A King that Could Not Speak the Lan Guage of his Kingdom

George Lewis, Duke of Brunswick, Electro of Han over, came to the throne of England on the death of Queen Anne, 1714, with the title of George I. He was not the nearest heir to the throne, but became king by an Act of Parliament, made some years previous, which secured the succession to the Protestant descendants of the electress of Hanover, in order to cut off the Roman-Catholic house of Stuarts.

George I. never liked England, and the English people never liked him. He could not speak even one word of their language. He was very unkind to his son, and kept his wife in prison for thirty-three years, until her death. It was during his reign that the great monetary crisis took place, known as the South-sea Bubble.

This was a scheme devised by Sir John Blunt, a lawyer, by which it was intended to buy up the national debt of England by securing the sole right of trading in the South Seas.

The bubble burst in 1720, ruining thousands of people. The term is now applied to any scheme which has a plausible promise, but whose collapse would be ruinous to all concerned in it. George I. died June 10, 1727, and was succeeded by his son, George II. His reign was made glorious by many great artists, authors, soldiers, and statesmen. Several important events occurred during his reign: the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, the conquests in India, and a rebellion headed by Charles Edward, grandson of James II., in which the hopes of the Stuarts were forever crushed by the victory of Culloden (q.v.). In 1752 the new method of reckoning time was adopted in England (q.v.).

George II. could speak only very broken English: he died in 1760, and was succeeded by his grandson, George III.

He was the first of the Hanoverian line born on the soil of Great Britain. He reigned sixty years, the longest in the history of England; and many very important events occurred, such as the American Revolution, the French Revolution, etc. The King lost his reason in 1810: and his son, afterwards George IV., was appointed regent; as such, he governed England for ten years. George III. was a man of high moral character, and in his opening speech in Parliament is reported to have said, "I glory in the name of Briton!"

George IV. became King of England in 1820, and reigned ten years from that date.

He was notedly immoral as Prince of Wales, and is said not to have mended his ways after he became king.

He was very unkind to his wife, the Princess Caroline of Brunswick (q.v.), bringing her to trial on charges of which the Parliament declared her not guilty. The death of his lovely daughter, Princess Charlotte, was a great grief to all England; as she was the only heir-apparent to the throne.

George IV. died in 1830, and was succeeded by his brother, William IV. (q.v.). William died in 1837, and was succeeded by his niece, the present Queen Victoria.

The united reigns of the first three Georges cover a period of one hundred and sixteen years.

When we say that George I. could not speak the English language, and that George II. spoke it very brokenly, we really mean that these German kings had nothing in common with the English people. What, then, ruled them so well for so many years? The excellent English "Constitution."