An aspect of European diplomacy in the mid-eighteenth century: The diplomatic career of the Fourth Earl of Rochford at Turin, Madrid, and Paris, 1749-1768

摘要

This thesis represents the first detailed investigation into the career of a neglected British statesman of the 18th century. Much new material, including hitherto undiscovered letters, has been used to complement official sources. The aim of the thesis has been to reconstruct, as fully as the surviving evidence permits, the full range of Rochford1s work as a diplomat, with a view to assessing his capacity and suitability to direct British foreign policy as Secretary of State after 1768. It is held that a study embracing routine work and lesser negotiations presents a fairer picture than one which examines only crises or major negotiations where vital circumstances often lie outside the individual's control. As a career biography, this study is riot intended to be 'diplomatic history' in the usually accepted sense, but only a narrowly prescribed aspect thereof. Rochford is revealed to have been an exceptionally diligent and well-motivated diplomat, his main strengths being; careful attention to detail; thorough preparation even for minor cases an ability to