Manchester University Press
9 War, ethnography and religion
Abstract
Connections can be traced between the social, political, national and imperial identities of British public men during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Government documents, whether colonial or diplomatic, are formulaic texts in which men are anxious to present themselves in the best possible light, and the private papers produced by men and women say little about wider constructions of truth and identity. The spiritual memoirs of the nineteenth century thus stand apart from the more ‘conventional’ travel or embassy memoirs of the earlier period. It illustrates a gradual shift in British attitudes towards Europe and the wider world whereby the ‘laissez-faire’ assumptions of informal empire slowly give way to a more custodial sense of international power and responsibility.
Abstract
Connections can be traced between the social, political, national and imperial identities of British public men during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Government documents, whether colonial or diplomatic, are formulaic texts in which men are anxious to present themselves in the best possible light, and the private papers produced by men and women say little about wider constructions of truth and identity. The spiritual memoirs of the nineteenth century thus stand apart from the more ‘conventional’ travel or embassy memoirs of the earlier period. It illustrates a gradual shift in British attitudes towards Europe and the wider world whereby the ‘laissez-faire’ assumptions of informal empire slowly give way to a more custodial sense of international power and responsibility.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Preface vii
- Abbreviations viii
- Introduction 1
- Part I: The structure of a service 17
- 1 Why diplomacy? 21
- 2 Entrance, training and promotion 41
- 3 Family, sex and marriage 62
- Part II: Of cabbages and kings 87
- 4 Etiquette and ‘face’ 91
- 5 Favourites and flunkeys 106
- 6 Gossips, networks and news 124
- Part III: Beyond the call of duty 149
- 7 The Grand Tour 151
- 8 From ancients to moderns 167
- 9 War, ethnography and religion 188
- Conclusion 211
- Appendix A Male diplomats, 1750–1830 219
- Appendix B Female diplomats, 1750–1830 227
- Select primary source bibliography 232
- Index 239
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Preface vii
- Abbreviations viii
- Introduction 1
- Part I: The structure of a service 17
- 1 Why diplomacy? 21
- 2 Entrance, training and promotion 41
- 3 Family, sex and marriage 62
- Part II: Of cabbages and kings 87
- 4 Etiquette and ‘face’ 91
- 5 Favourites and flunkeys 106
- 6 Gossips, networks and news 124
- Part III: Beyond the call of duty 149
- 7 The Grand Tour 151
- 8 From ancients to moderns 167
- 9 War, ethnography and religion 188
- Conclusion 211
- Appendix A Male diplomats, 1750–1830 219
- Appendix B Female diplomats, 1750–1830 227
- Select primary source bibliography 232
- Index 239
