then, on that date.[24] In France the sales were small, for many who
had long read Zola with approval now turned from the alleged insulter
of the army, the defender of Jewish traitors. But the demand from
abroad, whence addresses of sympathy had been raining upon the novelist
for six weeks past, was a large one, and thus he did not immediately
suffer any great pecuniary loss from his championship of an obnoxious
cause. Unfortunately the lessons which the work inculcated scarcely
reached those for whom they were primarily intended, that is the
Parisians themselves, all "good patriots" having now agreed to shun
Zola and his works.
A period of less disorder but of much controversy, marked by some
more revelations, followed his trial. Then on April 2, the Cour de
Cassation, having examined his appeal, quashed his conviction on the
ground that the proceedings ought to have been instituted, not by the
Minister of War, but by the court-martial which he had been accused of
libelling. This decision quite enraged the military authorities. The
court-martial in question became alarmed and almost shrank from taking
proceedings, but pressure was put on it by General de Pellieux and
others who on April 8 prevailed on its members to take the necessary
action, and at the same time apply to the Grand Chancellor of the
Legion of Honour to strike Zola off the roll--a suggestion which the
ineffable Drumont had repeatedly made in "La Libre Parole." When on
April 11 Zola received a fresh citation, he found that he was summoned
before the Versailles Assizes, and that only _three_ lines of his
famous letter, "J'Accuse," were now incriminated! The trial was fixed
for May 23, on which day anti-Semites and Dreyfusites flocked to
Versailles. But Maître Labori impeached the jurisdiction of the court
on the ground that Zola's offence had been committed in a newspaper
printed and published in Paris, and on a decision being given against
him, the Cour de Cassation was again appealed to. A further delay then
ensued.
On May 29, however, an ignoble attack was made on Zola by a certain
Ernest Judet of "Le Petit Journal," in which he had been carrying on
an unscrupulous campaign against the cause of justice. The attack took
the form of some alleged revelations respecting the novelist's father,
who was said to have been a thief. Judet printed documents derived
from somebody at the War Office--presumably Colonel Henry--which
were subsequently shown to have been doctored or forged; and the
story which he told, in his own fashion, was that of François Zola's
connection with the French Foreign Legion. It has been dealt with in
the first chapter of this volume; but the incident must be mentioned
here, for it gave the accused man's son a great and painful shock. The
undoubted object of this infamous publication was to discredit his
efforts on behalf of Dreyfus and to damn him in public opinion. But
Zola retorted with a glowing protest in "L'Aurore," and before long he
and Judet were prosecuting one another for libel. The sequel will be
told hereafter.
Pending the decision in the second appeal made to the Cour de
Cassation, the turmoil in France continued. Numerous illegal and
iniquitous acts were perpetrated, professors who had espoused the
cause of justice were summarily dismissed, Colonel Picquart was turned
out of the army, M. Joseph Reinach lost his rank as an officer of
reserves, the General Staff virtually ruling the country in spite of
the various discoveries and revelations which tended, in an increasing
degree, to prove the innocence of Dreyfus and the guilt of Esterhazy.
At the general elections, which supervened about this time, only a
few candidates, such as M. Jaurès and M. Reinach, dared to speak of
justice. It was a fear of those elections and the constituencies that
had previously led many deputies to shrink from the cause of revision.
However, though the Nationalists gained by the elections, they did not
swamp the Republic. M. Méline, falling from power, was replaced as
Prime Minister by M. Brisson, and General Billot as War Minister by
M. Cavaignac. This politician, a man of some ability but much greater
self-conceit, imagined that he would put an end to the Affair once
and for all. On July 7, primed with papers provided by Colonel Henry
and in which he foolishly believed, he delivered an extraordinary
speech which the Chamber of Deputies enthusiastically ordered to
be placarded throughout France. In this effusion, in which Dreyfus
was alleged to have confessed his guilt, use was again made of the
Schwarzkoppen-Panizzardi forgeries, as well as of the paper about a
spy called D, to which reference has been made previously. According
to Cavaignac, those documents ended the affair for ever, and Zola
therefore might be finally judged and condemned.
