isaac-deutscher-the-prophet-armed-trotsky-1879-1921

THE PROPHET ARMED
The sentiment of the anti-Tsarist public expressed itself in a
thousand incidents. 'On the benches of the defendants there
constantly appeared newspapers, letters, boxes with sweetmeats,
and flowers. No end of flowers! In their buttonholes, in
their hands, on their knees, and all over the dock--ftowers.
The presiding judge has not the courage to remove this fragrant
disorder. In the end, even the officers of the gendarmerie and
the ckrks, altogether "demoralized" by the atmosphere in the
hall, carry the flowers from the public to the dock.' 1 At one
moment the defi·ndants rose to pay homage to the memory of
one of them who had been executed before the trial. The
attorneys and the public, too, rose to their feet; and so did the
embarrassed officers of the gendarmerie and the police. The
aftermath of the revolution was still in the air.
'We have decided to take part in the present extraordinary
trial only because \\T think it necessary ... to explain publicly
the truth about the activity and the significance of the Soviet.'
Thus Zlydnicv, on behalf of all accused, stated at the opening
of the proccc