. The Dreyfus case . ho is myold friend of twenty-five years standing, lasted along time. Yes; I besought him to give all his attention toan affair which otherwise threatened to become ex-tremely grave. It is your duty, I said to him, totake the first step. Make a personal inquiry; trustthe matter to no one but yourself. In certainbureaux there are dossiers; have them brought toyou. Do not leave things to intermediaries; examinethem yourself personally and loyally. And if youpromise to make such an examination, why then Ipromise you to keep silence until I know the resultof it. When I left him
. The Dreyfus case . ho is myold friend of twenty-five years standing, lasted along time. Yes; I besought him to give all his attention toan affair which otherwise threatened to become ex-tremely grave. It is your duty, I said to him, totake the first step. Make a personal inquiry; trustthe matter to no one but yourself. In certainbureaux there are dossiers; have them brought toyou. Do not leave things to intermediaries; examinethem yourself personally and loyally. And if youpromise to make such an examination, why then Ipromise you to keep silence until I know the resultof it. When I left him. General Billot begged me tokeep absolute silence. I complied, but under onecondition. You need two days, I said, to conductthis inquiry. I will give you fifteen days, andduring those fifteen days I will not stir. What ensued ? During those very fifteen daysthe ministerial journals dragged me in the mud,denounced me as a dishonest man, as a miscreant;overwhelmed me with insults, and called me aGerman and a GENERAL BILLOT. Page 144. MACHINATIONS AGAINST PICQUART 145 As they call me an Italian, here interjectedM. Zola, who was sitting in court. In point of fact. Billot set on several officers ofhis entourage to write inflammatory and defamatoryarticles about M. Scheurer-Kestner. To deal withthis hornets nest of the 4tat major there was neededsome one who could strike heavier and more tellingblows than so tranquil and elevated a personalityas he would condescend to deal. He had laid hishand on them, and had got it badly stung by hislifelong friend Billot, who, like Mercier beforehim, and Cavaignac, Zurlinden, and Chanoine afterhim, seems to have divested himself, on enteringthe Ministry of War, of every feeling of honour,humanity, and justice, and, I might add, of allprudence, foresight, and intelligence as well. Itneeded the trumpet-blast of Zolas unsparing elo-quence to open the eyes of any considerable sectionof Frenchmen to the cancer-growth eating intothe heart of
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