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The Canadian Portrait Gallery – Volume 3 (of 4)
The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)
THE EARL OF DUFFERIN
Of all the many personages who have been sent over from Great Britain to administer the Government in this country, since Canada first became an appendage of the British Crown, none has achieved so wide a popularity as Lord Dufferin. None of his predecessors succeeded in creating so wide a circle of personal friends, and none has left so many pleasant remembrances behind him. Lord Dorchester was a Governor, but the area over which his sway extended was very small as compared with the vast Dominion embraced within the purview of Lord Dufferin; and the inhabitants in his day were chiefly composed of the representatives of a single nationality. Lord Elgin was popular, but the exigencies of his position compelled him to make bitter enemies; and while every one, at the present day, acknowledges his great capacity and sterling worth, there was a time when he was subjected to grievous contumely and shameful indignity. Lord Dufferin, on the other hand, won golden opinions from the time of his first arrival in Canada, and when he left our shores he carried with him substantial tokens of the affection and good-will of the inhabitants. One single episode in his administration threatened, for a brief space, to interfere with the cordial relations between himself and one section of the people. His own prudence and tact, combined with the liberality and good sense of those who differed from him, enabled him to tide over the critical time; and long before his departure from among us he could number most of the latter among his warm personal friends. His Vice-Regal progresses made the lines of his face and the tones of his voice familiar to the inhabitants of every Province. Wherever he went he increased the number of his well-wishers, and won additional respect for his personal attainments. He identified himself with the popular sympathies, and entered with a keen zest into every question affecting the public welfare. He will long live in the memory of the Canadian people as a wise administrator, an accomplished statesman, a brilliant orator, a genial companion, and a sincere friend of the land which he was called upon to govern.
He is descended, on the paternal side, from a Scottish gentleman named John Blackwood, who went over from his native country to Ireland, and settled in the county Down, towards the close of the sixteenth century. The family has ever since resided in that county, and has played a not unimportant part in the political history of Ireland. In 1763 a baronetcy was conferred upon the then chief representative of the family, who was conspicuous in his day and generation as a vehement supporter of the Whig side in politics. In 1800 the head of the family was created an Irish peer, with the title of Baron Dufferin and Clandeboye. The father of the present representative was Price, fourth Baron, who succeeded to the title in 1839. Fourteen years prior to his accession to the title — that is to say, in the year 1825 — this gentleman married Miss Helen Selina Sheridan, a granddaughter of the Right Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The distinguished orator and dramatist, as all the world knows, had a son named Thomas Sheridan, who inherited no inconsiderable share of his father's wit and genius. Thomas — better known as Tom — Sheridan, had three daughters, all of whom were prominent members of English society, and were conspicuous alike for personal beauty and the brilliancy of their intellectual accomplishments. One of them was the beautiful Lady Seymour, afterwards Duchess of Somerset, who presided as Queen of Beauty at the famous tournament held at the Earl of Eglinton's seat in Scotland, in the month of August, 1839. Another daughter, the Hon. Mrs. Caroline Norton, won distinction by her poetical effusions, and by several novels, one of which, "Stuart of Dunleath," is a work exhibiting a high degree of mental power. This lady, whose domestic misfortunes formed at one time an absorbing topic of discussion in England, survived until 1877, having some months before her death been married to the late Sir W. Stirling Maxwell. The remaining daughter, Harriet Selina, was the eldest of the three. She, as we have seen, married Captain Price Blackwood, and subsequently became Lady Dufferin upon her husband's accession to the title in 1839. She also won a name in literature by numerous popular songs and ballads, the best known of which is "The Irish Emigrant's Lament." She was left a widow in 1841, and twenty-one years later, by a second marriage, became Countess of Gifford. She died in 1867. Her only son, Frederick Temple, the subject of this sketch, was born at Florence, in Italy, on the 21st of June, 1826.
He received his early education at Eton College, and subsequently at Christ Church, Oxford. He passed through the curriculum with credit, but left the University without taking a degree. In the month of July, 1841, when he had only just completed his fifteenth year, his father's death took place, and he thus succeeded to the family titles six years before attaining his majority. During the first Administration of Lord John Russell he officiated as one of the Lords-in-Waiting to Her Majesty; and again filled a similar position for a short time a few years later.
