The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-10-16
Interesting Talk by Rev. Dr.. Fem
on Subject.
Was in Paris When
Trial Was in Progress.
Dreyfus the Most Outraged Nan
of the Century.

At the High Street ConErss ationa
church last evening. Rev. William II.
Fem. ID. D.. the pastor. delivered most
interesting address upon 'Ihs Dreyfus
trial as seen In Paris DIR. Fem has re-
Gently returned from q trip OF n few
months abroad, several weeks of which
we're spent In Paris during the celebrated
trial
There was large audience in attend
anee.
Nothing can be more profitable, +" be.
gan De. Fem, ethan to observe the areas
OF large masses of men. During the sum-
'ner IL was my privileges to attend almost
the entire course OF the Dreyfus trial.
There was some prsmonition Of 10 while
l was in Berlin and was surprised to see
how electrified all Germany was over the
case.
'But when had arrived at Prais 1
saw that the atmosphere was materially
changed. There was peculiar apathy.
The newspapers excited attention but
the community In general was not great
ly disturbed. / was astonished at the
entire proceedings of the court, although
had read Of the old courts and of tho
way that the French courts proceed; SO
that In a general way 1 was prepared
yst 1 could not understand 1T Here
was n case in which Dreyfus, tried by a
court martial, had been sent to prison.
The court of cessation had brought him
to France In the hopes that the court
would revise the Judgment"
| AT this point DIR. Fem clearly sx-
planned the precautions that the govern
meDt bad taken for the trial and the
plans that had bean fixed so that almost
anything that might be regarded as likely
to be favorable to Dreyfus should not be
| allowed 60 be introduced in the proceed
iESz EsIerbazy had been freed by a
court martial and his name was not to
be sven mentioned In the trial
''Bltter pref adice and race resentmen
was shown ana as you read the reports
from day to day you cnuId see that the
prejudices were deep seated. There were
proceedings in this trial that would not
be tolerated In any Anglo-Saxon court.
All kinds of suppositions and hearsays
were allowed. Persons called upon to
give evidence took upon themselves the
authority of prosecuting attorneys. The
chief orator in defence. when he was once
told to sit down. asked why he shonld be
SO ordered. lie was given slight salts
faction and his having asked that que s.
tion doubtless prevented him from being
heard at the last of the trial
"The verdict was an absolute surprise.
AS soon as the trial had been concluded,
the people in Paris kept saying, He
| ought to be hung;' He ought to be
bruned;' 'This is good and This is
best had read the case line after line
and 1t seemed to me as If was walking
alone In the streets of Paris. was In
dignant and wondered how this thing
could have come to pass. I won Ter now.
1t was as clear to me as ever that the
hand of the executive was In it, that
is to say, that the verdict was dictated
They must decide in favor of the army
and bring In verdict against Drefyus.
Think of a country where a man who Is
innocent going through the rigmarole of
being pardoned. The morning following
the day of the verdict, the newspaper
comments from all over the world came
in. The people Of Paris would turn down
the parts of the paper about the verdict
and read other parts. They were not as
happy as they had been the day before.
"Ihe general Judgment is something
peculiar. France lives, suffers aud ag-
onizss under the unmoying finger of the
world Of soorn. have only lesson or
1 fxzvn tn 0tSat
| foolish Ia the attempt of any body OF
men by reason of numbers or appar emit
superiority to enter upon course of un-
righteousness and sin This probabilit les
are that the army Is hole OF pecul ation.
The officers have been desirous of finding
some scapegoat and they have succeeded.
One of the leading witnesses actually
said before the court that the question
was between him and Dreyfus.
ave are all familiar with the fact that
| fear is the most awful crime In this
world. don't know as 1 ought to say
it, but will say, France has been afraid.
she is q coward, she is afraid of the army,
| she 10 afraid Of Europe and she Ia afraid
of Germany. If you mention Germany to
Frenohman, you Will see that his ma.
ton has been crushed. The French people
are insane on the matter Of treason.
"How marvellous Is the individual
How sacred his rights How utterly in
estimable is the righteousness Of any..par-
ticular person, particularly IL he is pur-
sued Here Is a poor jew studying for
the army. He Is called forth on account
OF his race and made the target Of abuse.
Think of the insults heaped upon him.
They arrayed all Hrance against him.
Do you remember that Hastings when
Burke aimed his finger at him. said that
be felt himself the greatest criminal in
the world