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| <head> | | [[Main Page | WWI Document Archive]] > [[Diaries, Memorials, Personal Reminiscences]] > [[The_Life_and_Letters_of_Walter_H._Page|Walter H. Page]] > '''Chapter XXVII''' |
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| <TITLE>Burton J. Hendrick. The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page. 1922. Chapter 27. Appendix.</TITLE>
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| <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2"><IMG SRC="images/sig.gif" WIDTH="288" | | <CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2" FACE="Times">CHAPTER XXVII</FONT></center><br><br> |
| HEIGHT="126" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ></FONT>
| |
|
| |
|
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2" FACE="Times">CHAPTER XXVII</FONT><FONT | | <CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2">THE END</FONT></center> |
| SIZE="+2"></FONT>
| |
| | |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2">THE END</FONT>
| |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>PAGE came home only to die. In fact, at one time it seemed | | <br><br>PAGE came home only to die. In fact, at one time it seemed |
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| <BLOCKQUOTE> | | <BLOCKQUOTE> |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><I><FONT SIZE="+1">To Harry L. Davis, Mayor of
| | <CENTER><I><FONT SIZE="+1">To Harry L. Davis, Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio</FONT></I></center> |
| Cleveland, Ohio</FONT></I>
| | <br><br>I<I> </I>deeply regret my health will not permit me to attend any public function for some time to come; for I deeply appreciate your invitation on behalf of the City of Cleveland for the meeting on December 7th, and have a profound sympathy with its purpose to bring the two great English-speaking worlds as close together as possible, so that each shall thoroughly understand the courage and sacrifice and ideals of the other. This is the greatest political task of the future. For such a complete and lasting understanding is the only basis for the continued progress of civilization. I am proud to be associated in your thought, Mr. Mayor, with so fitting and happy an occasion, and only physical inability could cause absence. |
| <br><br>I<I> </I>deeply regret my health will not permit me to attend
| | <BLOCKQUOTE> |
| any public function for some time to come; for I deeply appreciate
| | <br><br>Sincerely, |
| your invitation on behalf of the City of Cleveland for the meeting
| | <br><br>WALTER H. PAGE. |
| on December 7th, and have a profound sympathy with its purpose
| | </BLOCKQUOTE> |
| to bring the two great English-speaking worlds as close together
| |
| as possible, so that each shall thoroughly understand the courage
| |
| and sacrifice and ideals of the other. This is the greatest political
| |
| task of the future. For such a complete and lasting understanding
| |
| is the only basis for the continued progress of civilization.
| |
| I am proud to be associated in your thought, Mr. Mayor, with
| |
| so fitting and happy an occasion, and only physical inability
| |
| could cause absence.
| |
| <BLOCKQUOTE>
| |
| <br><br>Sincerely,
| |
| <br><br>WALTER H. PAGE.</BLOCKQUOTE>
| |
| </BLOCKQUOTE> | | </BLOCKQUOTE> |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>Page's improvement was only temporary; a day or two after this
| | |
| | Page's improvement was only temporary; a day or two after this |
| letter was written he began to sink rapidly; it was therefore | | letter was written he began to sink rapidly; it was therefore |
| decided to grant his strongest wish and take him to North Carolina. | | decided to grant his strongest wish and take him to North Carolina. |
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| Frank had to carry him in his arms from the train. | | Frank had to carry him in his arms from the train. |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>"Well, Frank," said Page, with a slightly triumphant
| | |
| | "Well, Frank," said Page, with a slightly triumphant |
| smile, " I did get here after all, didn't I?" | | smile, " I did get here after all, didn't I?" |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>He lingered for a few days and died, at eight o'clock in the
| | |
| | He lingered for a few days and died, at eight o'clock in the |
| evening, on December 21st, in his sixty-fourth year. He suffered | | evening, on December 21st, in his sixty-fourth year. He suffered |
| no pain. He was buried in the Page family plot in the Bethesda | | no pain. He was buried in the Page family plot in the Bethesda |
| Cemetery near Aberdeen. | | Cemetery near Aberdeen. |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>He was as much of a war casualty as was his nephew Allison
| | |
| | He was as much of a war casualty as was his nephew Allison |
| Page, who lost his life with his face to the German machine guns | | Page, who lost his life with his face to the German machine guns |
| in Belleau Wood. | | in Belleau Wood. |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2">THE END</FONT>
| |
|
| |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER>.