One of the most memorable passages in his early career was a visit paid by him to Ireland during the terrible famine which broke out there in 1846. Deriving his titles from Ireland, where the greater part of his property is situated, and being desirous of doing his duty by his tenantry, he had almost from boyhood paid a good deal of attention to the question of land-tenure in that country. With a view to extending his knowledge by personal observation, he set out from Oxford, accompanied by his friend, the Hon. Mr. Boyle, and went over, literally, to spy out the nakedness of the famine-stricken land. They for the first time in their lives found themselves face-to-face with misery in one of its most appalling shapes. They were young, kind-hearted and generous, and the scenes wherewith they were daily brought into contact made an impression upon their minds that has never been effaced. They published an account of their travels under the title of "A Narrative of a Journey from Oxford to Skibbereen, during the year of the Irish Famine," and devoted the proceeds of the sale of the narrative to the relief of the starving sufferers of Skibbereen. The realms of fiction may be ransacked in vain for anything more truly pathetic and heart-rending in its terrible, vigorous realism, than is this truthful picture of human privation and suffering. Upon one occasion, having bought a huge basket of bread for distribution among the most needy, they were completely besieged as soon as their intention became known. "Something like an orderly distribution was attempted," says the narrative, "but the dreadful hunger and impatience of the poor people by whom the donors were surrounded rendered this absolutely impossible, and the bread was thrown out, loaf by loaf, from a window, the struggles of the famished women over the insufficient supply being dreadful to witness." Of course, all they could do to alleviate the sufferings in the district was of little avail, but they gave to the extent of their ability, and the poor, famishing creatures were warmly touched by their unfeigned and tearful sympathy. When the two gentlemen left the town, their carriage was followed beyond the outskirts by crowds of suffering poor who implored the Divine blessing upon their heads. The publication of the "Narrative," moreover, aroused a general feeling of philanthropy throughout the whole of England and Scotland, and liberal contributions were sent over for the benefit of those who stood most in need of assistance.
The practical knowledge of the condition of the Irish people acquired by Lord Dufferin during this visit was such as the most diligent study of blue-books could not have imparted. From this time forward he gave more attention than ever to the Irish question. It was a question in which he might well take a deep interest, for he was dependent upon the rent of his estates in county Down for the bulk of his income. His unselfishness, however, was signally proved by the stand he took, which was on the side of tenant-right. He has written and spoken much on the subject, and has contributed more than his share towards enabling the world to arrive at a just conclusion respecting it. His public utterances displayed a genuine philanthropy and breadth of view, mingled, at times, with a quaint and touching humour, which attracted the attention of every statesman in the kingdom. Twenty years before Mr. Gladstone's Irish Land Act was passed, its provisions had been anticipated by Lord Dufferin, and urged upon the attention of the House of Lords. In an eloquent and elaborate speech delivered before that Body in 1854 he suggested and outlined nearly every important legislative reform with reference to Irish Land Tenure which has since been brought about. A work on "Irish Emigration, and the Tenure of Land in Ireland," gave still wider currency to his views on the subject, and it began to be perceived that the brilliant young Irish peer had ideas well worthy of the consideration of Parliament. He was created an English baron in 1850, by the title of Baron Clandeboye.
