Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-08-31
DRFYFUS \ "PRETENT''-HIS CASE
/ DESCRIBED BY A FRENCH WRIT

In tho last number cf TIarpor's Weekly
NJ. De rloNitz, the French writer, gives
an interesting resume of the case which
is now absorbing thc attention Of the Civ
ilizod world. Ne says.
"FouC days after his arrival ut Ronn,s
and after interviews with his lawyers
Capt. Dtoyfus said to his wife:
II have been in a dark night | am he
ginning to see. My brain thinks again
and once more appreh"nds clearly. l was
at the start a sCapegott. Now am
lretcNt My personality exists no lN'@or,
for those who a"e pursuing me. They don't
want me to - cape, because | am an in
strument which they are USING to win ard
to obtain Office and power. and they vou't
let me go until they have found another
pretcxt, another means. They have al
ways used the soldiers, and they hope
again to make them their accomplices
But | am ashamed to think that in his
French army. which. quand meme has re-
manned the most glorious Of all, there a. c
SO many miserable beings
"f'Nidently after these few DAYS Of study
he had at las, seized the drift of tn. bat
tie, understood the hyl ccriticallY dissim-
uiated motives actuating those who wish
ed TO find him at all costs guilty. and who
desired above all his condemnation, not
rs being the triumph of justice. but mere
ly of their politi al policy. Yes, he was
years the curiosity Of the whole world
has been wondering why this great case
ever existed at all, and above all why,
once the trial was permitted to occur. such
efforts had been made first to obtain the
condemnation, and secondly to mtiutain
it,
All those who question me as to the
cause, the origin. and tho prolonged dL'a-
ton of this affair seem to ask me for the
hey of this mystery
The causes are multiple. They are la
tent and many Of them Intangible. rh y
lie dormant 50 To- say, in tn" minds and
souls Of the Original prOtdGnnis's Of this
great drama, and they were mingled ,here
with hundred diverse emotions, aud with
sentiments of every sort some Of thom
of the noblcst nature, some of them of
the vllost
Alfred Dreyfus was one Of tho most re-
markahe pupils OF the war school He
lad attracted considerable at,ention AT
the Polytechnic school, and had left be-
hind him friendships which have surviv-
ed all that has since occurred. When, after
u hard struggle he entered the War
school, he had a great ambition u over
come the obSt tcleS which might St.li bar
his route. He cherished magnifc'ut
dreams, lie ondeavcrod to dazzle his
chiefs. to rally about MIN all sorts Of
brcakcrS-to he as the French say, uuel-
Qdechose before being qu"lquun. He Gre
atod about him aN atmosphere of lll-will
and of irony, as a result of which, on leaV-
ing the school, he was given what IS
known as la cote farm that is to say,
"A note, merely summary and rather 4rbi-
tcary lowering his rank as a graduate, he
f came forth ninth oH the list. Gen Mlr'bol,
! then hcad of the general staff, Informed
! Col. Sandherr that Dreyfus ought to bc
given place on the general s'aff. Col.
Sandherr Objected, and when Gen Miri-
bel. who had been affected neither by tho
cote d'amour nor by the atmosphere of
ill-wiIl which surrounded him, insisted,
the colonel exclaimed: Put he Is = jew,
! You are not going to make us bring a
| Jew in here" Yet the jew entered. lie
passed, like al the stagiaries, through the
various bureaus, and he was keen to learn
! and to understand. CheCishir2 always
some ultimate. vast dream, paying no
heed moreover, absorbed as he was in
the pursuit. to the generally hostile atti-
lie was the Jew" Rarely, in Fact was
he described by any other term. and in
the general staff offices IT had hecorie a
sort of mania to fling everything on his
shoulders,
! This feeling was most rife in tho Stats
teal office, or Intelligence Departments al
the espionage bureau. in fact. This depart
ment, which forms part of the second bur
eau. is situated at an Isolated point ~
the war office II is necessary that II