Lord Tweedsmuir's Death

Northern Advocate, 13 February 1940, Page 4

Lord Tweedsmuir's Death

I rpi-],E death of Lord Tweedsmuir, the Governor-General of Canada, I * has robbed the Empire of a son it ill could spare. 'The news that lite distinguished author, historian, and statesman had passed away was received yesterday afternoon, and, though it was not unexpected, it nevertheless caused sincere regret throughout t he Empire. Lord Tweedsmuir, or John Buchan, as he was known until his elevation to the Peerage after his appointment as GovernorGeneral of Canada, was in truth a remarkable man. A son of the manse, he had a brilliant; scholastic career at Glasgow University and Brnsenose College, where lie revealed literary genius. He studied law and was called to the Bar in 1901, but almost immediately afterwards was appointed private secretary to Lord (then Sir Alfred) Milner, who had been appointed High Commissioner in 'South Africa. Returning to Britain in 1903, he joined a publishing company, and concentrated upon literary work, producing several romances and biographies, as well as much poetry and serious; articles. These, and the novels which became “best- sellers” in other years, proclaimed him one of the masters of literature. The outbreak of the Great War gave him a new medium for the expression of his genius. He was sent to France as a special correspondent, but it was not long before he was appointed to the British Headquarters .Staff, where he proved himself to be as brave as he was gifted. He was later appointed Director of Information. “Buchan's History of the Wax,” a monumental work, will remain his memorial. iThe greatest work of John Buchan’s life began in 1935, when he was appointed Governor-General of Canada and raised to the Peerage. He had in the meantime been elected *a member of the House of 'Commons, and held the coveted post of Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In his role of Governor-General of Canada, Lord Tweedsmuir displayed the possession of the highest gifts of statesmanship, and it is generally agreed that his work in this respect has not been excelled. His efforts to draw the United States and Canada closer together were more successful than the average man knows. President Roosevelt lias paid touching testimony to .the results of Lord Tweedsmuir s historic visit to him. Another event of transcendent importance was the manner in which Lord Tweedsmuir handled the tour of the King and Queen to Canada and the United States. Today, with the nation at war, calling for the services of the wisest and most experienced statesmen, the death of Lord. Tweedsmuir is a national loss of great magnitude. However, Lord Tweedsmuir, by example and precept, has illuminated the path of duty which every man should tread according to the with which he lias been endowed. In his installation address as Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, on July 30, 1938, Lord Tweedsmuir summed up the position which confronts the citizen of today when he said: “The citizen, of a nation like ours has today a peculiar responsibility. If he is true to the spirit of his university he has J to help to maintain that delicate structure which we call civilisation, in the face of a world of destructive forces. “In the last two centuries mankind has advanced far on the road to toleration, one of the first of the civic virtues; but now an intolerant spirit is abroad which claims for this and that dogma the status of truth, and would compel its acceptance by fire and sword. “It is easy to devise an authoritarian machine which will appear to be more effective than the patient methods of Democracy. We have the task of proving that those short cuts are illusory and that freedom does not mean ineptitude. “Our liberties, which we took for granted, have now become a cause to fight for; the truths, which once seemed platitudes, are now the oriflame of a crusade.” In the light .of the crisis with which the world is faced today, these words were surely prophetie.