The first guillotining drew crowds. The convicted had their hands tied behind their backs and their neck bands removed. Then they were placed on a board and tied so that they would not squirm in an unbecoming fashion and create slips. The board was slid into position and the great weighted blade came down heavily. The head bounced into a strategically placed basket; gouts of blood came from the neck; the body was untied and thrown into a waiting cart. It was quick, but the huge amounts of blood balanced the disappointing rapidity with which the victim was dispatched.

—Otto Scott, Robespierre: The Fool as Revolutionary