| |
|
| |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><HR>.
| |
|
| |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2"></FONT><A NAME="app"></A><FONT
| |
| SIZE="+2">APPENDIX</FONT>
| |
|
| |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2">SCRAPS FROM UNFINISHED DIARIES</FONT>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>PAGE was not methodical in keeping diaries. His documents,
| |
| however, reveal that he took many praiseworthy resolutions in
| |
| this direction. They include a large number of bulky books, each
| |
| labelled "Diary" and inscribed with the year whose events
| |
| were to be recorded. The outlook is a promising one; but when
| |
| the books are opened they reveal only fragmentary good intentions.
| |
| Entries are kept up for a few days, and then the work comes to
| |
| an end. These volumes contain many scraps of interesting writing,
| |
| however, which are worth preserving; some of them are herewith
| |
| presented in haphazard fashion, with no attempt at order in subject
| |
| matter.
| |
|
| |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE="+1">1913</FONT>
| |
|
| |
|
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE="+1">PETHERICK</FONT>
| |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>PETHERICK may he be immortal; for he is a man who has made | | <CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2">THE END</FONT></CENTER>. |
| of a humble task a high calling; and without knowing it he has
| |
| caused a man of a high calling to degrade it to a mean level.
| |
| Now Petherick is a humble Englishman, whose father many years
| |
| ago enjoyed the distinction of carrying the mail pouch to and
| |
| from the post office for the American Embassy in London. As father,
| |
| so son. Petherick succeeded Petherick. In this remote period (<I>the
| |
| </I>Petherick must now be 60) Governments had "despatch agents," | |
| men who distributed mail and whatnot, sent it on from capital
| |
| to capital---were a sort of general "forwarding" factotums.
| |
| The office is really out of date now. Telegraph companies, express
| |
| companies, railway companies, the excellent mail service and the
| |
| like out-despatch any conceivable agent---except Petherick. Petherick
| |
| has qualities that defy change, such as an unfailing courtesy,
| |
| a genuine joy in serving his fellows, the very genius of helpfulness.
| |
| Well, since a governmental office once established acquires qualities
| |
| of perpetuity, three United States despatch agents have survived
| |
| the development of modern communication, one in London, one in
| |
| New York, and the third (I think) in San Francisco. At any rate,
| |
| the London agent remains.
| |
|
| |
|
| <br><br>Now in the beginning the London despatch agent was a mail messenger
| |
| (as I understand) for the Embassy. He still takes the pouch to
| |
| the post office, and brings it back. In ordinary times, that's
| |
| all he does for the Embassy, for which his salary of about * *
| |
| * is paid by the State Department---too high a salary for the
| |
| labour done, but none too high for the trustworthy qualities required.
| |
| If this had been all that Petherick did, he would probably have
| |
| long ago gone to the scrap heap. It is one mark of a man of genius
| |
| that he always makes his job. So Petherick. The American Navy
| |
| came into being and parts of it come to this side of the world.
| |
| Naval officers need help when they come ashore. Petherick was
| |
| always on hand with despatches and mail for them, and Petherick
| |
| was a handy man. Did the Captain want a cab? Petherick had one
| |
| waiting. Did the Captain want rooms? Such-and-such a hotel was
| |
| the proper one for him, Rooms were engaged. Did the Captain's
| |
| wife need a maid? Petherick had thought of that, too. Then a Secretary
| |
| from some continentaI legation wished to know a good London tailor.
