Augustus George II., son of the preceding and of Sophia Dorothea, born in Hanover, Oct. 30, 1683, died in Kensington palace, Oct. 25, 1760. Little is known of his early history, except that he was neglected by his father, and was brought up by his grandmother, the elec-tress Sophia. He visited Holland in 1699, and in 1705 married Wilhelmina Dorothea Caroline, daughter of the margrave of Brandenburg-Anspach, a woman of marked character and superior talent. The next year he was made a peer of England, his chief title being duke of Cambridge, with precedence over the peerage. He made the campaign of 1708 under the duke of Marlborough, and conducted himself with great bravery at the battle of Oudenarde, having his horse shot under him. In the opposite ranks, and showing equal valor, was the pretender, son of James II. He accompanied his father to England in 1714, and was proclaimed prince of Wales on Sept. 22. The quarrel between father and son broke out soon, and they hated each other cordially. The prince had been preferred by the electress Sophia to her own son, and was attached to his mother, two causes that sufficed to increase his father's original dislike of him. He was, moreover, seized upon as an instrument of political intrigue against his father.

The king also hated the princess of Wales, and was jealous of her popularity. So vindictive was his feeling that he entertained a proposition, made by the earl of Berkeley, to carry off the prince to America, there to be so disposed of as never to trouble his father again. When the prince left St. James's palace, at the close of 1717, the king sought to deprive him of all control of his children; and the matter being referred to the judges, 10 of the 12 decided in his favor. A sort of reconciliation was effected in 1720, through Walpole's influence. When he ascended the throne, George II. endeavored to transfer power to the hands of Sir Spencer Compton, but his incapacity was so evident that Walpole retained his place, the more easily as he was supported by Queen Caroline. The coronation took place Oct. 11, 1727. The history of the first 14 years of the reign of George II. is that of the struggle of Walpole and the opposition, the fiercest civil political contest, unstained- by blood, that England has ever known. The hopes that had been entertained of Walpole's overthrow as a consequence of the death of George I. had been disappointed, and that great minister's power was now fixed on a firm basis.

The new parliament contained an overwhelming ministerial majority, and the king soon became strongly attached to the minister both on personal and political grounds. The royal avarice was gratified and the royal ease consulted by the minister, and hence the king supported the latter with all his influence; but the support he received from the queen, who governed her husband without his knowing it, was of greater importance. George II. was as fond of Hanover as his father had been, and visited it often, to the disgust of his English subjects. He hated his son Frederick, prince of Wales, as bitterly as he had himself been hated by his father, and the queen shared his feelings in that respect. Frederick was not allowed to visit England till 1728. The prince long bore the king's parsimony and harsh treatment without complaint, and perhaps would have done so to the last if it had not been for the interest of the opposition to make him acquainted with his political importance, and to stir him to resentment, because the king supported Walpole personally.

The first great act of this reign was the treaty of Seville, concluded in 1729, between England, France, Spain, and Holland, which was very advantageous to England, and by which Spain silently acquiesced in the English possession of Gibraltar. Walpole quarrelled with his colleague Townshend in 1730, and the latter resigned office and retired altogether from public life. Walpole was supreme in the cabinet, and appears to have been disposed to make some improvements in the laws and to correct abuses; but the virulence with which all his measures were opposed in parliament compelled him to be cautious. In 1729 and 1730 a committee of parliament investigated the condition of prisons, and secured some important reforms. In 1731 the use of Latin in the courts of justice was discontinued, and English substituted. The sinking fund, which Walpole himself had aided to establish, was so encroached upon that it soon ceased to be of any value. The great contest on the excise question was the most remarkable incident of the first half of the reign. The mere report of the intention to introduce a scheme of general excise caused alarm, and the opposition, which had been reduced very low, immediately became vigorous.

The battle was fought with ability and courage on both sides, and though in some of its stages the ministerial majorities were 60, they finally fell to 16, in a house of commons which had given Walpole almost 200 majority on other questions. The bill was then withdrawn, greatly to the satisfaction of the people. The king was as much beaten as the minister, and they revenged themselves by dismissing from office, or from sinecure places, a number of distinguished noblemen who had been prominent in opposing the measure, the chief of whom was Lord Chesterfield. A new quarrel broke out in Europe in 1733 in regard to the Polish succession. Walpole maintained the neutrality of England even in spite of the king's preference for war, and finally won the king to his policy; and under the mediation of England peace was concluded in 1735. The election of 1734 resulted in the return of a strong Walpolian majority. The opposition sought the repeal of the test act, and were beaten by 128 majority. The gin act, which sought to do something to lessen drunkenness, was passed in 1736. The prince of Wales was married in 1736, and the question of his income afforded the opposition means to annoy the ministry, and caused the quarrel between father and son to become bitterer than ever.