"mon seul but est le peu de vérité que nous réussirons sans doute à faire encore"

Autograph letter signed by Emile Zola, dated in his hand April 10, 1898. One and a half pages in black ink on a bifolium, addressed to Octave Mirbeau.
Fold marks inherent to mailing, some foxing to outer margins.
Published in his Correspondance, ed. B. Bakker, Presses de l'Université de Montréal et Editions du CNRS, 1978-1995, vol. IX, p. 186; bibliographers are divided on the identity of the recipient, and also propose his publisher Charpentier, who had remained at his side and played the role of bodyguard in February 1898, during the first trial.
Immense missive from the writer as defender of justice, resilient and even cheerful after being condemned to the maximum penalty for having written "J'accuse!", and consequently released after the cassation of the judgment condemning him.
Unsurprisingly after "J'accuse!", the Minister of War prosecutes Émile Zola for defamation before the Seine assizes court. The trial takes place in Paris from February 7 to 23 in a context of extreme tension and threats of civil war. Zola receives one year in prison and three thousand francs fine, under the cheers of the ferocious crowd: "Mon sacrifice est fait" he affirms in this letter. As Alain Pagès rightly indicates, "to intervene in the name of the authority of his pen and his literary renown is both audacious and necessary." Zola is conscious of the risks incurred, while his article has the expected effect and restarts the affair, giving it a new social and political dimension. Transported by his total abnegation, he takes the decision of justice with philosophy: "Nous nous attendions à la nouvelle secousse, et elle nous a laissé très gais, heureux du repos que nous prenons ici."
Having left the capital after a trial of unheard-of violence, Zola will enjoy very little of the rest of his house in Médan: the very day after this letter, during a bicycle outing, the writer is accosted by nine soldiers and some young people who shout 'À bas Zola ! Vive l'armée !' while throwing stones at him.

"je ne suis très fort que parce que je m'attends à tout et que mon seul but est le peu de vérité que nous réussirons sans doute à faire encore. Après, mon Dieu, qu'importe !"

This courageous tirade undeniably approaches the words he had at the beginning of the affair, after his first articles defending the captain: "Tant pis pour les conséquences, je suis assez fort, je brave tout !". Now condemned for his commitment, the writer reiterates here his decision to bring forth the truth at any cost, which he had already repeated like a litany in the lines of "J'accuse!" .
Precious and exceptional letter from a Zola far from being discouraged by his first condemnation, whose confirmation on appeal will force him into exile. He will die before seeing the fruit of his battles and Dreyfus's rehabilitation.