The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-08-14

honor? And the fears and misgivings.
the weird visions of death, and the
fearful perspective of despair that
chased each other through the simmer
ing brain of the Wretched man standing
thus alone against earth land heaven
drove him to the very verge of mad 4
ness.
A FINAL REFINEMENT OF CRU
ULTY.
Over and over again he tottered on
the edge Of the gulf. rs my wife
dead?" he would piteously ask, stand
ing at the limits Of his narrow prison
yard, and looking at the sky that
spanned the sea- us my family dead?
Why have they not written?" Can any
situation be conceived more pathetic
than that?. Surely not, except the one
that followed as soon as his question
received an answer. Your family has
abandoned you.' Such were the words
of corroding poison that were poured
into his ears on that island truly
termed Devils by Christians of the
close of the nineteenth century. your
family has abandoned you" No Won
der that the miserable mans mind
sank, dizzy, blind and shelterless, as
these awful words were borne in upon
his brain.
There is nothing in the slow agonies
of hell as described by Dante which In
subtle poignancy equals the fierce
torture engendered by this narrowing
message, having heard which he might
we'll feel disposed to give up the fight,
and say with the poet, II want to be
forgotten, even by God" But buoyed
up by some undefinable force, which
told him that he. would live to welcome
the hour of retribution, he turned upon
the bringer Of that Infamous message,
and shouted in a voice of thunder, You
lie! They have not abandoned me.
and, wildly striking his parched brow
against the paIlisade that penned him
within his narrow prison, he cried aloud
to the armament and the sun, "They
lie UNANIMOUSLY! They lie shamelessly'
My family cannot abandon me" His
faith in his wife and family was in
vincible, and while he was proclaiming
it thus to the parching winds of the
tropics they in France were making SUI
perhuman efforts to clear the name
which had become an insult and
| curse. And whenever their endeavors
babe fair to become successful, and the
word revision passed from mouth to
mouth Captain Dreyfus jailers hest
tated and relaxed, but never once re-
Tented And when revision was secuted
and the doctrine of one man being sac
rificed for the good of all was preached
and approved they gathered new yigor.
and the wretched prisoner underwent
fresh and fiercer ordeals.
From time to time he indited long
| letters to Felix Faure and to General
| Boisdeffre, putting his case clearly, elo-
quently unanswerably, and beseeching
these lovers of truth to verify his state
ments and to clear his name. These
men were his hope. He built every
thing upon their Bayardlike qualities
not knowing that they We're stone deaf
forever to his pleadings. When General
Zurlinden became War Minister he
promised M. Brisson to further the
cause. of revision. But President Faure,
| having heard of this determination, dis
suaded him from carrying it out, and
Dreyfus, ignorant of what was going
on in France, was then blessing the
names of his enemies, whom he took
to be his friends, and praying that
they might remain in power. Their very
names were pleasant to his ears, for
We're they not his defenders and friends,
eager for the triumph of truth and jus:
tice, which was his own sole object
| OF unf h of
they We're so slow with the work they
had at heart.
He sometimes questioned his guards,
but they Were silent. After a time.
| however, they grew communicative,
and confided to him the reason Of the
slowness, and this is how they put it.:
Your family is to blame. They went
| the wrong way about it, and owing to
their blunder, revision has been reject
| ed and your condemnation will be
maintained. The matter is over now"
Pity, pity such as turks even in the
| breast of the savage breast, must have
been deliberately stified before such an
| Innocent looking lie could be concocted
and told 1t was made most plausible,
| so plausible that the soul narrowed
martyr actually accepted it, and thus
gave it power to rack his brain and tear
| the folds of his hearts Utmost cell.
| That lie lived and did it's work. Drey-
| fus blamed his family for their lack
| of prudence. He was embittered
against his brother, who, Titanlike, was
even then waging war against the
whole world in his defence. He feared
| to- think of the irrevocable results of
the plumbers made by his family, and
he turned from his kith and kin all the
more trustingly thankfully, prayerfully
to President Felix sFaure and General
Boisdeffre, saying, Into your hands I
place my honor. From you I hope for
salvation. And at last his prayers
were heard and his hopes realized. He
was to return to France. When, there
fore, he took his place on board the
Sfax it was with feeling of undying
gratitude to President Faure and Cen
eral Boisdeffre. Convinced by his own
frequent appeals and eloquent defence.
| they had insisted upon revision and
noble spirits that they were-had made
good the blunders of his own relatives
These were Captain Dreyfus' senti-
ments and convictions throughout the
| Iongsyoyage from Cayenne to Quiberon.
! No more pathetic, no more thrillingly
dramatic situation can we'll be con-
ceived than that which took place in
his cell at Rennes, when his sorrowing
wife, through tears and smiles began
| the story of the revision.
i