Danton. Very well, we will expel the English as we expelled the Prussians.
Rob. Sit down again, Danton, and look at the map, instead of knocking it with your fist.
Danton. That is madness! Robespierre, the danger is a circle, and we are within it. If this continue and we do not put things in order, the French Revolution will kill the King of France for the King of Prussia’s sake.
Marat. You have each one his hobby. Danton, yours is Prussia; Robespierre, yours is the Vendée. I am going to state facts in my turn. You do not perceive the real peril. It is the cafés and the gaming-houses. It is the paper money, the famine, the stock-brokers, and the monopolists—there is the danger. You see the danger at a distance when it is close at hand. Yes, the danger is everywhere, and above all in the centre.
Danton. There, there, there!
Marat. What is needed is a dictator. Robespierre, you know that I want a dictator.
Rob. I know, Marat. You or me?
Marat. Me or you?
Danton. The dictatorship! Only try it!
Marat. Hold! One last effort. Let us get some agreement. The situation is worth the trouble. Paris must assume the government of the Revolution. So be it. Well, the conclusion is a dictatorship. Let us seize the dictatorship—we three who represent the Revolution. We are the three heads of Cerberus. Of these three heads, one talks—that is you, Robespierre; one roars—that is you, Danton.