DUFFERIN, Frederick Temple Hamilton Blackwood, Earl of, British statesman, born in Florence, Italy, 24 June 1826. His father was Price, fourth Baron Dufferin and Clandeboye, and his mother, Helen Selina, a granddaughter of Richard Brins:: ley Sheridan, was well known as a writer of prose and verse. He was educated at Eton, and at Christ Church, Oxford, but left the University without taking a degree. He succeeded to his father's title in 1841, and was for some years subsequent lord-in-waiting to the queen. In 1855 he was attached to the mission undertaken by Lord John Russell to Vienna, and in 1859 made a yacht voyage to Iceland, a narrative of which he published (Boston, 1859). He was sent by Lord Palmerston in 1860 as a British commissioner to Syria to make inquiries into the massacre of the Christians there, and on his return was made a K. C.B. He was undersecretary of state for India from 1864 to early in 1866, and from the latter date was for a few months undersecretary for war° When Mr. Gladstone came into power in December 1868, he was appointed chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in 1871 he was created Viscount Clandeboye and Earl of Dufferin, and in 1872 he became governor general of Canada.

The duties devolving upon this officer are not weighty, being almost entirely limited to the opening and dissolution of parliament ; but there are other duties, more social than political in their character, which are regarded as scarcely less incumbent on the viceroy. While acting in this dual capacity the Earl of Dufferin secured a degree of popularity never gained by any of his predecessors. In education and M1 other matters of public concern he displayed the greatest interest, and he was soon known as the ablest orator in Canada. In the summer of 1876 Earl Dufferin, accompanied by Lady Dufferin, made a tour through British Columbia, where a great degree of discontent prevailed, in consequence of a belief that the terms upon which that remote province had joined the Dominion had not been complied with. Earl Dufferin's visit, and his advocacy of the union and the prospective benefits likely to accrue to British Columbia from it, allayed the prevalent discontent, and did much to increase the friendship between the people of the Pacific coast and their eastern compatriots. He held the office of governor general of Canada till October 1878, when he was succeeded by the Marquis of Borne. On the eve of his leaving Canada he was presented with an address signed by seventy-four mayors, wardens, reeves, and councilors representing municipalities in Ontario.

In May 1878, he was elected president of the Royal geographical society, and in June following he attended the Harvard commencement, when the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him. To Lord Dufferin may be attributed the credit of first suggesting the purchase of the grounds adjacent to Niagara Falls as an International park. In February 1879, he was appointed ambassador at St. Petersburg, was transferred to Constantinople in May 1881, and in October 1882, proceeded to Cairo, Egypt, to settle questions between England and that country arising out of the rebellion of Arabi Pasha. He left Egypt in April 1883, and was appointed viceroy of India in 1884, an office that he now holds (1887). He is the author of " Narrative of a Journey from Oxford to Skibereen during the Year of the Irish Famine" (London, 1848); "Letters from High Latitudes" (London, 1860); "Contributions to an Inquiry into the State of Ireland" (1866); "Irish Emigration and the Tenure of Land in Ireland" (1867); and "Mr. Mill's Plan for the Pacification of Ireland examined" (1868). A collection of his " Speeches and Addresses" was published in 1882, edited by Henry Milton. A "History of the Administration of the Earl of Dufferin in Canada" was published by William Leggo (Montreal, 1878).