The herald., 1897-11-27
Thinks Scheurer.Kestner a
Hero
THE GREAT FRENCH WRITER
co1r1s FORWARD IN DEFENSE
OF DREYFUS
<de Novelist's Letter Makes Probable
Z Hetrial Of the Man Sentenced
to Prison ~
Asseciated Press Special wire.

NEW YORK, Nov. ga dispatch te
the World from Paris gives in detail the
letter written by Emile zola, the French
author. in behalf Of M. Dreyfus. The
World says:
All the world Is ringing with the Drey-
fus case. 1t is the one subject discussed
everywhere. 1t seems certain that the
whole subject will soon be reopened and
the case retired.
Zola does not champion Dreyfus' cause
directly. He eulogizes M. Scheurer-
Kestner, a Vice-President Of the French
Senate, who lately had asserted that he
10 positive that Dreyfus Is innocent and
that an awful mistake has been made ir
branding him as a traitor and sentencing
him to prison for life on Devils Island
He writes thus:
what a thrilling drama! What mag
nificent characters!
I'm the presence Of the beauty Of these
characters. furnished by real life. my
novelist's heart leaped in my bosom
with passionate admiration. know OF
nothing In the whole range Of psychology
which is on q higher lever.
II have no intention Of speaking OF
the affair itself.
IF circumstances have allowed me
to study 1t and to come to formal con-
clusion, do not forget that an investi-
cation has been opened; that courts have
taken cognizance Of the matter and that
the honest thing to do is to wait, without
adding to the mass of wretched gossip
which has obscured an affair which in
ftla1f ia M airv1nlo n nd co Clear
"But from now on these persons be-
long to me-to me, simply a looker-on
In life who keeps his eyes open, and If the
condemned of years, If the accused of
the present time are to me sacred until
Justice has done its work. the third
great character in this drama cannot
suffer from the effect If one speaks ones
mind honestly and bravely concerning
him.
'This is what have seen Of Scheurer-
Kestner, what think and what be-
lieve. Some day. perhaps, circumstances
permitting, may speak Of the two
others. A life as clear as a crystal, as
Straightforward. as loyal as can be; not
= stain, not the slightest moment of
weakness.
IAN unchanging opinion faithfully fol-
xOWCOs WltuOut ICSVlc60 Will
an exalted political position due alone
to-fhe respectful sympathy of his equals.
WNhal.~ not a dreamer or theorist. A
manufacturer who has lived in his labor
atory devoting himself to special study
without counting the daily cares of a
great business house under his care; and,
let me add, large fortune, wealth, honors,
happiness, the crowning Of a whole life
r~l~v IL os~A o.
nothing to desire except to make a
proper ending.
$50 much for the man about to take
part in the most tragic and absorbing of
dramas.
zone day a doubt enters his mind, a
doubt that was in the air and had al
ready troubled more than one con-
science. A court-martial had found guilty
Of treason a captain who, perhaps, Is in
uocent.
1.-THE punishment has been terrible
degradation in public. confinement in a
distant locality, all the execration Of a
nation wreaking Its rage to destroy a
wretch at its feet.
But II he were innocent-great God
What q. shudder Of unbounded pity;
what a cold shiver of horror at the
thought that there was no reparation
possible.
"Doubt rose In the mind Of M. Scheu-
rer-Kestper at once as he himself had
told US. 1t tormented him, haunted him
a. new facts were brought to his notice
from time to time.
His was a solid and logical brain,
which gradually became overpowered
by the Unsuitable desire to learn the
truth.
m. Scheurer- Kestner at last held a
certainty. He knew the truth and de-
termined to see Justice done.
s"That was the critical moment for a
mind like his. can imagine what that
minute Of anguish must have been. He
well knew the storm he would raise.
But truth and Justice are above all,
they alone assure the greatness Of ma
tions. 1t may be that political interests
can obscure them for time. but every
nation which does not base its existence
upon them Is people condemned at
the bar Of public opinion.
s"The idea of M. Scheurer- Kestner
while doing this work was to keep out
OF sight. He had decided to say to the
government:
"'Here are the facts; take the matter
In hand. 80 that you yourself may have
the merit of being just by repairing an
error.
1.-THE outcome of every act of Justice
u triumph. Circumstances to which
do not wish to allude at the present
time prevented the Ministers from listen
ing to him. From that moment he knew
no peace. It had been said that he
clutched the truth, and can he who holds
It without proclaiming 1t be other than
public enemy?
"5toically at first, for fifteen days with
out end. he held to his promise to keep
silent, always in hope that he would not
be compelled to usurp the part Of those
whose duty alone It was to act
II know nothing more sublime than
the silence Of Scheurer- Kestner dur
ing the three weeks when a whole peo-
pie. in. despair, suspected and abused
him. The least violent expressed doubt
a. to his sanity. Was he not an old man
Il, his second childhood-one of those in
whom incipient senile weakness causes
TO believe anything?
Others, maddened ruffians. simplv
said he had taken bribe. simnle
enough-the Jews had paid q million e
buy his conscience. And to think that
no universal roar OF laughter greeted this
Stupidity = s'''-
- judicial error = ; thing much to be