He would prefer to die than hear the jeers of people rejoicing at his downfall.
Troops were sent to pacify the country, and in one village a soldier found a copy of Moses' laws and tore it up in public with jeers and blasphemies.
On the 8th the festival of the Supreme Being was solemnized, Robespierre acting as pontiff amid the outward deference and secret jeers of his colleagues.
First publication of this scheme brought the usual jeers.
Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.