“Again, as to choice of words. There are many ways of speaking French. One may speak French correctly, or one may make blunders. Now, in the bordereau there are incorrect turns of phrase which seem to indicate a writer unfamiliar with the language, or accustomed to think in a foreign language. ‘Sans nouvelles m’indiquant que vous désirez me voir, je vous adresse cependant, monsieur, quelques documents intéressants.’ The word nouvelles is one that would never be written in such a connection by a Frenchman perfectly acquainted with his tongue. Such a Frenchman would say sans avis. The author thought in German and translated into French. But let us go on. ‘Sans nouvelles m’indiquant que vous désirez me voir, je vous adresse cependant, monsieur.’ Instead of this, an educated Frenchman, with the instinct of his language, would say: Quoique je n’ai pas reçu d’avis me disant que vous désirez me voir, je vous adresse. Or else he would separate the phrase. The phraseology of the bordereau is sometimes found in the commercial style, but not at all in the literary style, and is written especially by foreigners imperfectly acquainted with the French language. Farther on, à propos of a certain document, occurs this expression: ‘Chaque corps en reçoit un nombre fixe.’ The words nombre fixe properly mean here that there is always the same number for each corps,—that each corps, for instance, receives fifty. But that is not what the author of the bordereau meant. He meant that each corps receives a definite number, a number known in advance, enabling it to be determined whether all the copies are returned. But he did not know the proper word. It is such an error as a professor would point to as a proof that his pupil did not know French, or was a foreigner.
“Now, Captain Dreyfus writes perfectly correct French. There never are any mistakes of phrase in his letters. Take this, for instance: ‘J’ai légué à ceux qui m’ont fait condamner un devoir,’ etc. It is impossible to find a better phrase than that; and so it is throughout. If it were a schoolboy’s copy, the teacher would write ‘Very good’ in the margin. I have sought in vain for an error of this sort in Captain Dreyfus’s letters. But in Major Esterhazy’s such errors swarm. In a letter in which he struggles against financial troubles, he says: ‘Telles et telles personnes doivent avoir conservé toutes traces de cette affaire.’ This phrase, instead of toutes les traces imaginables is one that occurs in the famous Uhlan letter: ‘Je ferai toutes tentatives pour aller en Algérie.’ It is a phrase peculiar to Major Esterhazy.
“The writing of the bordereau, without the shadow of a doubt, is that of Major Esterhazy. The orthographical habits are his habits, and, as regards choice of words, it is quite impossible that Captain Dreyfus should have written the bordereau, while, on the contrary, it is perfectly natural that Major Esterhazy should have written it.”
This ended the day’s proceedings.
Ninth Day—February 16.
At the opening of the session the court rendered a decree denying the motion of M. Clemenceau that a magistrate be appointed to further examine Mme. de Boulancy regarding the contents of the letters from Major Esterhazy, basing the denial on the ground that the witness had already declined to specify the contents of the letters, and that therefore it would be fruitless to question her further. The witness-stand was then taken by General de Pellieux, who made the following statement:
“I recognize that, of all the fac-similes that have appeared, that published by ‘Le Matin’ most resembles the bordereau, but I wish to point out an essential difference. The bordereau is written on both sides of thin paper and in pale ink, the writing on the back being much darker than the writing on the front; consequently, when the bordereau is photographed, the photograph necessarily shows something of the back as well as the front, so that, to print these fac-similes, it has been necessary to remove the traces of the writing on the back by some photographic practice with which I am not familiar. The defence absolutely rejects all the expert testimony made by sworn experts who have had the originals before them, and admits all expert testimony made by experts who have seen only fac-similes or photographs. The defence has even tried to turn into ridicule the testimony of sworn experts, and has brought to this bar some professional experts, but especially amateur experts, even a dentist; and, further than that, it has brought here—a fact which I leave the jury to judge—a foreigner, a foreign lawyer.
“When M. Mathieu Dreyfus wrote his letter to the minister of war, he said: ‘I accuse,’—and in that respect he showed himself a forerunner,—‘I accuse Major Esterhazy of being the author of the bordereau.’ I sent for M. Mathieu Dreyfus, and he asked for an expert examination of the bordereau. I pointed out to him that he rejected the first expert testimony based on an examination of originals, and I said to him: ‘Will you accept the second?’ He did not answer, and I concluded that, if the expert examination proved unfavorable, he would ask for still others, which he did. The bordereau was found insufficient; so they had another document in reserve, the dispatch. There has been testimony to show how far this document is from being authenticated, and any government that had prosecuted an officer on the strength of such a document would have covered itself with ridicule. So, when M. Picquart insisted that Major Esterhazy should be prosecuted and arrested on the strength of this simple document, he was separated from the war department. And I think that he was treated very indulgently.
“Much has been said of the writing of the bordereau, but its contents have not yet been referred to. I ask your permission, then, to take this bordereau, which has just been shown to me, and examine, point by point, whether it was possible for Major Esterhazy to procure the documents that were mentioned in it.”
M. Labori.—“I ask that Colonel Picquart, who is now present at the hearing before M. Bertulus in the matter of the complaint against the Speranza forgery, be summoned to court to hear the testimony of General de Pellieux.”