At the conclusion of the testimony of M. Jaurès the defence offered two motions: first, that the court record its acknowledgment of the fact that, Colonel Picquart having been called a liar by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry, neither the presiding judge or the attorney-general intervened to suppress the insult; second, that, General de Pellieux having declared that there was little or no resemblance between the bordereau and fac-simile, the court order the production of the original of the bordereau. The first motion was granted, but the court refused to order the production of the bordereau.
The testimony of the experts being now in order, M. Bertillon took the witness-stand.
Testimony of M. Bertillon.
“I am absolutely sure,” he testified, “that Dreyfus wrote the bordereau. I am absolutely sure that it is impossible that any other person could have written it. There may be a revision followed by an acquittal, but I swear most absolutely that it can not be proved that any other person than the individual originally condemned unites within himself the calligraphic characteristics that this bordereau exhibits. It could have been written only at the house of the condemned man.”
M. Labori.—“This is very interesting. We pretend to prove that the bordereau is the work of Major Esterhazy.”
M. Zola.—“Absolutely.”
M. Labori.—“M. Bertillon tells us that there is only one man who can have written it. Well, if he succeeds in proving that, it will have to be admitted that the defence finds itself in a very embarrassing situation. So I ask M. Bertillon to tell us why the bordereau can not be the work of Major Esterhazy, but is necessarily the work of another.”
The Judge.—“Have you Major Esterhazy’s handwriting?”
M. Bertillon.—“No, I have proofs that are not exactly calligraphic proofs. I have no confidence in expert opinion in the matter of handwriting. I believe that it is good for something as an eliminating process, but that beyond that it is necessary to make a tabula rasa. But I have convincing proofs; they are not simply proofs that put one on the scent; they constitute a demonstration that the bordereau was written by the man originally condemned.”
The Judge.—“And that it could not have been written by anybody else?”