His judges sat upon the Bench in feathered hats；but the rough red cap and tricoloured cockade was the head-dress otherwise prevailing. Looking at the Jury and the turbulent audience，he might have thought that the usual order of things was reversed，and that the felons were trying the honest men.The lowest，cruelest，and worst populace of a city，never without its quantity of low，cruel，and bad，were the directing spirits of the scene：noisily commenting，applauding，disapproving，anticipating，and＆nbsp；precipitating the result，without a check.Of the men，the greater part were armed in various ways；of the women，some wore knives，some daggers，some ate and drank as they looked on，many knitted.Among these last，was one，with a spare piece of knitting under her arm as she worked.She was in a front row，by the side of a man whom he had never seen since his arrival at the Barrier，but whom he directly remembered as Defarge.He noticed that she once or twice whispered in his ear，and that she seemed to be his wife；but，what he most noticed in the two figures was，that although they were posted as close to himself as they could be，they never looked towards him.They seemed to be waiting for something with a dogged determination and they looked at the Jury，but at nothing else.Under the President sat Doctor Manette，in his usual quiet dress.As well as the prisoner could see，he and Mr.Lorry were the only two men there，unconnected with the Tribunal，who wore their usual clothes，and had not assumed the coarse garb of the Carmagnole.
Charles Evremonde，called Darnay，was accused by the public prosecutor as an emigrant，whose life was forfeit to the Republic，under the decree which banished all emigrants on pain of Death. It was nothing that the decree bore date since his return to France.There he was，and there was the decree；he had been taken in France，and his head was demanded.
'Take off his head！'cried the audience.'An enemy to the Republic！'
The President rang his bell to silence those cries，and asked the prisoner whether it was not true that he had lived many years in England？
Undoubtedly it was.
Was he not an emigrant then？What did he call himself？
Not an emigrant，he hoped，within the sense and spirit of the law.
Why not？the President desired to know.
Because he had voluntarily relinquished a title that was distasteful to him，and a station that was distasteful to him，and had left his country—he submitted before the word emigrant in the present acceptation by the Tribunal was in use—to live by his own industry in England，rather than on the industry of the overladen people of France.
What proof had he of this？
He handed in the name of two witness；Theophile Gabelle，and Alexandre Manette.
But he had married in England？the President reminded him.
True，but not an English woman.
A citizeness of France？
Yes. By birth.
Her name and family？
'Lucie Manette，only daughter of Doctor Manette，the good physician who sits there'This answer had a happy effect upon the audience. Cries in exaltation of the well-known good physician rent the hall.So capriciously were the people moved，that tears immediately rolled down several ferocious countenances which had been glaring at the prisoner a moment before，as if with impatience to pluck him out into the streets and kill him.
On these few steps of his dangerous way，Charles Darnay had set his foot according to Doctor Manette's reiterated instructions. The same cautious counsel directed every step that lay before him，and had prepared every inch of his road.
The President asked，why had he returned to France when he did，and not sooner？
He had not returned sooner，he replied，simply because he had no means of living in France，save those he had resigned；whereas，in England，he lived by giving instruction in the French language and literature He had returned when he did，on the pressing and written entreaty of a French citizen，who represented that his life was endangered by his absence. He had come back，to save a citizen's life，and to bear his testimony，at whatever personal hazard，to the truth.Was that criminal in the eyes of the Republic？
The populace cried enthusiastically，'No！'and the President rang his bell to quiet them. Which it did not，for they continued to cry'No！'until they left off，of their own will.
The President required the name of that citizen？The accused explained that the citizen was his first witness. He also referred with confidence to the citizen's letter，which had been taken from him at the Barrier，but which he did not doubt would be found among the papers then before the President.
The doctor had taken care that it should be there—had assured him that it would be there—and at this stage of the proceedings it was produced and read Citizen Gabelle was called to confirm it，and did so. Citizen Gabelle hinted，with infinite delicacy and politeness，that in the pressure of business imposed on the Tribunal by the multitude of enemies of the Republic with which it had to deal，he had been slightly overlooked in his prison of the Abbaye—in fact，had rather passed out of the Tribunal's patriotic remembrance—until three days ago；when he had been summoned before it，and had been set at liberty on the Jury's declaring themselves satisfied that the accusation against him wasanswered，as to himself，by the surrender of the citizen Evremonde，called Darnay.