States, Portugal, Greece, Romania all have newspapers established in Paris. Our brothers from Brazil have theirs, already ten years old; the French colonies, among the organs of publicity dedicated to their cause, they proudly claim the Liberté Coloniale which, under wise and enlightened leadership, carries so proudly the flag of the Black race.

Alone, or nearly alone, the Republic of Haiti, which has an annual commerce with France of over 80 million, which borrowed its language, its customs and its laws from France, which maintains a relatively numerous colony in Paris, alone, the Republic of Haiti does not yet have its newspaper.

This represents such a manifest anomaly that it has already attracted the attention of many of our compatriots. There is cause to hope that an agreement will unite their efforts in a common cause. When a noble and fertile idea alights simultaneously on a large number of minds, it is an infallible sign that it has come to maturity.

For the past year, the question noire has been on the agenda; it has become all the more pressing with the recent events in Porto-Novo and Dahomey. The current colonial policy unfortunately seems to want to go against the wish expressed by Victor Hugo, at one of the last banquets of the former Anti-slavery Society, for the peaceful civilizing of the mysterious Continent. The irreconcilable enemies of our race will not miss the opportunity to stir public opinion up against us in Europe, and, in order to do so, they will make use of any slander. It is thus that unfortunate recent events in Guadeloupe and Martinique have furnished for certain newspapers in Paris the pretext for a new an unjust attack against the Black populations of these colonies.

The effect of the beautiful movement that was launched in favour of the nègres by the appeal of Mgr Lavigerie is nearly destroyed by the odious and incessant campaign that is being carried out against us by a few irreducible minds, aristocrats of the skin, who, in their brains stuffed with prejudices, still have ideas worthy of the Middle Ages and of the feudal era. There has been a sort of reaction against the ideas of philanthropy and fraternity, a reaction that was affected by the international relations of the powers of Europe. And because we all stand united, the civilized world does not take the trouble to establish the distinctions: they group all Black people together in one sentiment of reprobation.
Our Principles
The very title of the journal, La Fraternité, indicates our intentions and the principles that will guide us.

When liberty began to spread its benefits throughout the world, those who longed for the past pronounced against it a terrible anathema: they called it egotism. No doubt, the Revolution, as if to cure evil, inscribed on its flag: Liberté, Fraternité. But when we look at the facts and not the doctrine, it is incontestable that it was liberty that preoccupied the Assembly of 1789, and that fraternity was for them only an aspiration and a theory.

The rights, of which the formula is Egalité, by breaking the classes, suppressed devotion or made it a supererogatory virtue. The day will come when the doctrine of rights, pushed to its extreme consequence, will express itself in this barbarous formula: "every man for himself!"

Fraternity has thus, to this point, been a vain word. Yet, society is not made to stand on a simple principle; since liberty alone dissolves. Certainly, human law can never go as far as divine law, but it should always try to do so as much as possible. And if human society cannot impose devotion, for the want of charity "which liberty makes beautiful," neither can it avoid it altogether.

No doubt, we demand our rights in the name of absolute justice; but can we absorb ourselves in our rights when humanity is suffering all around us? Man needs humanity; having at the same time a mind and a heart, justice alone is not enough for him: he also needs love and charity. And if, as is our strong hope, the Black race, too long slandered and despised, will rise up and take the torch of civilization, it will not be in order to violate moral law, it will not be to seek to oppress the fallen or less advanced races.
Our goals
Considering the deplorable situation that our unfortunate fumblings and our errors have put us in, and giving a concrete form to our sincere aspirations toward progress, we hope to prove to the civilized world that we only ask to take the long steps that we still need to take; we wish to effectively affirm the active and profound faith that we have in the destiny of our dear Haiti, a destiny that is tied—we must not forget—to the destiny of the Black race.

To form, at the heart of the new generation, a core of young people imbued with the sacred principles of justice and integrity, of which enlightened patriotism will act as a point of reference around which Haitian society can reform itself; to safeguard and defend the dignity of our country against all; this, in short, is the goal that we are setting for ourselves.

We will force ourselves, to that end, to make Haiti better known, to modify the unfortunate opinion that is held about us, not only in Europe, but especially in America. Since it is an eminently regrettable fact that the states of Central America and Northern America have less established relations with South America than with Europe. We hate to admit it, but we in Haiti are less informed than those in Paris about events in Guatemala and the Republic of Argentina. The great and beautiful Revolution, which made Brazil into a republic without bloodshed, is only know becoming known among most of our compatriots. And we do not believe we will advance much by affirming that our friends in South America profess the same ignorance toward us.

It seems to us that the moment has come for these sister Republics to come together with ours, and also with the patriarchal land of Canada which, like us, boasts of its French connection. Knowing one another better, we will like one another better, and maybe we will be able to find in a fruitful agreement the counterweight necessary to resist certain invasive ambitions which, under the pretext of taking the young-America from the outdated influence of Europe, is moving toward melting the diverse nationalities into a single gigantic confederation.

From a more particular point of view, our work will establish a fruitful source of competition for these young Haitian writers—our indispensable collaborators—who will thus be able to produce works capable of meeting great publicity.

La Fraternité will furthermore be a school of independence, where the citizens of Haiti will learn to envision without weakness the duties and the responsibilities of the free press. It seems, in effect, that we are disinclined, in our country, to restraining the role of journalism, without worrying that we risk breaking the most powerful resource of civic courage, without thinking that a country without a free press is a country where patriotism no longer has a centre. Today, being aware of its destiny, the Haitian society recognizes that it is capable of improvements and obliges itself to advance, it cannot put up silence in principle.

