CHAPTER XV 



A LIFE-LONG FRIEND : LORD MINTO 



" In him," to quote from the Daily Telegraph of Monday, 

 March 2, 1914, "the Nation loses a capable, high-minded and 

 patriotic servant of the Empire." 



And it may truthfully be added that in private life his 

 bereaved wife, his family relations and friends lose as 

 generous, kindly and true a man as ever existed, and one, 

 moreover, who in spite of achieving so much was the most 

 modest of men. 



I had just finished a preceding chapter on Life at Limber, 

 in which, as he had so full and I am sure happy a share, the 

 late Lord Minto, then Lord Melgund, figures largely, when I 

 heard the sad news of his death. He has not long survived 

 my brother Maunsell, his life-long friend. I knew how very ill 

 Lord Minto had been, but it was hoped that the severe opera- 

 tion which he underwent in the summer of 19 13 would bring 

 him back to health. Unfortunately, however, frequently re- 

 curring attacks of malarial fever, that curse of a lengthened 

 sojourn in India, finally laid him low, to the intense grief of all 

 who were honoured by his acquaintance, and mourned by the 

 Empire he had served so faithfully and long. 



After holding minor but most important Government 

 appointments, he was appointed Governor- General of Canada 

 in 1898, holding that position until 1905, when he became 



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