DANTON. What have I to do with all this nastiness? What have I to do with these thieves? JUDGE. You will be informed. DANTON. My natural decency prevents my crushing those scoundrels. You know that very well, and you take advantage of my silence in order to associate me in the minds of the people with underhanded swindlers and embezzlers. HÉRAULT. Calm yourself, Danton. JUDGE. You must respect the law. You will have a chance to explain later. FOUQUIER-TINVILLE. Quiet, Danton. You will have to answer the charges, together with the rest who are accused with you. DANTON. Danton must not be tried for corruption after a pack of blackguards. You might at least give him first place. Danton refuses to be second in anything whatsoever, in virtue or in vice. PHILIPPEAUX. Don't, Danton. You must be prudent. JUDGE [_to the brothers_ FREY]. You are Jews by birth, and you came originally from Moravia; your name is Tropuscka. You took the name of Schoenfeld, under which you bought patents of nobility in Austria, and for the time being called yourself Frey. One of your sisters was baptized, and is now being kept by a German baron. The other married Chabot, a former priest, and now a representative in the Convention. You have associated yourself with certain other adventurers of doubtful birth like yourself: Diederischen, who came originally from Holstein, and was employed in a Viennese bank; Gusman, called the Spaniard, who passed as a German nobleman; the former Abbé d'Espagnac, an army contractor. With the help of certain deputies whom you had bribed, you prospered. Chabot served as a go-between for you and his colleagues. He put his own price at 150,000 livres. He gave Fabre d'Eglantine 100,000 of the sum, and Fabre altered the Convention's decree relative to the _Compagnie des Indes._ I am submitting the original document to the jury. VADIER [_stealthily opening the wicket and beckoning to_ HANRIOT]. Is all well, Hanriot? HANRIOT [_in an undertone_]. Everything, will be satisfactory. VADIER [_pointing to_ FOUQUIER-TINVILLE _and the Court_]. They are not baulking? HANRIOT. Don't worry. I have my eye on them. VADIER. Good. And don't hesitate; if the prosecutor flinches, arrest him. [_He closes the wicket_.] HÉRAULT [_looking at the crowd_]. See the people gape at us! DANTON [_really ashamed, but with a forced laugh_]. They're not used to seeing this old face of mine on this infamous bench. It's not an ordinary sight Danton at the mercy of a pack of charlatans. Ha, ha! I must laugh! Look at David over there; his tongue sticks out from sheer hatred, like a dog's. Good God, Camille, pull yourself together! What the devil, the people are looking at us! CAMILLE. Ah, Danton, I shall never see my Lucile again! DANTON. Nonsense! You'll sleep in her arms tonight. CAMILLE. Get me away from here, Danton; save me. I don't know what to do. I can never defend myself!