[60] To this end, to enable this or that king of the day
to pass from the national Almanac to the mortuary list, merely
required an understanding among his colleagues, and, perhaps, this is
already arrived at. Among whom and against whom? - It is certain
that, as this idea occurs to the eleven, seated around the table, they
eye each other with a shudder they calculate the chances and turn
things over in their minds; words have been uttered that are not
forgotten. Carnot often made this charge against Saint-Just: "You and
Robespierre are after a dictatorship."[61] Robespierre replied to
Carnot : "I am ready for you on the first defeat."[62] On another
occasion, Robespierre, in a rage, exclaimed: "The Committee is
conspiring against me!" and, turning to Billaud, "I know you, now!"
Billaud retorted, "I know you too, you are a counter-
revolutionary!"[63] There are conspirators and counter-
revolutionaries, then, on the committee itself; what can be done to
avoid this appellation, which is a sentence of death ? - Silently, the
fatal phantom enthroned in their midst, the Erinyes[64] through which
they rule, renders his oracle and all take it to heart:
"All who are unwilling to become executioners are conspirators and
counter-revolutionaries.
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