(1694-1773)
As the best representative of a creditable type among English noblemen
in the reign of George II.,--an accomplished courtier, a diplomatic
statesman worthy of reliance on occasions of emergency, a scholar, and
a patron of literature,--Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of
Chesterfield, occupied a prominent place in the history of his country
for more than forty years. He was the eldest son of Philip, third earl,
and was born at London in 1694. Most of his boyhood was spent under the
care of his grandmother, the Marchioness of Halifax. When eighteen, he
was entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, and became "an excellent
classical scholar." The principal events in his public career were his
election to Parliament in his twenty-first year; his appointment as
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard in return for a political vote; his
selection for special service as Ambassador to The Hague after his
succession to the family title; his appointment as Lord High Steward,
with the Garter, as a reward for his success in Holland; his expulsion
from that position by Horace Walpole for political disobedience in
opposing an excise bill; his second successful mission to The Hague; his
selection, as a reward, for the responsible post of Viceroy in Ireland,
and subsequently his resignation and acceptance of office as Secretary
of State, this latter appointment being taken when the Earl had reached
his fiftieth year. Chesterfield was first a warm friend, then a bitter
enemy of Horace Walpole. He also antagonized George II., but that
monarch finally succumbed to diplomatic treatment at his hands and
offered his former antagonist a dukedom, which was courteously declined.
In his fifty-eighth year, partial deafness caused him to withdraw almost
wholly from public affairs. In diplomacy, his successful missions to The
Hague made him strong with officials in power. His ability as a
statesman was shown to great advantage in a firm yet popular
administration of Irish affairs during a critical period in Irish
history. As a patron of literature, Dr. Samuel Johnson deemed him a
distinct failure, and expressed this opinion forcibly to that effect in
his celebrated letter. His literary reputation rests chiefly on letters
addressed to his natural son Philip, who died in his thirty-sixth year,
greatly to his father's disappointment, he having looked forward to a
great career for the young man. His letters of counsel and advice were
to that end; oddly, they left the recipient still shy, awkward,
tactless, and immature. These epistles, not intended for public perusal,
were subsequently printed in book form.
The Earl of Chesterfield died in 1773. Four years after his death,
'Miscellaneous Works' were published in two volumes, also 'Characters.'
'The Art of Pleasing' and 'Letters to His Heir' appeared ten years from
the date of his decease, and this was followed, a few months later, by
'Memoirs of Asiaticus.'
[Illustration: CHESTERFIELD.]