In politics he was a moderate Whig. The leading members of his party recognized his high abilities, and thought it desirable to enlist them in the public service. An opportunity soon presented itself. In the month of February, 1855, Lord John Russell was appointed as British Plenipotentiary to the conference to be held at Vienna for the purpose of settling the terms of peace between Russia and Turkey. Lord John invited Lord Dufferin to accompany him on the mission as a special attaché. The invitation was accepted, and Lord Dufferin repaired to the Austrian capital, where he remained until the close of the ineffectual conference. Soon after his return to England he determined upon a long yachting tour in the far northern seas, and in the early summer of 1856 he started on his adventurous voyage. The chronicle of this expedition, written with graphic force and humour by the pen of Lord Dufferin himself, has long been before the world under the title of "Letters from High Latitudes." The voyage, which lasted several months, was made in the schooner-yacht Foam, and included Iceland, Jan Meyen and Spitzbergen in its scope. There is no necessity for extended comment upon a book that has been read by pretty nearly everybody in Canada. Who is there among us who has not laughed over the account of that marvellous bird that, as the nights became shorter and shorter, never slept for more than five minutes at a stretch, without waking up in a state of nervous agitation lest it might be cock-crow; that was troubled by low spirits, owing to the mysterious manner in which a fresh member of his harem used to disappear daily; and that finally, overburdened by contemplation, went melancholy mad and committed suicide? Or over that extraordinary dog-Latin after-dinner speech by Lord Dufferin during his stay in the Icelandic capital, as voraciously recorded in Letter VI.? And who among us has failed to recognize the graphic power of description displayed in the account of the Geysers? Or the weird poetic force of "The Black Death of Bergen"? In all these various kinds of composition the author showed great natural aptitude, and his book, as a whole, is one of the most interesting chronicles of travel in our language.
In 1860 Lord Dufferin was for the first time despatched abroad as the head of an important diplomatic mission. In the summer of that year, Great Britain, France, Russia and other European powers united in sending an expedition to Syria to protect the lives and property of Europeans, and to arrest the further effusion of blood in the threatened conflicts between the Druses and the Maronites. The immediate occasion of the expedition was a shocking massacre of Syrian Christians that had recently taken place, and a recurrence of which was considered highly probable. Turkey professed inability to deal effectively with the matter, and it became necessary that the leading European powers should interfere in the cause of humanity. Lord Dufferin was appointed by Lord Palmerston as Commissioner on behalf of Great Britain. He went out to Syria, where he remained some months. He proved himself admirably qualified to discharge a delicate diplomatic mission, and by his tact, good-nature and popular manners, no less than by his practical wisdom and good sense, succeeded in effecting a satisfactory settlement of the matter. As a testimony of the Government's appreciation of his services he immediately after his return received the Order of a Knight Commander of the Bath (Civil Division). Another result of his mission was the publication, in 1867, of "Notes on Ancient Syria," a work which, as its title imports, smacks more of reading than of observation.
It fell to Lord Dufferin's lot, in December, 1861, to move the address in the House of Lords, in answer to Her Majesty's Speech from the Throne, referring to the death of the Prince Consort. The occasion was one upon which the speaker might be expected to do his best, and the speech made by him on that occasion drew tears from eyes which had long been unaccustomed to weep. A perusal of it makes one regret that Lord Dufferin's legitimate place was not in the other House, where his talent for oratory would have had an opportunity of growing, and where he would unquestionably have gained a high reputation as a parliamentary speaker. It is a simple matter of fact that in the dull, lifeless atmosphere of the House of Lords, Lord Dufferin's talents were almost thrown away. In the Commons he would have made a figure, with a nation for his audience.
On the 23rd of October, 1862, he married Harriot Georgina, eldest daughter of the late Archibald Rowan Hamilton, of Killyleagh Castle, county Down. This lady, whose lineaments are almost as well known to Canadians as are those of His Lordship, still survives, and is the happy mother of a numerous family. In 1863 Lord Dufferin became a Knight of St. Patrick; and in the following year he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the county Down. About the same time he was offered the position of Under-Secretary of State for India, which he accepted. In 1865 he was subjected to a searching examination respecting his views on the Irish Land question, before a Select Committee of the House of Commons. His examination lasted four days, and his evidence proved of incalculable value in the framing of the Act of Parliament which was passed before the close of the session. Several years later he put forth a vigorous pamphlet entitled, "An Examination of Mr. Mill's Plan for the Pacification of Ireland," in which he criticised John Stuart Mill's proposal that the landed estates of Irish landlords should be brought to a forced sale. Lord Dufferin's thorough knowledge of his subject, added to the fact that his views were sound, proved too much, even for the Master of Logic, who had made his proposal without due consideration of the subject, and on an incomplete statement of the facts.