Evening star., 1901-04-27
TO CLEAR HIS NAME
That is Now the One Ambition of
M. Dreyfus.
NOT SATISFIED WITH A PARDON
Victim of Military Injustice Has
Written a Book
LIN ES \ RETI led LIFE
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

! special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
PARIS, April 10, 1901.
! On the roads in the vicinity of Geneva,
! Switzerland, there is often to be seen 4
| quiet, rather stuGious looking bearded
man in a white automobile, generally
travelling at a pretty high rate OF speed
AS he passes, the wayfarers bow or touch
| their hats to him: even the peasants at
work in the fields turn and salute him, to
all of which greetings he responds with
| grave and kindly courtesy. 1t Is Obvious
| that he is a parsonage in the community
and, more than that. a man who possesses
| the respect and liking of the whole country
| side. Yet there he is only private person;
not even citizen of the country which he
| has chosen for his domicile. In his own
country-France-h Is the center point of
| the bitterest political warfare that has
divided that warning nation for a genera
| tion, the most notable victim of conspiracy
and persecution that the last half of the
| nineteenth century has known. Alfred Drew
| fuS eX-captain of artillery in the French
army, late of Devils Island, French Guiana
1t Is now year and a half since the
| court-martlal In RenneS reconVicted Drey-
fus, process followed almost imm adiat aly
! by his pardon. For time thereafter he
| lived in the south of France then moved to
| the little Swiss village of Cologny. where he
| lives life of quiet happiness with his wife
| and two children. Occasionally he visits at
| the house of his father-in-law, VI. IIada-
| mard, in Paris, but as a rule he STAYS but A
| IeW days at time, and appears little in
| pubic. 1t was on the occasion of one Of
these visits that the only interview which
NJ Dreyfus has given since his pardon took
| place Perhaps the term interview, is too
| FORMAL to express the very informal talk
In which the famous prisoner of Devils
lSiand TOOK part, the more In that he
| resolutely declined to express himself upon
the matter of the processes which brought
about his persecution and Imprisonment
In the conversation, however the man
nlmself was shown forth as he is, calm of
temperament equable of mind kindly of
| spirit. sane and balanced of Judgment and
this after such sufferings as few men i'm
| history have survived
Has Changed Greatly.
On entering NJ. Hadamard's apartments
L was conducted to the little office at the
| rear which is the diamond merchants busi-
| ness office. There, seated at a little square
| table, writing sat Dreyfus. The last time
| l had seen him was at Rennes in the court
room where he faced his accusers at the
| second court-martial, and l had thought
! then that his face would be indelibly I'm
pressed upon my memory. Yet it was not
| until he raised his eyes that | recognized
him. They were indeed unforgettable in
| their calm, steadfast, penetrating glance
| But his beard changed the whole appear
anCe of his face.
How you have altered" was nv first
| word after the greetings.
And fortunately" said NJ Dreyfus
| gravely, lit spares me much notoriety."
But all France had been flooded with
| your pictures
''Such poor likeness that even without my
| beard | could hardly be recognized by them.
Now, no one knows me- / come and go un-
molested and unnoticed in the streets OF
| this city, where | should hardly care to
| come We're 1t not luckily So
| AS this is written it may seem to apply
| sort of cowardice, but the way In which II
was said relieved it of any such suspicion.
1t was not persecution or reVilement that
NJ Dreyfus dreaded. but mere public notice.
and anyone who knows Paris can imagine
how, even at this late date, the man who
conVulSed the nation would be overwhelmed
by the attentions of his partisans, rather
than Of his antagonists. AS the talk pro-
greSsed 1t seemed strange to me, after all,
that / could ever have been in doubt of
Dreyfus' personality: that anyone who had
once had good opportunity of studying
him, as thousands had during his trials
and public degradation, could pass him by
now without knowing him. For, closer
look, there was apparent the same soldierly
carriage as II the man was bracing himself
to self control that had attracted my not
ice at Rennes: the same figure, attenuated
and bony, over which his coat hung over
a skeleton, but @ skeleton still erect and
upright; the same manner of absolute Sim |
plicity and straightforwardness Asked |
about his health he said that he was bet |
ter and gaining in strength constantly. 1T |
Is so good to be home again.. he said with |
a deep breath. |
To Clear His Name.
II have just completed the first serious |
end continued work that l have under |
taken since my release he continued. |
THAT is my book, which is just about ap |
pearing. 1t is that which now brings me |
to Paris Ever since / have had my free |
dom 1 have longed to say to the world |
what had to say, and my book does that |
But it was long before L had the strength |
to begin it. After the pardon l went TO |
the south of France, v here my family owns |
property, and remained there In perfect /
quiet While there L received great mass |
of letters and kilograms from all over the |
world; so many that L soon began to de- |
spair of ever answering them, nor have l |
yet had the time to read them. There are !
six trunks full of them, ell carefully pre- |
served, for | hope some day to go through /
them all and do what can to acknowledge |
them That | have not done SO before does |
not indicate any lack of appreciation. To |
express the gratitude that l feel for those |
who have given me their sympathy seems |
so utterly beyond human power that | de- |
spair of ever doing 1t adequately. What | |
would wish to say in answer to each of |
those kindly messages would in the aSgre- |
gate take up more than the span of life" |
And NJ. DreyfuS smiled his smile, the |
more appreciated for being seldom seem |
which illumines with such sweetness that |
face, grave and worn in repose
''All my ambition he continued, lis |
summed up in one phrase: To clear my |
name Of the stain that rests on it. 1t was |
for this that | wrote my book. 1t is for |
this that | constantly working along |
many lines. Dear sympathy and the |
moral support of my friends, known and |
unknown, have been to me, 1t is not to |
these that I must now look. Unless l can |
adduce new facts bearing on my case l |
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