Abstract
A wide-ranging study based on an interesting selection of British archival material, this is an account of a figure of significance in the military and diplomatic world as Britain became the great power. The younger brother of Lord Castlereagh, the key figure in British foreign policy in the 1810s, Stewart (1778–1854) ended up as the third Marquess of Londonderry, and I passed his domineering equestrian statue every day when I taught at the University of Durham from 1980 to 1995. Payne is concerned to emphasize the significance of his subject and does so ably, and although he has used published Austrian secret police reports, he has unfortunately not had an opportunity to triangulate Stewart by considering unpublished foreign diplomatic sources. Given that they frequently commented on envoys, this is a pity as it would have been useful to see how far Payne’s positive assessment was more generally shared.
Leaving Eton in 1794, Charles Stewart was sent first to join the British army in the Low Countries, moving on to the unsuccessful Quiberon Bay expedition in 1795, before being attached to the Austrian army in 1795–6. Severely wounded again in 1799 while serving in Holland, Stewart became an MP and in 1803 was made an ADC to George III and promoted to colonel. In 1805, he published a call for reform, Suggestions for the Improvement of the Military Force of the British Empire and in 1806 became Undersecretary for War and the Colonies. Keen for action, Stewart was sent to the Peninsular War in 1808, serving there until 1812. He became a valuable source of news for the government and served bravely and with distinction, rising to the rank of major general.
Appointed envoy to Prussia in 1813, and moving on to serve in Vienna, Stewart had a front seat in the complex alliance diplomacy that led to and followed the fall of Napoleon. As a result, this is a useful book for those wanting another account of the Congress of Vienna. Stewart distrusted Metternich and also thought Talleyrand dishonest. There is much on bribery, and Stewart was clearly ready to act at the edge of diplomacy, as when he reported on Princess Caroline.
Resigning from Vienna on 1822, Stewart succeeded Castlereagh as Marquess of Londonderry, but proved a very difficult individual in his new life. Ready to clash with others, and with particularly difficult relations with Canning, Londonderry was unable to finesse himself into office. He fell out with Wellington. An opponent of reform in the early 1830s, Londonderry passed into the shadows of former power. A good book but far too expensive.