Vile comparison

In his memoirs, Barére recalls the following incident:

“Robespierre, talking of [Saint-Just] in the Comité, said familiarly and in a way to talk about your closest friends: ‘Saint-Just is taciturn and observant, but I have noticed, as for his looks, he has much resemblance with Charles IX [French king 1560-1574].’ That did not much blandish Saint-Just, who was more profound and more able to revolutionise than was Robespierre.”