The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-07-15
THE DREYFUS LETTERS.
THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE DRET-
 FUS IFFiIR.
The Letters of Alfred Dwcyfus 10 Ills Wtfe-One of the Most Tragic DrUmns s in History-Zola's Opinion.

h"e HeeeeFs or Aired DEeylus 10 HI Wife One Of the Most Tragic Dramas in History-Xoia's Opinion.
 , Emile Zola may be somewhat preju
 diced when it comes to criticising the
 letters of Alfred Dreyfus, but it is cer
 tain that the letters in many respects
 bear witness to the truth of his state
 ment. This is how Zola described
 them They are admirable l do not
 know ot any pages of higher concep-
 ton or more eloquent. They have at-
 talned the sublime in sorrow, and after
 wards will endure like an impershable
 monument when our own writings, per
 maps, shall have passed into oblivion.
 For they are the sob itself of all human
 suffering. The man who wrote these
 letters cannot be guilty. Read them,
 read them some evening, with your fam
 fly gathered around your heart hstone.
 You will be dissolved in tears.'
 The Dreyfus affair hitherto has beer
 like novel without hero-that is, the
 hero disappeared in the opening chap
 ter, and it has taken ever since to de-
 velop the plot and work up a climax
 which is almost without parallel for it's ! dramatic quality. Enter the hero, mete | out justice to the villain, and the world | is satisfied. These little plays with Des- l tiny, the greatest and most artistic | stage-manager the world has ever seen, never fail of their effect, and there is more joy in the world over the happy
 ending to this great historic, the Drey-
 fus affair than could be derived from the best novel or short story in the world, because the degradation of this innocent man was a thing which came
 home with startling power to all peo- ples. The hero of the tragic story was lost sight of after in the first chapter
 It was known where he was and that was almost all The scene of the story as told hitherto by the newspapers was laid almost altogether In France. Of the scenes laid in Tile du Diable, and of the feelings which ruled in the heart of man, torn from his family and his honor, the newspapers have not been in a position to speak. It had been left entirely to our imagination to piece out that part of the story until the pubi- cation of Captain Dreyfus' letters to his wife closed the gap and completed the sad history of 'laffaire Dreyfus.
 The translation of these letters, which Harper & Brothers are about to publish under the title of The Letters of Dreyfus to his Wife, gives us for the first time the story in the prisoners cwn words; and it is a story that for pathos, tragedy, despair, and true Spar tan heroism is unsurpassed in the an nals of either history or fiction. The arrest, which took place on the fifteenth of October, 1894 came upon Dreyfus like a bolt out of a clear sky. For al- most two months the liberty of writing even to his wife was forbidden, but on December 9th the longed-for permission was obtained, and thereafter letters passed between husband and wife daily and sometimes almost hourly, until he was removed to Devils Island. The let ters published in5 this volume cover the period from December ,, 1894, to March l ., 1898
 It goes without saying that the entire correspondence should be read to appre- ciate their pathos and the hopeless trag- edy of the writer's lot The extracts W HUI lIilS dl tltlt tphtdlliS VIII SiNt some conception of the general charac- ter. They also give for the first time an intimate insight into the heroic soul of their author. II viii be, perhaps, best to begin with the second letter of the series, dated December 5, 1894, when Dreyfus as yet had hardly realized the danger that menaced him.
 T am waiting with impa tience for letter from you. You are my hope; you are my consolation were 1t not for you life would be burden. At the bare thought that they could accuse me of crime so frightful, so monstrous, my whole being trembles: my body revolts against It. To have worked all my life or one thing alone, to avenge my coun- try, to struggle for her against the in- famous ravisher who has snatched from IS our dear Alsace, and then to be ac- used of treason against that country 10, my loved one, my mind refuses to it, Do you remember my cling you how, when I was in Null louse, ten years ago, in September, I leard German band under our win lows celebrating the anniversary of l sedan? My grief was such that l vept; l bit the sheets of my bed with I age, and swore an oath to consecrate a Il my strength, all my intelligence, to J he service of my country against those | vho thus offered insult to the grief of n .lsace.
 No no. l will not speak of it, for l J hall go mad, and I must preserve all ny reason. Moreover my life has hence- orth but one aim: to find the wretch c .ho has betrayed his country; to find he traitor for whom no punishment d Ould be too severe. Oh, dear France, t hou that I love with all my soul, with h II my heart! thou to whom I have con p ecrated all my strength, all my intelli- \ ence; how could one accuse me of a f, lime so horrible! I will not write V pon this subject my darling; for y oasms take me by the throat. No man S, as ever borne the martyrdom that I a ldure. No physical suffering can be e, 1mpared to the mental agony that I re el when my thoughts turn to this ac- p lsation. If l had not my honor to de- m nd. I assure you that l should prefer jr 'ath; at least, death would be forget oi lnese. Write to me soon. My love to h, I. at
 Alfred" From the letter written on the day 'eCeding his trial it is seen that he