763.72112/1852½: Telegram
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:12 p. m.]
3025. . . .
The Government and public opinion here are in about the same mood that Northern opinion and Lincoln’s administration were in the week after Bull Run or after Lee crossed the Potomac on his way to Gettysburg. The Balkan situation and the Dardanelles tragedy threaten a political upheaval and the public feeling is far more tense than at any [previous time]. Many of our best friends here fear that it is an unfortunate moment for our long note to be presented91 while the present crisis lasts. Bryce has this feeling strongly. Northcliffe who has always been most friendly and helpful in his newspapers is greatly excited lest a [violent] feeling be provoked not so much by the note itself as by its coming now. I send you these strong convictions by these men and many more like them for whatever they may be worth and without recommendation of my own. But it is certain that the note will receive no serious attention by the Government till the present tension is relaxed, and its presentation at this moment is likely to result in a public reception that may tend to defeat its purpose [object].
- The note contained in the instruction of Oct. 21, ibid.↩