Discover the Best Books Written by The Earl Of Chesterfield

Philip Dormer, Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773), was a British politician and diplomat. He was best known for the publication after his death of the Letters to his Son (London, J Dodsley, 1774). The son in question, Philip Stanhope, was illegitimate, and Chesterfield saw him infrequently but was determined he should become successful in the fields of politics and diplomacy. 

Most of the letters were written while his son was touring Europe, accompanied by his tutor. He advised him on how to be well-mannered and pleasing and to charm both men and women. The letters were both celebrated and infamous: pious readers were offended by his cynical emphasis on external show and neglect of religion and morality. 

The younger Philip Stanhope died at the age of 36, and Lord Chesterfield was surprised to find that he had married an illegitimate Irish girl, Eugenia Peters, and fathered two sons. His son’s wife published the Letters after Chesterfield’s death as a money-making venture: she sold the copyright to Dodsley for the large sum of 1,500 guineas. They were hugely popular: eleven editions appeared by 1800, and they were also printed in Paris, Amsterdam, and Leipzig.

In 1715, Philip Dormer Stanhope entered the House of Commons as Lord Stanhope of Shelford and as a member of 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 try out the result of his rhetorical studies. His maiden speech was fluent and dogmatic, but upon its conclusion, another member, after first complimenting the speech, reminded the young orator that he was still six weeks short of his age of majority and consequently 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. While in Paris, he sent the government valuable information about the developing Jacobite plot, and in 1716, he returned to Britain, resumed his seat, and became known as a skilled yet tactful debater. When King George I quarreled with his son, the Prince of Wales (George II) the same year, Lord Stanhope remained politically faithful to the Prince but was careful not to break with the King's party.

However, his continued friendly correspondence with the Prince's mistress, Henrietta Howard, later Countess of Suffolk, earned Chesterfield the personal hatred of the Prince's wife, Princess Caroline of Ansbach. In 1723, he was voted 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 honor.

Upon his father's death in 1726, Lord Stanhope assumed his seat in the House of Lords and became the 4th Earl of Chesterfield. The new Lord Chesterfield's inclination towards oration, often seen as ineffective in the House of Commons because of its polish and lack of force, was met with appreciation in the House of Lords and won many to his side. 

In 1728, under service to the new king, George II, Chesterfield was sent to the Hague as ambassador, where his gentle tact and linguistic dexterity served him well. As a reward for his diplomatic service, Chesterfield received the Order of the Garter in 1730, the position of Lord Steward, and the friendship of Robert Walpole.