| |
| He sought Petherick. An American Ambassador from the continent
| |
| came to London. London yielded Petherick for his guidance and
| |
| his wants. Petherick became omnipresent, universally useful---an
| |
| American institution in fact. A naval officer who had been in
| |
| Asiatic waters was steaming westward to the Mediterranean. His
| |
| wife and three babies came to London, where she was to meet her
| |
| husband, who was to spend several weeks here. A telegram to Petherick:
| |
| they needed to do nothing else. When the lady arrived a furnished
| |
| flat, a maid and a nurse and a cook and toys awaited her. When
| |
| her husband arrived, a pair of boots awaited him from the same
| |
| last that his last pair had been made on, in London, five years
| |
| before. At some thoughtful moment $1,000 was added to Petherick's
| |
| salary by the Navy Department; and a few years ago a handsome
| |
| present was made to Petherick by the United States Naval Officers
| |
| all over the world.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>But Petherick, with all his virtues, is merely an Englishman,
| |
| and it is not usual for an Englishman to hold a $3,000 office
| |
| under appointment from the United States Government. The office
| |
| of despatch agent, therefore, has been nominally held by an American
| |
| citizen in London. This American citizen for a good many years
| |
| has been Mr. Crane, a barrister, who simply turns over the salary
| |
| to Petherick; and all the world, except the Secretary of State,
| |
| knows that Petherick is Petherick and there is none other but
| |
| him.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Now comes the story: Mr. Bryan, looking around the world for
| |
| offices for his henchmen, finds that one Crane has been despatch
| |
| agent in London for many years, and he writes me a personal and
| |
| confidential letter, asking if this be not a good office for some
| |
| Democrat!
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>I tell the story to the Naval Attaché! He becomes riotous.
| |
| He'll have to employ half a dozen clerks to do for the Navy ill
| |
| what Petherick does well with ease, if he's removed. Life would
| |
| not be worth living anyhow. I uncover Petherick to the Secretary
| |
| and show him in his glory. It must be said to the Secretary's
| |
| credit that he has said nothing more about it. Petherick, let
| |
| us hope, will live forever. The Secretary's petty-spoils mind
| |
| now works on grand plans for Peace, holy Peace, having unsuccessfully
| |
| attacked poor Petherick. And Petherick knows nothing about it
| |
| and never dreams of an enemy in all the world, and in all naval
| |
| and diplomatic life he has only fast friends. If Mr. Bryan had
| |
| removed him, he might have made a temporary friend of one Democrat
| |
| from Oklahoma, and lasting enemies of all that Democrat's rivals
| |
| and of the whole naval and diplomatic service.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">November, 1914.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>We have to get away from it---or try to---a minute at a time;
| |
| and the comic gods sometimes help us. Squier(<A NAME="n192"></A><A
| |
| HREF="Pagenotes.htm#192">192</A>) has a junior officer here to
| |
| hold his desk down when he's gone. He's a West Point Lieutenant
| |
| with a German name. His study is ordnance. A new kind of bomb
| |
| gives him the same sort of joy that a new species would have given
| |
| Darwin. He was over in France---where the armies had passed to
| |
| and from Paris---and one day he found an unexploded German bomb
| |
| of a new sort. The thing weighed half a ton or thereabouts, and
| |
| it was loaded. Somehow he got it to London---I never did hear
| |
| how. He wrapped it in blankets and put it under his bed. He went
| |
| out of town to study some other infernal contraption and the police
| |
| found this thing under his bed. The War Office took it and began
| |
| to look for him---to shoot him, the bomb-harbouring German! They
| |
| soon discovered, of course, that he was one of our men and an
| |
| officer in the United States Army. Then I heard of it for the
| |
| first time. Here came a profuse letter of apology from the Government;
| |
| they had not known the owner was one of my attachés. Pardon,
| |
| pardon---a thousand apologies. But while this letter was being
| |
| delivered to me one of the under-secretaries of the Government
| |
| was asking one of our secretaries, "In Heaven's name, what's
| |
| the Ambassador going to do about it? We have no right to molest
| |
| the property of one of your attachés, but this man's room
| |
| is less than 100 yards from Westminster Abbey: it might blow up
| |
| half of London. We can't give the thing back to him!" They
| |
| had taken it to the Duck Pond, wherever that is. About that time
| |
| the Lieutenant came back. His pet bomb gone---what was I going
| |
| to do about it?
