[3] The reference here is to the relatives of Dreyfus.
CORMEILLES-EN-PARISIS (SEINE-ET-OISE),
SEPTEMBER 10, 1896.
_My dear Picquart_:
I acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 8th, after having given it
careful consideration. In spite of the disturbing fact stated therein,
I persist in my first feeling. I believe that it is necessary to act
in the most circumspect manner. At the point at which you have arrived
in your investigation there is no question, of course, of avoiding the
light, but we must ascertain what course should be taken in order to
arrive at a manifestation of the truth. This granted, it is necessary
to avoid all false manœuvres, and especially to guard against
irreparable steps. It seems to me necessary to arrive silently, and in
the order of ideas that I have pointed out to you, at as complete a
certainty as possible before compromising anything. I know very well
that the problem is a difficult one, and may be full of unexpected
elements. But it is precisely for this reason that it is necessary
to proceed with prudence. You are not lacking in that virtue; so my
mind is easy. Remember that the difficulties are great, and that wise
tactics, weighing in advance all possibilities, are indispensable. I
have occasion to write to General de Boisdeffre; I say to him a few
words of the same tenor as this letter. Prudence! Prudence! That is
the word that you must keep steadily before your eyes. I return on the
morning of the 15th. Come to see me at my office early, after you have
been through your mail. I shake your hand most affectionately, my dear
Picquart. Yours devotedly,