e side of it; the President
sees all sides. If we give him all the facts, he will decide the thing
wisely." Englishmen with whom the Ambassador came into contact soon
learned that they could not become flippant or critical about Mr. Wilson
in his presence; he would resent the slightest hostile remark, and he
had a way of phrasing his rebukes that usually discouraged a second
attempt. About this time Page began to keep closely to himself, and to
decline invitations to dinners and to country houses, even those with
which he was most friendly. The reason was that he could not meet
Englishmen and Englishwomen, or even Americans who were resident in
England, on his old easy familiar terms; he knew the ideas which
everybody entertained about his country, and he knew also what they were
saying, when he was not among them; the restraint which his presence
necessarily put upon his friends produced an uncongenial atmosphere, and
the Ambassador therefore gave up, for a time, those distractions which
had ordinarily proved such a delightful relief from his duties. For the
first time since he had come to England he found himself a solitary man.
He even refused to attend the American Luncheon Club in London because,
in speeches and in conversation, the members did not hesitate to assail
the Wilson policies.

Events, however, eventually proved too strong for the most devoted
supporter of President Wilson. After the _Arabic_ and the _Hesperian_,
Page's official intimates saw signs that the Ambassador was losing
confidence in his old friend. He would discuss Mr. Wilson occasionally,
with those secretaries, such as Mr. Laughlin, in whom his confidence was
strongest; his expressions, however, were never flippant or violent.
That Page could be biting as well as brilliant in his comments on public
personages his letters abundantly reveal, yet he never exercised his
talent for sarcasm or invective at the expense of the White House. He
never forgot that Mr. Wilson was President and that he was Ambassador;
he would still defend the Administration; and he even now continued to
find consolation in the reflection that Mr. Wilson was living in a
different atmosphere and that he had difficulties to confront of which a
man in London could know nothing. The Ambassador's emotion was rather
one of disappointment and sorrow, mingled with anxiety as to the plight
into which his country was being led. As to his duty in this situation,
however, Page never h