Editing Cecil Spring Rice

{{short description|British Ambassador to United States}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name        = Sir Cecil Spring Rice
|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCMG|GCVO}}
|image       = File:Cecil Spring-Rice.png
|alt         = 
|order1      =  <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by adding a number-->
|ambassador_from =British
|country         = the United States
|term_start  =  1912
|term_end    =  1918
|monarch     = [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]]
|primeminister = [[H. H. Asquith]] <br /> [[David Lloyd George]]
|predecessor =  [[James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce|James Bryce]]
|successor   =  [[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading|The Earl of Reading]]
|ambassador_from1 = British
|country1     =  Sweden
|term_start1  =  1908
|term_end1    =  1912
|predecessor1 =  [[Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell|Sir Rennell Rodd]]
|successor1   =  [[Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith|Esme Howard]]
|ambassador_from2 = British
|country2     =  Persia
|term_start2  =  1906
|term_end2    =  1908
|predecessor2 =  [[Arthur Henry Hardinge|Sir Arthur Hardinge]]
|successor2   =  [[George Head Barclay|Sir George Barclay]]
|birth_name   = Cecil Arthur Spring Rice
|birth_date   = 27 February 1859
|birth_place  = [[St George Hanover Square]], [[London]], England<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=6FaCJtvBTyy2GjKNokCFvw&scan=1|title=Index entry|accessdate=26 January 2021|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref>
|death_date   = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1918|2|14|1859|2|27}}
|death_place  = [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], Canada
|party        = 
|otherparty   =  <!--For additional political affiliations-->
|spouse       = {{marriage|Florence Caroline Lascelles|1904}}
|relatives = [[Thomas Spring Rice, 1st&nbsp;Baron Monteagle of Brandon]] (grandfather)
|children     = 2
|residence    = 
|alma_mater   = [[Balliol College, Oxford]]
|occupation   = Diplomat
|profession   = 
|cabinet      = 
|committees   = 
|portfolio    = 
|signature    = 
|signature_alt= 
|website      = 
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|nickname     = 
|allegiance   = 
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}}

'''Sir Cecil Arthur Spring Rice''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCMG|GCVO}} (27 February 1859 – 14 February 1918) was a British [[diplomat]] who served as [[British Ambassador to the United States]] from 1912 to 1918, as which he was responsible for the organisation of British efforts to end [[United States in World War I|American neutrality]] during the [[First World War]].

He was also a close friend of [[US President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]], and served as best man at his second wedding.<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org">[http://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Blog/2014/April/07-Cecil-Spring-Rice.aspx Roosevelt's Contemporaries: Cecil Spring Rice] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808082652/http://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Blog/2014/April/07-Cecil-Spring-Rice.aspx |date=8 August 2016 }}, Theodore Roosevelt Center (7 April 2014). Retrieved 28 July 2016.</ref>

He is best known as the writer of the lyrics of the patriotic hymn "[[I&nbsp;Vow to Thee, My Country]]".

==Early life and family==
Spring Rice was born into an aristocratic and influential [[Anglo-Irish]] family. He was the son of a diplomat, [[The Honourable|The Hon.]] Charles William Thomas Spring Rice, who was the second son of the prominent [[Whig Party (UK)|Whig]] politician and former cabinet minister [[Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon|Lord Monteagle of Brandon]]. Spring Rice's maternal grandfather was [[William Marshall (1796–1872)|the politician William Marshall]], and he was a cousin of [[Frederick Spring]]. He was the great-grandson of [[Edmund Pery, 1st Earl of Limerick|The 1st Earl of Limerick]], [[John Marshall (industrialist)|John Marshall]], and [[George Hibbert]]. Spring Rice's father died when he was eleven, and he was raised at his mother's family's house at [[Watermillock]] on the shore of [[Ullswater]]. During his childhood, he was often ill, and he later suffered from [[Graves' disease]], despite maintaining an active lifestyle.<ref name=burton>{{cite book|last=Burton|first=David Henry|title=Cecil Spring Rice: A Diplomat's Life|year=1990|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press|isbn=978-0-8386-3395-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kCGKtLkHnxAC}}</ref>

