My General:
I have read your letter carefully, and I shall scrupulously follow your instructions, but I believe it my duty to say this to you. Numerous indications, and a serious fact of which I shall speak to you on your return, show me that the time is near at hand when people who have the conviction that there has been an error in this matter are going to make a great effort and create a great scandal. I believe that I have done all that was necessary to give ourselves the opportunity of initiative. If too much time is lost, that initiative will be taken by others, which, to say nothing of higher considerations, will not leave us in a pleasant position. I must add that the people to whom I refer do not seem to be as well informed as we are,[3] and that in my opinion they will make a mess of it, creating a scandal and a great uproar without furnishing light. There will be a sad and useless crisis, which we could avoid by doing justice in season. Be good enough, etc.,
Picquart.
[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,
Gonse.
Paris, September 14, 1896.
My General: