f money, then considered large, which Great
Britain had paid the United States for the depredations on American
shipping for which she was responsible during the Civil War.

One day the two men were discussing certain detentions of American
cargoes--high-handed acts which, in Page's opinion, were unwarranted.
Not infrequently, in the heat of discussion, Page would get up and pace
the floor. And on this occasion his body, as well as his mind, was in a
state of activity. Suddenly his eye was attracted by the framed Alabama
check. He leaned over, peered at it intensely, and then quickly turned
to the Foreign Secretary:

"If you don't stop these seizures, Sir Edward, some day you'll have your
entire room papered with things like that!"

Not long afterward Sir Edward in his turn scored on Page. The Ambassador
called to present one of the many State Department notes. The occasion
was an embarrassing one, for the communication was written in the
Department's worst literary style. It not infrequently happened that
these notes, in the form in which Page received them, could not be
presented to the British Government; they were so rasping and
undiplomatic that Page feared that he would suffer the humiliation of
having them returned, for there are certain things which no
self-respecting Foreign Office will accept. On such occasions it was the
practice of the London Embassy to smooth down the language before
handing the paper to the Foreign Secretary. The present note was one of
this kind; but Page, because of his friendly relations with Grey,
decided to transmit the communication in its original shape.

Sir Edward glanced over the document, looked up, and remarked, with a
twinkle in his eye,--

"This reads as though they thought that they are still talking to George
the Third."

The roar of laughter that followed was something quite unprecedented
amid the thick and dignified walls of the Foreign Office.

One of Page's most delicious moments came, however, after the Ministry
of Blockade had been formed, with Lord Robert Cecil in charge. Lord
Robert was high minded and conciliatory, but his knowledge of American
history was evidently not without its lapses. One day, in discussing the
ill-feeling aroused in the United States by the seizure of American
cargoes, Page remarked banteringly:

"You must not forget the Boston Tea Party, Lord Robert."

The Englishman looked up, rather puzzled.

"But you must remember, Mr. Page, t