TRANSLATED BY L. G. MOREAU WITH PORTRAITS NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1899   Copyright, 1899, by Harper & Brothers . All rights reserved.      ...

In cases of high treason no less than in violations of the criminal code the personal character of the accused has always had great weight with French judges. In attempting to prove that Captain Alfred Dreyfus carried on treasonable negotiations with a foreign power, M. d’Ormescheville, in his Acte d’Accusation or indictment, laid great stress on the information collected from the municipal police tending to show that the prisoner was an habitual wrong-doer. The supposition that as an Alsatian h

PRISON OF CHERCHE-MIDI Tuesday, 5 December, 1894. My dear Lucie: At last I can write a word to you; they have just told me that my trial is set for the 19th of this month. I am refused the right to see you. I will not tell you all that I have suffered; there are not in the world words strong enough to express it. Do you remember when I used to tell you how happy we were? Everything in life smiled on us. Then all at once a fearful thunderbolt; my brain still is reeling with the shock. For me to b

On September 24, 1898, Dreyfus addressed a piteous letter to the Governor of French Guiana, saying that all his appeals had met with no response. It was at this period that he lost all hope. In early November he received a letter from his wife which, although giving not the slightest intimation of the stirring events in Paris, was in cheerful tone. He thought that it referred to his letter of September 24, and at once became encouraged. After more than two months’ silence he wrote to her again.

Here is a letter that was received by Maître Demange, the counsel of Dreyfus, from his client, December 31, 1894. It was first made public when sent to M. Sarrien, Minister of Justice, July 11, 1898. In the published copy it was deemed necessary to suppress certain words and phrases: “Commandant du Paty came to-day, Monday, December 31, 1894, at 5.30 P.M. , after the rejection of my appeal, to ask me, on behalf of the Minister, whether I had not, perhaps, been the victim of my imprudence, whethe