THE DREYFUS CASE OF 150 YEARS AGO

The following historical fact is worth recalling at the present juncture, says the London Globe, if only to prove how history repeats itself : —

The reign of Louis XV. was n oaring its end, and everything was in confusion. The Comet de Bellegarde, who was the colonel of an artillery regiment, noticed that several of his colleagues in charge of the arsenal profited by their Ipoaition to commit robberies with the connivance of the contractors a^d inspectors. The count, being a man of honor, revealed these malversations to the Minister of War, and the subsequent scandal was enormous.

The General de Saint Auban, director of the arsenals, haughtily protested against the accusations, and affirmed the honest} of his subordinates and assistants. He went further, and avenged them by denouncing the colonel as a traitor to his country and to the King.

The colonel, from accuser, became accused, aud an inquiry was ordered, which was, however, confided to un intimate friend of General de Saint- Auban Bollegarde, who entirely ignored the plot hatched against him, was made prisoner unawares, judged by a council of war with '- huifc-clos," .. and finally sentenced to degradation and 20 years in a fortress. The een+ence waa carried out. The Colonel CJomte de Bellegarde was transferred to Pierre-Encise and buried alive in a dungeon. The gang of titled and decorated robbera who were in power and wbo had wilfully hidden the truth were triumphant.

Bat the wife or the colonel — confident in the innocence of her husband, and sure of the infamy of her accusers — began to work indefatigably to prove the injustice of thesentenoo, and to bring about the rehabilitation of the colonel, and the punishment of the wrong-doera. Another curious coincidence which we note en passant is that the Christian name of Madame dc Bellegarde was Lucio. At the same time that this heroic wife was making her desperate efforts, a relative of the colonel, the Baron de Chargey, accused ihe General de Saint-Auban in public of having fabricated forgeries and of having made U3e of them in order to obtain the condemnation of Bellegarde.

Many friends interested themselves in the cause of the ex-colonel, and a memorandum showing the baseness and iniquity of the intrigues of which the unfortunate man had been the victim was published. But the Minister refused to order the revision of the process, and sheltered himself behind " the respect to la chose jugee.". Meanwhile, Louis XVI bad ascended the throne, and the supplications of Marie Antoinette, who had beeu much affected by the wife of the condemned officer, brought about the removal of the Minister of War and an impartial inquiry into the affair. The struggle between the plotters and the supporters of Bellegarde lasted for four years, and at length terminated in the triumph of justice and truth.