and during the period when his policy was one of the great issues of the
world there was probably no one except Page who intruded upon his
solitude with ideas that so abruptly disagreed with the opinions of the
White House. The letters which Page wrote Colonel House were intended,
of course, for the President himself, and practically all of them
Colonel House read aloud to the head of the nation. The two men would
closet themselves in the old cabinet room on the second floor of the
White House--that same room in which Lincoln had met his advisers during
Civil War days; and here Colonel House would quietly read the letters in
which Page so mercilessly portrayed the situation as it appeared in
English and European eyes. The President listened impassively, giving no
sign of approval or disapproval, and hardly, at times, of much interest.
In the earlier days, when Page's letters consisted of pictures of
English life and English men, and colourful descriptions of England
under the stress of war, the President was vastly entertained; he would
laugh loudly at Page's wit, express his delight at his graphic and
pungent style and feel deeply the horrors of war as his Ambassador
unfolded them. "I always found Page compelling on paper," Mr. Wilson
remarked to Mr. Laughlin, during one of the latter's visits to
Washington. "I could never resist him--I get more information from his
letters than from any other single source. Tell him to keep it up." It
was during this period that the President used occasionally to read
Page's letters to the Cabinet, expressing his great appreciation of
their charm and historical importance. "The President quoted from one of
the Ambassador's letters to the Cabinet to-day," a member of the Cabinet
wrote to Mrs. Page in February, 1915. "'Some day,' the President said,
'I hope that Walter Page's letters will be published. They are the best
letters I have ever read. They make you feel the atmosphere in England,
understand the people, and see into the motives of the great actors.'"
The President repeated this statement many times, and his letters to