TRADUCER OF DREYFUS.

Shannon News, 9 November 1923, Page 4

TRADUCER OF DREYFUS.

FAMOUS TKLVL REUILLED,

i. Death has removed one of the prin-

cipals in the notorious Dreyfus drama, , w ; hjch starred and excited*ißurope in tie 'nineties. For three,months Major Fernanda Esterhazy las been buried in thejittle pariah church of Harpenden, i inuHertfordshire, but>the world regained ignorant of-the fact until now. iiEsterhaay, while in the French secret service, was' the author of the famous document over which the affair arose/ Captain Dreyfus, wrongly con. victed of writing it, was sent to Devil's island nearly SO years ago,.

It is history now how,the exile was condemned a seoond time, how finally his innocence "was established amid national rejoicing,, and how Ester hazy, fprger and spy, went to England; ■to the remainder of, kis life. Few people in ,*, this peaceful i little village suspected the identity o.f the j man whose name once rang throughout the world,it and >his. body is* now .mouldering in a grave at present unnamed. • •

Seventeen long years-have elapsed since Major 'Esterhazy sought sanctuary on England's hospitable shores, there "to try,and live down his guilty part in oaie of the most amazing political intrigues in modern history. He never succeeded in doing so, though he cleverly masked his identity from •those who were his neighbours. f The...,passage of years has faded none of the;villiany from the role he played in?,that scandal;of scandals. He called himself the-Count Jean.de Voilement, : but his name was ; ; originally: , Mane Charles . Ferdinand Walsin. He added ,to this in the full flush of his career the name of "Esterhazy." This he prefixed with the label "Count," and,he tried to suggest a relationship with the princely family of Esterhazy, which .has given soldiers' and statesmen and ambassadors to Hungary and Austria.

There are three branched' of this family, but the elaborate genealogies j - contain no, reference to one which set'- ] tied in Francej>accordiiug to the betrayer's claim. Born either in Ger- ,i many or Alsace,; the entered ,the French I Army soon after the Franco-German war of; 1870-1871.' He served in the -Tunis expedition in 1884, and in 1888 became a captain,. Next he,was api pointed commandant of : the 74th Line .Regiment quartered in Paris. The crisis in his life occurred! whiledie was: ! in the French secret-service;' He ! was then wjeak enough to sell information to Colonel Schwarzkoppen, the German military" attache in. Paris, who paid him £BO a month. J threatened Mm and his ' accomplice, Colonel .Henry, in 1894. ,In desperation, they decided to tak J e, advantage of >the ; anti-Semitic agitation-, then proceeding in France, and "plant"? \the offence,on? Captain Dreyfus,.a very talented and/efficient officer of Jewish , origin. ; It was here that the famous document called the "bordereau" came Into the affair. , It was a memorandum of secret details of ■ the French artiletc., and was said to have been found in the overcoat pocket of Colonel-j The ■• docur ment was alleged to be in breyfus's •handwriting, but if was really a for* gery byj Esterhazy. -Semitic feeling was aroused againsfr the* innpeent. victim, and in the storm of public anger Dreyfus was tried, con^

victed, degraded; and sent to Devil's Island/ The world had almost forgott'en'him when*\twd years later, another little document turned up, which literally sprung a mine in the, affair. It consisted of a suspiciously-worded I postcard,, apparently from the German Embassy, and addressed, to Major Esterhazy. Col. Picquart, head of the 'French Intelligence Department, who inquired into the matter, was convinced that Esterhazy was the traitor, and not-Dreyfus, buf Picquart was removed from his post and succeeded by Colonel Henry. . - ' ' *. Dreyfus' brother then openly challenged Esterhazy with being the author of the "bordereau," but the major replied that'Dreyfus had tried to imitate his handwriting. He claimed a court-martial, which, on January 11; 1898, solemnly acquitted him of , any treachery to -France, while a "faked" charge was got up- againsfr Colonel • Picquart. .This last atrocity arousod the fiery indignation of Emile Zola, the famous novelist. He charged Jhe French Ministers and officers wjlth being in a great conspiracy against, an I innocent man.

Zola was prosecuted and fled to England. Hot upon this came the discovery) that one of the letters ia the case had been forged by Colonel Henry, who commuted suicide in prison.' This burst the entire bubble; The cdnviction of Dreyfus was quashed, and Major Esterhazy also fled to England, where he bpenly admitted that he wrote the "bordereau," declaring that he did it on the orders of, his superior officer, General Sanherr. "They are a pack of miserable scoundrels," he added, "these ..great gods of war who aow abandon me in so cowardly a fashion." He maintain, ed that his object in writing the "bordereau" was to detect the traitor. PLACID LIFE IN ENGLAND.

The story of lis life in England was told after his death by his wife, a charming French woman, somewhat younger than he was. "I can only speak of him," she related "as I knew, him. We lived for a time neari-Pad-dington, and my husband was then. Engaged in literary work. ' He' continued this occupation as long as he had strength to sit up in bed and use- a pencil—that is to say, within a few -weeks of his death. From London we moved to Hertfordshire, as his health

was failing fast; We took a small cottage,, and when we arrived there he * was Nearly dying, but was restored by a doctor of high reputation. His literary work, to which he devoted himself almost night and day, increased in quality and financial result. At length we were able to buy a larger house, standing in its own ground, surrounded by a large fruit gaTden, arid with an- orchard adjoining it. My husband kept a beautiful horse. He was passionately fond of riding. He was a lover of the country and animals above all, and besides discussing with his friends political subject's he would often refer to musical and artistic matters. About the time war broke out, the state of his lungs became much worse, and soon afterwards, we sold the horse and thereafter my husband seldom went beyond the garden gate. He preferred to work at night. Usually be began his writing at about half-past ten, x and worked until three or four o'clock in the morning, when he went to bed and did not get up until noon. He had no"means apart from his liter, ary work."

The police, it is believed, discovered the real identity of the "Count" when he had'to register his name during the ■ war, but they closely preserved the secret His neighbours believed him to be a retired colonel, for in the hall of his house was a great collection of firearms, and beside them hung Ms old helmet. He died at the age of about ' 70 from pneumonia- following influenza, and was buried in the parish churchyard at Hacpenden by a Roman Catholic priest. There is nothing to ; mark his identity on the grave, which lies in the corner of the little green , enclosure.