George the Second’s Reign, from 1727 to 1760.

On the death of Queen Anne, the National Debt amounted to £52,145,363; but though her successor enjoyed a period of uninterrupted tranquillity, no effort appears to have been made to reduce it. On the 31st of December, 1727, the principal amounted to £52,092,235; the interest to £2,219,551. The aggregate sum which passed into the Exchequer of George I., during a reign of twelve years, three months, and ten days, amounted to £79,832,160. The revenue at the time of his death amounted to £4,162,643.

The prosperous state of the country, for the first twelve years of profound peace at the commencement of this reign, might have admitted of a considerable reduction of the debt, had not Sir Robert Walpole, a profligate statesman, been minister. Instead of expending the surplus revenue in the liquidation of the debt, it was employed in parliamentary corruption. During ten years, from 1707 to 1717, secret service money amounted only to £337,960. From 1731 to 1741 it cost the nation £1,453,400. This augmentation is ascribed to the increased pay Sir Robert gave to the honourable members for their votes and speeches in support of his administration. The whole of the debt paid off in this long peace, amounted only to £5,137,612, the interest of which was £253,516.

The wars of George II. commenced in 1739, and were concluded at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748. The total expense of these contests is estimated, by Dr. Colquhoun, at £46,418,680. The nation gained nothing by all this expenditure of treasure. The war originally arose with Spain: that nation claiming the right of searching all English vessels navigating the American seas. This subject, which formed the ground of the war, was never mentioned at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle no more than the right of search, which originated the war with the United States of America, was mentioned at the treaty of Ghent. The only advantage the English gained was the glory of placing Maria Theresa, grand duchess of Tuscany, on the throne of Germany, in opposition to the King of Prussia.

In the interval of peace, to the commencement of war in 1755, there was a trifling reduction of the debt to the amount of £3,721,472, and the interest of the capital was reduced from 4 to 3 per cent.

The expense of the second war, called the seven years’ war, amounted to £111,271,996. This contest first commenced about the respective boundaries of the French and English in the deserts of Canada. It has been called the war of catskins—the possession of a few furs being really the object which involved the two countries in hostilities. On this frivolous pretext commenced a war then unexampled in magnitude and expense; its ravages extended to Europe, and even to the other side of the globe in the East Indies. It is worthy of remark, too, that on the continent, George II. took the part diametrically opposite to the part he had taken in the former contest. The war of 1740 was for the humiliation of the King of Prussia; the war of 1755 for his aggrandizement!

It will be proper to notice particularly the state of the debt, finances, and peace establishment at the conclusion of this reign. They are thus stated by Dr. Colquhoun:—