Up till the very day of the trial my time was kept well occupied with
such errands. Indeed, remarkable as the fact may appear, practically the
whole labour of preparing the defence devolved upon me.

It was neither an easy nor a very encouraging task. The greater number of
the English Anarchists mysteriously disappeared at this approach of
danger. Mindful of the truth of the axiom that discretion is the better
part of valour, A thought it well to suddenly recollect his duties towards
his family; B discovered that he had a capacious stomach, which required
feeding; C, that the Anarchist policy was in discord with his own true
principles. At such a moment, therefore, and surrounded, or rather
unsurrounded by such men, the task in front of me was not easy, and in the
actual state of public opinion it was not very hopeful either.

Public feeling was against the Anarchists. So long as violence and
outrage had been reserved entirely for the benefit of foreign climes, the
British public had regarded the Anarchists with tolerance and equanimity.
But the mysterious death of Myers had alarmed and disquieted it, and heavy
sentences were generally invoked against the prisoners.

That the whole conspiracy was a got-up affair between Jacob Myers and the
police was evident. Neither Banter nor O'Flynn was a dangerous man; a
little loud and exaggerated talk was the utmost extent of their
harmfulness. Neither of them was any better capable of making a bomb than
of constructing a flying-machine, and they were less capable of throwing
it than of flying. But political detectives would have a slow time of it
in this country unless they occasionally made a vigorous effort on their
own behalf, and an unscrupulous and impecunious man like Myers proved a
valuable tool to help such gentlemen along, and fools of the Banter type
suitable victims.