The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-14
Missives of French
Prisoner Ready to
Publish.
HIS SUFFERINGS and SORROWS.
Depth Of Tragedy in APP
peals to Wife and
Children.

Emile lola may be somewhat preju-
diced when it comes to criticising the
letters of Alfred Dreyfus, but it is GER
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. do not know of
any pages of a higher conception or
more eloquent, They have attained the
sublime in sorrow, and afterwards will
endure like an imperishable monument
when our own writings, perhaps, shall
have passed into oblivion. For they
are the sob itself of all human suffer-
ing. The man who wrote these letters
cannot be guilty. Read them, read
them some evening, with your family
gathered around your hearthstone. You
will be dissolved in tears"
The Dreyfus affair hitherto has been
like novel without a hero-that is,
the hero disappeared in the opening
chapter, and it has taken ever since to
develop the plot and work UP a climax
which is almost without parallel for its
dramatic quality. Enter the hero. mete
out justice to the villain, and the world
Is satisfied. These little plays with
destiny 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 play, the
Dreyfus affair, than could be derived
from the best novel or short story in
the world, because of the degradation Of
this innocent man was a thing which
came home with startling power to all
peoples.
The hero of the tragic story was lost
sight of after in the first chapter. 1t
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
position to speak 1t had been left
entirely to our imagination to pierce
out that part of the story until the pub
licat1on of Captain Dreyfus' letters to
ms Wife closed the gap and completed
the sad history of raffaire Dreyfus.
1t will be, perhaps, best to begin
with the second letter of the series, da-
ted December s. 1894 when Dreyfus as
yet had hardly realized the danger that
menaced him.
Il am waiting with impotence for a
letter from you. You are my hope; you
are my consolation; We're it not for You
life would be a burden. AT the bare
thought that they could accuse me of a
crime so frightful, so monstrous, my
whole being trembles; my body revolts
against it. To have worked all my life
for one thing alone, To avenge lily
country, to struggle for her against III .
infamous ravisher who has snatcked
10
be accused of treason against that
country-no my loved one, my mind
refuses to comprehend it, Do you re-
member my telling you how, when ]
was in Mulhouse, ten years ago, in
September, 1 heard German band I'M
der our windows celebrating the ami
versary of Sedan? My grief was such
that L wept I bit the sheets of my bed
with rage, and l swore an oath to con-
secrate all my strength, all my inteili-
gence, to the service of my country
against those who thus offered insult
to the grief of Alsace.
mo. no. l will not speak of it, fer
I shall go mad, and I must preserve
all my reason. Moreover, my life has
henceforth but one aim: to hnd the
wretch who has betrayed his country;
to find the traitor for whom no pun
ishment could be too severe. Oh. dear
France. thou that l love with all my
soul, with all my heart! thou to whom
have consecrated all my strength, all
my intelligence, how could one accuse
me of a crime so horrible! I will NOD
write upon this subject, my darling;
for spasms take me by the throat. No
man has ever borne the nartyrdom
that endure. No physical suffering can
be compared to the mental agony that
feel when my thoughts turn to this
accusation. If I had not my honor to
defend. assure you that I should pre-
fer death; at least death would he
forgetfulness. Write to me soon. My
love to all.
"Alfred."
From the letter written on the day
preceding his trial it is seen that he
was still, after two months imprisop-
ment. sanguine and hopeful, with new
er a doubt about his ultimate acquittal.
1t is in striking contrast to the letter
written after the trial, when the worst
had happened and the nightmare had
come true We subioin both letters
AT last l am coming to the end of
my sufferings, to the end Of my agony.
Tomorrow l shall appear before my
judges my brow high, my soul tran
quill. The trial have undergone, ter
rible as it has been, has purified my
soul. 1 shall return to you better than
I was before. l want to consecrate to
you, to my children, to our dear fam
lilies, all the time have yet to live.
"As l have told you, have passed
through awful crises. I have had mo-
ments of furious, actual madness at
the thought of being accused of crime
so monstrous.
IT am ready to appear before the
soldiers as soldier who has nothing
for which to reproach himself. They
will see it in my face; they will read
my soul; they will be convinced that
am innocent; as all will who know
me-"
The letter written after his trial
reads as follows: 81 suffer much, but 1
pity you still more than myself.
know how much you love me. Your
heart must bleed on my side. my
adored one my thought has always
been Of yor night and day.
"To be irnocent, to have lived life
without stain, and to see ones self
condemned for the most monstrous
crime that soldier can commit! What
could be more terrible? 1t seems to
me at times that l am the victim Of an
awful nightmare.
ut is for you alone that / have re-
sisted until today 1t Is for you alone,
my adored one, that l have borne my
long agony. Will my strength hold out
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