SAINT-JUST. The nation wants him.
VADIER [aside]. The hypocrite! He wants him, too! But we must persuade him!
ROBESPIERRE. He was a great man. At least, he had the air of a great man, and at times he even seemed a good and virtuous man.
SAINT-JUST. Nothing so resembles virtue as a great crime.
VADIER [sarcastically]. You will deliver his funeral oration later on, Maximilien. But now let us bring down the beast.
SAINT-JUST. Vadier, you must respect death.
VADIER. But the little fellow is still alive.
SAINT-JUST. Danton is already doomed.
BILLAUD-VARENNE. Who will take it upon himself to accuse him?
VADIER. Saint-Just. The young man does it so well. Every sentence of his is as good as a stroke of the guillotine.