Plainfield High School - Milestone Yearbook (Plainfield, NJ)

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156 THE ORACLE None of these. It is a man, a product of the American nation, a descendant of the tillers of the soil, a result of modern education. Not a god but a gift from God; not a hero of old but a hero of the twentieth cen- tury. A man whose only qualification in the beginning was an ability to grasp opportunities; a man whose only title in the end will be “A per- fect diplomat.” From the time that John Hay left college, he began to improve his every opportunity. In the beginning of his career, he met Abraham Lin- coln, and set to work to make himself an invaluable part of Lincoln’s life. John Hay began to study law. He soon stopped, to study men. He made himself familiar with all the details of the great Lincoln-Douglass contest. He became an absolute necessity to Lincoln and it was as Lin- coln’s Assistant Secretary during the trying years that followed that John Hay obtained the broad foundation for his knowledge of statesman- ship which he has exhibited in later years. He had desired to undertake a life of public service, but motives which were known only to himself held him back; yet when the war was ended and with it the life of his President, John Hay burned his bridges behind him and entered the consular service. He served successively at Paris, Vienna and Madrid, staying in each country only long enough to obtain a thorough knowledge of its people and policies and never losing an opportunity to broaden his knowledge of statecraft. He had studied the foreign policy of the country from without and now he returned to study it from within. He first got in touch with the nation through newspaper work and soon he accepted the position of Assistant Secretary of State. He mastered the details of the administration of the nation’s foreign af- fairs, and then he could safely feel that he was prepared for whatever re- sponsibility the nation chose to place upon him. The nation did not see fit to use him for fifteen years, but he was there, ready, with lamp trimmed and burning. Thus, when President McKinley wanted a man for the most important consular position, he put his hand on John Hay; and John Hay again grasped his opportunity, and again entered into the struggle of dip- lomatic life. As Ambassador to England, he measured his wits against the keenest statesmen and politicians of Europe, and his reputation still stands where he, himself, made it; for from that time he is known as “America’s most polished diplomat.” When at last the portfolio of State was vacant, but one name was mentioned to fill it. Who was prepared better than John Hay? Had any- one made that careful study of the diplomatic service from within and

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THE ORAGEE 155 ORATIONS I THE IDEAL AMERICAN. HAROLD CHAMBERLAIN FENNO. HE year 1808 marks the beginning of a new epoch in American history, an epoch of territorial expansion; and this same date in the history of the world marks the entrance of the United States of America into the arena of international affairs as a world power. To accomplish this result, however, required the guidance of a master hand—the hand of John Hay, Secre- tary of State. From that date, that hand has never been with- drawn for a moment from the rein, nor has it allowed the foreign policy of this nation to deviate a hair’s breadth from the course mapped out for it. Indeed it has urged the nation forward along that course with a breathless rapidity which has caused aston- ishment within andconsternation without. We saw the power of Spain humbl- ed despite the murmuring of Continental powers; we saw American sover- eignty established in the Philippines in defiance of the outcry at home against Imperialism ; we saw American rights preserved in China, and Chinese in- tegrity assured to the world in spite of European desires to the contrary ; and we have just seen the aggressive treachery of Russia openly curbed and laid bare before the eyes of the critical world. All this we have seen and more, but through it all we can distinguish the shadow of the mighty intellect and forceful hand of John Hay. Not an incident arose for which he was unprepared; not a movement was made which he had not foreseen, and, foreseeing, prepared for. Neither divisions at home nor coalitions abroad changed his policy one ion. His wonderful foresight had enabled him to fix his policy against open threat and hidden deceit; and still the young nation, confident in the knowledge of its strength, pushes onward, and still John Hay holds the guiding rein in his mighty hand. But whence comes this being, who shapes the destiny of a nation, who directs the expansive energy of eighty millions? Who moulded that brain which pierces the darkest, most secret plans of our country’s enemies? Who trained that spirit of liberty? Who educated that mighty power of foresight, that ability to grasp opportunities ere they are at hand? Is it a god come to dwell among men, or is it one of the heroes of old re- turned in modern guise?

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THE ORACLE. 157 without which he had made? Inquiry was useless. The man and the position met at last. John Hay’s final opportunity was at hand and he grasped it without hesitation. No wonder now that John Hay dared to lead the nation into a new epoch; no wonder now that the nations of Europe look on apprehensively while, under his guidance, we take our first strides as a world power. Well might Germany rage because John Hay said, ‘China shall not be divided.” Indeed the raging did little good. The integrity of China was secured. John Hay had decreed it. Well might Russia roar because John Hay said, “The Open Door shall prevail in China,’ and did the roaring do much good? The ports of China are open to the world. John Hay had de- manded it. With the right always on his side, John Hay has dared all the powers of Europe, and they have quailed before him. It is not reck- lessness nor is it audacity; it is a firm courage and an implicit faith in the triumph of the right, an appreciation of the advantages of clean diplomacy over foul treachery. Thus in John Hay we see the height which a humble American citizen may reach; not through luck, not through double dealing, but by plain, honest, hard work, and by seizing each opportunity as it comes. And now let us thank God for John Hay, and pray that He will spare us for many years the life of this true, this ideal American. II. THE MISSION OF AMERICAN ART. VAN WYCK BROOKS. HERE is no other phase of National Life which so generally embodies and so accurately expresses the National characteristics and ideals as the Nation’s Art. Fe Italy, with her acutely artistic temperament and her passionate fer- vor, presented in her Art the opening scene of modern civilization. Germany followed—primitive, uncouth, profound. And every other race placed in the History of Art the symbol of its national character. Murillo typifies Spanish Art in the dusky, black-eyed signoritas who were his conception of the Madonna. Every nook of thrifty, home-loving, practical little Hol- land is illuminated by the brush of a Brouwer. All the polish, the dainti- ness, the worldliness of the court of Louis is pictured on the canvases of Watteau. And always last in a question of sensibility, dear old England,