The officers obeyed this order. Saint-Just was in custody. Billaud continued his remarks, declaring that the members were in danger of massacre, denouncing Robespierre and his supporters, bidding them to be firm and resolute. His boldness infected the assembly; the deputies stood up and waved their hats, shouting their approval. In the midst of this scene Robespierre appeared, livid with rage, his eyes flashing with the fury which inspired him. "I demand liberty to speak," he exclaimed. "Down with the tyrant!" rose in a roar from a hundred voices. Tallien, the leader of the opposition, sprang into the tribune. "I demand that the veil be torn away instantly," he exclaimed. "The work is done, the conspirators are unmasked. Yesterday, at the Jacobins, I saw the army of the new Cromwell formed, and I have come here armed with a dagger to pierce his heart if the Assembly dares not decree his accusation. I demand the arrest of Henriot and his staff." The debate went on, growing more violent minute by minute. Several times Robespierre strove to speak, but each time his voice was drowned in cries of "Down with the tyrant!" Pale with rage and fear, he turned from his opponents towards his former supporters, both hands nervously clutching the tribune. "It is to you, pure and virtuous men," he said, "that I address myself. I do not talk with scoundrels." "Down with the tyrant!" was the response of the members addressed. Evidently the whole assembly had turned against him. Henriot, the president, rang his bell for order. "President of assassins," cried Robespierre, in a voice that grew feebler, "I once more demand liberty to speak." "The blood of Danton is choking him!" cried Garnier de l'Aude. "Shall this man longer remain master of the Convention?" asked Charles Duval. "Let us make an end! A decree! a decree!" shouted Lasseau. "A tyrant is hard to strike down!" exclaimed Freron. Robespierre stood in the midst of his circle of enemies, assailed on all sides, nervously turning in his hands an open knife. "Send me to death!" he ejaculated. "You have merited it a thousand times," cried his foes. "Down with the tyrant!" In the midst of the tumult a decree for his arrest was offered and carried. In it were included the names of his brother, of Couthon, and of Saint-Just. Henriot proclaimed the decree, while wild acclamations of triumph shook the room. "Long live liberty! Long live the republic! Down with the tyrants! To the bar with the accused!" came from the lips of those who the day before had not dared to speak. The floodgates were down and the torrent of long repressed fury was rushing on the accused. The exciting scene ended in the removal of the prisoners, who were taken to separate prisons.