He laughed repeatedly at the different comments you made and he was delighted with what you had to say concerning Lord Cowdray.  We do not love him for we think that between Cowdray and Carden a large part of our troubles in Mexico has been made.  Your description of his attitude at the beginning and his present one pleased us much.

After I had read the confidential letter the President said “now let me see if I have the facts.”  He then recited them in consecutive order just as the English lady had written them, almost using the same phrases, showing the well-trained mind that he has.  I then dropped the letter in the grate.

He enjoyed heartily the expression “Washington is a deep hole of silence towards ambassadors,” and again “The volume of silence that I get is oppressive,” and of course the story apropos of this last remark.

I was with him for more than an hour and he was distinctly better when I left.  I hated to look at him in bed for I could not help realizing what his life means to the Democratic Party, to the Nation and almost to the world.

Of course you know that I only read your letters to him.  Mr. Bryan was my guest on Wednesday and I returned to Washington with him but I made no mention of our correspondence and I never have.  The President seems to like our way of doing things and further than that I do not care.

     Upon my soul I do not believe the President could be better pleased
     than he is with the work you are doing.

     Faithfully yours,

     E.M.  HOUSE.

From now on the Ambassador exerted a round-about pressure—­the method of “gradual approach” already referred to—­upon the Foreign Office for Carden’s removal.  An extract from a letter to the President gives a hint concerning this method: 

* * * * *

I have already worked upon Sir Edward’s mind about his Minister to Mexico as far as I could.  Now that the other matter is settled and while Carden is behaving, I go at it.  Two years ago Mr. Knox made a bad blunder in protesting against Carden’s “anti-Americanism” in Cuba.  Mr. Knox sent Mr. Reid no definite facts nor even accusations to base a protest on.  The result was a failure—­a bad failure.  I have again asked Mr. Bryan for all the definite reports he has heard about Carden.  That man, in my judgment, has caused nine tenths of the trouble here.

* * * * *

Naturally Page did not ask the Minister’s removal directly—­that would have been an unpardonable blunder.  His meetings during this period with Sir Edward were taking place almost every day, and Carden, in one way or another, kept coming to the front in their conversation.  Sir Edward, like Page, would sacrifice much in the cause of Anglo-American relations; Page would occasionally express his regret that the British Minister to Mexico was not a man