The Independent. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1895-1905, 1899-10-10
prototypes OF DnExFus.
French History Contains Some Fore
runners OF sthe Affair."

1t is perhaps not generally
known that Dreyfus is by no
means the first man to suffer for
"the honor of the French army
If it were possible to reveal the
secret chronicles of the French
war Office it would be an easy mat
ter to prove that this is neither
the first nor the twentieth at
tempt on the part of the war de-
partment officials to screen the
guilty at the expense of the inno-
cent.
Near the end of the reign of
Louis XIV. in France all the affairs
of the French government were in
great confusion. Count de Belle
garde, who was the colonel of an
artillery regiment, noticed that
some other officers connected with
the arsenal were committing
gross frauds upon the government
in connivance with contractors
and inspectors. Being man of
honor and integrity he promptly
reported the matter to the minis
ter of war. The latter in turn re-
ported it to the director of the ar
senal, General De st. Auban. The
general Indignantly denied the CO.
lonePs charges, protesting the in
nocence both of himself and of
the other officers, and, not salts
fed with that, denounced the Col
Onel as a Traitor. The coloners
position was thus promptly
changed from that of accuser to
accused, and an investigation of
his case was ordered, the officer in
charge of it being u particular
chum of General st. Auban. The
colonel was arrested, imprisoned,
pnt through the mockery of trial
and sentenced to degradation in a
fortress for twenty years. This
sentence was carried out. The col
onel who was practically buried
alive in a dungeon, where he was
never allowed to see any one or
hear the sound of a human voice
while the scoundreis whom he
had accused were promoted and
honored.
t The colOnels wife, however,
was a woman of great spirit and
resource. Confident of her hus-
bands innocence she devoted her
life to his vindication. Another
relative of the colonel Baron de
Chargey, also interested himself
in the matter and presently
brought charges against General
st. Auban of having committed
fOrgeries and having subOrned
perjury in order to convict Colon
ell DeBellegarde. Various other
friends also interested themselves
i'll the matter and soon were able
to present a very strong case to
the minister of war. He, how
ever, refused to do anything in the
matter, saying that the colonels
case had been fully adjudicated
and could not be reopened. So
the matter dragged on till Louis
NV. died and Louis XVI. succeed
ed to the throne. Then the Queen
Marie AntOinette became interest
ed in'the case, and through her eff
forts and influence the minister
OF war was removed, a thorough
inquiry into the whole case insti-
tuted, and Colonel De Bellegarde
was released and fully INDICATED
just about four years after his
condemnation. The point of re-
semblance between this case and
the Dreyfus case are obvious.
Another small but interesting
fact the Christian name of the
wife of Colonel De Bellegarde was
the same as that of the wife of
Captain Dreyfus-namely-
Lucie.
Then there is the case of Jean
Fabry, who never obtained JUS
tice. On June End, 1915, court
martial at Strasburg, presided
over by General Desbureaux. sen
fenced Fabry by a majority of five
votes in seven to Ave years penal
servitude, to the restitution OF
1884 francs "nisappropriated
by him" and to military degrade
ton. Fabry was connected with