We want to form free citizens, having a high idea of moral dignity, penetrated with their role in the State, and not soldier who have abdicated their will and their personality. We want to form men and not machines, hastening by all the means in our power the reign of intelligence, the domination of thought over brutal force, of moral order over immorality.

Finally, we want to take up the cause of the entire Black race. We hope that when the noble and generous efforts of Cardinal Lavigerie takes on a practical form, when the next Anti-slavery Congress takes place, Haiti, the first independent Black state, will be prepared to offer its support to this effort to improve the lot of our unfortunate fellows in Africa.
Our Hopes
Persuaded that a long future demands a long past, and that for a work to be solid and durable it requires hard and laborious preparation, we do not hold the chimeric hope of immediately restoring our country from such a profoundly troubled social order. Our entire life is dedicated to the cause that we are undertaking to defend. Certainly, it is not a given that we will see a triumph. But what does it matter? The fruit of our work will be taken up by others. And maybe one day, seeing Haiti healthier and more prosperous, seeing the Black race permanently rehabilitated, our efforts will be remembered, not for ourselves, but for the principles that we will have served.

Benito Sylvain
Paris, 23 August 1890
"The indelible flaw of Mr. Charles Canivet" (Jean de Nivelles) of the newspaper the Soleil Translation: It is a curious and quite a sad fact that the work undertaken by Cardinal Lavigerie to improve the unfortunate lot of Africans should be so unjustly fought by the Paris newspaper that purports to be one of the most zealous defenders of the ideas of Christian liberty.

I do not know if Mr. Charles Canivet is conscious of the harm he is doing to himself and to the Soleil for which he writes every time he takes up his crusade of extermination against the nègres.

If, to explain the bizarre differences sometimes observed in the psychological states of same individual, it was still appropriate to invoke the phenomenon of double personality, I would willingly say that there are two Charles Canivets; the one, kind, humane, charitable, who often writes touching things and knows feels compassion toward the suffering and weakness of the oppressed; the other cruel and bloodthirsty—by atavism, no doubt—dreams only of massacres, and would like to see Europe use its civilization to prevent backward peoples to arrive there in their turn.

Mister Charles Canivet, homo duplex, is a living contradiction.

The African question being on the agenda, I will permit myself, for the second and last time, Sir, to present certain observations on the thesis that you sustain so relentlessly.

Last April, you wrote in the Soleil, under the rubric "Hot countries," an article whose principal phrases I have pulled out.
I suppose, you said, that we are not going to humanity about Dahomey.

... All the Black who have come to do their studies in Paris, hold in their depths the vices and flaws of their race.

...It's an indelible flaw. They are marked with atavism from the soles of their feet to the roots of their hair.

...It is not necessary to civilize Dahomey; the conquest would not be worth the effort.

...The best thing would be to leave all of the nègres where they are, and forbid them from leaving if it comes to it.
I made a reply to this article which appeared in the Evènement on the 12th of April, and in which I invoked the witness of history to peremptorily establish that all races pass through the same periods of barbarism. And, approaching the question of atavism, which seems so dear to you, I summarized my conclusions by this ad hominem argument: "Such a Parisian journalist whom I know, sometime writes lines that are so coldly cruel, that one would be induced to think that more than one of his ancestors would not be worth the ferocious amusements of the kings of Dahomey."

You took me to task in your following issue, but in such a benign and inconclusive manner that I had good reason to believe that you had come back to better sentiments.

Yet, here is what you wrote in the Soleil of 5 August:
All these backward people who are brushing up against civilization will not come to much.

What will we teach him, this child of Ahmadou? This one whose polished boots are not made to be carried under his arm. He will necessarily learn it, and do it; but when he takes flight, he will immediately return to his first love and walk around barefoot.

What does this prove apart from the fact that there is nothing to do, and that the education that we give nègres, or so called, does not penetrate the skin? For them, they will always return to their instincts, as if they had never left their home, where they should be left in peace to carry out their human sacrifices.
It is clear, Sir, that you have forgotten everything and learned nothing since last April.

As for atavism, I would refer you to my editorial. I won't return to it.

The Black race is currently in a state of inferiority with regard to the other races. It is a fact. But will it always be thus? Carried along by the current of your prejudices, you have categorically proclaimed in the affirmative. Haiti, and with it the entire Black race, responds resolutely: no!

If we could see into the future, it is certain that we would discover a civilization more advanced than the one that prevails in Europe. But what people would dare to declare that it would be created for or by them? There is no necessary civilization, there is no indispensable race.

Your thesis, Sir, is in complete disagreement with modern scientific ideas; the theory of evolutive process overturns all of those old traditions on which you are relying.

You are going against one of the most beautiful principle of Christianity: the redemption of all people, by affirming that there are people who are eternally doomed to barbarity. You are killing the sentiment of evangelical charity, which Cardinal Lavigerie wants to exalt in favour of the most just of causes.

Finally, you are diminishing the glory of your country. Since, in declaring the first abolition of slavery, France showed how she understands fraternity. Is one of the rights that she claimed for the benefit of the entire universe. And this great educator of humanity will play too glorious a role in the world for her to consider abdicating it.

I hope, Sir, that this last consideration, if not the two others, will lead you toward more humane sentiments.

