lonel House was
confident that war was impending, and for this reason he hurried his
preparations to leave England; he wished to be in the United States, at
the President's side, when the declaration was made. With this feeling
about Mr. Wilson, Colonel House received a fearful shock a day or two
after the _Lusitania_ had gone down: while walking in Piccadilly, he
caught a glimpse of one of the famous sandwich men, bearing a poster of
an afternoon newspaper. This glaring broadside bore the following
legend: "We are too proud to fight--Woodrow Wilson." The sight of that
placard was Colonel House's first intimation that the President might
not act vigorously. He made no attempt to conceal from Page and other
important men at the American Embassy the shock which it had given him.
Soon the whole of England was ringing with these six words; the
newspapers were filled with stinging editorials and cartoons, and the
music halls found in the Wilsonian phrase materials for their choicest
jibes. Even in more serious quarters America was the subject of the most
severe denunciation. No one felt these strictures more poignantly than
President Wilson's closest confidant. A day or two before sailing home
he came into the Embassy greatly depressed at the prevailing revulsion
against the United States. "I feel," Colonel House said to Page, "as
though I had been given a kick at every lamp post coming down
Constitution Hill." A day or two afterward Colonel House sailed for
America.

II

And now came the period of distress and of disillusionment. Three
_Lusitania_ notes were sent and were evasively answered, and Washington
still seemed to be marking time. The one event in this exciting period
which gave Page satisfaction was Mr. Bryan's resignation as Secretary of
State. For Mr. Bryan personally Page had a certain fondness, but as head
of the State Department the Nebraska orator had been a cause of endless
vexation. Many of Page's letters, already printed, bear evidence of the
utter demoralization which existed in this branch of the Administration
and this demoralization became especially glaring during the _Lusitania_
crisis. No attempt was made even at this momentous period to keep the
London Embassy informed as to what was taking place in Washington;
Page's letters and cablegrams were, for the most part, unacknowledged
and unanswered, and the American Ambassador was frequently obliged to
obtain his information about the state of feel