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EARL OF DUFFERIN.

into cruelties which had been practised by Turkish officials on the Christian population. He pursued his investigations with relentless vigilance, and administered condign punishment to the most notable malefactors. The home authorities were thoroughly satisfied by his action, and he was made a K.C.B. In 1864 he became for a while under-secretary for India; and during the year 1866 he acted as under-secretary for war.

[It has often been remarked that the British | commissioner, for the purpose of inquiring government has found its best administrators in Irishmen, and Lord Dufferin is certainly a remarkable example in favour of the truth of this proposition. It has been given to him so successfully to conduct the government of one of the greatest British dependencies as to depart from it amid the regrets of all parties and creeds, though in that dependency party and creed are marked by peculiar acrimony. It has also been his fortune to be contended for by rival politicians at home, and to be offered a high and difficult office by the chief of the party to which he has always been opposed.

The Right Hon. Frederick Temple Blackwood, Earl of Dufferin, is son of the fourth Baron Dufferin, and was born in 1826. His mother-whose romantic history we have already referred to1-was the granddaughter of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and thus he is one more of the long list of Sheridans who have proved that wit can run in families. He was educated at Eton, and Christ Church, Oxford, but did not take a degree. He was still a minor when, in 1841, he succeeded to his father's title. His first entrance into official life was one of those small honorary offices attached to the court, and his first literary production was a narrative of a visit he made to Ireland during 1846-7, under the title of Narrative of a Journey from Oxford to Skibbereen during the Year of the Irish Famine. In February, 1855, he formed one of the numerous train which accompanied Lord John Russell to Vienna. In 1860 appeared the first work which drew particular attention to his name. It proved the possession of those great gifts of humorous observation which are now everywhere known to characterize him. He had in the previous year made a voyage in his yacht to Iceland, and an account of his stay in that island appeared in Letters from High Latitudes. This book bubbles over with fun, and a description of an Icelandic dinner-party, which we quote, can be read by few, we think, without aching sides.

In 1860 Lord Dufferin made what may be called his first real entrée into official life. He was in that year sent to Syria as British

1 See Cabinet, vol. iii. p. 285.

When Mr. Gladstone was raised to power in 1868 Lord Dufferin was made chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster--an office with undefined duties, which constituted him-as he wittily described it "maid of all work" to the ministry. In 1872 he was appointed Governor-general of Canada. Never, as we have already said, was there a more successful ruler. The Orangeman and the Roman Catholic, the Conservative and Radical, alike bent under the influence of his clear judg ment, his impartial action, his pleasant manners, and bewitching tongue. The speeches which he made have been collected into volume form by more than one enterprising publisher, and they can be read with an amount of pleasure which is rare when one peruses in print spoken addresses. Their chief characteristics are a lofty tone of feeling, bright wit, and, occasionally, great eloquence. On his retirement from the Canadian governorship he was chosen by Lord Beaconsfield as British ambassador at the court of St. Petersburg,-an office of great splendour, and, perhaps, greater difficulty.

Besides the works above mentioned, Lord Dufferin has written several books on the questions that chiefly disturb his native country. Their titles are, Irish Emigration and the Tenure of Land in Ireland, Mr. Mill's Plan for the Pacification of Ireland Examined, and Contributions to an Inquiry into the State of Ireland. Lord Dufferin has had a true helpmate in his wife during his brilliant career. She also is the member of an historic Irish family, being daughter of the late Captain Archibald Rowan Hamilton. His lordship was made an Earl of the United Kingdom in 1871, has been president of the Geographical Society, and is an honorary LL.D. of Harvard University.]

AN ICELANDIC DINNER.

(FROM LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES.")

Yesterday-no-the day before-in fact I forget the date of the day--I don't believe it had one-all I know is, I have not been in bed since, we dined at the Governor's; -though dinner is too modest a term to apply to the entertainment.

The invitation was for four o'clock, and at half-past three we pulled ashore in the gig; I, innocent that I was, in a well-fitting white waistcoat.

The Government House, like all the others, is built of wood, on the top of a hillock; the only accession of dignity it can boast being a little bit of mangy kitchen-garden that hangs down in front to the road, like a soiled apron. There was no lock, handle, bell, or knocker to the door, but immediately on our approach a servant presented himself, and ushered us into the room where Count Trampe was waiting to welcome us. After having been presented to his wife we proceeded to shake hands with the other guests, most of whom I already knew; and I was glad to find that, at all events in Iceland, people do not consider it necessary to pass the ten minutes which precede the announcement of dinner as if they had assembled to assist at the opening of their entertainer's will, instead of his oysters. The company consisted of the chief dignitaries of the island, including the bishop, the chiefjustice, &c. &c., some of them in uniform, and all with holiday faces. As soon as the door was opened Count Trampe tucked me under his arm-two other gentlemen did the same to my two companions--and we streamed into the dining-room. The table was very prettily arranged with flowers, plate, and a forest of glasses. Fitzgerald and I were placed on either side of our host, the other guests, in due order, beyond. On my left sat the rector, and opposite, next to Fitz, the chief physician of the island. Then began a series of transactions of which I have no distinct recollection; in fact, the events of the next five hours recur to me in as great disarray as reappear the vestiges of a country that has been disfigured by some deluge..

I gather, then, from evidence-internal and otherwise that the dinner was excellent, and that we were helped in Benjamite proportions; but as before the soup was finished I was already hard at work hob-nobbing with my

two neighbours, it is not to be expected I should remember the bill of fare.

With the peculiar manners used in Scandinavian skoal-drinking I was already well acquainted. In the nice conduct of a wineglass I knew that I excelled, and having an hereditary horror of heel-taps, I prepared with a firm heart to respond to the friendly provocations of my host. I only wish you could have seen how his kind face beamed with approval when I chinked my first bumper against his, and having emptied it at a draught, turned it towards him bottom upwards with the orthodox twist. Soon, however, things began to look more serious even than I had expected. I knew well that to refuse a toast, or to half empty your glass, was considered churlish. I had come determined to accept my host's hospitality as cordially as it was offered. I was willing, at a pinch, to payer de ma personne; should he not be content with seeing me at his table, I was ready, if need were, to remain under it! but at the rate we were then going it seemed probable this consummation would take place before the second course: so, after having exchanged a dozen rounds of sherry and champagne with my two neighbours, I pretended not to observe that my glass had been refilled; and, like the sea-captain, who, slipping from between his two opponents, left them to blaze away at each other the long night through,— withdrew from the combat. But it would not do; with untasted bumpers and dejected faces they politely waited until I should give the signal for a renewal of hostilities, as they well deserved to be called. Then there came over me a horrid, wicked feeling. What if I should endeavour to floor the Governor, and so literally turn the tables on him! It is true I had lived for five-and-twenty years without touching wine, but was not I my greatgrandfather's great-grandson, and an Irish peer to boot! Were there not traditions, too, on the other side of the house, of casks of claret brought up into the dining-room, the door locked, and the key thrown out of the window? With such antecedents to sustain me, I ought to be able to hold my own against the staunchest toper in Iceland! So, with a devil glittering in my left eye, I winked defiance right and left, and away we went at it again for another five-and-forty minutes. At last their fire slackened : I had partially quelled both the Governor and the rector, and still survived. It is true I did not feel comfortable; but it was in the neighbourhood of my

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