Benito Sylvain

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Related articles:
"News & Events" In brief: Elections in Brazil – Missionary arrived in France – Shipwreck in Japan – President on vacation – Fundraiser for disaster victims – Dispute over a theatre box – Toasts at the anti-slavery congress – Monetary conference in Washington – Charles Canivet is improving – Spanish popular support for Portuguese sovereignty – New talent at the Colonial School – Support from a Guadeloupean senator – Copyright news in Switzerland – A new English ship – Statue of Berlioz – Company that helps the superstitious – Beards on magistrates – Obituaries

Rio de Janeiro
17 September—The Brazilian Legation in Paris received from Mr. Bocaynra, minister of foreign affairs, the following telegraph:

The elections just took place in an orderly manner, assuring the government by the majority. The new institutions have been ratified by popular suffrage.
Marseille
19 September—Mgr. Livinhac, vicar apostolic of Uganda and pioneer of Christian civilization in the heart of Africa, arrived in France by way of Zanzibar.

The eminent prelate is the right hand man of Cardinal Lavigerie. He is bringing fourteen young Black with him, who are destined to study medicine.
Shipwreck
Yokohama, 20 September—The Turkish warship Ertuğrul was lost near Kobe. The vice-admiral Osman-Pacha and 587 officers and sailors perished; 66 were saved.

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Mr. and Mrs. Carnot are on holiday in Fontainebleau. The president of the French Republic will return to Elysée on the 10th of October.

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Thursday 2 October, the Comédie Française will reprise a matinée of La Fille de Roland for the benefit of the victims in Fort-de-France and Saint-Etienne.

Mr. Herni de Bornier wrote a play in verse entitled For the Victims for the occasion.
Tuesdays at the Français
The incident regarding the theatre box given over to President Carnot was handled with great tact by Mr. Jules Claretie.

The princess had not been aware that the President of the Republic remained the holder of the proscenium and that his theatre box could be taken up every Tuesday by its tenant. The right of the Head of State is absolute and should elicit no comment.

The administrator of the Comédie-Française put his own box up for the Princess of Sagan to use, and Tuesdays will remain... Tuesdays, as in the past.

It is thus that one can say, while speaking of Mrs. Carnot:

"Nothing has changed at the Théâtre Français, there is just one more great lady."

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At the banquet offered to the delegates of the International Anti-Slavery Congress yesterday, Mr Keller—who presided over the Congress and the banquet with praiseworthy tact—called for the kindest toast to the Republic of Haiti and to its modest representative.

Mr. Benito Sylvain replied to the amiable and eminent orator. He thanked and congratulated the Congress fro the splendid results obtained, and drank to Europe the civilizer.

Other toasts were made by the German delegates to Mr. Keller, the likeable president, by Mr. de Vogüé to the English representatives—Mr. Allen replied—and by Mr. Lefèvre-Pontalis, who had kind and warm words for the members of the press.

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A Congress will be held in Washington, next January, in order to choose a monetary unit for the American states. Mr. Blaine, secretary of Congress, is proposing the decimal system which, it seems, has great chances of being adopted.

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Note: A lovely article by Mr. Charles Canivet (Jean de Nivelles) appeared in the Soleil of 25 September about African slavery. We hope that Jean de Nivelles is able to stay on this good path.

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While a crisis is breaking out in Portugal, a divers group of Republican has decided to stage a demonstration in Madrid in favour of Portuguese territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Portugal in the face of a nation that is violently threatening it without any respect for its rights.

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As can be read in the Paix:
Mr. Léon de Rosny, the eminent professor at the École des Hauts-Études, has just been named a member of the Administrative Council of the École Coloniale.

This choice honours both Mr. de Rosny and Mr. Etienne, undersecretary of the Colonies, who has gained a useful collaborator.

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We greatly appreciate Senator Isaac who wrote words of praise about us in the Liberté Coloniale, regarding the founding of La Fraternité.

We are happy and proud to have deserved such encouragements from an eminent man, who is certainly one of the glories of our race.

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Against the rights of the author
A campaign is being prepared, in Switzerland, against the rights of the author. The municipal music committee of Bern has just launched a call to all the Swiss musical societies to organize a mass petitioning of the Federal Council to denounce the Franco-Swiss literary convention of 1882. They are asking for a new convention that would more effectively take into consideration the interests and the traditional activities of Swiss musical societies. More than sixty societies have already signed the petition.
A Monster Sailboat
The English have just launched, in Glasgow, a merchant sailboat made entirely of iron, which has five masts and can carry 6,100 tonnes.

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The inauguration of the statue Berlioz, the famous composer, will take place on Sunday 28 September at La-Côte-Saint-André (Isère).
To Avoid the Number 13
Decidedly, Americans have an unimaginable knack for making money anywhere from anything. One of them has established in Paris, in the Chausée d'Antin neighbourhood, an office where one can find people of a distinguished appearance and proper attire to fulfill the function of the fourteenth at the table and to replace, at the appointed time, the guest whose forced absence or departure obliges the guests to be reduced to a number that is vexing for people inclined to superstition.

It seems that this agency is working wonderfully and that they have already earned a considerable sum.
Wearing a Beard
It is rumoured that the rule in France that authorizes magistrates to wear beards may be modified.

Next, moustaches will be forbidden.

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Obituaries
Jeanne Samary, the incomparable maidservant of the Comédie-Française, has died in her thirty-third year, from typhoid fever. She had a talent that was becoming more robust and more savoury with each new creation.

