Paris Anti-Slavery Congress
In September 1890, just weeks after La Fraternité began printing, an anti-slavery Congress took place in Paris. La Fraternité covered this event extensively. Below, you can follow along with this coverage.
30 August 1890
In the very first article of the first issue, Benito Sylvain referred to the anti-slavery campaign that Cardinal Lavigerie had launched a few years earlier, but he lamented that progress against European racism, "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." In fact, Sylvain cited this upsurge in racism as one of the primary factors that prompted the launch of La Fraternité.2 September 1890
The second issue of La Fraternité contained a full article announcing the upcoming Congress. It reproduced a letter that Cardinal Lavigerie had sent to the various national anti-slavery committees, inviting them to attend the Congress, which would take place in Paris beginning with "a solemn religious ceremony" on 22 September and carrying on with sessions on the 23rd and 24th. In the letter, Lavigerie also announced the opening of a contest to write the best popular work that would popularize the abolition of slavery in Africa for a grand prize of 20,000 francs.In the same issue, in the article immediately following the latter, Sylvain defended Lavigerie and his campaign against African slavery against attacks in the Paris press. In particular, he targeted a journalist named Charles Canivet for his lack of sympathy toward Lavigerie and toward the people of Africa.
10 September 1890
The defence of Cadinal Lavigerie against the Paris press was picked up again in the next issue. Presumably Benito Sylvain was the author of an article entitled "Cardinal Lavigerie and the Press," though there is no byline. In the same issue, in the "Miscellany" section, the anti-slavery writing contest was announced again. The notice expressed a hope that Haitians would make submissions, that "our moralists and our young writers will take part in such a noble literary tournament."16 September 1890
In the fourth issue, the arrival of Cardinal Lavigerie was announced in the "News & Rumours" section. "The prelate," it read, "has come to preside over the Anti-slavery Congress, which will open, as we have said, on the 22nd of this month."24 September 1890
About half of the fifth issue of La Fraternité was dedicated to the Congress, which took place over the preceding days. The first article was a description of the solemn opening ceremony in the church of Saint-Sulpice. The scene is described in detail, including the entrance of the missionary Mgr. Livinhac with a group of fourteen young Black converts, which "caused a true sensation." A later series of new briefs in the same issue noted that Livinhac, the "vicar apostolic of Uganda and pioneer of Christian civilization in the heart of Africa," had arrived in France on the 19th in Marseille. The fourteen young African converts who were travelling with him, it explains, were "destined to study medicine."The article includes a summary of Cardinal Lavigerie's opening speech, which is also reprinted in four parts in this and the next three issues of La Fraternité. In the first part, he gives an overview of the history of slavery and abolition in three phases. The first was the slavery to paganism in Europe, which, he says, the church challenged over the course of centuries. The second was African slavery in the New World, which, he notes, was recently overcome with abolition in Brazil. With the passionate encouragement of Pope Leo XIII, he explains, the campaign against slavery in Africa then began. Lavigerie then describes his initial efforts to build public interest in the campaign two years earlier.
The speech carries on in the next issue. In this second section, Lavigerie praises the system that was established through the Berlin and Brussels congresses, which partitioned Africa up into spheres of influence where, he believes, the European powers are slowly eradicating slavery.
After reproducing a portion of Cardinal Lavigerie's speech, the 24 September issue then describes the sessions of the Congress in an article entitled "Deliberations of the Anti-Slavery Congress." The sessions took place at the hall of the Geographical Society headquarters, which was not far from Saint-Sulpice. Here, Benito Sylvain, makes an appearance in the record. He notes that since Haiti has no Anti-Slavery committee, it hadn't been asked to send a delegate. Sylvain spoke to Cardinal Lavigerie's collaborator, Mgr. Brincat, the Bishop of Hadrumetum in Tunisia, to ask if he could attend as a Haitian delegate. Brincat related the query to Lavigerie, and Sylvain was thus accepted as the Haitian representative.
In the first session, on Monday 22 September, beginning at 9:00 a.m., under the chairmanship of Emile Keller, a French politician and Catholic activist, the board set the agenda. They discussed the appropriateness of the Brussels Convention, of the division of the anti-slavery campaign into national branches, and the way these national branches should act toward their national governments.
At 3:00 p.m. they held a public session which included formal greetings, calls for funding, speeches and a lecture about "the shared policy in Africa, following on the latest diplomatic conventions."
The next day, Tuesday 23 September, the Congress reconvened at 9:00 a.m. The representatives discussed methods for raising funds. They examined the problem of the balance between European financial interests in Africa and issues conscripting free labour. They considered the problem of "African Mohammedan fanaticism," and how to address it "without provoking accusation of religious persecution." They also planned the process of setting up a jury for the anti-slavery writing contest. At 2:00 p.m. they held a supplementary session "to clarify the latter points." Finally, "it was decided to continue acting on public opinion by way of anti-slavery Bulletins and communications made to the press, in order to ensure the strict execution of the decisions adopted by the Powers" at the Brussels Congress.
A follow up article lays out the decisions the delegates made in the latter sessions. It includes eleven points. They reconfirmed the national basis of the anti-slavery campaign, encouraging each national committee to press their governments to adhere to the commitments of the Brussels Conference. They "expressed the wish that measures will be taken to prevent the abuses in the recruitment of free workers and to safeguard the liberty of the Blacks," and warned of "the dangers that the development of certain African Muslim sects present to civilization." They called on the national committees to produce periodic anti-slavery bulletins, and described the process of selecting the winner of the writing contest. They suggested that donations to missionaries should be exempt from custom duties, and committed to holding another anti-slavery Congress within two years.
At 3:00 p.m. they held a "public and solemn closing session," which drew "a considerable crowd" into the hall of Geographical Society headquarters. The former ambassador to Chile gave a lecture about new projects in Africa to combat slavery. Cardinal Lavigerie gave a "touching chat" that was interrupted many times with applause. Mrg. Livinhac presented a few of the young African converts to the crowd, describing their brutal mistreatment before they had been taken from slavery. One of them explained that his ear had been cut off, "because they wanted to stop me from praying." In a scene that moved even the anti-clerical attendees, Cardinal Lavigerie embraced the children. The Marquis of Vogüé read the resolutions elaborated by the Congress. Finally, Cardinal Lavigerie blessed the assembly and they adjourned.
The delegates then relocated to the Hôtel Continental for a banquet. In another section of the same issue, the banquet is described briefly. Specifically, it says that "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." Sylvain, in turn, "thanked and congratulated the Congress for the splendid results obtained, and drank to Europe the civilizer." The Germans toasted to Mr. Keller, Mr. de Vogüé drank to the English representatives, another French representative, "had kind and warm words for the members of the press."
30 September 1890
The next issue began with a reflection on the impact of the Congress on public opinion, written by "an English philanthropist."In the "News & Rumours" section, Cardinal Lavigerie's activities after the Congress are detailed. On the Saturday following the event, Lavigerie and Livinhac were received by the French president. Lavigerie chatted with Carnot for an hour, and then met with some local clergymen. It then notes that he planned to travel to Rome to "report to Pope Leo XIII about the recent Anti-Slavery Congress and introduce him to the fourteen young converts of Uganda."