Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-19
A GREAT AMBASSADOR
TIMES Says OF PAGE
His Mission an Event in the His
tory of Ma nkind. Declares Great
British Newspaper.
From the London Times. August 20.

From the London Times. August 20.
The English-speaklng peoples Of
the world will learn with heartfelt re-
prct that the United States Ambassador
has been obliged bv considerations Of
health to resign the great position he has
adorned since the summer of 1913. To the
millions in this country whose deepest
feeling and whose lofticst ideals Mir Page
has often uttered. in words so apt and
happy as to fill them with sense of per
sonal gratitude and affection, his departu-
re means separation from a dear and homo
urcd teacher and friend His mission has
been an event in the history of mankind,
but very specially has il been an event in
our history and in that of the great Re
public which went forth from among us.
and which he has helped To unite us by
ties stronger and more intimate than ever
knit other peoples. America has sent us
many great represent atives who have won
golden opinions by their literary distinct
ion. their social charm, and their manifest
good will to us and o urs. n one has had so
great "A WORK Ia do None could have done
II with a surer instinct or with more nm
failing perception Ot ITS tinspcakabl
promise for mankind II was theirs To Law
the foundations: u has been his tn raise
he arch and the success with which he
hs,, raised il Is the best tribute Ia their
labotlrs The secret of that success lS 10 ne
seen ~ his first speech IN this country.
Already he discerncd in the relations of
the two great kindred nations libert v
loving as Of old and confident of the broad
cnfnr Of the bounds of freedom, n good
augurv for The spr al of justice and of
fair dealing and for the firmer Establish
mcnt of the peace of the world. and
he asked that he might live among us
ms working member of The great
Enalish-spcakinp democracy. which.
with local variations. has IN every part
Of the world the Same large aims The
master thought rccurs in his words n few
months ago There IS no such thing rs
the American colony in London, thank
God we minglc with orr British friends
" hen he had been with us hut few
months long before we drcamt nf war
IL ran through the address with which he
the monument commemorate
ing the sailing If the Pilgrim Fathers from
Southampton He spoke of that memorial
as one Of the pillars Of the hope ot man
kind. and he assured his hearers. who
Thought as little as he of the meaning to
be attached later tn MS words, that in he
Y
English-rule,l the high grim spirit
Of the Pilgrim still livos albeit Priscil
Ia still works her will there. or perhaps
because She still works her will there. rs
she worked Il three centres ago
From the outbreak Of tho war until
the memorable day when. her patience
outworn. America drew tho sword upon
Prussia Germany as tho natural foe TO
liberty, the <ask Of the American
Ambassador required great Judgment
temper and tact II was inevitable
that the naval war should raiso
awkward and complicated questions he
tween ourselves aud the chief
neutral Power, and these questions
were the more dchcatc because they
touched upon old controversies he
tween ourselves and tho United States
MIR Page managed them with perfect
loyalty to his own country. but also
with understanding for the dlihculti,s
IN which we stood
With an unerrlng grasp al the real
ISsucS involved, and ot their significance
To America as we'll as 10 the Allies, he
recognized the worth Of our sure shield
against the sIibiugation of the sea.
and the threatened attacks on land.
beyond them, 10 use words he employed
himself four months ago But his posi-
tion was difficult. and the declaration
of war undoubtedly came 10 him rs an
immense relief, as II did to all Americans
who shared his moral and political
ideals HcnCeforth he was free TO
speak his mind. and We know with
what vlgour and what true wisdom he
spoke IT.
His speeches at the Pilgrims dinner
last wear. and at Plymouth little later.
develop and apply the views and prin-
ciples he had conveyed when first he
came among us, with an eloqucnce,
a knowledge and breadth of view proper
to the highest craftsmanship They
are the views and principles Of President
Wilson, expounded by n thinker who
has got to the kernel of the British
national character
He has himself told us the conclusions
he has reached. He has not found that
English and Americans are the same
people He warns US that In
MANY respects the differences be
tween them are marked, But their
friendship is instructive and necessary
1t is founded upon a rock, for it depends
not merely on common blood and in
stitutions. on common language and
literature. but on the same conception
of right and wrong The same human
coin rings true to each of us, and the
same rings false.
Imagination and Fuel.