Jeanne Samary first appeared in the Français on 24 August 1864 in Tartuffe, and she was seen for the last time on the 1st of September 1890 in Monde où l'on s'ennuie. She had, to the same superior degree, the classic and the contemporary gift. Dorine, Nicolle, Lisette, Toinon, Suzanne, Maguelonne were just some of her unforgettable incarnations.

She was a complete actress: she had both laughs and tears, and her tears were as contagious as her laughs. In rehearsals, it seems, everyone cried when they saw her crying.

The death of this wonderful artist It is a great loss for the house of Molière. She will be very difficult to replace.

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The funeral for the great member of the Comédie-Français took place the next day, at noon, at the Saint-Roch church. Many were in attendance. Pall bearers included Messrs. Jules Claretie, of the Académie Française, administrator of the Théâtre-Française; Got, doyen of the Comédie-Française; Febvre, Mounet-Sully, Worms and Laroche, members.

During the subdued mass, the excellent master of the parish executed different morsels, notably Kyrie by Mieder-Meyer; Messrs. Charon and Duc, of the Opéra, magisterially sang Sleeman's Miserere and Stradella's Pic Jesus, respectively; finally, Chopin's Funeral March, performed on the harp , produced a gripping and painful effect in the nave of the great church, which was entirely hung with sombre draperies.

The burial took place in the Passy cemetery. Before the tomb was closed, amid the pain of all and dominating their own emotion with great force, Messrs. Larroumet, direct of the Beaux-Arts, and Jules Claretie came to say a final and touching adieu to the incomparable actress and the accomplished woman.
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"Miscellany" Translation:The abundance of material obliges us to postpone the interesting publication of the "Preface" to a History of Haiti, by our collaborator Louis Borno, to next week.

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In Guatemala
A girl avenges the death of her father – In the aftermath of the troubles that erupted in Guatemala, after the victories of San Salvador, General Barrundia, ex-Minister of War of Guatemala under President Barrios, rebelled against Barillas and had emigrated to Mexico.

Learning that a general amnesty had been granted, he had embarked for Panama on an American steamer. Barillas, informed of the return of his old adversary, demanded his capture. The captain refused unless he received an order from Mr. Mizner, minister of the United States in Guatemala. The latter made the mistake of authorizing the Guatemalan police to seize the fugitive. The general seeming to resist, the agents, instead of disarming him and forcing him to the ground, killed him on board, without the captain protesting.

The next day, General Barrundia's daughter, a great and beautiful person of 18 years, showed up at the United States' minister's house and fired on him with four blows of a revolver. The minister survived, and the young girl was arrested and held incommunicado.

This act of filial love stirred up the Guatemalan population, who took up the defence of its author. The American legation was likely to be ransacked, if the adept police had not stepped in.

It has been announced that the government of Guatemala has decided to exile Miss Barrundia.

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For the Victims in Fort-de-France
In order to give an exceptional attraction to the great festivities that it is organizing for the profit of the victims in Fort-de-France, the municipality of Antwerp has solicited the Minister of War for the support of the music of the republican guard. Mr. de Freycinet having agreed to the request, the music of the guard, under the direction of its leader Mr. Wetge, will leave Paris next Friday the 12th. The voyage will take five days. A magnificent welcome is prepared for the premier French military music by the population of Antwerp, who remember the festival organized last year, in Paris, in favour of the victims of the catastrophe of Antwerp, and which will surely pay the debt of recognition that it contracted with regard to France.

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A Useful Contest
As seen in the notification letter publishing in our last issue, Cardinal Lavigerie, in order to affirm, by way of a useful work, the importance of the anti-slavery congress that will take place in Paris, has just opened a contest for the composition of a popular work destined to indicate the means of abolishing slavery in Africa.

A prize of 20,000 francs is set aside for the author of the work that is chosen as the winner.

We hope that this news will have an impact in Haiti, and that our moralists and our young writers will take part in such a noble literary tournament.

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A Theatrical Marriage
In Denver, a city in Colorado (United States), two actors and two actresses each night performed a scene in which they got engaged. Three weeks ago, in filling these roles, they were so infused with their characters that, the moment that the curtain fell at the end of the play, they had a protestant pastor come on the scene and unite them—this time for real. The public, becoming aware of what was going on, cheered on the four artists, and the orchestra played a nuptial march, and the maitre d's immediately transformed the theatre into a banquet hall of one hundred and fifty place settings.

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A Duel Between Women
An encounter with épées took place Monday morning between two women of loose morals, one of whom was a young American.

The irons had hardly been engaged when Pandora arose unexpectedly, and brought the delinquents with all due gallantry to the police station.

After a severe reprimand, the magistrate sent the two enemies away without having been able to reconcile them.

The épées, weapons of great value, were confiscated.

It is useless to describe the motive of this encounter... Look for the man!

It is, all the same, really too fin de siècle.

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Paulus and General Boulanger
An editor of the Gaulois had an interview with Paulus. — "Ah! The general," the famous singer cried, "I'm associated with him! But, Sir, I did not create General Boulanger, I only consecrated him. I cannot create anyone. All I do is respond to ambitious people who request that I launch them with my songs.

"The public is my master, and I am its valet; in order for me to keep the favour of my audience, it is necessary that no protestation is raised from among the spectators.

"From the moment I took up Boulanger, he was unanimously liked. He was like a painting; he was made, I polished him; so people should stop associating me with him.