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>The fellow actually wanted to bring it to his Office in the
| |
| Embassy!
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>"Look here, Lieutenant, besides the possibility of blowing
| |
| up this building and killing every mother's son of us, consider
| |
| the scandal of the American Embassy in London blown up by a German
| |
| bomb. That would go down in the school histories of the United
| |
| States. Don't you see?" No, he didn't see instantly---he
| |
| does so love a bomb! 1 had to threaten to disown him and let him
| |
| be shot before he was content to go and tell them to unload it---he
| |
| would have it, unloaded, if not loaded.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Well, I had to write half a dozen letters before the thing
| |
| was done for. He thinks me a chicken-livered old coward and I
| |
| know much more about him than I knew before; and we are at peace.
| |
| The newspapers never got the story, but his friends about town
| |
| still laugh at him for trying first to blow up Westminister Abbey
| |
| and then his own Ambassador. He was at my house at dinner the
| |
| other night and one of the ladies asked him: "Lieutenant,
| |
| have you any darling little pet lyddite cartridges in your pocket?"
| |
| Think of a young fellow who just loves bombs! Has loaded bombs
| |
| for pets! How I misspent my youth!
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">February, 1915.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>This is among the day's stories: The British took a ship that
| |
| had a cargo of 100,000 busts of Von Hindenburg---filled with copper.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Another: When Frederick Watts was painting Lord Minto he found
| |
| it hard to make the portrait please him. When he was told that
| |
| Lord Minto liked it and, Lady Minto didn't and that So-and-So
| |
| praised it, he exclaimed: "I don't care a d---n what anyone
| |
| thinks about it---except a fellow named Sargent."
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>And the King said (about the wedding[<A NAME="n193"></A><A
| |
| HREF="Pagenotes.htm#193">193</A>]): "I have the regulation
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| of the dress to be worn at all functions in the Chapel Royal.
| |
| I, therefore, declare that the American Ambassador may have any
| |
| dress worn that he pleases!"
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>E. M. House went to Paris this morning, having no peace message
| |
| from this Kingdom whatever. This kind of talk here now was spoken
| |
| of by the Prime Minister the other day "as the twittering
| |
| of a sparrow in a tumult that shakes the world."
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Lady P. remarked to me to-day, as many persons do, that I am
| |
| very fortunate to be Ambassador here at this particular time.
| |
| Perhaps; but it isn't easy to point out precisely wherein the
| |
| good fortune consists. This much is certain: it is surely a hazardous
| |
| occupation now. Henry James remarked, too, that nobody could afford
| |
| to miss the experience of being here---nobody who could be here.
| |
| Perhaps true, again; but I confess to enough shock and horror
| |
| to keep me from being so very sure of that. Yet no other phenomenon
| |
| is more noticeable than the wish of every sort of an American
| |
| to be here. I sometimes wonder whether the really well-balanced
| |
| American does. Most of them are of the overwrought and excitable
| |
| kinds.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>A conservative lady, quite conscientious, was taken down to
| |
| dinner by Winston Churchill. Said she, to be quite frank and fair:
| |
| "Mr. Churchill, I must tell you that I don't like your politics.
| |
| Yet we must get on together. You may say, if you like, that this
| |
| is merely a matter of personal taste with me, as I might not like
| |
| your---well, your moustache." "I see no reason, Madam,
| |
| why you should come in contact with either."
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>My talk with Bonar Law: He was disposed to believe that if
| |
| England had declared at once that she would go to war with Germany
| |
| if France was attacked, there would have been no war. Well, would
| |
| English opinion, before Belgium was attacked, have supported a
| |
| government which made such a declaration?
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Mr. Bonar Law thinks that President Wilson ought to have protested
| |
| about Belgium.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>He didn't agree with me that much good human material goes
| |
| to waste in this Kingdom for lack of opportunity. (That's the
| |
| Conservative in him.)
