Fox merely tried in reply to keep Pitt at bay, so he said little of the treaties, but seems to have attacked his rival with some acrimony. He recalled all the treasonable songs and pamphlets of the former Opposition, all directed by Pitt, no doubt for the good of the country! But he could never forgive any man who had the heart to conceive, the head to contrive, and the hand to execute so much mischief. 'The right honourable gentleman professes pride at acting with some here; I am proud of acting with so many! But because he wishes that Hanover should be separated from England, is it wise to act as if it were already separated?' The legions once more prevailed, and approved both treaties by 289 to 121. [Sidenote: Dec. 15, 1755.] If Pitt was held to have been below himself in this debate, he was considered to have surpassed himself, when the treaties came up on report three days afterwards, in a speech 'of most admirable and ready wit that flashed from him for the space of an hour and a half, accompanied with action that would have added reputation to Garrick.' He denounced Murray for attempting to hide the points at issue in a cloud of words. But in fact these treaties from simple questions had become all things to all men, as a conjuror plays with a pack of cards, passing them in turn to each spectator, receiving and keeping the money of all. Then he turned to Russia. 'Let us consider this Northern Star, that will not shine with any light of its own, but requires to be rubbed up into lustre; for could Russia, without our assistance, support her own troops? She will not prove a Star of the Wise Men, yet they must approach her with presents. The real Wise Man "Quæ desperat tractata nitescere posse relinquit." 'By this measure you are throwing Prussia into the arms of France. What can Frederick answer if France proposes to march an army into Germany? If he refuses to join her will she not threaten to leave him at the mercy of Russia? This is one of the effects of our sage negotiations--not to mention that we have wasted ten or eleven millions in subsidies. 'Shall we not set the impossibility of our carrying on so extensive a war against the contention that his Majesty's honour is engaged? Our Ministers foresaw our ill-success at sea, and prudently laid a nest-egg for a war on the Continent. We have as an inducement to engage in this war been referred to the examples of Greece and Carthage. These ancient histories, no doubt, furnish ample matter for declamation. It is long since I read them, but I think I recollect enough to show how inapplicable they are to our present circumstances. Suppose Thebes and Sparta and the other Greek Commonwealths fallen from their former power, would Athens have gone on alone and paid all the rest? No, Athens put herself on board her fleet to fight where she could be superior, and so recovered her land.'