DANTON. I shall then condescend to justify myself, and follow Saint-Just's plan. When I look through this list of horrors, my whole self shudders. I, sold to Mirabeau, Orléans, Dumouriez! I always fought them! I frustrated Mirabeau's plans when I considered them dangerous to the cause of Liberty. I defended Marat against him. The only time I saw Dumouriez was to ask him for an accounting of the millions that he had squandered. I suspected his plans, and in order to spoil them, I flattered him. Ought I to have ruined him, when the safety of the Republic lay in his hands? Yes, I did send Fabre to him; yes, I did promise to make him commander-in-chief; but at the same time I told Billaud-Varenne to keep a strict watch over him. Am I to be blamed because I lied to a traitor? I have committed many another crime for the nation. You can't save a nation with petty virtues. I would have shouldered any crime at all, if need were, to save you--all of you, judges, people, even you vile impostors who are now accusing me!? I conspire with royalty? Ah, yes, indeed, I remember how I aided in establishing the royal power on the tenth of August, the triumph of the federalists on the thirty-first of May, and the victory of the Prussians at Valmy! Bring forth my accusers! I have something to say to the blackguards who are ruining the Republic! I have a few important revelations to make. I demand a hearing. JUDGE. These indecent outbursts can only harm your cause. Those who accuse you enjoy the confidence of the public. Clear yourself first: a man who is accused deserves no confidence until he has washed himself clean of his accusations. It is not only your Republicanism which is now in question; you have been cited for evil living, debauchery, prodigality, and embezzlement. DANTON. Not so fast! Stop the spigot of your flowing eloquence. Let us have a few drops at a time, so that we may lose nothing. So I am accused of loving life, enjoying it? Of course, I love life. Not all the pedants of Arras and Geneva can put a stop to the joy that ferments in the district of Champagne. It swells on the vines and increases the desires of men. Shall I blush because of my superabundant vitality? Nature gave me great capacity and correspondingly great needs. I was fortunate enough not to have sprung from an enfeebled and puny and privileged race; and I have throughout my tempestuous career, preserved my natural vigor intact. What have you to complain of? My vigor has been your salvation. What do you care if I pass my nights at the Palais-Royal? Not a single caress can harm the cause of Liberty. I have enough love for everything. Have you proscribed all pleasure? Has France made an oath of chastity? Have we all fallen under the rule of a schoolmaster? Because an old fox has lost his tail must we all lose ours? [_The People laugh_.]