erience is making England over again. There never was a more
interesting thing to watch and to be part of.

There are about twenty American organizations here--big, little,
rag-tag, and bobtail. When we declared war, every one of 'em
proceeded to prepare for some sort of celebration. There would have
been an epidemic of Fourth-of-July oratory all over the
town--before we'd done anything--Americans spouting over the edges
and killing Kruger with their mouths. I got representatives of 'em
all together and proposed that we hold our tongues till we'd won
the war--then we can take London. And to give one occasion when we
might all assemble and dedicate ourselves to this present grim
business, I arranged for an American Dedicatory Service at St.
Paul's Cathedral. The royal family came, the Government came, the
Allied diplomats came, my Lords and Ladies came, one hundred
wounded American (Canadian) soldiers came--the pick of the Kingdom;
my Navy and Army staff went in full uniform, the Stars and Stripes
hung before the altar, a double brass band played the Star Spangled
Banner and the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and an American bishop
(Brent) preached a red-hot American sermon, the Archbishop of
Canterbury delivered the benediction; and (for the first time in
English history) a foreign flag (the Stars and Stripes) flew over
the Houses of Parliament. It was the biggest occasion, so they say,
that St. Paul's ever had. And there's been no spilling of American
oratory since! If you had published a shilling edition of the words
and music of the Star Spangled Banner and the Battle Hymn you could
have sent a cargo of 'em here and sold them. There isn't paper
enough in this Kingdom to get out an edition here.

Give my love to all the Doubledays and to all the fellows in the
shop, and (I wonder if you will) try your hand at another letter.
You write very legibly these days!

Sincerely yours,
WALTER H. PAGE.

"Curiously enough," Page wrote about this time, "these most exciting
days of the war are among the most barren of exciting topics for private
correspondence. The 'atmosphere' here is unchanging--to us--and the
British are turning their best side to us continuously. They are
increasingly appreciative, and they see more and more clearly that our
coming into the war is all that