"All the more because, as soon as he started being discussed, I introduced variations.

"Currently, it would be just as impossible to sing about Boulanger as to sing about Ferry or Constans."

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Costly Honours
On the 2nd of August, the English warship Truth, having prince George of Wales on board, entered into the port of Halifax. A deputation of residents went on board to invite the son of the future king of England to a banquet that was going to take place in the town. The invitation being made without warning, it could not be accepted, and five midshipmen [English in original] (naval cadets) were charged with going ashore to thank the townspeople and to announce that the prince could not come. Our five rash fellows had the idea to take advantage of the to play a prank on the townspeople. One of them, who looked a bit like the prince, claimed to be prince George. He filled the role wonderfully. He received honours from all and showed himself particularly friendly with the young ladies of Halifax. The banquet was extremely lively; there were toasts to the queen, to the Prince of Wales, and to the fleet. The false prince responded most courteously.

The whole affair would have remained unknown if not for a visit from a delegation from the town that came on board.

The five jokesters were immediately discharged and given over to a war council.

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"News & Rumours" News in brief: Reception for Mexican independence day – Change in the theatre program – Edgar La Selve given new role – Canadian bishop left Paris – Lavigerie arrived in Paris – Tension between Portugal and Great Britain in Lisbon – Cholera – Smallpox –Execution by electrocution in the United States – Crisis in Argentina – Freemasons against Boulangism – American swimmer in the Thames – The Prime Meridian – Religion in Alsace – Dahomey inquiry – European market proposal – New book by General Légitime Translation:A brilliant reception took place last night at the Mexican Legation, where Mr. Gonzalo Baz held "a tea" for the notables of the diplomatic corps and the elites of Parisian society, in celebration of the anniversary of the proclamation of Mexican independence, which coincides with that of the birth of General Porfirio Díaz, president of Mexico.

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The select day, at the Comédie française will soon be changed, it seems. Saturday will be adopted instead of Tuesday. This resolution was taken at the instigation of the princess of Sagan, for whom the direction of the Français saw itself forced to pull down the proscenium that she occupied on the Tuesday, this space having be reclaimed for this date by the president of the Republic.

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Our fellow, Mr. Edgar La Selve of "the Society of Men of Letters, study traveller, director of the Revue Exotique Illustré, officer of the Academy since 1880," has just been promoted, by the decree of 28 July last, as Officer of Public Instruction.

Mr. Edgar La Selve, who is well known in Haiti, is the author or Exotic Novels, such as Fleurs des Tropiques and... General Cocoyo.

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Mgr. Labelle, the likeable bishop of Canada, left Paris on the 3rd of September, after a stay of ten months in France, to return directly to Quebec where he has been recalled for reasons of service.

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Cardinal Lavigerie in Paris
His Eminence the Cardinal Lavigerie arrived last night in Paris, coming from Algiers via Bordeaux where he spent the day on Sunday.

The prelate has come to preside over the Antislavery Congress, which will open, as we have said, on the 22nd of this month.

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A dispatch from Lisbon says the population is uneasy at the presence of an English ship in the waters of the Tagus. Some soldiers and sailors of the crew went ashore when they had to quickly reembark, pursued by cries and insults against England.

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Cholera is still striking Spain. On the 12th, 61 cases and 30 deaths were reported in the provinces of Albacete, Alicante, Badajoz, Tarragona, Toledo and Valencia.

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Smallpox is spreading through all of the quarters of Madrid. Since the 1st of September... the number of cases varies between 22 and 40 per day; the average number of deaths is 6. The sickness mainly hits children and adults of the poor classes.

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A second execution with electricity has been in announced in the United States. Kemmler's successor is a Japanese named Shubuna-Jugiros, who was condemned to death for murder. His lawyer, invoking the dismal precedent of this mode of execution, demanded the writ of habeas corpus, but his request was rejected because of a decision that the Supreme Court that had declared electrocution legal.

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Buenos Aires, 13 September. A ministerial crisis broke out in La Plata.

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Excommunication
The Council of the Paris order of Freemasons voted, in its last session, an agenda that calls for the expulsion of the Brethren who cooperated in the direction of the Boulangist movement, particularly Brother Laguerre and all the others, deputies and senators, who gave their support to the Boulangist committees.

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The famous American swimmer Dalton, in the presence of a large crowd of curious onlookers and fans, swam down the Thames, from Blackwall to Gravesend, doing the backstroke. The trip was accomplished in six hours and a few minutes. On coming out of the water, Dalton did not seem tired in the least.

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Unique Prime Meridian
An international scientific congress will soon take place in Rome, for the adoption of a unique prime meridian and a universal time. On the advice of the Academy of Bologna, which has considered the question at length, the meridian of Jerusalem will be proposed.

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In a relative large number of villages in Alsace, the similtaneum is practiced, which is to say Catholicism and Protestantism are celebrated in the same building. This custom will cease.

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Mr. Siciliano, whose important declarations we read above, was called to Paris by the government, which wants to know more details about the revelations he made about Dahomey.

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Many Jewish communities in the United States, to show their broadmindedness and to put themselves into social harmony with their compatriots, transferred their weekly day of rest from Saturday to Sunday.

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Tolstoy, the great Russian writer, is gravely ill. We fear it might be the end.

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Rome, 12 September – The Pope approved the idea of organizing, in the Vatican in 1893, on the occasion of his episcopal jubilee, a Universal Exposition of works done by Catholic workers throughout the world.

