Our First Ambassador to China
An Account of the Life of George, Earl of Macartney, with Extracts from His Letters, and the Narrative of His Experiences in China, as Told by Himself, 1737–1806

A 1908 biography of the British statesman George Macartney (1737–1806) based on previously unpublished letters and documents.

Helen Henrietta Macartney Robbins (Author), George Macartney (Author)

9781108026253, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 February 2011

540 pages, 19 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 3.1 cm, 0.68 kg

George Macartney (1737–1806) was a British statesman, diplomat and administrator who held a succession of important appointments. In 1764 he was sent as envoy extraordinary to Russia, but described the Russian nobility as 'vain, petulant, inconsequent, indiscreet, and changeable'. After several years as Chief Secretary for Ireland (1767–1772) and a governorship in the West Indies, he served as Governor of Madras in the early 1780s, a difficult role surrounded by controversy and intrigue. In 1792–1794 he travelled to China on behalf of the government and the East India Company on a mission to negotiate a trade agreement, but was unsuccessful. He ended his career as Governor of the Cape Colony. This 1908 biography, which includes extracts from previously unpublished letters by Macartney and other newly-researched archival material, complements the two-volume 1807 account of Macartney's life by Sir John Barrow, also reissued in this series.

Preface
1. Early days and mission to Russia
2. Mission to Russia
3. Marriage, Parliament, Ireland
4. Chief Secretary for Ireland
5. Governor of Grenada
6. Madras
7. India, London, Ireland
8. Journal of embassy from London to China
9. Straits of Sunda and Batavia
10. A journal of the embassy to China in 1792–1794
11. Embassy to China
12. Embassy to China
13. Mission to Verona
14. Governor of the Cape, and the last days
Index.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]