The novelist's appeal on the question of jurisdiction had been rejected
on June 16, a new trial at Versailles being fixed for July 18. In the
interval, that is on July 9, two days after Cavaignac's declarations,
the three handwriting experts succeeded in the proceedings they had
brought against Zola for libel. He was sentenced to undergo two months'
imprisonment, to pay a fine of two thousand francs, and damages to the
extent of five thousand francs to each plaintiff. But an appeal being
entered, execution did not follow immediately. On July 16, two days
before returning to Versailles, Zola issued a fresh manifesto, this
time in the form of a letter to M. Brisson, the new Prime Minister,
whom he upbraided for lending himself to Cavaignac's mock inquiry into
the Dreyfus case and attaching importance to the alleged confession of
the unhappy prisoner of Devil's Island. Since then we have learnt from
M. Brisson himself[25] that he had to contend with many difficulties,
the pressure exercised by President Faure, who was entirely on the
side of the Militarists, the deceit and trickery of his colleague
Cavaignac, the diffidence of other ministers, and the mendacity of
various officers. M. Brisson was sincerely desirous of doing his duty
by furthering the revision of the Dreyfus case, and would have done
it sooner than he did if so many obstacles had not been placed in his
way. One part of the novelist's letter he certainly took to heart. Zola
protested against being mobbed by hireling anti-Semites, and as he knew
that a great expedition of those roughs to Versailles had been planned
for the day of the new trial, he asked that proper measures might be
taken for the preservation of order. This was done, gendarmes and
troops, as well as police, being assembled.
The novelist returned, then, to Versailles with his counsel and his
co-defendant, M. Perrenx, the publisher of "L'Aurore," who remained a
kind of lay figure throughout the whole proceedings, being properly
remunerated by his newspaper for the inconvenience he incurred. Zola
and his advisers had now resolved to keep the Affair open as long as
possible, this being the more advisable as Esterhazy, in consequence
of the denunciations of a relative, had now been arrested with his
mistress by order of an investigating magistrate; a similar fate also
befalling Colonel Picquart, against whom M. Cavaignac had preferred
a frivolous charge in consequence of his public declaration that two
of the documents read by the minister to the Chamber on July 7 did
not apply to Dreyfus at all and that a third was a forgery. Those
incidents pointed to further developments, and moreover, already at
this date, Zola and others had reason to suspect that the forgery in
question might be the work of Colonel Henry,[26] whom they had come to
regard with great suspicion, he being at the head of that Secret
Intelligence Bureau whence so many strange documents emanated.
[Illustration: Photo by V. R. Vizetelly
Émile Zola, Sept. 1898]
Thus on July 18, at Versailles, Maître Labori raised a fresh demurrer,
claiming that as a court-martial was not a civil personality holding
property it could not sue. This being disallowed, an application for
leave to prove the whole of Zola's "J'Accuse" instead of merely the
three indicted lines was submitted. Again came an adverse ruling,
whereupon Zola, Perrenx, and their counsel quitted the court, allowing
judgment to go by default.
There was some commotion, but as soon as the novelist and Maître
Labori had entered their carriage, a squadron of cavalry swept down
on the crowd, and this enabling the vehicle to escape, its occupants
were driven to the residence of M. Charpentier, Zola's friend and
former publisher, in the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, Paris. There,
Madame Zola and M. Clemenceau being present, a council of war was
held. It was shown that Zola must not remain in France, for if the
sentence by default were signified to him personally he would have to
enter an appearance against it within a few days, and would not be
entitled to make default a second time. In order to keep the Affair
open he must avoid service for a while, which was only to be done by
quitting France. He consented to that course, and London was chosen
as his destination.[27] A few toilet articles were pressed upon him,
and his wife emptied her purse into his; then, after dining, he drove
to the Northern Railway Station, where he caught the express starting
for Calais at nine P. M. He secured a compartment which had no other
occupant, and journeyed to London without mishap, putting up at the
Grosvenor Hotel, which M. Clemenceau had recommended to him.[28] The
same day (July 19) he posted the following note to Ernest Vizetelly at
Merton:
"Tell nobody in the world, and particularly no newspaper,
that I am in London. And oblige me by coming to see me
to-morrow, Wednesday, at Grosvenor Hotel. You will ask for M.
