Anglo-Saxon system. By this time Page had established the
friendliest possible relations with this distinguished man. Mr. Balfour
had become Foreign Secretary in December, 1916, in succession to Lord
Grey. Greatly as Page regretted the resignation of Grey, he was much
gratified that Mr. Balfour had been selected to succeed him. Mr.
Balfour's record for twenty-five years had been one of consistent
friendliness toward the United States. When President Cleveland's
Venezuelan message, in 1896, had precipitated a crisis in the relations
of the two countries, it was Mr. Balfour's influence which was
especially potent in causing Great Britain to modify its attitude and to
accept the American demand for arbitration. That action not only
amicably settled the Venezuelan question; it marked the beginning of a
better feeling between the English-speaking countries and laid the basis
for that policy of benevolent neutrality which Great Britain had
maintained toward the United States in the Spanish War. The excellent
spirit which Mr. Balfour had shown at this crisis he had manifested on
many occasions since. In the criticisms of the United States during the
_Lusitania_ troubles Mr. Balfour had never taken part. The era of
"neutrality" had not ruffled the confidence which he had always felt in
the United States. During all this time the most conspicuous dinner
tables of London had rung with criticisms of American policy; the fact
was well known, however, that Mr. Balfour had never sympathized with
these reproaches; even when he was not in office, no unfriendly word
concerning the United States had ever escaped his lips. His feeling
toward this country was well shown in a letter which he wrote Page, in
reply to one congratulating him on his seventieth birthday. "I have now
lived a long life," said Mr. Balfour, "and most of my energies have been
expended in political work, but if I have been fortunate enough to
contribute, even in the smallest degree, to drawing closer the bonds
that unite our two countries, I shall have done something compared with
which all else that I may have attempted counts in my eyes as nothing."

Page's letters and notes contain many references to Mr. Balfour's kindly
spirit. On the day following the dismissal of Bernstorff the American
Ambassador lunched with the Foreign Secretary at No. 4 Carlton Gardens.

"Mr. Balfour," Page reported to Washington, "gave expression to the
hearty admiration which he entertaine