He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]] and at [[Balliol College, Oxford]], at both of which he was a contemporary and close friend of [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|George Nathaniel Curzon]], and at the latter of which he studied under the direction of [[Benjamin Jowett]]. Spring Rice rowed for Balliol, and achieved a double first in [[Classical Moderations]] (1879) and ''[[Literae Humaniores]]'' (1881).<ref>''Oxford University Calendar 1895'', Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1895 : 232, 329</ref> At Oxford, he was also a contemporary and close friend of [[John Strachey (journalist)|John Strachey]] and [[Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon|Edward Grey]]. However, Spring Rice contributed, alongside [[John William Mackail]], to the composition of a famous sardonic doggerel about Curzon that was published in ''[[Balliol College, Oxford|The Balliol Masque]]'', and, when British Ambassador to the United States, he was suspected by Curzon of trying to prevent Curzon's engagement to the American Mary Leiter, whom Curzon nevertheless married.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mosley|first=Leonard|title=Curzon: The End of an Epoch|url=https://archive.org/details/curzonendofepoch0000mosl|url-access=registration|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.|year=1961|page=[https://archive.org/details/curzonendofepoch0000mosl/page/26 26]}}</ref> However, Spring Rice assumed for a certainty, like many of Curzon's other friends, that Curzon would inevitably become [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]]: he wrote to Curzon in 1891, 'When you are Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs I hope you will restore the vanished glory of England, lead the European concert, decide the fate of nations, and give me three months' leave instead of two'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mosley|first=Leonard|title=Curzon: The End of an Epoch|url=https://archive.org/details/curzonendofepoch0000mosl|url-access=registration|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.|year=1961|page=[https://archive.org/details/curzonendofepoch0000mosl/page/43 43]}}</ref>

After completing university, Spring Rice travelled in Europe, where he improved his [[French language|French]], at the time the language of diplomacy. Uncertain about which career to pursue, he took an examination for the Foreign Office and was accepted. Although brought up as an Englishman, Spring Rice maintained a close affinity with [[Ireland]], and he later wrote a poem about his dual Rice (Irish) and [[Spring family|Spring]] (English) roots.<ref name=burton/>

Spring Rice had four sisters and four brothers, two of whom predeceased him:  [[Stephen Spring Rice (1856–1902)|Stephen Spring Rice]] died in 1902 and Gerald Spring Rice was killed while serving as an officer on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in 1916.

===Marriage and issue===
In 1904, Spring Rice married Florence Caroline Lascelles, the daughter of [[Frank Lascelles (diplomat)|Sir Frank Cavendish Lascelles]] and a cousin of the [[Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire|Duke of Devonshire]].<ref name="Simon">{{cite news |last=Simon |first=Bernard |date=31 May 2013 |title=This memorial is poetic justice for Sir Cecil Spring-Rice |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10088951/This-memorial-is-poetic-justice-for-Sir-Cecil-Spring-Rice.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312080447/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10088951/This-memorial-is-poetic-justice-for-Sir-Cecil-Spring-Rice.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 March 2014 |newspaper=The Telegraph|location=London |access-date=28 July 2016 }}</ref> He had two children with Florence:

*Mary Elizabeth Spring Rice (1906–1994), married [[Oswald Raynor Arthur|Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur]] in 1935.
*Anthony Theodore Brandon Spring Rice (1908–1954), died unmarried.

