New-York tribune., 1899-07-14
DREYFUs TO HIS WIFE.
TOUCHING LETTERS WRITTEN BY THE
PRISONER FROM DEVILS ISLAND.

pRorEsTATIoNs OF INNOCENCE AND I'E-
SIRE TO LEARN THE TRUTH
zoLAs COMMENT
Emile Zola describes the letters Of Alfred Dreyfus
! as follows: They are admirable. DO not hnP"
OF any pages OF higher conception or more 'io
quent They have attained the sublime IN sorrow
and af,erward will endure like an imperisnaoie
| monument when our own writings. perlaps. shsil
have passed into oblivion. For they are the so"
| itself OF all human suffering. The man mo Wro'e
these letters cannot be guilty. Read them' reao
them some evening with your family gathereo
around your hearthstone. You Will DC u'eSo''eu ."
tears"
The translation Of these letters. whicn harpeI %
| Bros are about to publish under the dtie OF ne
Letters Of Dreyfus to His Wife. gives ior the ist
| time the story In the prisoners own woros Inc
arrest which took place on october 10, 1884. came
| unon Drevfrs like q bolt out OF a clear sky. For
| almost two months the liberty Of writing even 10
| his wife was forbidden, but on December tne
| lonsed for permission obtained and thereafter
| letters passed between husband and vile oaiiy'
| and sometimes almost hourly, until ne was re-
| moved to Devils Island. The letters pnoished IN
| this volume cover the period from December o. 1874
| to March 8. 1898.
TIE extracts which this article contains will give
| some conception Of their general character. lhey
also give for the first time insight into the
| heroic soul Of their author. The second letter OF
| the series dated December s. 1894. when Dreytus
| as yet had hardly realized the danger that menaced
| him. reads:
| you You are my hops; you are my consoiauon;
were It not for you llfe would be burden. a.
| the bare thought that they could accuse me OF
crime so frightful go monstrous. my whole being
trembes body revo,s against IT, 10 avenge eSge
my country, to struggle for her against the M @ In
famous ravisher who has snatched from US ouI
then be accused OF TREASON
against that country-no, my loved one my m,r1 ,[
sss S TO boR %hen II wSs nH EGu in
years ago in September heard German oan1 no
g5s such 6a and wsRa sSSTe a bit odS as
o shes5s et my Sip ali my Strength all my intelligence
service Of my SSunry az sgainst hsac those VINO
mad. and must preserve all my reason: i o., Snd
the wretch who has betrayed his country to ma o
the traitor for whom no punshment Gou1u ,h pe ali
my soul with all my heart! thou to whom have
6s ons a % Fansa m u az m so hoTb
will not write upon N this MS sSS5ef iST5e No %y msn has
eSer eSe 'PSsms Sons tfes he msrtydom s Ne
physical suffering can be comparea 10 nre 1ne M this
secnsation' If had not my honor TO defend, l
assure you that should prefer deatn' @ at econ
death would be forgetfulness. write 10 me SON
My love TO all. ALI NAD
From the letter written on the day preceding MS
trial he was still after two months imprison-
ment sanguine and hopeful. with never DOUBT
about hie ultimate acquitsl 1t is In str1King con-
trast 10 the letter written after the trial, when
the worst had happened and the nightmare hdo
come true. Both letters are subJoined:
At last am coming to the end OF my sunerings, &
to the end of my agony Io.norr9W , Stb s mx sotrl
TRANQUIL The trial / have undergone. terrible as
it has been has DuTea a, %y 6yfefe want to
secrate to you, to my children to our GEAR ia"i'-
As have told you. l have passed through S; aw;
full crises have had moments OF furious. d ac.ua, f
/ am ready to appear before the soldiers as
soldier who has nothing for which 10 reproacn
himself Thy Ss1 g 1ss w It Be in my af hfy %
innocent: as all will who know me.
The letter written after his trial reads as fol-
lows:
suffer much but pity You S sN. more NOR fonP i9sn
| heart mus. bleed. on my side, my adored one:
my thought has always been of you night and
| TO be innocent. to have lived a life without
| most monstrous crime that soldier commit,
| What could be more terrible? It seems TO me at
times that I am the victim Of an awful night
is for alone that have resisted until to-
RaS % borne b my Ogg W ny ~ spenh a5e m
! you can give me courage 1t is only from your
! love that con draw it,
me, search for the, truth; move Earth and Heaven
to discover it; sink in the effort. If need be- all
is dragged through the mud No matter what
may be the cost, we must wash out the unmerited
stain
The following is taken from a letter in the same
strain written a few days later:
do not sleep and 1t is TO you that return. Am
I then marked by a fatal seal. that must drink
this cup Of bitterness, Al this moment am calm.
night How happy we were, my darling, Life
smiled On Us; tortu1s love adorable children,
derbolt. fearful. terrible. Buy, pray Of you play
things for the children, for their New Years Day;
be that their poor souls Just entering upon life
! should suffer through our pain
Oh. my darling. had not you how gladly would
I die! Your love holds me back. It is your love
! only that makes me strong enough 10 bear the
, hatred OF 2 nation.
And the people are hight to hate me: they have
been told that am traitor. An. traitor. the hor
rible word II breaks my heart .s. .s... ..,,
accuse me and condemn me for crime
strous,
Cry aloud my innocence; cry it with all the
! till tho very walls fall
And nunt out the guilty one. 1t is he whom we
must find.
/ embrace you as I love you ALFRED.
After his fate sealed and he had been re-
moved to Devils Island, his determination that the
| truth shall be brought to light is stronger than
ever. From the first of the letters written from
Devils Island the following is selected which is
/ in itself sufficient evidence of the bold ard
daunted resolution with which he faced his fate
made for your sake the greatest sacrifice man
make a IN ssf9e S his sG becsse Se aled yea hn
| inculcated in me the conviction that the truth
must always come 70 light In SSnr tIrn H,n.oay my
! the truth A wife and q mother yourself, try 10