No prince, says Coxe, ever ascended a throne under more critical circumstances, and with less appearances of a quiet reign, than George the First; whether we consider the state of the European powers, the situation of parties in Great Britain, or his own character. As to the latter, he was ill calculated by nature, disposition, and habit to reconcile the then jarring parties, and remove the unfavourable impressions which it was natural for all people to entertain of a foreigner, destined to rule over them. He was already fifty-four years of age, and had been long habituated to a court of a very different description from that of England, and to manners and customs wholly repugnant to those of his new subjects. He was easy and familiar only in his hours of relaxation, and to those alone who formed his usual society; not fond of attracting notice, phlegmatic and grave in his public deportment, hating the splendour of majesty, shunning crowds, and fatigued even with the first acclamations of the multitude. This natural reserve was heightened by his ignorance of the language, of the first principles of the English constitution, and of the spirit and temper of the people. It was currently reported, before his arrival, that measures were preparing to evade the laws which excluded foreigners from honours and employments. He had several mistresses, of whom two the most favoured were expected to accompany him to England, with a numerous train of Hanoverian followers, eager to share the spoils of the _promised land_; to set up a court within a court, and an interest opposite to the true interest of England. It was also maliciously circulated that he was indifferent to his own succession, and scarcely willing to stretch out a hand to grasp the crown within his reach. “But, adds the same writer, he had excellent qualities for a sovereign, plainness of manners, simplicity of character, and benignity of temper; great application to business, extreme exactness in distributing his time, the strictest economy in regulating his revenue; and, notwithstanding his military skill and tried valour, _a love of peace_; virtues, however, which required time before they were appreciated, and not of that specious cast to captivate the multitude, or raise the tide of popularity.”—Such was our first sovereign of the present family. {894}