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Economic War
In a Congress held in Vienna, a proposition of a European customs union has just been made to respond, in an energetic and effective matter, to the protectionist measures taken by the United States. An economic war is beginning between the old and the new continent.

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We would like to announce the publication of a book that General Légitime is in the process of correcting the final proofs, and which is entitled History of the Government of General Légitime, President of the Republic of Haiti. Interviewed on this subject, General Légitime declared that he ha no intention of entering into militant politics, but that he only wanted to provide a document for history.

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"Deliberations of the Anti-Slavery Congress" 20 Summary of the proceedings of the Congress plain 2024-12-10T10:45:03-05:00
First Session
Monday 22 September

The delegates of different antislavery Committees gathered, at 9 o'clock in the morning, in the hall of the Geography Society, 184 Boulevard St-Germain, under the chairmanship of His Eminence Cardinal Lavigerie, for the constitution of the definitive board and the setting of the agenda.

Mr. Keller, the former deputy and president of the Directory Council of the Antislavery Society, was elected to preside over the Congress, and the Count of Resbecq, as secretary general.

Haiti, the first independent Black State, not yet having an antislavery committee, did not have a representative at the Congress. We shared our regrets with Mgr. Brincat who, with with a haste for which we are grateful, was happy to submit the case before His Eminence Cardinal Lavigerie. On the request of the prelate, the Congress unanimously admitted us as Haitian representative.

In this first session, Messrs. the members of the Congress examined if it was appropriate:
1. To publicly adhere to the dispositions of the general act of the Brussels Conference, as it was adopted by the powers.
2. To decide that the Antislavery Campaign should remain divided into fully independent national committees, according to the nation to which each belongs, and to specify, by consequence, the sphere of action that each of these committees should adopt with regard to Africa.
3. It if was appropriate for each of these national Committees to offer their active support to the respective Governments in the sphere of territorial influence of each of them, primarily for the creation of a corps of volunteers chosen from among the men who spontaneously offered their services to the Committees.
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At 3 o'clock in the afternoon
Public Session
Cardinal Richard, archbishop of Paris, who had intended to preside over this session, found himself suddenly indisposed, and asked Mgr Livinhac to replace him. Mgr. Brincat read out the letter by which the prelate had excused himself.

Mr. Keller eloquently read the proceedings of slavery as "contrary to natural law and Christian law."

After having welcomed the representatives of foreign committees and sang the praises of Great Britain's colonial conduct, gave a warm appeal to all those who have an interest in humanity. For the fight against the ferocious slavers, missionaries and resources are needed; schools must be founded that will give the Blacks the taste for work, hospitals, etc. It was to assure the means to attain this goal that the Congress was convened.

Then, Mr. Descamps David, member of the steering committee of Brussels, spoke brilliantly about the providential characteristics of the anti-slavery movement in the nineteenth century and on the opportunity of an active campaign.

Next, Brother Alexis, the well known geographer, gave an interesting lecture on the shared policy in Africa, following on the latest diplomatic conventions.

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Second Session
Tuesday 23 September, at 9 o'clock in the morning
1. We researched a simple and practical method for procuring annual resources for the charitable work in Africa and the missions that the Act of the Brussels Conference called for and promised to protect.
2. We examined terms in which the question of free labourers could be resolved without harming the interests of European colonists, nor the liberty of the Blacks.
3. We deliberated on the practical means of resolving the question of African Mohammedan fanaticism (Madhism, Senussianism, etc.) without provoking accusation of religious persecution.
4. On the necessity of immediately electing, from among the National Committees, a Jury to judge the open contest for the composition of the popular work most able to boost, in popular opinion, the cause of the abolition of African slavery, and to specify the conditions of this contest.
A supplementary meeting was held at two o'clock to clarify the latter points. And it was decided to continue acting on public opinion by way of anti-slavery Bulletins and to communications made to the press, in order to ensure the strict execution of the decisions adopted by the Powers.
Public and Solemn Closing Session
The attendance was much greater at this second and last session of the Congress, a considerable crowd filled the place. Well before 3 o'clock the whole vast hall: they had to hear His Eminence the Cardinal.

It was the Baron d'Avril, former minister plenipotentiary of France in Valparaiso, who first took the stand. An expert in geography, he traced on Brother Alexis's map of Africa an ingenious railroad project, going from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean through the Sahara, for which the posts of the missionaries, soldier and merchants formed a triple barrier, and effective fortification for the better part of the Soudan, for the Niger and the Algerian lands, against the shameful plague of slavery. The speaker then describe the vast establishment, created by Cardinal Lavigerie at Biskra and currently in great prosperity, "where young people ripped from the slaver traders are cared for, educated, regenerated by Christianity. The results obtained have already reduced to nothing the assertions of those who see the Black race as inferior to ours."

Although the session started at the appointed time, the Cardinal had not yet arrived. The Marquis of Vogüé, rapporteur of the Congress, nevertheless began reading the wished expressed by the private morning session, when the arrival of Mgr. Lavigerie was announced. It was the eminent prelate, indeed, who, smiling and resplendent, made his entrance.

Before beginning a casual and touching chat, which was interrupted many times by applause from the audience, Cardinal Lavigerie read a telegram from Leo XIII, "from the pope taking in hand the defence of slaves throughout the world from the depths of the prison of the Vatican," thanking the delegates from the good wishes they had sent to him, asking that they report on the slaves in Africa. Then the prelate said a few words on the role played by Mgr. Livinhac, his student and his son, "the first missionary in Africa," a man of science and a slave to his faith, laureate of the Academy of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and liberator, at the risk of his life, of unfortunate children destined for torment, "the bishop who bears at once the palms of the martyr and the palms of the Institute."

