A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK I T was a happy inspiration to appoint
Mr. John Buchan to be Governor-General in succession to Lord Bessborough. It might have been supposed some time ago that he would have been given a job in the Govern- ment. But a junior position, such as is usually offered to a man who has not held office before, would not have been commensurate with his experience and abilities. So, twice in succession, he was appointed to represent the King as Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland ; and now a highly appropriate place has been found for him as the King's representative in a Dominion. Here his social talent, his versatility, and the very breadth of experience which has possibly handicapped him in politics will serve him in good stead. For forty years his career has been watched with interest by those who knew him as one of the most promising under- graduates who ever resided at Brasenose College, Oxford. Arriving there with a Scottish degree he was already the author of at least one published novel. During his undergraduate days he was President of the Union, winner of the Newdigate and the Stanhope Essay prize, reader for John Lane, author of the official College History, and other books. A year or two later he was for a short time Assistant Editor-of The Spectator. I will not recite his subsequent successes in history, fiction, publishing, politics and society.
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