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">Friday, April 30, 1915.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Sir Edward Grey came to tea to talk with Mr. House and me---little
| |
| talk of the main subject (peace), which is not yet ripe by a great
| |
| deal. Sir Edward said the Germans had poisoned wells in South
| |
| Africa. They have lately used deadly gases in France. The key
| |
| to their mind says Sir Edward, is this---they attribute to other
| |
| folk what they are thinking of doing themselves.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>While Sir Edward was here John Sargent came in and brought
| |
| Katharine the charcoal portrait of her that he had made---his
| |
| present to her for her and Chud to give to W. A. W. P.(<A NAME="n194"></A><A
| |
| HREF="Pagenotes.htm#194">194</A>) and me. A very graceful and
| |
| beautiful thing for him to do.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">April 30, 1915.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Concerning Peace: The German civil authorities want peace and
| |
| so does one faction of the military party. But how can they save
| |
| their face? They have made their people believe that they are
| |
| at once the persecuted and the victorious. If they stop, how can
| |
| they explain their stopping? The people might rend them. The ingenious
| |
| loophole discovered by House is mere moonshine, viz., the freedom
| |
| of the seas in war. That is a one-sided proposition unless they
| |
| couple with it the freedom of the land in war also, which is nonsense.
| |
| Nothing can be done, then, until some unfavourable military event
| |
| brings a new mind to the Germans. Peace talk, therefore, is yet
| |
| mere moonshine. House has been to Berlin, from London, thence
| |
| to Paris, then back to London again---from Nowhere (as far as
| |
| peace is concerned) to Nowhere again.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">May 3, 1915.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Why doesn't the President make himself more accessible? Dismiss
| |
| X and get a bigger man? Take his cabinet members really into his
| |
| confidence? Everybody who comes here makes these complaints of
| |
| him!
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>We dined to-night at Vs. Professor M. was there, etc. He says
| |
| we've got to have polygamy in Europe after the war to keep the
| |
| race up.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">Friday, May 21, 1915.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Last night the Italian Parliament voted to give the Government
| |
| war-powers; and this means immediate war on the side of the Allies.
| |
| There are now eight nation fighting against Germany, Austria,
| |
| and Turkey; viz., Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Japan,
| |
| Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro. And it looks much as if the United
| |
| States will be forced in by Germany.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>The British Government is wrestling with a very grave internal
| |
| disruption---to make a Coalition Government. The only portfolios
| |
| that seem absolutely secure are the Prime Minister's and the Foreign
| |
| Secretary's (Sir Edward Grey's)---for which latter, many thanks.
| |
| The two-fold trouble is---(1) a difference between Churchill (First
| |
| Lord of the Admiralty) and Lord Fisher---about the Dardanelles
| |
| campaign and (I dare say) other things, and (2) Lord Kitchener's
| |
| failure to secure ammunition---"to organize the industries
| |
| of the Kingdom." Some even declare K. of K. (they now say
| |
| Kitchener of Kaos) is a general colossal failure. But the prevailing
| |
| opinion is that his raising of the new army has been good work
| |
| but that he has failed with the task of procuring munitions. As
| |
| for Churchill, he's too restless and erratic and dictatorial and
| |
| fussy and he runs about too much. I talked with him at dinner
| |
| last night at his mother's. He slips far down in his chair and
| |
| swears and be-dams and by-Gods his assertions. But his energy
| |
| does interest one. An impromptu meeting in the Stock Exchange
| |
| to-day voted confidence in K. of K. and burned up a copy of the
| |
| <I>Daily Mail, </I>which this morning had a severe editorial about
| |
| him.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Washington, having sent a severe note to Germany, is now upbraided
| |
| for not sending another to England, to match and pair it. That's
| |
| largely German influence, but also the Chicago packers and the
| |
| cotton men. These latter have easy grievances, like the Irish.
| |
| The delays of the British Government are exasperating, but they
| |
| are really not so bad now I as they have been. Still, the President
| |
| can be influenced by the criticism that he must hit one side every
| |
| time he hits the other, else he's not neutral! I am working by
| |
| every device to help the situation and to prevent another note.
