what risks we incur in thus dismantling a fortress of the Revolution.
Billaud-Varenne. A fortress for sale!
Vadier. The scarecrow of the Revolution! In time of public danger such monstrous idols are brought out to rout the enemy. He rather inspires fear in the breast of those who hear him. His hideous face frightens Liberty.
Robespierre. You cannot deny that his face is known and feared throughout Europe.
Vadier [chaffingly]. True, and like a good sans-culotte he cheerfully shows to the world "What Cæsar shamelessly showed to Nicodemus in his youth, and what long ago the hero of Greece admired in Hephestos, and Hadrian put into the Pantheon."
Saint-Just [angrily]. Stop your nasty joking! Would you make war on corruption with corruption?
Vadier. Now, you aren't going to make me recite Rousseau to you?
Robespierre [making an effort at impartiality]. I think it no more than right to take Danton's past services into account.
Saint-Just. The more good a man does, the greater his obligation to continue. Woe be unto him who has once defended the cause and the people, and abandons them afterward! He is a greater criminal than the man who consistently fought against it. For he once knew the good, and has wilfully betrayed it.
Robespierre. Hébert's death stirred up public sympathy. The police reports I received inform me that our enemies are profiting by the confusion of the
