Nor was this the only cause leading to low political morality. The reigning King was a foreigner in all his habits and in all his tastes. He was surrounded by a Hanoverian court, who regarded England as an instrument for the aggrandizement of Hanover, and formed a centre for all intrigues to win the royal favour at the expense of patriotism. It is strange, indeed, that their influence was less directly felt in English politics, and it is perhaps owing to those very Hanoverian predilections of the King, which are so often urged against him, that their influence was not greater. He was so thoroughly German in language and in thought, he was so incapable of comprehending the English Constitution and manners, that his real interests were entirely centred on his Hanoverian dominions, and in all matters in which they were not concerned he left England to work out its own revolution, and was compelled, moreover, to throw himself wholly into the hands of that party on whom the revolution rested, and with whom it was a matter of life and death to secure the completion of that revolution, and to maintain the security of the Parliamentary King. It was fortunate that that party was guided by the wisdom of Walpole. That jealousy of power which was his chief weakness was itself an advantage, since it tended to exclude from power the Tory party, and gave a united character to the Government, which proved the hopelessness of success to all who did not accept it. GEORGE II. 1727-1760. Born 1683=Caroline of Anspach. | +----------------+--------+-----------+---------------+ | | | | | Frederick=Augusta William Anne=Prince Mary=Landgrave Louisa= d. 1751. of Saxe- Duke of of Orange of Hesse- Frederick V. | Gotha Cumberland. Cassel. of Denmark. | d. 1765. George III. CONTEMPORARY PRINCES. _France._ | _Austria._ | _Spain._ | Louis XV., 1715.| Charles VI., 1711. | Philip V., 1700. | | Charles VII., 1742. | Ferdinand VI., 1746.| | Maria Theresa, 1745.| Charles III., 1759. | | _Prussia._ | Frederick William, 1713. | Frederick the Great, 1740. _Russia._ | _Denmark._ | _Sweden._ Peter II., 1727. | Frederick IV., 1699. | Frederick I., 1720. Anne, 1730. | Christian VI., 1730. | Adolphus, 1751. Ivan VI., 1740. | Frederick V., 1746. | Elizabeth, 1741. | =POPES.--=Benedict XIII., 1724. Clement XII., 1730. Benedict XIV., 1740. Clement XIII., 1758.