CLARENDON, George William Fred erick Villiers, 4T1-1 EARL OF, English states man: b. 12 Jan. 1800; d. 27 June 1870. By his mother, Lord Clarendon was indirectly related to the Hydes, the family of the great Earl of Clarendon, author of the 'History of the Re bellion.) He was educated at Cambridge, en tered the diplomatic service at an early age and in 1833 was appointed Minister-Plenipotentiary to the court of Madrid. He was instrumental in negotiating a treaty, signed in 1834, called the Quadruple Alliance, in which the four con tracting parties— England, France, Spain and Portugal—agreed to unite in expelling Don Carlos and Don Miguel, pretenders to the Span ith and Portuguese crowns, from the Peninsula.
In 1838 Lord Clarendon succeeded to his uncle's title. In January 1840 he was appointed lord privy-seal; and was lord-lieutenant of Ire land from May 1847 to February 1852. The most-notable events of this latter period were the great Irish famine and the rebellion headed by Smith O'Brien. Lord Clarendon's adminis tration in regard to both of these difficulties was both firm and philanthropic; but his early popularity somewhat declined in Ireland, which was perhaps due to his impartiality in declining to favor the zealots either of the Roman Cath olic or the Orange party. He was Secretary
of Foreign Affairs in 1853-58 and during this period the Critnean War was concluded, Claren don being one of the British negotiators of the treaty of peace. He was again Foreign Secre tary in Mr. Gladstone's administration in 1870 until his death.
For the office of Foreign Secretary, Lord Clarendon was generally admitted to possess high qualifications; but it was complained, even by his admirers, that he adhered too much to the tradition of secrecy attaching to the foreign office. As a statesman he was remarIcable rather for liberality and large-heartedness, which gave a conciliatory tone to his negotiations with for eign powers, and for the undeviating rectitude of his conduct, than for any commanding qual ities of intellect.