John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838-July 1, 1905) was an ambassador to Great Britain under President McKinley. He served as Secretary of State, 1898-1905; and helped negotiate over fifty treaties. From the Open-Door policy with China, to the Panama Canal, to the Alaskan boundary, to the Philippine policy, he exerted a lasting impact on American foreign policy. In addition to serving as private secretary to President Lincoln, he was a poet and editorial writer for the New York Tribune. John Hay composed the poem:
<SINAI AND CALVARY
But Calvary stands to ransom
The earth from utter loss;
In shade than light more glorious
The shadow of the Cross.
To heal a sick world's trouble,
To soothe its woe and pain,
On Calvary's sacred summit
The Pascal Lamb was slain.
Almighty God! direct us
To keep Thy perfect Law!
O blessed Saviour, help us
Nearer to Thee to draw!
Let Sinai's thunder aid us
To guard our feet from sin,
And Calvary's light inspire us
The love of God to win.> 1838JH001
On July 3, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt issued a Proclamation which stated:
<John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States, died on July 1st. His death, a crushing sorrow to his friends, is to the people of this country a national bereavement; and it is in addition a serious loss to all mankind, for to him it was given to stand as a leader in the effort to better world-conditions by striving to advance the cause of international peace. He entered the public service as the trusted and intimate companion of Abraham Lincoln, and for well-nigh forty- five years he served his country with loyal devotion and high ability in many positions of honor and trust; and finally he crowned his life work by serving as Secretary of State with such farsighted reading of the future and such loyalty to lofty ideals as to confer lasting benefits not only upon our own country but upon all the nations of the earth.> 1838JH002
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1838JH001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Milton Hay. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987; Mantle Ministries, 228 Still Ridge, Bulverde, Texas), p. 245.
1838JH002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Milton Hay, July 3, 1905, in a Proclamation issued by President Theodore Roosevelt. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty- Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XIV, p. 6955.