Lord Minto by John Buchan

Social and Personal Relations

A GOVERNOR-GENERAL lives an intricate and crowded life in the public eye, and he is fortunate if from the whirl of minor duties he can snatch time for study and reflection. His mind may be absorbed in some grave discussion with his Ministers or the home Government, but he must present himself smiling at a dozen functions, and let no one guess his preoccupation. He must perpetually entertain and be entertained: he must show interest in every form of public activity, from a charity bazaar to a university celebration; he must be accessible to all men that he may learn of them and they of him; he must visit every corner of his domain, and become, for the time being, not only one of its citizens, but by adoption a perfervid son of each town and province. These things are the imponderabilia of governorship, not less important than a cool head and a sound judgment in the greater matters of policy, and many a man who is well fitted for the latter duties fails signally in the other. We have seen Minto's work on the political side; in its social and personal aspects its merits were no less conspicuous. To the task indeed he brought splendid endowments. He had remarkable physical strength, and could go through a long ceremonial day without loss of vigour or temper.