Pascal And, above all, absolute silence, for the most serious
interests are at stake."
Vizetelly kept the appointment, and found Zola with M. Desmoulin and M.
Bernard Lazare, who had followed him to London. The last named returned
to Paris immediately, but M. Desmoulin, who spoke a little English,
remained with his friend for about a fortnight. The first question
that arose was whether the English law would afford any facilities for
the service of the sentence on Zola, and Vizetelly therefore fetched a
legal friend, Mr. F. W. Wareham,[29] with whom a consultation was held
at the Grosvenor Hotel Mr. Wareham had already dealt indirectly with
the Dreyfus case at a time when a mysterious adventurer had proposed
to Vizetelly to fit out a ship at Bristol, and attempt (_à la_ Captain
Kettle) to rescue the prisoner from Devil's Island. Vizetelly had then
had some reason to doubt the _bona fides_ of the proposer of the
scheme, who, it had seemed to him, might be an emissary of Dreyfus's
enemies, anxious to inveigle Zola through his English representative
into some illegal action which might ruin the cause. And indeed, after
being subjected to a severe examination, the man vanished, as Hans
Breitman would have said, into the _Ewigkeit_.
At the consultation with Mr. Wareham it was found that, quite apart
from the English laws, the French authorities claimed the right
to serve process on their own subjects all the world over; and
it therefore seemed best to remove Zola from London immediately,
particularly as that very day he had been recognised by an English
lady in the Buckingham Palace Road,[30] besides which some suspicion
seemed to have been roused at the Grosvenor Hotel. Finally Mr. Wareham,
whose services at this time were of great value, offered his own
house, 1 Prince's Road, Wimbledon, as a provisional retreat. Zola's
stay there was brief, however, for Wimbledon soon seemed to be too
populous a place and too near both to London and to Merton, where
Vizetelly resided, for it was virtually a certainty that the latter
would soon be besieged by journalists eager to know what had become
of Zola. His disappearance from France had created an extraordinary
sensation. His presence was reported now in Switzerland, now in Norway,
now in Holland, now in Belgium, now in other parts of the world, but
at last some English newspapers found the right track, which they
were good enough to follow no farther than the Oatlands Park Hotel,
near Weybridge, whither Zola and his friend Desmoulin were removed on
quitting Wimbledon.
Through the agency of Mr. Wareham, a furnished country-house was
next secured for the novelist, this being Penn, Oatlands Chase, the
residence of Mr. E. G. Venables, and it was there that Zola settled
down to write his novel "Fécondité," the first volume of his new
series, "Les Quatre Évangiles," which he had been quietly planning
amid all the turmoil of the Dreyfus Affair,--a positive proof of
the superiority of his mind, for not one man in a hundred would
have had the courage, the coolness, or the power to take up a great
literary task and isolate himself in study at every available moment
in such extraordinary circumstances as those in which Zola had found
himself,--insulted, befouled, and condemned. He had now also been
suspended from the Legion of Honour, he had sacrificed large sums
of money, and his prospects were by no means bright. He could only
hope that time might elicit the truth and bring about a revulsion of
feeling in his favour. Meanwhile, he turned to his usual panacea, work,
diverted his mind as far as possible from the great campaign, which he
knew would be conducted ably by all his fellow-fighters in Paris, and
began to pen his book on the causes of the depopulation of France.
