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  The Two Kings and their Whig Ministers

The Two Kings and their Whig Ministers

Something must now be said about the two kings, George I and George II, who ruled respectively from 1714-27, and from 1727-60. They cannot be considered very attractive monarchs. A contemporary said of George I that "he had no notion of what was princely "; whilst George II was somewhat coarse, occasionally irritable, and not over-generous -he only made one present to Walpole, who was his minister for fifteen years, and that was a diamond with a flaw in it. Neither of the two kings was interested in science, art, or literature (Through Flora Macdonald's help he escaped to Skye disguised as an Irish spinning-maid. and subsequently got safely to France. In 1750 he revisited England, of course disguised, and " in the new church in the Strand " made a Declaration of his Protestantism). Both of them quarrelled with their eldest sons (George I was so much displeased with his son, the future George II, that he appears to have entertained a suggestion that the son should be seized and sent to America, "where he should never be heard of more"; for Queen Caroline, George II's wife, found in George I's cabinet after his death a letter from the First Lord of the Admiralty containing this proposal). But whilst George I quarrelled also with his wife and kept her in prison for over thirty years, George II was very much attached to Queen Caroline (she died in 1737), who was indeed a remarkable woman, keenly interested in the philosophy and literature of her time, and exercising considerable influence upon politics.

Both George I and George II, however, possessed characteristics which should have appealed to their new subjects. They were keen soldiers. George I began his fighting career at the age of fifteen, and commanded the forces of the Empire for a short period during the War of the Spanish Succession, whilst George II led a great cavalry charge at Oudenarde, and, donning the same old uniform thirty-five years later, fought like a lion at Dettingen. Both kings were veracious and trustworthy, loyal to their friends and not vindictive to their opponents. Moreover, it is very greatly to their credit that, though they were absolute rulers in Hanover, they never overstepped the constitutional limits imposed upon them in Great Britain, and they had the good sense to rely for counsel in British affairs upon their British advisers and not upon any German ministers or favourites. It was hardly to be expected that George I, who came to the throne at the age of fifty-four and did not know a word of English, should understand or care for British politics; he spent half his time in Hanover, and his influence in Great Britain was small. George II, though also devoted to Hanover, knew more of Great Britain, and, as he possessed shrewdness and common sense, was a factor of considerable importance in domestic affairs.

Chronology
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