Mgr. Livinhac is about forty years old, of overage height; his face, looking both fine and energetic, is enveloped in a brown beard. He speaks, in a think Gascon accent, a French that he has hardly had the chance to use in the past twelve years in Africa. The fourteen young Blacks—the converts he brought with him—obey his slightest gesture with remarkable docility.

He first invented them—in their language, as not one of them speaks French—to thank the cardinal who had just blessed them; and all falling to their knees and smiling while murmuring a thanksgiving, which gives the most picturesque rhythm to the cadenced swaying of the bodies and the oblique clapping of joined hands. Among these young people, there are martyrs whose heroism is reminiscent of that of the first Christians.

The bishop told us their story. He called two over to him; one, very young, had seen his father flayed and burnt; another, instead of an ear had nothing but a hole on his head. It had been cut off. "Why did you have your ear cut off?" Mgr Lavigerie asked him. "Because they wanted to stop me from praying." Cardinal Lavigerie drew them near to him to embrace them. And in the hall, among those who had just been laughing at the spiritual embellishments of the cardinal, I could see men who were crying.

But time was passing. Once again the Marquis of Vogüé took the stand and announced the closing of the Congress and read the wishes expressed by the delegates.

At five o'clock, Mr. de Vogüé's reading is finished. The English delegate, Mr. Charles H. Allen, addressed in the name of the foreigners a compliment of farewell to Mgr. Lavigerie who, after embracing him, turned toward the assembly on his knees and blessed it.

And the Congress was over. Outside, a small crowd was waiting for the prelate and greeted him respectfully.

This splendid event—unique in its type—ended with a banquet in which the delegates took part, and which took place at the Hôtel Continental, under the chairmanship of Mr. Keller.

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"German Slavery" Translation:At the same time that the anti-slavery movement launched by His Eminence Cardinal Lavigerie was reaching it most beautiful extent, a rumour spread, thanks to an article in the Times, that the agents of Germany in Zanzibar had proclaimed the liberty of commerce in slaves at Bagamoyo, and that it had granted licenses to these monstrous traffickers in human flesh.

The news of such a fact, if it were true, would constitute a horrible and flagrant violation of the spirit of the letter and of the declarations of the general Act of the Brussels Conference—would be greeted with stupefaction by the entire civilized world.

The Cabinet in Berlin immediately telegraphed to Africa to ask for information on the reported fact.

Mr. Schmidt, who is serving as imperial commissioner on the east coast of Africa, officially declared that: "there has been no proclamation about slave commerce at Bagamoyo. No licenses have been granted to slave merchants. It is false that Zanzibar slave merchants have come to establish themselves on the German coast to practise their trade.

"These rumours were spread by Arabs, and they were immediately untruthfully exploited against the Germans."

The English press, raising a general outcry, energetically sullied this conduct of the Germans—which they were quick to qualify as "infamous."

The Morning Post sees is as "a monstrous denial of the professions of humanitarian faith of Emperor Wilhelm II, and" the newspaper adds, "if a protest is inadequate to bring about the annulation of this abominable decree, Europe must show its displeasure by more effective means."

The German press shot back at the English, reminding them that Gordon's first act on arriving in Khartoum was to proclaim the maintenance of slavery. The English objected that this was a provisional maintenance, so as not to harm the customs of populations they hoped to win over.

All ills are deniable. The German commissioner at Zanzibar denies the existence of the authorization that the Times correspondent "saw posted at Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam, signed by the German functionaries at these stations." But, when it published these denials, the German Empire Monitor announce that an investigation would be opened.

This denial has encountered, by the way, many sceptics. Mr. Auguste Vacquerie, our eminent colleague, said on the subject in the Rappel: "What surprises me is that the English are surprised that Emperor Wilhelm could be a socialist in Berlin and a slaver in Zanzibar at the same time."

It is true—and worth remembering—that the Germans never stopped saying that slavery was a necessary evil in Africa. Their reasoning was simple: since they cannot maintain themselves in Africa without the slave merchant who hold the coast and the frequented routes, they must draw these slave merchants to the German side by authorizing their commerce.

This is—as we see it—very judicious from the practical and German point of view, but from the human point of view, it is simply shameful for such a civilized European state to have officially authorized the slave trade.

Many times, no doubt, England has secretly protected slave traders, showing that in colonial matters the question of interests surpasses all others, but a crime does not become less abominable because it is committed by a large number.

While we wait for the truth to break through and set responsibilities, may our protest rise and make its way to the German Emperor as an echo of indignation of the civilized Blacks of Haiti!

Benito Sylvain
"Anti-Slavery Congress" Translation:The meeting of the Anti-Slavery Congress in Paris is definitively set for the 22nd of September. His Eminence Cardinal Lavigerie addressed all of the presidents of the anti-slavery committees in the following invitation letter:
Paris 19 August 1890

Mister President,

I had the pleasure of sending by post, to your committee, the printed letter that I recently addressed to the members of the anti-slavery effort, on the occasion of the meeting of our next free congress.

I feel the need, today, to invent directly to give the honour of your presence along with two delegates who, according to the terms published in the last anti-slavery bulletin of France, will be elected by each national committee, to represent it at our Congress.

