His character as an ex-convict.The lawyer did not deny that that character appeared to be，unhappily，well attested；the accused had resided at Faverolles；the accused had exercised the calling of a tree-pruner there；the name of Champmathieu might well have had its origin in Jean Mathieu；all that was true，——in short，four witnesses recognize Champmathieu，positively and without hesitation，as that convict，Jean Valjean；to these signs，to this testimony，the counsel could oppose nothing but the denial of his client，the denial of an interested party；but supposing that he was the convict Jean Valjean，did that prove that he was the thief of the apples？that was a presumption at the most，not a proof.The prisoner，it was true，and his counsel，'in good faith，'was obliged to admit it，had adopted'a bad system of defence.'He obstinately denied everything，the theft and his character of convict.An admission upon this last point would certainly have been better，and would have won for him the indulgence of his judges；the counsel had advised him to do this；but the accused had obstinately refused，thinking，no doubt，that he would save everything by admitting nothing.It was an error；but ought not the paucity of this intelligence to be taken into consideration？
This man was visibly stupid.Long-continued wretchedness in the galleys，long misery outside the galleys，had brutalized him，etc.
He defended himself badly；was that a reason for condemning him？
As for the affair with Little Gervais，the counsel need not discuss it；it did not enter into the case.
The lawyer wound up by beseeching the jury and the court，if the identity of Jean Valjean appeared to them to be evident，to apply to him the police penalties which are provided for a criminal who has broken his ban，and not the frightful chastisement which descends upon the convict guilty of a second offence.
The district-attorney answered the counsel for the defence.He was violent and florid，as district-attorneys usually are.
He congratulated the counsel for the defence on his'loyalty，'and skilfully took advantage of this loyalty.
He reached the accused through all the concessions made by his lawyer.
The advocate had seemed to admit that the prisoner was Jean Valjean.
He took note of this.So this man was Jean Valjean.
This point had been conceded to the accusation and could no longer be disputed.
Here，by means of a clever autonomasia which went back to the sources and causes of crime，the district-attorney thundered against the immorality of the romantic school，then dawning under the name of the Satanic school，which had been bestowed upon it by the critics of the Quotidienne and the Oriflamme；he attributed，not without some probability，to the influence of this perverse literature the crime of Champmathieu，or rather，to speak more correctly，of Jean Valjean.
Having exhausted these considerations，he passed on to Jean Valjean himself.Who was this Jean Valjean？
Description of Jean Valjean：
a monster spewed forth，etc.
The model for this sort of description is contained in the tale of Theramene，which is not useful to tragedy，but which every day renders great services to judicial eloquence.The audience and the jury'shuddered.'
The description finished，the district-attorney resumed with an oratorical turn calculated to raise the enthusiasm of the journal of the prefecture to the highest pitch on the following day：
And it is such a man，etc.，etc.，etc.，vagabond，beggar，without means of existence，etc.，etc.，inured by his past life to culpable deeds，and but little reformed by his sojourn in the galleys，as was proved by the crime committed against Little Gervais，etc.，etc.；it is such a man，caught upon the highway in the very act of theft，a few paces from a wall that had been scaled，still holding in his hand the object stolen，who denies the crime，the theft，the climbing the wall；denies everything；denies even his own identity！In addition to a hundred other proofs，to which we will not recur，four witnesses recognize him——Javert，the upright inspector of police；Javert，and three of his former companions in infamy，the convicts Brevet，Chenildieu，and Cochepaille.
What does he offer in opposition to this overwhelming unanimity？
His denial.What obduracy！
You will do justice，gentlemen of the jury，etc.，etc.While the district-attorney was speaking，the accused listened to him open-mouthed，with a sort of amazement in which some admiration was assuredly blended.
He was evidently surprised that a man could talk like that.
From time to time，at those'energetic'moments of the prosecutor's speech，when eloquence which cannot contain itself overflows in a flood of withering epithets and envelops the accused like a storm，he moved his head slowly from right to left and from left to right in the sort of mute and melancholy protest with which he had contented himself since the beginning of the argument.Two or three times the spectators who were nearest to him heard him say in a low voice，'That is what comes of not having asked M.Baloup.'The district-attorney directed the attention of the jury to this stupid attitude，evidently deliberate，which denoted not imbecility，but craft，skill，a habit of deceiving justice，and which set forth in all its nakedness the'profound perversity'of this man.He ended by ****** his reserves on the affair of Little Gervais and demanding a severe sentence.
At that time，as the reader will remember，it was penal servitude for life.
The counsel for the defence rose，began by complimenting Monsieur l'Avocat-General on his'admirable speech，'then replied as best he could；but he weakened；the ground was evidently slipping away from under his feet.
BOOK SEVENTH.——THE CHAMPMATHIEU AFFAIR
Ⅹ THE SYSTEM OF DENIALS
The moment for closing the debate had arrived.
The President had the accused stand up，and addressed to him the customary question，'Have you anything to add to your defence？'