M. Desmoulin went to Paris to fetch the materials for "Fécondité";
servants were engaged and other arrangements made by Mrs. Vizetelly;
and her daughter, Violette,--a Parisienne by birth, whose first words
had been lisped in French,--went to live with Zola to act as his
interpreter, and so far as her youthfulness permitted, take charge
of housekeeping matters. A bicycle was provided for Zola, and when
he was not writing or reading he and his young ward pedalled through
the country around Walton and Weybridge. On those occasions Zola made
frequent use of a camera which M. Desmoulin had brought from France,
and the writer holds a large collection of photographs taken by
him,--little views of villages, commons, farms, churches, reaches of
the Thames, glimpses of the Wye, Windsor Castle, the Crystal Palace,
and so forth.
Eventually, to give him some solace amid his loneliness, it was
arranged that the little boy and girl to whom reference has been made
in a previous chapter should be brought to England and stay with
him for a short time. Madame Zola also managed to travel backward
and forward on various occasions. When the tenancy at Penn expired,
another house called "Summerfield," with large secluded grounds,
on Spinney Hill at Addlestone, was secured for Zola. Here, still
writing "Fécondité," he remained until late in the autumn of 1898. M.
Charpentier was for a few days a visitor; an excursion was made to
Windsor and a few other places; but the novelist's life would have been
not only very retired but also quite peaceful if it had not been for
the acute emotion into which he was thrown, the shocks he experienced
every now and then, as the result of some important news from Paris.
The friends who wished to communicate with him had to forward their
letters to Mr. Wareham, Zola's actual address being known only to the
latter, the Vizetellys, M. Charpentier, and a Wimbledon gentleman,
Mr. A. W Pamplin, whose services had been required. The "master," as
one often called him, assumed at that time a variety of names which
were suggested by Vizetelly,--the latter objecting to "Pascal," the
first Zola had taken, for it might have proved a guide to any French
process-server acquainted with "Le Docteur Pascal," the novelist's
well-known book. Vizetelly therefore proposed some names which would
not attract much attention and might pass as being either English
or French. At Oatlands Park and Penn, therefore, Zola was known as
Beauchamp; at Summerfield as Roger (akin to Rogers); and at the
Queen's Hotel, Norwood, whither he ultimately removed, as Richard,
which suggested Richards. Vizetelly was in constant communication with
him and frequently at Penn and Summerfield. At other times hardly a
day passed without an exchange of notes, mostly, however, on trivial
little matters connected with Zola's requirements,--his bicycle, his
photographs, the books he wanted, a supply of manuscript paper, some
passing trouble with a servant, the difficulty of getting fish, or the
replies to be given to journalists or others. Here is a rather more
interesting note which Zola wrote on July 29, when he was moving from
the Oatlands Park Hotel, where he had attracted some little attention:
I am worried that I cannot occupy Penn until Monday, for I
feel that my stay here without Madame Beauchamp,[31] whose
arrival I announced, is beginning to seem strange. However
it is necessary to accept the situation. To throw people
off the scent this is what we must do. Let me be fetched on
Monday between two and three in the afternoon with one of
the conveyances at the station [Walton-on-Thames], not one
belonging to the hotel. The vehicle can wait while I pay my
bill, and afterwards we can all drive to the station as if
I were going to London. At the station you will have left
the trunk which will then certainly have arrived from Paris
at Wareham's house or yours. On reaching the station from
the hotel, one can claim the valise, wait awhile, then take
another conveyance and drive to the house [Penn]. For my part
I will not get into that second conveyance, I will go to the
house on foot. I think that will be the wisest course.
On the other hand, we shall have to tell a little tale
here. For instance, you might say that as Madame Beauchamp
is detained in France beside a sick relative for a longer
time than I anticipated and I feel very much bored alone [M.
Desmoulin had gone to France], I am going back to London to
stay with some friends till she arrives. And you might add
that if we wish to come back and spend a month here, we will
warn them by letter, inquiring if they have a suitable room.
When you come you might bring me forty postage stamps for
France and ten for London. Again thanks for your devotion,
and very cordially yours.
EM. BEAUCHAMP.
If you read any serious news from France in the newspapers,
let me know at once--Desmoulin has arrived at this very
moment with the trunk. I shall be better able to wait now
that my friend is here.
