Egmont had argued that we were to have the Hessian and Russian mercenaries to fall back upon in case our fleets were defeated. Why if that were so, asked Pitt, did we not hire of Russia ships rather than men? The answer was simple: because ships could not defend Hanover. Must we drain, he asked, presumably in obscure allusion to Russia, our last vital drop and send it to the North Pole? We had been told that Carthage was undone in spite of her navy. But that was not until she betook herself to land operations. Carthage, too, he added, pointing directly to the enterprises of Cumberland, had a Hannibal who would pass the Alps. We were told, too, that we must assist Hanover out of justice and gratitude. As to justice, there was a charter which barred any such consideration. Gratitude was only in question if Hanover should be involved in anything which called down on her the resentment of France in consequence of any quarrel of ours. But, to speak plainly, these expressions were unparliamentary and unconstitutional. The King owed a duty to his people which should not be obscured by such phraseology. Our ancestors would never have stooped to such adulation. Then he turned with the greatest contempt to Sir George Lyttelton: 'A gentleman near me has talked of writers on the law of Nations. But Nature is the best writer; she will teach us to be men and not to truckle to power.' As he proceeded, he slowly swelled into his famous burst. 'I, who am at a distance from the _sanctum sanctorum_--I, who travel through a desert and am overwhelmed with mountains of obscurity--cannot so easily catch a gleam to direct me to the beauties of these negotiations. For there are parts of this Address which do not seem to come from the same quarter as the rest. I cannot unravel this mystery. But, yes!' he exclaimed with an air of sudden enlightenment, clapping his hand to his forehead, 'I too am now inspired. I am struck by a recollection. I remember at Lyons to have been taken to see the conflux of the Rhone and the Saône. The one is a gentle, feeble, languid stream, and, though languid, of no depth; the other a boisterous and impetuous torrent. Yet they meet at last. And long,' he added, with bitter sarcasm, 'may they continue united, to the comfort of each other, and to the glory, honour, and security of this nation.'