han we. They have more courtesy.
They make far shorter speeches. But they do them all too much
alike. Still they do get much pleasure out of them and much
instruction too.

Then we are invited to twice as many private dinners and luncheons
as we can attend. At these, these people are at their best. But it
is yet quite confusing. A sea of friendly faces greets you--you
can't remember the names. Nobody ever introduces anybody to
anybody; and if by accident anybody ever tries, he simply says
"Uh-o-oh-Lord Xzwwxkmpt." You couldn't understand it if you had to
be hanged.

But we are untangling some of this confusion and coming to make
very real and very charming friends.

About December 20, everybody who is anybody leaves London. They go
to their country places for about a fortnight or they go to the
continent. Almost everything stops. It has been the only dull time
at the Embassy that I've had. Nothing is going on now. But up to
two days ago, it kept a furious gait. I'm glad of a little rest.

Dealing with the Government doesn't present the difficulties that
I feared. Sir Edward Grey is in the main responsible for the ease
with which it is done. He is a frank and fair and truthful man. You
will find him the day after to-morrow precisely where you left him
the day before yesterday. We get along very well indeed. I think we
should get along if we had harder tasks one with the other. And the
English people are even more friendly than the Government. You have
no idea of their respect for the American Nation. Of course there
is much ignorance, sometimes of a surprising sort. Very many
people, for instance, think that all the Americans are rich. A lady
told me the other night how poor she is--she is worth only
$1,250,000--"nothing like all you Americans." She was quite
sincere. In fact the wealth of the world (and the poverty, too) is
centred here in an amazing way. You can't easily take it in--how
rich or how many rich English families there are. They have had
wealth for generation after generation, and the surprising thing
is, they take care of it. They spend enormously--seldom
ostentatiously--but they are more than likely to add some of their
income every year to their principal. They have better houses in
town and in the country than I had i