After concluding the series of the Rougon Macquart, Zola undertook successively two new series: the Three Cities, Lourdes, Rome, Paris, published between 1894 and 1898, and finally the Four Gospels. Fc'conditc' (1899), Trarai/ (1900), (1902), and Justice. dustier re mained unfinished at his death. Zola was am bitions also of winning success on the stage, but this ambition of his was not fully gratified.
had Zola died before the year 1898, lie would be remembered solely as a literary character. '1•lne date which marks the beginning of his career as a public man is that of the letter to President Faure by which he threw himself into the thick est of the fight connected with Alfred Dreyfus (q.v.). Zola was convinced not only that Drey fus had been unjustly sentenced, hut also that the methods employed to secure his conviction and to shield others, whom Zola considered the real criminals, constituted in themselves crimes deserving of the highest punishment. His letter of January 13th, known by the title "J'accuse . . ." (1 accuse), words which were repeated a number of times in the body of the letter, de nounced these acts and called for their speedy and exemplary punishment. He at the same time dam]. the French Government to prosecute him.
Prosecution was begun, however, and his trial by jury in Paris lasted from February 7 to Febru ary 23, 1898. Zola was convicted of libeling the military authorities, and sentence was passed upon him imposing a fine of 5000 francs and six months' imprisonment. Zola appealed to the Court of Cassation, which on April 211 quashed the proceedings and ordered a new trial. This new trial took place at Versailles in July. and Zola was again condemned. hut meanwhile he fled to England, where he remained hidden till June 4, 1899, writing A few months later. a hill granting amnesty to all offenders connected with the Dreyfus ease having been brought forward by the \Tableek-Rousseau Cabi net and passed by the two Houses, Zola. who had kept np his fight, returnee] to France, where he was received by his friends and ad mirers as one of the greatest and roost eloquent defenders of human rights. On September '29, 1902. Zola was found dead in his bedroom, where he had been suffocated by gas from a defective flue. He received a public funeral. Most of Zola's works can he had in an excellent English translation by Vizetellv. Consult Brunetiere, Le roman naturaliste (Paris, 1883).