==Career==

===Early diplomatic career===
[[File:Spring-rice c2.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Spring Rice as a young man.]]
Spring Rice began his career as a clerk in the [[Foreign Office]] in 1882. In 1886, he was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|Lord Rosebery]].{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | pp = 36–38 (Volume I)}} Spring Rice was known to be a supporter of the Liberal Party and was sympathetic to the [[Irish Home Rule movement]] so he was relieved of his post when the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] came to power later that year. Spring Rice subsequently made the unusual move to the diplomatic service, where he remained for the rest of his life, starting with his first posting to the British legation in [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1887.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | pp = 51–97 (Volume I)}}

In 1892 he was posted to Japan, and undertook a tour of Korea with Curzon later that year.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 125 (Volume I)}} While in Japan Spring Rice was instrumental in laying the foundations of the [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]], which he identified as vital to British interests if Russian expansionism in the region was to be challenged. He left Japan in October 1893 and was posted again to Washington until October 1895, when he was posted to the British embassy in Berlin.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | pp = 178–256 (Volume I)}} During his time in Germany he fell in love with his future wife, Florence Lascelles, the daughter of the then British ambassador. He left Berlin in July 1898, and after spending several months with his family on Ullswater was posted to Constantinople.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 256 (Volume I)}} In May 1899 he was given his first posting to Persia as Secretary of Legation, and he became the British [[chargé d'affaires]] in [[Tehran]] in March 1900, when the Minister, Sir [[Mortimer Durand]], left for London due to his wife's health.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular|date=9 March 1900 |page=6 |issue=36085}}</ref> In 1901 Spring Rice was appointed Commissioner of Public Debt in [[Cairo]], where he remained for two years. In November 1901, he had been promoted to the rank of [[diplomatic rank|Secretary of Embassy]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27387 |date=13 December 1901 |page=8834 }}</ref> He was made Chargé d'Affaires in [[St. Petersburg]] in 1903, and in June of that year began to warn the British government that war between Russia and Japan was becoming increasingly likely.<ref name=burton/> He was still serving in Russia when the [[Russo-Japanese War]] began in January 1904, and he corresponded at length with his close friend and confidant President Roosevelt about the United States' mediation in the conflict and the subsequent [[Treaty of Portsmouth]].{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 441 (Volume I)}} In January 1905 [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|Lord Lansdowne]] appointed Spring Rice as the Foreign Office's special representative to the US president.<ref name=burton/> Spring Rice was carrying out the duties of the British ambassador to Russia, who was unwell, during the [[1905 Russian Revolution]] and was involved in the early negotiations which resulted in the [[Anglo-Russian Entente]] of 1907.

In September 1906 Spring Rice undertook his first ambassadorial role when he was made [[British Ambassador to Iran|British Minister to Persia]], before becoming [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Sweden|Ambassador to Sweden]] in 1908.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 126 (Volume II)}}

===Ambassador to Sweden===
Upon being appointed ambassador, Spring Rice was instructed by [[Edward VII]] to help improve relations between Sweden and Norway following the [[Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden|dissolution of the Union]] between the two countries in 1905. The primary concern of the British government, however, was the increasingly friendly relations between Sweden and Germany, and the growing diplomatic, cultural and economic influence of Germany in Scandinavia. In a letter to [[Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow|Lord Cranley]] in May 1909, Spring Rice stated "I suppose you realise that Sweden is in effect a province of Prussia [Germany], not in will but in necessity".{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 139 (Volume II)}}  He went on to say that "in case of war I think we should regard Sweden as German in effect...". Spring Rice became irritated by what he saw as Sweden's deference to [[Wilhelm II]], and his embassy was involved in an intensifying rivalry between Germany and Britain for control of Sweden's important iron and timber resources.<ref>Patrick Salmon, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sx3JAH0LiMEC&dq=cecil+spring+rice+sweden&pg=PA43 ''Scandinavia and the Great Powers 1890-1940''] (Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 43.</ref> Nonetheless, relations between Sweden and London remained amicable.

In November 1912, after four years in Sweden, it was announced that Spring Rice's next diplomatic posting was to be as ambassador to the United States.

