A MARTYR'S CROWN 79
power of Fröbel, who had shielded some communist extremists.
There also is evidence that the pietists and orthodox churchmen
of Zurich welcomed the trial as an opportunity to attack German
philosophical writers as a whole.^5 On the other hand, the methods
used by the police, arresting Weitling in the dead of night and
rifling his personal papers, aroused liberal groups in Zurich who
had no special reason to champion communism.
Weitling was charged by the prosecution with inciting to riot,
with advocating attacks on property, with blasphemy, and with
being a public nuisance generally. The trial was made the occasion
for a thorough airing of the radical communist movement, and
Johann Caspar Bluntschli, with several associates, was commis
sioned to make a full report on the activities of Weitling and his
followers. The extensive document produced by the commission
and based largely on an analysis of the publications and private
papers of the prisoner remains the most important source for the
trial. As an official document it could be legally circulated, and
communists welcomed this advertisement for their cause.^6 Moses
Hess publicly thanked Bluntschli for the report, and the Prussian
minister in Paris believed that it had helped to recruit 300 new
members for the communist movement.^7
The trial was conducted in an atmosphere of great tension.
While Weitling was in jail some of his colleagues, such as Seiler,
published pamphlets in his defense; anonymous letters were ad
dressed to the court from Mainz and Cologne threatening a march
on Zurich and bloody revenge if the prisoner should be sentenced.
The words "liberty and equality" suddenly appeared on the walls
of buildings, where they were inscribed during the night by per
sons who escaped the vigilance of the police.
In presenting the case the prosecution reviewed the history of
(^5) See Paul Nerrlich (ed.), Arnold Ruge's Briefwechsel und Tagebuchblätter
aus den Jahren 1825-1880 (Berlin, 1886), I, 315.
(^6) See also Johann Caspar Bluntschli, Denkwürdiges aus meinem Leben (Nörd-
lingen, 1884), I, 342-45; and Friedrich Vogel (ed.), Memorabilia Tigurina (Zu
rich, 1853), 273-76.
(^7) Zlocisti, Moses Hess, 123.