| |
| I proposed to-day to Sir Edward Grey that his Government make
| |
| an immediate advance payment on the cotton that it proposes to
| |
| buy.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Unless Joffre be a man of genius---of which there are some
| |
| indications---and unless French also possibly have some claim
| |
| to this distinction and <I>perhaps </I>the Grand Duke Nikolas,
| |
| there doesn't yet seem to be a great man brought forth by the
| |
| war. In civil life, Sir Edward Grey comes to a high measure. As
| |
| we yet see it from this English corner of the world, no other
| |
| statesman now ranks with him.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">March 20, 1916.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>I am sure I have the best secret service that could be got
| |
| by any neutral. I am often amazed at its efficiency. It is good
| |
| because it is not a secret---certainly not a spy service at all.
| |
| It is all above-board and it is all done by men of high honour
| |
| and good character---I mean the Embassy staff. Counting the attachés
| |
| there are about twenty good men, every one of whom moves in a
| |
| somewhat different circle from any other one. Every one cultivates
| |
| his group of English folk, in and out of official life, and his
| |
| group in the diplomatic corps. There isn't a week but every man
| |
| of them sees his particular sources of information---at their
| |
| offices, at the Embassy, at luncheon, at dinner, at the clubs---everywhere.
| |
| We all take every possible occasion to serve our friends and they
| |
| serve us. The result is, I verily believe, that we hear more than
| |
| any other group in London. These young fellows are all keen as
| |
| razors. They know when to be silent, too; and they are trusted
| |
| as they deserve to be. Of course I see them, singly or in pairs,
| |
| every day in the regular conduct of the work of the Embassy; and
| |
| once a week we all meet together and go over everything that properly
| |
| comes before so large a "cabinet" meeting. Thus some
| |
| of us are on confidential terms with somebody in every department
| |
| of the Government, with somebody in every other Embassy and Legation,
| |
| with all the newspapers and correspondents---even with the censors.
| |
| And the wives of those that are married are abler than their husbands.
| |
| They are most attractive young women---welcome everywhere---and
| |
| indefatigable. Mrs. Page has them spend one afternoon a week with
| |
| her, rolling bandages; and that regular meeting always yields
| |
| something else. They come to my house Thursday afternoons, too,
| |
| when people always drop in to tea---visitors from other countries,
| |
| resident Americans, English---everybody---sometimes one hundred.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Nobody in this company is a "Spy "---God forbid!I
| |
| I know no more honourable or attractive group of ladies and gentlemen.
| |
| Yet can conceive of no organization of spies who could find out
| |
| as many things. And the loyalty of them all! Somebody now and
| |
| then prefaces a revelation with the declaration, "This is
| |
| in strict confidence---absolutely nobody is to hear it."
| |
| The answer is--- "Yes, only, you know, I have no secrets
| |
| from the Ambassador: no member of his staff can ever have."----Of
| |
| course, we get some fun along with our tragedies. If I can find
| |
| time, for instance, I am going to write out for House's amusement
| |
| a verbatim report of every conversation that he held in London.
| |
| It has all come to me---from what he said to the King down; and
| |
| it all tallies with what House himself told me. He went over it
| |
| all himself to me the other day at luncheon.---I not only believe---I
| |
| am sure---that in this way I do get a correct judgment of public
| |
| feeling and public opinion, from Cabinet Ministers to stock-brokers.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">December 11, 1916.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>The new Government is quite as friendly to us in its intentions
| |
| as the old, and much more energetic. The old Government was a
| |
| spent force. Mr. Balfour is an agreeable man to deal with, with
| |
| a will to keep our sympathy, unless the dire need of ships forces
| |
| him to unpleasantness. The Prime Minister is---American in his
| |
| ways. Lord Robert has the old Cecil in him, and he's going to
| |
| maintain the blockade at any cost that he can justify to himself
| |
| and to public opinion, and the public opinion is with him, They
| |
| are all eager to have American approval---much more eager, I think,
| |
| than a large section of public opinion, which has almost ceased
| |
| to care what Americans think or do. The more we talk about peace,
| |
| the more they think about war. There is no vindictiveness in the
| |
| English. They do not care to do hurt to the German people: they
| |
| regard them as misguided and misled. But no power on earth can
| |
| stop the British till the German military caste is broken---that
| |
| leadership which attacked Belgium and France and would destroy
| |
| England. Balfour, Lloyd George, the people, the army and the navy
| |
| are at one in this matter, every labouring man, everybody, except
| |
| a little handful of Quakers and professors and Noel Buxton. I
| |
| think I know and see all the peace men. They feel that they can
| |
| talk to me with safety. They send me their pamphlets and documents.
