And the Irish question had reached another crisis with the passage of the Home Rule Bill, which Sir Edward Carson was preparing to resist with his Irish "volunteers." All these matters formed the staple of talk at dinner tables, at country houses and at the clubs; and Page found constant entertainment in the variegated pageant.

There were important American matters to discuss with the Foreign Office--more important than any that had arisen in recent years--particularly Mexico and the Panama Tolls.

Before these questions are considered, however, it may be profitable to print a selection from the many letters which Page wrote during his first year, giving his impressions of this England which he had always loved and which a closer view made him love and admire still more.

These letters have the advantage of presenting a frank and yet sympathetic picture of British society and British life as it was just before the war.
_To Frank N Doubleday_ The Coburg Hotel, Carlos Place, Grosvenor Square, London, W.
DEAR EFFENDI:[15] You can't imagine the intensity of the party feeling here.

I dined to-night in an old Tory family.