Cardinal Lavigerie’s practical reply to this direct personal appeal from the head of his Church was the formation in Belgium of the Anti-Slavery Society. The agitation on behalf of the Negro was not confined to Catholics. Among the friends of the movement were to be found the best of every creed as of every nation. Great conventions were held in Germany and England having for their object the suppression of slavery in Central Africa, and societies formed in those countries; and France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal quickly followed suit. Though “man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn,” it was now shown to be also potent to arouse some of the best instincts of human nature to assure its suppression. At last the horrors of the African slave trade were adequately realised, and the world applauded Leopold, King of the Belgians, for his arduous labours for its extinction, and was anxious to strengthen his hands for grappling with the still formidable work that remained to do. CHAPTER VIII THE BERLIN CONFERENCE A clear view of the position of the State previous to the adoption of the resolutions known as the General Act of the Berlin Conference may be had from a summary of the signal events which had marked its formative period. [Sidenote: The General Act of Berlin.] The Congo Free State was born of the Congo International Association founded by his Majesty, Leopold II. in 1883, while Stanley was in his service. Prior to the legal foundation of the State, the Association had obtained recognition of its sovereignty as hereinbefore indicated. By treaties concluded in 1884 and 1885 with the United States and with many of the European Powers, it adhered, on the 25th of February, 1885, to the resolutions of the Berlin Conference, which, embodied in a General Act, established, amongst other things, freedom of trade throughout the Congo Basin, and declared free navigation on the Congo River, its tributaries, and the lakes and canals connected therewith. The text of the General Act of Berlin, so far as it relates to the Congo, is fully set forth in an appendix. The principal subjects contained in the Act which may concern the reader are briefly stated: [Illustration: Making Manioc Flour, Basoko (Aruwimi).] 1. A Declaration relative to freedom of trade in the Basin of the Congo, its embouchures and circumjacent regions, with other provisions connected therewith. 2. A Declaration relative to the Slave Trade, and the operations by sea or land which furnish slaves to that trade. 3. A Declaration relative to the neutrality of the territories comprised in the Conventional Basin of the Congo.