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.