I must finally let you know officially that this Congress will take place in Paris on Monday 22 September (1.).

In the afternoon of Sunday the 21st, a solemn religious ceremony will take place, with the authorization of His Eminence the cardinal archbishop of Paris, in the church of Saint-Sulpice, to thank God for the happy results already obtained through your common efforts and ask for the Holy Spirit to shine his light on our future works. We will sing, before the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, the "Veni Creator Spiritus," which will be preceded by the execution of the anti-slavery cantata, set to music by Mr. Bellenot, music director at Saint-Sulpice. I will have the honour of personally presiding over this ceremony.

Yours sincerely with the highest consideration and religious devotion,

Your very humble and obedient servant,

Charles Cardinal LAVIGERIE,
Archbishop of Carthage and Algiers

P.S. – The next congress being tasked with electing, by a majority of voices, the jury destined to decide the results of the contest that I have opened, in the name of Our Holy Father the Pope, for the composition of a popular work to be judged most capable of serving practically for the abolition of African slavery, I believe I should add a reminder that the prize offered is twenty thousand francs. This amount has been deposited at the Bank of France and will be granted to the author of the winning work as soon as the jury has made its decision.

To be clear about the nature of this contest, I will allow myself to reiterate here what I have written on this subject in the open letter that I sent, a few months ago, to His Majesty King Leopold of Belgium.

I propose, I said then, the opening of a competition for a popular work destined to illuminate, to draw out the opinion of the question of the abolition of slavery. We know the importance, half a century ago, in England, in America, and in France, of works composed to this end by considerable men.

Even in our century, one could say truthfully that it was a simple novel, Uncle Tom, that definitely led to the suppression of the American slavery.

I am only waiting, I concluded, for the wrapping up of the Brussels Conference to declare this open contest.

I declare it open today.

The works presented to the competition will be received until 31 December 1891, at the office of the Anti-Slavery Work, 6 Rue Chomel, Paris, or at the Procuracy of Algiers Missions, 27 Rue Cassette, Paris.

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Notes from original:
1. The date of 15 October had been indicated in the note printed in the last issue of the "Paris anti-slavery bulletin." But the 15 October date seemed too far away for many of the members of our committees, particularly the committees in the Midi and especially in Africa.

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"Cardinal Lavigerie and the Press" Translation:The Lanterne of 1 September, in a long article entitled "Crusade in the Sahara," incriminated Cardinal Lavigerie, with regard to the anti-slavery crusade.

The venerable Primate of Africa, in calling for the creation of a troupe of volunteers to subdue the Touaregs of the Sahara,would have said or written that "the civilized world must reduce volatile hostilities to impotence and assure the benefits of security and peace for half ruined oases."

According to the aforementioned newspaper, "this oratory style hides nothing but one desire: that of going to chastise the Black Muslim tribes to impose the Catholic religion upon them. Replacing one fanaticism for another, by borrowing the support of the army, that's what M. Lavigerie is dreaming about."

Such an accusation necessitates a categorical response. We were at the home of Cardinal Lavigerie's coadjutor, Mgr. Brincat, who is unfortunately not in Paris. But we found in the volume of Documents on the Foundation of the Anti-Slavery Organization, a letter that the Cardinal himself once wrote to the Editor-in-Chief of the paper République Française, a letter that entirely refutes those accusations:
Dear Mr. Editor-in-Chief,

I have just been informed about an article that your paper published about my speech calling for the abolition of the slave trade.

On the occasion of this speech, the author of that article accused the Catholic Church "of never having condemned slavery."

He accused me "of calling for the end of Mohammedanism."

He accused me "of wanting to arm against Muslims the secular arm and to exterminate them under the flag of humanitarianism"!

I thought I must be dreaming to hear such infamy applied to me. I said no such thing. I would go further and say I was horrified. To hear such a thing in my conferences, one would have to transform an act of supreme pity, and the opposition to a historical fact, as evident in Africa as the light of day—that of Muslim slavery—into acts of the most odious fanaticism.

For those who have heard or read my speeches, they know it is not true; for the others, I have better things to do than to waste time, which is already so short, in reliving such polemical processes. But since these matters are among those about which I hope to leave no doubt, I appeal to your equity. Sir, I ask you to insert, where you previous published accusations, the following simple declarations:

1. The Catholic Church has condemned, through the voice of twenty Popes (most recently Leo XIII), as contrary to natural law, the hunting and selling of humans. Now, natural law leaving no exceptions, the Church thus condemns African slavery, which I want to see abolished, in all times and in all places, and practiced by whoever, whether they be pagan, Christian or Turk.

2. I have never in my long life "called for the end of" any person under the pretext of religion. I am not about to start doing so today, especially since the Church is under the odious persecution of atheist more and more each day. I have, in particular, for Muslims of good faith, as most all of them are, indeed, in our Africa, nothing but paternal sentiments. I am ready, not to "call for their end," but to serve them, as I have always done, if they need me to defend them, if they are attacked, to sacrifice myself for them, if necessary.

3. The only thing that I want to "exterminate" is the slavery that is making Africa bloodied and lost. All that I have asked in my speeches, for Muslim slave traders (atrocious brigands that they are), is for the removal of their weapons which they use to accomplish so many crimes, and to confine them in the countries which they come out of for their horrible expeditions.

These are my sentiments.

Whatever caused your article, I thank you for it, Sir, for having given me to opportunity to express them, one more time, in the presence of the Christian world.

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