COUN. PROS. It is a crime against nature.
COUN. DEF. It is not a crime against nature. It is a revolt against nature.
PRES. Police, remove the defendants. [The police do not understand or do not hear]. Maître Verdier, must we employ force? [Tumult in the whole court].
COUN. DEF [rhetorically] It is a revolt against nature! And with all the warmth of a heart melted by pity, with all the indignation of my outraged reason, I look for that glorious hour of liberation when some master mind shall discover for us the means of having only the children we need and desire, release us for ever from the prison of hypocrisy and absolve us from the profanation of love. That would indeed be a conquest of nature—savage nature—which pours out life with culpable profusion, and sees it disappear with indifference. But, until then—
The tumult recommences.
PRES. Police, clear the court! Police—police, remove the defendants. The sitting is suspended. [The magistrates cover their heads and rise].
MME. THOMAS. It’s not I who massacre the innocents! I’m not the guilty one!
SCH. Mercy, monsieur, mercy!
MME. TUPIN. She’s not the guilty one!
TUPIN. She’s right. She’s not!