| |
| I think that all of them have now become warlike but three, and
| |
| one of them is a woman. If you meet a woman you know on the street
| |
| and express a sympathy on the loss of her second son, she will
| |
| say to you, "Yes, he died in defence of his country. My third
| |
| son will go next week. They all die to save us." Doubtless
| |
| she sheds tears in private. But her eyes are dry in public. She
| |
| has discarded her luxuries to put money in the war loan. Say "Peace"
| |
| to her? She would insult you.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">May 10, 1917.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>We dined at Lambeth Palace. There was Lord Morley, whom I had
| |
| not seen since his long illness---much reduced in flesh, and quite
| |
| feeble and old-looking. But his mind and speech were most alert.
| |
| He spoke of Cobden favouring the Confederate States because the
| |
| constitution of the Confederacy provided for free trade. But one
| |
| day Bright informed Cobden that he was making the mistake of his
| |
| life. Thereafter Cobden came over to the Union side. This, Morley
| |
| heard direct from Bright.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>The Archbishop spoke in high praise of Charnwood's Lincoln---was
| |
| surprised at its excellence, etc.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Geoffrey Robinson(<A NAME="n195"></A><A HREF="Pagenotes.htm#195">195</A>)
| |
| asked who wrote the <I>Quarterly </I>articles in favour of the
| |
| Confederacy all through the war ---was it Lord Salisbury? Nobody
| |
| knew.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>The widow of the former Archbishop Benson was there ---the
| |
| mother of all the Bensons, Hugh, A. C., etc., etc.---a remarkable
| |
| old lady, who talked much in admiration of Balfour.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>The Bishop of----Winchester(?)---was curious to know whether
| |
| the people in the United States really understood the Irish question---the
| |
| two-nation, two-religion aspect of the case. I had to say no!
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>There is an orphan asylum founded by some preceding Archbishop,
| |
| by the sea. The danger of bombardment raised the question of safety.
| |
| The Archbishop ordered all the children (40) to be sent to Lambeth
| |
| Palace. We dined in a small dining room: "The children, "
| |
| Mrs. Davidson explained, "have the big dining room."
| |
| Each child has a lady as patroness or protector who "adopts"
| |
| her, i.e., sees that she is looked after, etc. Some of the ladies
| |
| who now do this were themselves orphans!
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>At prayers as usual at 10 o'clock in the chapel where prayers
| |
| have been held every night---for how many centuries?
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>At lunch to-day at Mr. Asquith's---Lord Lansdowne there; took
| |
| much interest in the Knapp farm work while I briefly explained.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Lord Morley said to Mrs. Page he had become almost a Tolstoyan---Human
| |
| progress hasn't done much for mankind's happiness, etc. Look at
| |
| the war---by a "progressive" nation. Now the mistake
| |
| here is born of a class society, a society that rests on privilege.
| |
| "Progress, " <I>has </I>done everything (1) in liberating
| |
| men's minds and spirits in the United States. This is the real
| |
| gain; (2) in arraying all the world <I>against </I>Germany.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">Tuesday, January 22, 1918.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Some days bring a bunch of interesting things or men. Then
| |
| there sometimes come relatively dull days---not often, however.
| |
| To-day came:
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>General Tasker H. Bliss, Chief-of-Staff, now 64---the wisest
| |
| (so I judge) of our military men, a rather wonderful old chap.
