The second King George, who was also of German birth, was much like his father, though he had the advantage of being able to speak English readily, but with a strong German accent.  His tastes were far from being refined and he bluntly declared, “I don’t like Boetry, and I don’t like Bainting.”  His wife, Queen Caroline, was an able woman.  She possessed the happy art of ruling her husband without his suspecting it, while she, on the other hand, was ruled by Sir Robert Walpole, whom the King hated, but whom he had to keep as Prime Minister (SS534, 538).  George II was a good soldier, and decidedly preferred war to peace; but Walpole saw clearly that the peace policy was best for the nation, and he and the Queen managed to persuaded the King not to draw the sword.

541.  The War of Jenkins’s Ear (1739).

At the end of twelve years, however, trouble arose with Spain.  According to the London newspapers of that day, a certain Captain Jenkins, while cruising, or, more probably, smuggling, in the West Indies, had been seized by the Spaniards and barbarously maltreated.  They, if we accept his tory, accused him of attempting to land English goods contrary to law, and searched his ship.  Finding nothing against him, they vented their rage and disappointment by hanging him to the yardarm of his vessel until he was nearly dead.

They then tore off one of his ears, and bade him take it to the King of England with their compliments.  Jenkins, it is said, carefully wrapped up his ear and put it in his pocket.  When he reached England, he went straight to the House of Commons, drew out the mutilated ear, showed it to the House, and demanded justice.

The Spanish restrictions on English trade with the Indies and South America[1] had long been a source of ill feeling.  The sight of Jenkins’s ear brought matters to a climax; even Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, could not resist the clamor for vengeance, and contrary to his own judgment he had to vote for war (S538).

[1] By the Treaty of Utrecht one English ship was allowed to carry slaves once a year to the colonies of Spanish America (S512, note 1).

Though Jenkins was the occasion, the real object of the war was to compel Spain to permit the English to get a larger share in the lucrative commerce, especially the slave trade, with the New World.  It was another proof that America was now rapidly becoming an important factor in he politics of Great Britain (SS421, 422).

The announcement of hostilities with Spain was received in London with delight, and bells pealed from every steeple.  “Yes,” said Walpole,” they may ring the bells now, but before long they will be wringing their hands.”  This prediction was verified by the heavy losses the English suffered in an expedition against the Spanish settlement of Carthagena, South America.  But later the British commander, Commodore Anson, inflicted great damage on the Spanish colonies, and returned to England with vessels laden with large amounts of captured silver.