dealt with in this book of Sir Henry Maine which we cannot dwell upon, they are alike interesting and instructive; but we cannot conclude without observing that there is evidence in the early institutions of Ireland, long before the introduction of English law, that civilization had advanced and that anarchy and barbarism were not prevalent. One remarkable feature in the ancient Irish life was the place women occupied in its industrial economy. In the Irish tracts they are spoken of as possessing property by marriage portions and gifts; they are capable of suing and being sued, and of entering into contracts independent of their husbands. They superintended and shared the work of the farm, and there is mention made of the wife of a chief of rank who had the right to be consulted on every subject." Modern legisla OUR PORTRAIT GALLERY. SECOND SERIES.-No. 19. FREDERICK TEMPLE, EARL OF DUFFERIN, FREDERICK TEMPLE HAMILTON TEMPLE BLACKWOOD, fifth Baron Dufferin and Clandeboye, in the Peerage of Ireland, and first Viscount Clandeboye and Earl of Dufferin, in the Peerage of Great Britain, Governor-General of the Dominion of Canada, was born at Florence in the year 1826. He is the only son of Price, fourth Baron Dufferin, by Helen Selina, daughter of the late Thomas Sheridan, Esq., and granddaughter of the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan; and be succeeded to the title and estates on the death of his father in 1841. The family of Blackwood, now represented by the house of Dufferin, is of Scotch extraction, and can be traced in the public records of Scotland to a very early period. John Blackwood, born in Scotland in 1591, becoming possessed of considerable landed property in Ireland, came over and settled at Bangor, county of Down. His great-grandson, Sir Robert Blackwood, was created a baronet of Ireland, and married a daughter of the first Earl of Milltown. On his death he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son John, who married Dorcas, eldest daughter and coheir of James Stevenson, Esq., of Killyleigh. She was, in the year 1800, created Baroness Dufferin and Clandeboye in her own right, with remainder to her male issue by her late husband, Sir John Blackwood. On the death of the Baroness, the title and estates devolved upon her second son, Sir James, the eldest having died, unmarried, in 1786. Sir James married the only daughter of the first Lord Oriel, but died without issue, and was succeeded by his brother Hans. The eldest son of Hans, Lord Dufferin, was killed at the battle of Waterloo; the second died, unmarried, before his father; and the barony, accordingly, on the death of the latter, descended to Price, the third son, and father of the present Lord. Lord Dufferin is also senior heir-general of the Hamiltons, Earls of Clanbrassil, through Anne, daughter of James Hamilton, of Neilsbrook, county of Antrim, cousin-german of James, first Earl of Clanbrassil. This branch of the great family of Hamilton traces its immediate descent from the Rev. Hans Hamilton, Vicar of Dunlop, Ayrshire, born 1536. His eldest son, James Hamilton, a man of great learning and ability, attracted the attention of James I., who sent him to Ireland on an important mission. On his return to England he was taken into high favour by the king, who conferred on him the honour of knighthood, made him extensive grants of land in Ulster, and eventually raised him to the peerage by the title of Viscount Clandeboye. In 1643 he died, and was succeeded in the title and estates by his only son James, who received a step in the peerage, being advanced to the Earldom of Clanbrassil. He died in 1659, and was succeeded by his second son, Henry, who married the eldest daughter of the first Earl of Drogheda. Earl Henry died in 1675, without issue, and the title of Clanbrassil became extinct. The second son of this Vicar of Dunlop was the immediate ancestor both of the Earl of Dufferin and of the Hamiltons of Killyleigh Castle, county of Down, now represented by Major Gawn Rowan-Hamilton, to whose sister the present Earl of Dufferin is married; and from the fifth son of this same Vicar two other noble families in the county of Down are descended-the Hamiltons of Bangor, now represented by Viscount Bangor, and the Hamiltons of Tullymore, now represented by the Earl of Roden. Lord Dufferin was educated at Eton, and Christ Church, Oxford. At an early age, owing to the premature death of his father, he was called upon to face the difficulties and responsibilities attendant upon the position of an extensive landed proprietor in Ireland. During the year of the great famine he left Oxford, and, accompanied by a friend, visited the districts most afflicted, and on his return to England published an account of his experiences. Since then he has taken a deep interest in Irish affairs, and has devoted much of his time to the three great Irish problems of the day-the Church, the Land, and Education. From time to time he has published his views on these questions. In 1866 they took the form of "Contributions to an Inquiry into the State of Ireland;" in 1867, "Irish Emigration and the Tenure of Land in Ireland;" and in 1868 he published, in reply to John Stuart Mill's pamphlet, " Mr. Mill's Plan for the Pacification of Ireland Examined." These works are earnest and thoughtful studies of the questions dealt with, the manner in which an array of facts and figures are brought to bear upon the subject, showing the care and labour taken in their compilation. In 1849 Lord Dufferin was appointed one of the Lords in Waiting on the Queen, which post he resigned when the Conservatives came into office in 1852; and in 1855 he was specially attached to the mission undertaken by Lord John Russell to Vienna. Having for some time contemplated a yachting tour in the northern seas, in the summer of 1856 Lord Dufferin set sail in his schooner yacht, the Foam, of only 85 tons, O.M., for an extended cruise through the drifting ice and misty perils of the higher latitudes. After a stormy passage, through a severe gale, he reached the harbour of Reykjanik; here he met Prince Jerome Napoleon, who had arrived in a fine screw corvette, the Reine · Hortense, and who offered to tow the Foam round the base of Snaefell, along the north-western coast of Iceland, as far as the island of Jan Mayen. This offer was too tempting a one to be refused, and the yacht was accordingly taken in tow by the corvette; but, after a few days, the commander of the Reine Hortense finding that the northern coast was blocked by ice, and his coal getting low, he determined to give up the expedition, and signalled his intention to Lord Dufferin. His lordship replied that he would proceed onwards by himself, and his perseverance was rewarded with success. After sailing for some days through hummocks of ice, ever increasing in size and number, the perils of the voyage intensified by the dense fog which hung like a pall over the silent and lonely ocean, he saw, one morn |