Among other notes of about the same date are the following:
My dear _Confrère_--What French books have you? Can you lend
me La Bruyère's "Caractères" and Stendhal's "Chartreuse de
Parme"--not his "Rouge et Noir"?
I have received the books, and thank you _infiniment_,
for they helped me to spend a good day yesterday. I shall
expect you to-morrow at six o'clock, and we will take a
decision about the house. My homage to Madame Vizetelly.
Affectionately yours.[32]
My dear _Confrère,--_Please let me have six boxes of
photographic plates similar to the others. Can you lend me
"Les Chouans," "César Birotteau," "La Recherche de l'Absolu,"
"Les Illusions perdues," by Balzac. If not, please buy
them--the edition at 1 fr. 25 c.
In addition to books, Zola was of course kept well supplied with
newspapers, both French and English. Vizetelly procured him an English
grammar for French students and other works, and with this help he
picked up sufficient knowledge of the English language to understand
the news telegraphed from Paris about the Dreyfus case. In all such
news he naturally took the keenest interest. On August 31 Vizetelly
received from Paris a telegram to be transmitted to him,--a telegram
to this effect: "Be prepared for a great success." It greatly puzzled
Zola when it reached him, for there was nothing in the newspapers he
had seen to which it could refer. However, a score of possibilities
in connection with the Dreyfus case immediately occurred to him, and
he spoke of them in presence of Vizetelly's daughter, passing from
one surmise to another and becoming quite feverish as his impatience
to know the meaning of the mysterious "wire" increased. His young
companion was undoubtedly upset by his strange excitement, which gained
on her also, in such wise that she passed a very restless night, beset
repeatedly by a dream in which she fancied herself in some strange,
big, dark place where a man lay on the ground surrounded by people
who raised numerous exclamations in the French language. In the midst
of it all, moreover, she saw Zola waving his arms and looking well
satisfied. He, on the following morning, having heard her calling in
her sleep, spoke to her of it with some concern, and she then told him
of her dream, of which at first he could make neither head nor tail.
But shortly afterwards, when the newspapers arrived, he found in them
an account of the arrest and confession of Colonel Henry, the forger,
followed by a brief telegram "Paris, Midnight. Colonel Henry has been
found dead in his cell at Mont Valérien."
The telegram which Vizetelly had transmitted to him was then explained:
it had certainly referred to Henry's arrest and confession. As for the
announcement of the colonel's death following the story of Violette
Vizetelly's curious dream, one can only say that this may have been
merely a coincidence, though Zola and others were certainly impressed
by it. When the writer related the incident in a previous work,[33] in
a more detailed manner than he has done here, some critics declared
that he taxed their credulity, particularly as he was unwilling to
allow the case to be tested. But he must adhere to what he stated then.
If he deprecated investigation it was solely because, as a parent, he
did not wish to perturb or to encourage any morbidity of mind in a
curiously impressionable girl of sixteen, on whose account, and in much
the same connection, he had previously experienced some anxiety, which
later years have happily dispelled.
After Henry's death Zola was in hopes of soon returning to France,
but his friends urged him to remain where he was, for his name was
still like a torch which might rekindle the conflagration. Moreover,
as the revision of the Dreyfus case was delayed for some weeks longer,
Zola again began to feel anxious. Important incidents were certainly
occurring in France. Scarcely had General Zurlinden replaced M.
Cavaignac as War Minister when Esterhazy took to flight, anticipating,
no doubt, the important communications respecting certain forgeries in
the Dreyfus case which Colonel Picquart made to the Minister of Justice
a few days later. At last, on Sunday, September 15, some indication of
what was about to occur in Paris appeared in a few of the London papers
which Vizetelly sent to Zola, who replied:
"Thank you for sending the papers by René.[34] Details are
wanting evidently; but, to my mind, the report is decisive,
revision is certain. It is now only necessary to have
patience,--patience which will perhaps have to be of some
duration.... I am rather poorly to-day, it is one of those
nervous crises which torture me whenever I work too much or
when I have undergone too great a shock."