Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/556

 4i6 General History oj Europe He did not attend the meetings of his ministers, as his predeces- sors had done, and turned over the management of affairs to the Whig leaders. They found a skillful "boss" and a judicious A NOBLE FAMILY OF THE OLD REGIME Extravagance in dress, of which the men were as guilty as the women, was largely due to the influence of court life statesman in Sir Robert Walpole, who maintained his own power and that of his party by avoiding war and preventing religious dissensions at home. He used the king's funds to buy the votes necessary to maintain the Whig majority in the House of Com- mons and to get his measures through that body.