| |
| He's on his way to Paris as a member of the Supreme War Council
| |
| at Versailles. The big question he has struck is: Shall American
| |
| troops be put into the British and French lines, in small groups,
| |
| to fill up the gaps in those armies? The British have persuaded
| |
| him that it is a military necessity. If it were less than a necessity,
| |
| it would, of course, be wrong---i.e., it would cut across our
| |
| national pride, force our men under another flag, etc. It is not
| |
| proposed to deprive Pershing of his command nor even of his army.
| |
| The plan is to bring over troops that would not otherwise now
| |
| come and to lend these to the British and French armies, and to
| |
| let Pershing go on with his army as if this hadn't been done.
| |
| Bliss is inclined to grant this request on condition the British
| |
| bring these men over, equip and feed them, etc. He came in to
| |
| ask me to send a telegram for him to-morrow to the President,
| |
| making this recommendation. But on reflection he decided to wait
| |
| till he had seen and heard the French also, who desire the same
| |
| thing as the British.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>General Bliss is staying with Major Warburton; and Warburton
| |
| gave me some interesting glimpses of him. A telegram came for
| |
| the General. Warburton thought that he was out of the house and
| |
| he decided to take it himself to the General's room. He opened
| |
| the door. There sat the General by the fire talking to himself,
| |
| wrapped in thought. Warburton walked to the middle of the room.
| |
| The old man didn't see him. He decided not to disturb him, for
| |
| he was rehearsing what he proposed to say to the Secretary of
| |
| State for War or to the Prime Minister---getting his ears as well
| |
| as his mind used to it. Warburton put the telegram on the table
| |
| near the General, went out, and wasn't discovered.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Several nights, he sat by the fire with Warburton and began
| |
| to talk, again rehearsing to himself some important conclusions
| |
| that he had reached. Every once in a while he'd look up at Warburton
| |
| and say: "Now, what do you think of that?"
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>That's an amazing good way to get your thought clear and your
| |
| plans well laid out. I've done it myself.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>I went home and Kipling and Carrie(<A NAME="n196"></A><A HREF="Pagenotes.htm#196">196</A>)
| |
| were at lunch with us. Kipling said: "I'll tell you, your
| |
| coming into the war made a new earth for me." He is on a
| |
| committee to see that British graves are properly marked and he
| |
| talked much about it. I could not help thinking that in the back
| |
| of his mind there was all the time thought of his own dead boy,
| |
| John.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Then in the afternoon Major Drain brought the copy of a contract
| |
| between the United States Government and the British to build
| |
| together 1500 tanks ($7,500,000). We took it to the Foreign Office
| |
| and Mr. Balfour and I signed it. Drain thinks that the tanks are
| |
| capable of much development and he wishes our army after the war
| |
| to keep on studying and experimenting with and improving such
| |
| machines of destruction. Nobody knows what may come of it.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Then I dined at W. W. Astor's (Jr.) There were Balfour, Lord
| |
| Salisbury, General and Lady Robertson, Mrs. Lyttleton and Philip
| |
| Kerr.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>During the afternoon Captain Amundsen, Arctic explorer came
| |
| in, on his way from Norway to France as the guest of our Government,
| |
| whereafter he will go to the United States and talk to Scandinavian
| |
| people there.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>That's a pretty good kind of a full day.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>.
| |
|
| |
| <br><br><I><FONT SIZE="+1">April, 19, 1918.</FONT></I>
| |
|
| |
| <br><br>Bell,(<A NAME="n197"></A><A HREF="Pagenotes.htm#197">197</A>)
| |
| and Mrs. Bell during the air raid took their little girl (Evangeline,
| |
| aged three) to the cellar. They told her they went to the cellar
| |
| to hear the big fire crackers. After a bomb fell that shook all
| |
| Chelsea, Evangeline clapped her hands in glee. "Oh, mummy,
| |
| what a <I>big</I> fire cracker!"
| |
|
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| | [[Main Page | WWI Document Archive]] > [[Diaries, Memorials, Personal Reminiscences]] > [[The_Life_and_Letters_of_Walter_H._Page|Walter H. Page]] > '''Chapter XXVII''' |
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