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Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield PC KG (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, and man of letters, and wit. He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Chesterfield, and Lady Elizabeth Savile, and known as Lord Stanhope until the death of his father, in 1726. After being educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he went on the Grand Tour of the Continent, to complete his education as a nobleman, by exposure to the cultural legacies of Classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to become acquainted with his aristocratic counterparts and the polite society of Continental Europe. In the course of his post-graduate tour of Europe, the death of Queen Anne (r. 1702–1707) and the accession of King George I (r. 1714–1727) opened a political career for Lord Stanhope, and he returned to England. In the British political spectrum, Lord Stanhope was a Whig, and entered government service, as a courtier to the King, by the mentorship of his relative, James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, the King's favourite minister, who procured his appointment as Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales. ==Political career== In 1715, Philip Dormer Stanhope entered the House of Commons as Lord Stanhope of Shelford and as member for St Germans. Later, when the impeachment of James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde came before the House, he used the occasion (5 August 1715) to put to proof his old rhetorical studies. His maiden speech was youthfully fluent and dogmatic; but on his conclusion, another member, with compliments aforehand, reminded the orator Lord Stanhope that he was six weeks short of his age of majority, and, consequently, was liable to a fine of £500 for speaking in the House; Lord Stanhope left the House of Commons with a low bow and set out for the Continent. From Paris, he sent the government valuable information about the Jacobite plot; and in 1716 he returned to Britain, resumed his seat, and was known as a debater. In that year, King George I quarreled with his son, the Prince of Wales (George II). In that matter, Lord Stanhope's political instincts obliged him to worship the rising rather than the setting sun, and he remained politically faithful to the Prince, while being careful not to break with the King's party. Moreover, his friendly terms with the Prince's mistress, Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk, and their correspondence, earned Chesterfield the personal hatred of the Princess of Wales, Caroline of Ansbach. In 1723, a vote for the government got him the place of Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners. In January 1725, on the revival of the Order of the Bath, the red ribbon was offered to him, but Chesterfield declined the honour. Upon assuming his seat in the House of Lords, Lord Chesterfield the orator met with acceptance and success. What had been ineffective in the House of Commons, was suddenly appreciated by educated men. In 1728, he was sent to the Hague as ambassador. Chesterfield's tact and temper, dexterity and discrimination, enabled him to do good diplomatic service, for which he was rewarded with Robert Walpole's friendship, the Order of the Garter in 1730, and the position of Lord Steward. In 1732, there was born to him, by Mlle Madelina Elizabeth du Bouchet, the son, Philip, for whose advice and instruction at Westminster School Chesterfield wrote the ''Letters to his Son''. He was the British envoy in Den Haag, when the second Treaty of Vienna (1731) was signed, which then allowed the Anglo-Austrian Alliance. In 1732, ill-health and a reduced personal fortune cast a shadow over Chesterfield's resignation as ambassador, so he returned to Britain. Moreover, Chesterfield's cook, Vincent la Chapelle, accepted a post at the court of William IV of Orange. A few months' rest enabled him to resume his seat in the Lords, of which he was one of the acknowledged leaders. He supported the ministry, but his allegiance was not the blind fealty Walpole exacted of his followers. The Excise Bill, the great premier's favourite measure, was vehemently opposed by him in the Lords, and by his three brothers in the Commons. Walpole bent before the storm and abandoned the measure; but Chesterfield was summarily dismissed from his stewardship. For the next two years he led the opposition in the Upper House, leaving no stone unturned to effect Walpole's downfall. During this time, he resided in Grosvenor Square and got involved in the creation of a new London charity called the Foundling Hospital for which he was a founding governor. In 1741 he signed the protest for Walpole's dismissal and went abroad on account of his health. He visited Voltaire at Brussels and spent some time in Paris, where he associated with the younger Crebillon, Fontenelle and Montesquieu. In 1742 Walpole fell, and Carteret was his real, though not his nominal successor. Although Walpole's administration had been overthrown largely by Chesterfield's efforts the new ministry did not count Chesterfield either in its ranks or among its supporters. He remained in opposition, distinguishing himself by the courtly bitterness of his attacks on George II, who learned to hate him violently. In 1743 a new journal, ''Old England; or, the Constitutional Journal'' appeared. For this paper Chesterfield wrote under the name of "Jeffrey Broadbottom." A number of pamphlets, in some of which Chesterfield had the help of Edmund Waller, followed. His energetic campaign against George II and his government won the gratitude of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, who left him £20,000 as a mark of her appreciation. In 1744 the king was compelled to abandon Carteret, and the coalition for "Broad Bottom" party, led by Chesterfield and Pitt, came into office in coalition with the Pelhams. In the troubled state of European politics the Earl's conduct and experience were more useful abroad than at home, and he was sent to The Hague as ambassador a second time. The object of his mission was to persuade the Dutch to join in the War of the Austrian Succession and to arrange the details of their assistance. The success of his mission was complete; and on his return a few weeks afterwards he received the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, a place he had long coveted. Short as it was, January 1745 to November 1746, Chesterfield's appointment as Viceroy of Ireland was effective; he repressed the jobbery traditional to the office, and established schools and manufactures. He conciliated and kept in check the Whig and pro-Jacobite factions; as a result Irish Jacobites did not assist the Jacobite rising of 1745. Responding to a false alarm of a rebellion, and being told that ‘the papists in Ireland are all up,’ he replied: ‘I am not surprised at it, why, it is ten o’clock, I should have been up too, had I not overslept myself.’ He is best remembered today for being the first official to allow Dubliners to roam in the Phoenix Park, and for installing the central "Phoenix Monument", a phoenix bird on a Corinthian column.〔See: ''The Irish Aesthete'' website, November 2012.〕 The 2.8 mile main road through the park is still known as Chesterfield Avenue. In 1746, however, he had to exchange the lord-lieutenancy for the place of Secretary of State. With a curious respect for those theories his familiarity with the secret social history of France had caused him to entertain, he hoped and attempted to retain a hold over the king through the influence of Lady Yarmouth, though the futility of such means had already been demonstrated to him by his relations with Queen Caroline's "ma bonne Howard." The influence of Newcastle and Sandwich, however, was too strong for him; he was thwarted and over-reached; and in 1748 he resigned the seals, and returned to cards and his books with the admirable composure which was one of his most striking characteristics. He denied any knowledge of the ''Apology for a late Resignation'', in a ''Letter from an English Gentleman to his Friend at The Hague'', which ran through four editions in 1748, but there is little doubt that he was, at least in part, the author. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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