[ Autographs ] JOHN HAY (1838 - 1905) Lincoln's private secretary, Secretary of State (1898 - 1905) and a sponsor of the treaty leading to construction of the Panama Canal. A.Q.S. "John Hay" as Secretary of State, 1p. oblong 8vo., Washington, Feb. 16, 1889. In full: "Pleasures too hastily tasted, grow sweeter in fond recollection. As the pomegranate, plucked green, ripens far over the sea". Boldly penned and very good.