ROBESPIERRE [_getting papers, which he gives to_ SAINT-JUST]. Here are the notes, all ready for you. VADIER [_aside_]. He has a whole portfolio like that for each of his friends. ROBESPIERRE. Let us not honor Danton by trying him alone: it would attract too much attention. BILLAUD-VARENNE. Let us overwhelm him in a general accusation. VADIER. Whom shall we put with him, to fill out the menu? SAINT-JUST. Every one who has tried to corrupt the cause of Liberty by means of money, evil example, or brains. VADIER. Let us be clear. You're too vague. ROBESPIERRE. Danton loved gold. Let him be buried with gold. Let us implicate him in the bank affair. Put him in with the embezzlers. He will find himself in company with his friend, his secretary, his Fabre d'Eglantine. VADIER. Fabre, Chabot, the Jews, the Austrian bankers, the Freys, and the Diederischens--good. We begin to have an imposing list. BILLAUD-VARENNE. It might be well to add Hérault, the friend of the émigrés. SAINT-JUST. Philippeaux, above all, the disorganizer of the army, the destroyer of discipline. ROBESPIERRE. Westermann, with his bloody sword, always ready for an insurrection. Is that all? VADIER. You forget dear Camille. ROBESPIERRE. Wouldn't you prefer Bourbon, or Legendre, the mouthpieces of the enemy in the Assembly? VADIER. No--Camille. BILLAUD-VARENNE. Camille. SAINT-JUST. Justice! ROBESPIERRE. Take him. SAINT-JUST. Good-by for the present. I must prepare my report. I shall strike them tomorrow at the Convention. VADIER. No, no, young man. Your youthful imprudence is running away with you. Would you call Danton into court? SAINT-JUST. Danton believes that no one will dare attack him face to face. I shall undeceive him. VADIER. Your good intentions, my friend, are not enough. You must have lungs deep enough to drown out the roarings of that bull! SAINT-JUST. Truth will overcome tempests. ROBESPIERRE. We cannot expose the Republic in an open argument like that. SAINT-JUST. What then? [ROBESPIERRE _does not answer._] BILLAUD-VARENNE. Have Danton arrested tonight. SAINT-JUST [_violently_]. Never! VADIER. The end justifies the means! SAINT-JUST. I never strike an unarmed enemy. I will face Danton willingly. Combats like that can only bring honor to the Republic; but your suggestion is dishonorable. Ignoble! BILLAUD-VARENNE. The enemies of the people deserve no consideration! VADIER. Useless bravery in politics is always stupid, and sometimes treasonable. SAINT-JUST. I won't have it! [_He throws his cap to the floor._] BILLAUD-VARENNE [_severely_]. Do you then prefer the fight to the welfare of the Republic? SAINT-JUST. Such attempts require danger; it sanctifies them. A Revolution is a heroic enterprise, in which the leaders walk between the guillotine and immortality. We should be criminals if we were not ready to sacrifice our lives, and the lives of the others, at any moment.