The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-06-27
Court-MartiaI to he Held in the
Rennes Army Service Building.

COurt-Marttai TO de Held In the
Rennes Army Service Building.
RENNES. France. June 2s-The second
trial of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus by court-mar-
tial on the charge of communicating docu-
ments connected with the national defense
to the agent of a foreign power will take
place i'm the army service building here. Nj.
Matthieu Dreyfus. brother of the famous
prisoner, has arrived here.
Inasmuch as Rennes, the ancient capital
of Brittany. is the headquarters of the old
aristocracy of the west of France, a caste
which is reactionary in its political ideas,
bigoted on the subject of religion. fanatic
in its hatred of the Jews and irreconcilable
in its antagonism 10 everything that per-
tains to republican institutions, says the
New York Tribune. it is difficult to under
stand why the French government should
have chosen this city of all others in France
for the retrial by court-martial of Capt.
Alfred Dreyfus, brought back to France
for the purpose from the terrible Devils
island 1t is inevitable that the officers sta
toned there and forming part of the court
martial should be subject TO the influence
of the local aristocracy and gentry, upon
which the military element is compelled to
rely for social relaxation and intercourse.
This being the case. Dreyfus stands far less
chance of securing a fair and equitable
hearing there than If the trial were to take
place at Paris.
Rennes. which is strange medley of
modern and of ancient France, bears a dis
tnctly aristocratic stamp. Its streets in the
old, as well as in the new, quarters of the
town are lined by stately mansions with
huge portes-cochere and immense windows,
such as one sees in the aristocratic Fau-
bourg st. German at Paris. AT Rennes also
the territorial nobility from all the sur
rounding countries establish themselves for
the winter season after having spent the
summer and autumn at their country seats
and chateaus. The whole city bears an in
tensely dignified and stately aspect. and
there is nothing to suggest that frivolity
which one is accustomed to associate with
the French character.
The mixture of the old and the new at
Rennes is due to the fact that during the
last century two-thirds of the city was de-
stroyed by fire. The older part Is very old,
the cathedral, for instance. having been
begun as far back the twelfth century,
King Henry VII of England presided over
meetings of the English Parliament at
Rennes, and ii was near Rennes, too, that
the French hero Bertrand du Guesclin
routed the English and performed some of
his greatest acts of valor. The celebrated
Madame De Sevigne made it for a time her
home aud from ..leTo she dated many OF
her famous letters. Up TO the time of the
revolution Brittany more or less inde-
pendent duchy enjoyed certain degree OF
autonomy and had a parliament of its own,
which sat at Rennes.
1t is in the palace formerly occupied by
the Brittany Parliament that the court
martial of Captain Dreyfus will take place.
1t is a rather grand ard pompous edifice
designed in the reign of King Louis XIII
by the architect Debrosses, and in its as
pect it recalls to mind the Pitt Palace at
Florence 1t is adorned in Italian fashion
with pilasters and colonnades. as well as
with statues of Breton lawyers and judges,
while the roof is decorated with balustrades
and all sorts of fanciful gargoy.es and
waterspouts of most fantastic design. Now
adays 1t is occupied as the palace of justice.
It's interior decoration is the work of
Jouvenet, Erard. Coypel and Ferdinand.
four artists of the reign of King Louis XIV.
The principal gate is superbly carved, and
above it is Barre's statue entitled Re
ligion." The city stands on a sort of angle
formed by the confluence of the rivers Vi
laine and lille. and especially at this time
of the year. thanks to the grand old trees
that line its streets in every direction,
forming a species of verdant settings for
the various buildings, looks exceedingly
picturesque.