Editing George II of Great Britain (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:George II statue 1.jpg|thumb|alt=Weathered statue in Roman garb|Statue by [[John Van Nost]] erected in 1753 in [[Golden Square]], London<ref>Van der Kiste, between pp. 150 and 151.</ref>]]
[[File:Columbia University.jpg|thumb|alt=a tree in front of a dome-roofed building with people sitting on its front steps|[[Columbia University]] in New York was founded by [[royal charter]] in 1754 as King's College.]]
George donated the royal library to the [[British Museum]] in 1757, four years after the museum's foundation.<ref>Black, ''George II'', pp. 68, 127.</ref> He had no interest in reading,<ref>Black, ''George II'', p. 127; Thompson, pp. 97–98; Trench, p. 153.</ref> or in the arts and sciences, and preferred to spend his leisure hours stag-hunting on horseback or playing cards.<ref>Black, ''George II'', p. 128; Trench, pp. 140, 152.</ref> In 1737, he founded the [[Georg August University of Göttingen]], the first university in the [[Electorate of Hanover]], and visited it in 1748.<ref>Black, ''George II'', p. 128.</ref> The asteroid [[359 Georgia]] was named in his honour at the university in 1902. He served as the [[Chancellor of the University of Dublin]] between 1716 and 1727; and in 1754 issued the charter for [[Columbia College (New York)|King's College]] in New York City, which later became [[Columbia University]]. The [[province of Georgia]], founded by royal charter in 1732, was named after him.<ref>Thompson, p. 96.</ref>

During George II's reign British interests expanded throughout the world, the Jacobite challenge to the Hanoverian dynasty was extinguished, and the power of ministers and Parliament in Britain became well-established. Nevertheless, in the memoirs of contemporaries such as [[John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey|Lord Hervey]] and [[Horace Walpole]], George is depicted as a weak buffoon, governed by his wife and ministers.<ref>Black, ''George II'', pp. 255–257.</ref> Biographies of George written during the nineteenth and first part of the twentieth century relied on these biased accounts.<ref>Black, ''George II'', pp. 257–258.</ref> Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, scholarly analysis of surviving correspondence has indicated that George was not as ineffective as previously thought.<ref>Black, ''George II'', pp. 258–259.</ref> Letters from ministers are annotated by George with pertinent remarks and demonstrate that he had a grasp of and interest in foreign policy in particular.<ref>Black, ''George II'', pp. 144–146; Cannon; Trench, pp. 135–136.</ref> He was often able to prevent the appointment of ministers or commanders he disliked, or sideline them into lesser offices.<ref>Black, ''George II'', p. 195.</ref> This academic reassessment, however, has not completely eliminated the popular perception of George II as a "faintly ludicrous king".<ref>Best, p. 71.</ref> His parsimony, for example, may have opened him to ridicule, though his biographers observe that parsimony is preferable to extravagance.<ref>Black, ''George II'', p. 82; Trench, p. 300; ''Lord Waldegrave's Memoirs'' quoted in Trench, p. 270.</ref> [[James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont|Lord Charlemont]] excused George's short temper by explaining that sincerity of feeling is better than deception, "His temper was warm and impetuous, but he was good-natured and sincere. Unskilled in the royal talent of dissimulation, he always was what he appeared to be. He might offend, but he never deceived."<ref>Charlemont quoted in Cannon and Trench, p. 299.</ref> Lord Waldegrave wrote, "I am thoroughly convinced that hereafter, when time shall have wore away those specks and blemishes which sully the brightest characters, and from which no man is totally exempt, he will be numbered amongst those patriot kings, under whose government the people have enjoyed the greatest happiness".<ref>Quoted in Trench, p. 270.</ref> George may not have played a major role in history, but he was influential at times and he upheld constitutional government.<ref>Black, ''George II'', p. 138; Cannon; Trench, p. 300.</ref> [[Elizabeth Montagu]] said of him, "With him our laws and liberties were safe, he possessed in a great degree the confidence of his people and the respect of foreign governments; and a certain steadiness of character made him of great consequence in these unsettled times&nbsp;... His character would not afford subject for epic poetry, but will look well in the sober page of history."<ref>Quoted in Black, ''George II'', p. 254.</ref>