If he comes here as an associate and a brother, he does no more than his duty; he only raises himself to the level of our opinions.

There is but one answer to be made,--let him act as he has spoken." Dumouriez raised his hand, and gesticulated to Collot d'Herbois.
Robespierre rose, smiled sternly on Dumouriez, and said, "I am not one of those who believe it is utterly impossible for a minister to be a patriot, and I accept with pleasure the promises that M.Dumouriez has just given us.

When he shall have verified these promises, when he has dissipated the foes armed against us by his predecessors, and by the conspirators who even now hold the reins of government, spite of the expulsion of several ministers, then, and then only, I shall be inclined to bestow on him the praises he will have merited, and I shall even in that case deem that every good citizen in this assembly is his equal.
The people only is great, is worthy in my eyes; the toys of ministerial power fade into insignificance before it.

It is out of respect for people, for the minister himself, that I demand that his presence here be not marked by any of those homages that mark the decay of public feeling.

He asks us to counsel the ministers; I promise him, on my part, to give him advice which will be useful to them and to the country at large.