im as a man who was "more British than the British,"
as one who had been taken completely captive by British blandishments,
but he never came to the point of dismissing him. Perhaps he did not
care to face the public scandal that such an act would have caused; but
a more plausible reason is that Page, despite the causes which he had
given for irritation, was indispensable to him. Page's early letters had
furnished the President ideas which had taken shape in Wilson's
policies, and, disagreeable as the communications now became, there are
evidences that they influenced the solitary statesman in the White
House, and that they had much to do in finally forcing Mr. Wilson into
the war. The alternative question, as to why Page did not retire when he
found himself so out of sympathy with the President, will be
sufficiently answered in subsequent chapters; at present it may be said
that he did resign and only consented to remain at the urgent request of
Washington. In fact, all during 1915 and 1916, there seemed to be a fear
in Washington that Page would definitely abandon the London post. On one
occasion, when the newspapers published rumours to this effect, Page
received an urgent despatch from Mr. Lansing. The message came at a
time--the date was October 26, 1915--when Page was especially
discouraged over the Washington policy. "Representatives of the press,"
said Mr. Lansing, "have repeated rumours that you are planning to
resign. These have been brought to the President's attention, and both
he and I have denied them. Still these rumours persist, and they cause
both the President and me great anxiety. We cannot believe that they are
well founded.

"In view of the fact that they are so persistent, we have thought it
well to inform you of them and to tell you how earnestly we hope that
they are baseless. We trust that you will set both our minds at rest."

If Page had ever had any compunction about addressing the President in
blunt phrases these expressions certainly convinced him that he was a
free agent.

Yet Page himself at times had his doubts as to the value of this
correspondence. He would frequently discuss the matter with Mr.
Laughlin. "That's a pretty harsh letter," he would say. "I don't like to
talk that way to the President, yet it doesn't express half what I
feel."

"It's your duty to tell the President the real state of affairs," Mr.
Laughlin would urge.

"But do you suppose it does any good?" Page would