ked long and eloquently, painting the
whole European tragedy with that intensity and readiness of utterance
and that moral conviction which had so moved all others with whom he had
come into contact during this memorable visit to the United States; but
Mr. Wilson was utterly cold, utterly unresponsive, interested only in
ending the war. The talk lasted for a whole morning; its nature may be
assumed from the many letters already printed; but Page's voice, when it
attempted to fire the conscience of the President, proved as ineffective
as his pen. However, there was nothing rasping or contentious about the
interview. The two men discussed everything with the utmost calmness and
without the slightest indications of ill-nature. Both men had in mind
their long association, both inevitably recalled the hopes with which
they had begun their official relationship three years before, at that
time neither having the faintest intimation of the tremendous problems
that were to draw them asunder. Mr. Wilson at this meeting did not
impress his Ambassador as a perverse character, but as an extremely
pathetic one. Page came away with no vexation or anger, but with a real
feeling for a much suffering and a much perplexed statesman. The fact
that the President's life was so solitary, and that he seemed to be so
completely out of touch with men and with the living thoughts of the
world, appealed strongly to Page's sympathies. "I think he is the
loneliest man I have ever known," Page remarked to his son Frank after
coming away from this visit.

Page felt this at the time, for, as he rose to say good-bye to the
President, he put his hand upon his shoulder. At this Mr. Wilson's eyes
filled with tears and he gave Page an affectionate good-bye. The two men
never met again.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 38: This is quoted from a hitherto unpublished despatch of
Bernstorff's to Berlin which is found among Page's papers.]

[Footnote 39: The _China_ case was a kind of _Trent_ case reversed. In
1861 the American ship _San Jacinto_ stopped the British vessel _Trent_
and took off Mason and Slidell, Confederate commissioners to Great
Britain. Similarly a British ship, in 1916, stopped an American ship,
the _China_, and removed several German subjects. As the British quickly
saw the analogy, and made suitable amends, the old excitement over the
_Trent_ was not duplicated in the recent war.]

[Footnote 40: See Chapter XIII, page 434.]

[Footnote 41: Mr.