General Mercier ' s " evidence " did not touch the case
at all, and was practically a speech in defence of himself for having General Mercier's " evidence " did not touch the case at all, and was practically a speech in defence of himself for having
placed sweet evidence—now proved to be false—before the original Court-Martial in 1894. He was, he said, inspired solely by patriotism. The German Emperor had intervened because documents had been stolen from his Embassy in Paris, and for four hours and a half it was a question of war or peace. France was not ready, "was, indeed, in a con- dition of absolute inferiority to Germany." Russia had a new Emperor, and was an uncertain ally, and France would not have been considered by Europe morally justified in her conduct. Therefore the conviction of Dreyfus had become a necessity, and the witness being convinced of his guilt, handed the bordereau and his own comments—afterwards destroyed—to the President of the Court-Martial. General Mercier was hooted by the audience as he left the Court, but cheered by the crowd outside. General Roget, who was the witness on Tuesday, was allowed to pour out for two hours an im- passioned and very clever indictment of Dreyfus, the best speech, in fact, as yet made for the prosecution. It contained no new evidence whatever, but is believed to have made much impression upon the Court.
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