3-085-907 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Trial of M. Zola: M. Labori, counsel for M. Zola, 1898. '[Zola's] witnesses, his sympathisers, and his eloquent and handsome advocate, M. Labori, were hustled and hooted; while a soldier's uniform was cheered as if the valour of the army, and not the administration of justice, had been in question. Even inside the Court, and during the closing speech of M. Labori, there were interrupting cries of "Death to the Jews!" M. Clémenceau, following M. Labori, addressed the Court on behalf of the proprietor of the Aurore, the paper in which Zola's "J'accuse" letter was published. He described the conduct of the Generals at the bar of that Court as a menace to the jury - their threat to resign as an intimidation to the country. It was in the midst of hubbub that the jury retired, but their return was made amid a silence as of death. The foreman rose, his hand upon his heart, and in clear tones announced the verdict of "Guilty" against Zola and his publisher on all counts. Shouts of triumph went up in Court - "Vive l'Armée!" "Vive la France!" "A bas Zola!" That last cry provoked a retort from the condemned man: "You are cannibals!" Then the Court pronounced judgment: a year's imprisonment and a fine of three thousand francs.' From "Illustrated London News", 1898.