x slipped quietly
away to Valley Forge. Public life, however, still had for him its
attractions, and when Senator Oliver retired, he returned to the
Senate. During the war his great talents were dormant. He merely
came and went, a curious little detached figure apparently quite
unresponsive to the emotions which swept the country during that
eventful period.

With the signing of the armistice he aroused himself from his
apparent torpor. Although he was quite without feeling during the
stress and storm, the situation created by the presentation of the
Treaty of Versailles with its interwoven League of Nations stirred
his intellectual interest. He became the leader of the little band
of "irreconcilables" who girded their armor to prevent what they
regarded as a catastrophic sacrifice of American interests. At the
same time Mr. Knox narrowly missed another opportunity to lift
himself conspicuously above the heads of stump speakers who, for
the most part, to-day comprise the Senate.

During that memorable fight Senator Lodge incurred the enmity at
one time or another of every faction in the Senate. He could not be
trusted to maintain the same position over night, shifting as
expediency demanded until most of his colleagues, particularly the
irreconcilables, were exasperated beyond endurance. At one of the
most critical periods Senator Borah appealed to Senator Knox to
wrest the leadership from the Massachusetts Senator, with
intimations that he would have the support of the "bitter enders"
at the forthcoming convention at Chicago. Mr. Knox does not love
Mr. Lodge but he refused to consider the proposal. He was
indifferent. His last great political opportunity went glimmering.

As I have said Mr. Knox can be very charming but I doubt that he
sincerely admires any of the public men with whom he has been
associated, or can call any of them, from the purely personal
viewpoint, his friends, with the possible exception of Andrew
Mellon, whom he caused to be appointed Secretary of the Treasury.
Of course, he likes many of his colleagues, after a fashion,
especially those who admire him, but that is another matter. The
intimacy usually implied in the term friendship does not enter into
such relations.

For some of the more important men he has known, he has shown a
very distinct dislike. It is said of him that he thought President
Harding overlooked a real opportunity when he failed to invite him
to become Secretary of State