[sergeantdave]

“George III was not a tyrannical old fool in 1776. He was only in his 30s.”

Agreed, but the syphilitic spirochetes had already hollowed out his brain to make him appear as a tyrannical OLD fool.

[Verginius Rufus]

I never heard that George III had syphilis. I think his later insanity had a different cause. I thought his reputation was of being a very devoted husband--unlike a great many monarchs of that period who were known for having many mistresses.

The most recent SAR Magazine has an article by a scholar who spent some time in England going through George III's papers--he was actually very well-read and had some enlightened attitudes, even though that did not manifest itself in his treatment of his North American colonies (for example, rejecting efforts by Virginia to stop the importation of African slaves). I thoroughly approve of the colonies' decision to declare independence (but many of the issues involved actions taken by Parliament, and some of Jefferson's accusations against the king were overstated).