ntal mediaevalism; and with that we can
have nothing to do. Men like Kerr think that somehow a great push
toward democracy here will be given by the war. I don't quite see
how. So far the aristocracy have made perhaps the best showing in
defence of English liberty. They are paying the bills of the war;
they have sent their sons; these sons have died like men; and their
parents never whimper. It's a fine breed for such great uses as
these. There was a fine incident in the House of Lords the other
day, which gave the lie to the talk that one used to hear here
about "degeneracy." Somebody made a perfectly innocent proposal to
complete a list of peers and peers' sons who had fallen in the
war--a thing that will, of course, be done, just as a similar list
will be compiled of the House of Commons, of Oxford and Cambridge
Universities. But one peer after another objected vigorously lest
such a list appear immodest. "We are but doing our duty. Let the
matter rest there."

In a time like this the aristocracy proves its worth. In fact, all
aristocracies grew chiefly out of wars, and perhaps they are better
for wars than a real democracy. Here, you see, you run into one of
those contradictions in life and history which make the world so
hard to change....

You know there are some reasons why peace, whenever it may come,
will bring problems as bad as the problems of the war itself. I can
think of no worse task than the long conferences of the Allies with
their conflicting interests and ambitions. Then must come their
conferences with the enemy. Then there are sure to be other
conferences to try to make peace secure. And, of course, many are
going to be dissatisfied and disappointed, and perhaps out of these
disappointments other wars may come. The world will not take up its
knitting and sit quietly by the fire for many a year to come....

Affectionately,

W.H.P.

One happiness came to Mr. and Mrs. Page in the midst of all these war
alarums. On August 4, 1915, their only daughter, Katharine, was married
to Mr. Charles G. Loring, of Boston, Massachusetts. The occasion gave
the King an opportunity of showing the high regard in which Page and his
family were held. It had been planned that the wedding should take place
in Westminster Abbey, but the King very courteously offered M