The Fi g aro provided a fresh sensation for its reader, by
reproducing in its issue of Tuesday the substance of the depositions of Colonel Du Paty de Clam at his examination before the Court of Cessation only last Saturday, although the official minutes of the Court have not yet been printed. Charged with being the inspirer of Henry's principal forgeries, the Colonel retorted by throwing the entire responsibility on his chiefs, Generals Boisdeffre, Mercier, and Gonse, especially the first-named. It was after a talk with General Gonse' who was himself authorised and shielded by General de Boisdeffre, that it was decided that Esterhazy should write to M. Faure the letters to be dictated to him by Colonel Du Paty de Clam. Finally, he deposed that in a private interview with his cousin, M. Cavaigne,c, then Minister of War, he had assured the latter not only that the Pellieux document was a forgery, but that the secret dossier contained also other forgeries, weeks before M. Cavaigna,c produced these same documents at the tribune as conclusive proofs of Dreyfus's guilt! This extraordinary narrative has, of course, produced a crop of contradictions; but the Figaro reiterates its confidence in the substantial accuracy of its report, and asserts that the most damaging admissions were, at the request of the witness, suppressed in the official minutes.
