The times., 1899-02-15
PICoUART THE PRISONER.
interesting Sketch OF u Victim of
French AigeriSm.

In = recent communication to the New
York Tribune" N. othan Guperlac. of tn,
Paris Steele" gives very interesting
sketch of his friend. Lieutenant Colone
Picquart. whose persecution by the Al.
gerian ring OF the French War Department
in connection with the Dreyfus case is IA
miliar to readers OF The Times He writes:
France has never seen such prisoner
At Christmas and New Years his room OF
the Cherche-mid has been filed with let
ters, telegrams, flowers, and various pres
ents from unknown friends throughout the
whole world. | have just read a letter
written by him to 4 friend of mine, in
which. answering on January Il a message
sent to him on the 1st. he apologies on
account of the big mail every day brings
in. Picquart has become a popular man
among the best elements of French society,
and he is now, it might be said. the BOu-
langer of the Inteliectuals. Even those
who have not been stirred by Dreyfus'
! tragic destiny have been indignant at the
, treatment inflicted upon Picquart. The
protests by his admirers two months ago
were growing day by day. The most prom
inent writers in France, like Edmond Ros-
tand, author of 'Cyrano; Victorien Sardou.
! the celebrated dramatist; Sully- -Prud-
homme the poet; members OF the French
| Claretie; scientists, like Duclaux, Pasteur S
! successor, and EIisee Reclus the geogra-
I pher; politicians, like Jaures, Clemenceau,
! Yves GuyCt, Waldeck Rousseau: great ac-
/ tors like Coquelin, Sarah Bernhardt, and
/ Rejane; professors OF all the universities,
! members of the bar, distinguished women
and students. plain citizens. workingmen.
( and poor people. were coming together to
stand by that modern Bayard and empha
efy fIaot- .I-, TO- tr~hfN
alone. against all, has tried to save the
innocent and unpopular Dreyfus.
M. Francis de Pressenss, one of the
most prominent Partisan journalists, who
has led such an admirable campaign for
revision in organizing meetings in Paris.
| has found time enough already to write
I big biographical volume entitled y Hero:
Lieutenant Colonel Picquart.' Anatole
France. the great novelist and one Of the
best writers OF French modern literature,
made tine other day fiery speech for Pic
quart in a meeting of French students.
Octave Mifbeau, another prominent novel
ist, wrote some days ago in a striking ed
itorial in the Paris AuroTe:' 'Picquart is
not merely hero; he is something great
er; he is a symbol; he suddenly rose
among US as the symbol OF duty, OF sac
ritice, and OF conscience
Even in the Chamber of Deputies,
so many tongues. the treatment inhicted
upon him has reused the Indignation OF
one of the soundest and most intelligent
representatives. NJ. Poincare former MIN
lister of Public instruction. WHO delivered
an impassioned speech against the attitude
of military justice in the Picquart case.
Now, l wish to tell the reader who is
that man who, in his place in the general
stam. began, two years, ago, to realize that
IErG Tffrs. .r+uc inn nj rh, Gin hos
struggled for revision; where he comes
from, what is his military record. and
what, before these events. seemed to be
mis- future as an officer in the French
army.
Colonel Piequart was born in Strasburg
on September 8. 1854. in that Alsace which
remains so dear to all Frenchmen. He is
i3 years old. and was the youngest lieu
tenant-colonel Of the army. He comes of
an old Lorraine family, which was prolific
in judges. civil servants, and officers. He
is neither a Protestant nor Jew; he is
a Catholic. His father was receiver OF
taxes in Strasburg, and l have often been
told by my Alsatian friends that Picquart's
family was always looked upon as one of
the mcst distinguished families of the city
Georges Picquart was brought up in a
homely and simple way and educated at
the Strasburg high school, where he had as
classmates the son of well-known Pro-
teStant clergyman, young LebloiS, who has
since become a judge and a lawyer. and
whose role in the Dreyfus case is known. /
The intimacy that began there between !
Lebiois and Picquart has remained tn
broken ever since, and the son of the /
Protestant pastor became one OF the best /
friends of the son OF the Catholic receiver !
of taxes.
.Pcquart was 16 when the war was de- /
clared. and. like the other boys of that |
10 4 1r,y
steeled to adversely by the events OF that /
year. He heard the bombs whistle that
set fire to the Cathedral and the famous
public library of Strasburg. He wit
messed his heart burning with rage, the
triumphant entrance of the Germans. and
vowed to devote himself TO the service of
France and to serve under the defeated
flag. He was delicate lad, but had an
iron will. which enabled him to compete
with the school fellows in all their ply
steal exercises. He had also a romantic
bent, strengthened by vacation sOjourns in
the Vosges Mountains, and especially in
that picturesque and old castle of st.
Odiie, which some American readers have
surely visited.
He was already famous for the maps
he drew and for his close typographical
observations. He had an intuitiye and
at the same time. perceptive and mathe-
natical mind, with the imagination of an
artist and the sensibility of the poet. He
fed his fancy with Goethe and Heine and
was. later. in Paris society. one Of the first
10 hail Wagner as a master OF lyric trag-
,dy. His education. both intellectual and
lrtistic-Picquart is very fond OF music
las not been the ordinary education of a
soldier, and his rival. Colonel Henry. that
'oarse and ignorant peasant. was, OF
curse, unable to understand or like such
/ refined and accomplished gentleman.
This poet and artist was nevertheless.
! remarkable soldier. He was one of the |
'est pupils OF st. Cyr-the French West |
'oint-and was marked No. out of four or
I've hundred others. In 1876 he finished his
tudies in the staff high school. and was
anked No. ..
AS an officer he did not care for the
uiet. monotonous, and dull garrison life. ,
lie was sent. on his own request, to Alge- ,
ia. where some fighting was going on. and
there he showed a rare union of coolness
nd courage, of lucid and penetrating in
elect, and the qualities of man of ac- "
ion. The same qualities were shown but Il
q higher degree. in Tonquin. where he / b
'ent during the war of 1SS3-Si as captafn t.
I the staff of General de Courcy and made Il
splendid record both as a fighter and an o
rganizer. At SO he was by sheer force of o
lerit major and cavalier Of the Legion ii
T Honor
In 1888 Major Picquart came back to =.
rance and was named professor in the =.
igher school of war, where he had
nong his students the most distinguished
oung officers. leutenants. and captains of
lie army. There he knew Dreyfus. who
as his pupil, but with whom he had no
1eclal intimacy | met in Paris one dav !;
mother of his pupils n major nf 90 a,.,l,,- -