e the nationalist hypothesis of the
anti-Semites, and in its failure it afforded the most striking
illustration of the dangers of the whole movement by bringing France to
the verge of revolution. For a few months after the Dreyfus
court-martial there was a comparative lull; but the highly strung
condition of popular passion was illustrated by a violent debate on "The
Jewish Peril" in the Chamber of Deputies (25th April 1895), and by two
outrages with explosives at the Rothschild bank in Paris. Meanwhile the
family of Dreyfus, absolutely convinced of his innocence, were casting
about for the means of clearing his character and securing his
liberation. They were wealthy, and their activity unsettled the public
mind and aroused the apprehensions of the conspirators. Had the latter
known how to preserve silence, the mystery would perhaps have been yet
unsolved; but in their anxiety to allay all suspicions they made one
false step, which proved the beginning of their ruin. Through their
friends in the press they secured the publication of a facsimile of a
document known as the _Bordereau_--a list of documents supposed to be in
Dreyfus's handwriting and addressed apparently to the military attache
of a foreign power, which was alleged to constitute the chief evidence
against the convict. It was hoped by this publication to put an end to
the doubts of the so-called Dreyfusards. The result, however, was only
to give them a clue on which they worked with remarkable ingenuity. To
prove that the _Bordereau_ was not in Dreyfus's handwriting was not
difficult. Indeed, its authorship was recognized almost on the day of
publication; but the Dreyfusards held their hands in order to make
assurance doubly sure by further evidence. Meanwhile one of the officers
of the general staff, Colonel Picquart, had convinced himself by an
examination of the _dossier_ of the trial that a gross miscarriage of
justice had taken place. On mentioning his doubts to his superiors, who
were animated partly by anti-Semitic feeling and partly by reluctance to
confess to a mistake, he was ordered to the Tunisian hinterland on a
dangerous expedition. Before leaving Paris, however, he took the
precaution to confide his discovery to his legal adviser. Harassed by
their anxieties, the conspirators made further communications to the
newspapers; and the government, questioned and badgered in parliament,
added to the revelations. The new disclosures, so far from stoppi