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Title: With Zola in England

Author: Ernest Alfred Vizetelly

Release Date: January 10, 2004 [EBook #10670]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH ZOLA IN ENGLAND ***

Produced by Dagny, and David Widger

WITH ZOLA IN ENGLAND

A STORY OF EXILE

TOLD BY

ERNEST ALFRED VIZETELLY

TO VIOLETTE AND TO VICTOR TO DORA AND TO BOTH MARIES DEAR WIFE AND ROMPING DAUGHTER I LOVINGLY INSCRIBE THIS LITTLE BOOK

He begged for Light! . . Lo, Darkness fell,
  And round him cast its stifling pall!
In vain he clamoured! Ev'ry Hell
  Poured forth its fumes to drown his call.

He cried for Truth! . . Lo, Falsehood came,
  In robes of Impudence array'd,
Polluting Patriotism's name,
  Degrading Honour to a trade.

He asked for Justice! . . Lo, between
  Him and the judgment-seat there rose
The Sword of Menace, ever keen
  To smite the braggart War-Wolf's foes!

Light, Truth, and Justice all denied,
  He struggled on 'mid threat and blow—
A brave Voice battling by his side—
  Till Error's minions struck him low.

Yet is his faith not dead, nor mine:
  O'er deepest gloom, o'er worst distress,
Ever the mighty Sun doth shine
  Aglow with Truth and Righteousness.

The blackest clouds are rent at last;
  And the divine resistless flame
Through all, some morn, its blaze shall cast,
  The Wrong disclose, the Right proclaim!

E. A. V.

February 23, 1898.

[Printed in 'The Star' on the morrow of M. Zola's condemnation in Paris]

PREFACE

All that I claim for this little book, reprinted from the columns of 'The Evening News,' is the quality of frankness. I do not desire to check or disarm criticism, but I have a right to point out that I have performed my work rapidly and have largely subordinated certain literary considerations to a desire to write my story naturally and simply, in much the same way as I should have told it in conversation with a friend. Very rarely, I think, have I departed from this rule.

The book supplies an accurate account of Emile Zola's exile in this country; but some matters I have treated briefly because he himself proposes to give the world—probably in diary form—some impressions of his sojourn in England with a record of his feelings day by day whilst the great campaign in favour of the unfortunate Alfred Dreyfus was in progress.

First, however, M. Zola intends to collect in a volume all his published declarations, articles and letters on the Affair. Secondly, he will recount in another volume his trials at Paris and Versailles; and only in a third volume will he be able to deal with his English experiences. The last work can scarcely be ready before the end of 1900, and possibly it may not appear until the following year. And this is one of the reasons which have induced me to offer to all who are interested in the great French writer this present narrative of mine. Should the master's promised record duly appear, my own will sink into oblivion; but if, for one or another reason, M. Zola is prevented from carrying out his plans, here, then, will at least be found some account of one of the most curious passages in his life. And then, perchance, my narrative may attain to the rank of memoire pour servir.

I have said that I claim for my book the quality of frankness. In this connection I may point out that I have made in it a full confession of certain delinquencies which were forced on me by circumstances. I trust, however, that my brother-journalists will forgive me if I occasionally led them astray with regard to M. Zola's presence in England; for I did so purely and simply in the interests of the illustrious friend who had placed himself in my hands.

That M. Zola should have applied to me directly he arrived in London will surprise none of those who are aware of the confidence he has for several years reposed in me. A newspaper referring to our connection recently called the great novelist 'my employer.' But there has never been any question of employer or employed between Mr. Zola and me. I should certainly never think of accepting remuneration for any little service I might have been able to render him; nor would he dream of hurting my feelings by offering it. No. The simple truth is that for some years now I have translated M. Zola's novels into English, and that I have taken my share of the proceeds of the translations. For the rest our intercourse has been purely and simply that of friends.

It is because, I believe, I know and understand Emile Zola so well, that I never once lost confidence in him throughout the events which led to his exile in England. That exile, curiously enough, I foreshadowed in a letter addressed to the 'Star' some months before it actually began. When, however, one has been intimate with the French for thirty years or so it is not, to my thinking, so very difficult to tell what is likely to happen in a given French crisis. The unexpected has to be reckoned with, of course; and much depends on ability to estimate the form which the unexpected may take. Here experience, familiarity with details of contemporary French history, and personal knowledge of the men concerned in the issue, become indispensable.

On January 16, 1898, three days after M. Zola's famous 'J'accuse' letter appeared in 'L'Aurore,' and two days before the French Government instructed the Public Prosecutor to proceed against its author, I wrote to the 'Westminster Gazette' a long letter dealing with M. Zola's position. In this letter, which appeared in the issue of the 19th, I began by establishing a comparison between Zola and Voltaire, whose action with regard to the memory of Jean Calas I briefly epitomised. Curiously enough at that moment M. Zola, as I afterwards learnt, was telling the Paris correspondent of the 'Daily Chronicle' that the opposition offered to his advocacy of the cause of Alfred Dreyfus was identical with that encountered by Voltaire in his championship of Calas. This was a curious little coincidence, for I wrote my letter without having any communication with M. Zola respecting it. It contained some passes which I here venture to quote. In a book dealing with the great novelist these passages may not be out of place, as they serve to illustrate his general attitude towards the Dreyfus case.

'Truth,' I wrote, 'has been the one passion of Emile Zola's life.* "May all be revealed so that all may be cured" has been his sole motto in dealing with social problems. "Light, more light!"—the last words gasped by Goethe on his death-bed—has ever been his cry. Holding