territory called the Palatinate in Victoria western Germany, on the Rhine.  I +Elector of Hanover:  a prince ruling over the Edward VII province of Hanover, a part of the German I Empire, lying on the North Sea.  The elector George V received his title from the fact that he was one of a certain number of princes who had the right of electing the German Emperor.

533.  Character of the New King.

The new sovereign was a selfish, coarse old man, who in private life would, as Lady Montagu said, have passed for an honest blockhead.  He neither knew anything about England, nor did he desire to know anything of it.  He could not speak a word of the language of the country he was called to govern, and he made no attempt to learn it; even the coronation service had to be explained to him as best it might, in such broken Latin as the ministers could muster.

Laboring under these disadvantages he wisely declined to take any active part in the affairs of the nation.  He trusted everything to his Whig friends (S532) and let them, with Sir Robert Walpole at their head, manage the country in their own way.

Forunately, the great body of the English people were abundantly able to take care of themselves.  A noted French writer said of them that they resembled a barrel of their own beer, froth at the top, dregs at the bottom, but thoroughly sound and wholesome in the middle.  It was this middle class, with their solid practical good sense, that kept the nation right.

They were by no means enthusiastic worshipers of the German King who had come to reign over them, but they saw that he had three good qualities:  he was no hypocrite, he did not waste the people’s money, and he was a man of unquestioned courage.  But they also saw more than this, for they realized that though George I might be as heavy, dull, and wooden as the figurehead of an old-fashioned ship, yet, like that figurehead, he stood for something greater and better than himself,—­ for he represented Protestantism, with civil and religious liberty,—­ and so the people gave him their allegiance.

534.  Rise of Cabinet Government; the First Prime Minister.

The present method of Cabinet Government dates in great part from this reign.  From the earliest period of English history the sovereign was accustomed to have a permanent council composed of some of the chief men of the realm, whom he consulted on all matters of importance (SS144, 145).  Charles II, either because he found this body inconveniently large for the rapid transaction of business, or because he believed it inexpedient to discuss his plans with so many, selected a small confidential committee from it (S476).  This committee met to consult with the King in his cabinet, or private room, and so came to be called “the Cabinet Council,” or briefly, “the Cabinet,” a name which it has ever since retained.