Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/147

 II. The new king had been opposed to Walpole while his father, George I., was living, and Walpole expected to be turned out of office as soon as he came to the throne. Perhaps he would, had not Queen Caroline, a shrewd and wise woman, used her influence with her husband to keep him in his post. George II. was a thorough German, and knew very little more about the English language and the English people than his father. He was a stubborn man, and too fond of war, for he was a brave soldier and a good general. Fortunately his queen had great influence over him, and through her Walpole was able to get the king to do much as he wished.

6. Walpole’s Policy.—The first ten years of George II.’s reign had few stirring events. The nation was kept at peace, and Walpole gave his attention to helping trade and commerce, and to lessening the public debt. He took the duties off a great many articles that came into the country as well as off many that were sent out of it. He allowed the colonies in America to trade with other countries, and by so doing Georgia and Carolina were able to sell their rice in foreign markets. He saw that he could prevent a great deal of smuggling by making goods pay duty when they were sold in the country instead of when they were brought into ports of entry. So in 1733, he brought in an Excise Bill, which aimed at collecting the duties on certain kinds of goods by making them pay a tax when they were sold, instead of when they were brought into the seaports. The first duty is called excise, and the second customs. But Walpole was too much ahead of his time. People were afraid of his scheme, and so great an outcry was raised against the Excise Bill that Walpole, rather than have any bloodshed abandoned it.

Walpole had one weakness which helped to bring about his downfall. He wanted to have all the power of the government in his own hands, and was so jealous of other able men, that he forced them one by one to leave his ministry, until he had for associates none but inferior men who would do his bidding. In this way there grew up gradually a strong ‘‘Opposition” composed of men who had formerly supported him, the leaders of which were Pulteney, Carteret, Chesterfield, and, later on, William Pitt, the grandson of a former governor of Madras. The younger members of this party