===Ambassador to the United States===
[[File:Spring-rice c.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Sir Cecil Spring Rice in [[Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom|court dress]].]]
Spring Rice had long held the ambition of being appointed ambassador to the United States. In his biography of Spring Rice, [[Stephen Gwynn]] stated that Spring Rice's main concern, throughout his diplomatic career, was to "improve relations between the two great English-speaking powers".{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | pp = 178 (Volume II)}} Within the diplomatic service Spring Rice had unique entrée into Washington's corridors of power, and his work alongside President Roosevelt in 1905 led the British government to regard him as a natural choice for ambassador by 1912.<ref name=burton/> The diplomat [[Sir&nbsp;Ignatius Valentine Chirol]] observed that Spring Rice's "whole career seems to have been a preparation for the final struggle in Washington".<ref name=burton/>

Within two years of Spring Rice's posting to Washington DC, the [[First World War]] had broken out in Europe, and his principal task became that of ending American neutrality. The United States was the largest potential supplier of munitions, arms and food to the United Kingdom and its allies, as well as a potential ally in the war.<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org"/> However, in 1914 public opinion in America favoured neutrality, and Spring Rice had to grapple with the strong anti-British and non-interventionist elements in American politics at the time. Spring Rice also had the complex task of justifying British policies that violated America's rights as a neutral state, such as the monitoring of mail and telegrams and the seizure of contraband at sea.<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org"/> Furthermore, German diplomats under [[Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff]] were active in attempting to influence American political opinion against the Allies. Of particular concern to Spring Rice was liaison between German and Irish groups in America, and his embassy was closely involved in gathering intelligence regarding the actions of anti-British spies and informants.<ref>Stephen Hartley, Licínia Simão, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DbSuCwAAQBAJ&q=The+Irish+Question+as+a+Problem+in+British+Foreign+Policy,+1914%E2%80%9318 ''The Irish Question as a Problem in British Foreign Policy, 1914–18''] (Springer, 1987), p. 45 (Retrieved 25 July 2016).</ref> He successfully engaged with his many [[Atlanticism|Atlanticist]] American friends, including [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Henry Stimson]] and [[Joseph Hodges Choate]], who applied pressure on [[Woodrow Wilson]] to abandon neutrality.

In January 1915 [[Arthur Balfour]], the former prime minister, was sent on a mission to convince the United States Congress of Britain's friendship.<ref>/ref>"absolutely irreplaceable supplies", Cabinet Papers, 41/23/7</ref> In a series of meetings, Spring Rice and Consul-General, [[Courtenay Bennett|Sir Courtenay Bennett]], were marginalised by the delegation's representatives. Spring Rice and Bennett agreed to support the subsequent [[Anglo-American Agreement for Co-ordination and Acceleration of Deliveries|Commercial Agreement]] on the condition that Spring Rice's friend, [[J. P. Morgan Jr.]], was appointed as the sole purchasing agent.<ref>[[Kathleen Burk]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BbtwAwAAQBAJ&q=Britain,+America+and+the+Sinews+of+War+1914-1918 ''Britain, America and the Sinews of War 1914–1918''] (Routledge, 2014), p. 18 (Retrieved 25 July 2016).</ref> Spring Rice was able to keep the feeble commission alive, but voiced his concerns that British finances in the United States were reaching a critical point as chaotic credit arrangements by-passed the body set up by parliament to effectuate co-ordination. Spring Rice sent daily wires to London warning that Gold runs would seriously undermine British bank facility, but these were largely ignored. Spring Rice had served as best man at J. P. Morgan's wedding and his influence over the commission was too great for him to be seen as impartial.<ref>The Board of Management, "The Bulletin of the Federal Reserve" - for warnings to US Treasury and Wall Street against investing in foreign Treasury bills;</ref>

As the war went on, Spring Rice's embassy increasingly assumed an advisory role to the many British special delegations which were sent to secure the support of the US government. Spring Rice complained about the limited part he was able to play in the 1915 [[Anglo-French Financial Commission]] led by [[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading|Lord Reading]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Greg Kennedy|title=Britain's War At Sea, 1914-1918: The war they thought and the war they fought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSIFDAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-17221-5|page=33}}</ref> Spring Rice was also concerned by the large number of private brokers and agents, both with and without official authority, who were operating in the United States on behalf of the government and British businesses. As a result, Spring Rice had to request for the [[War Office]] to provide him with an official list of accredited agents, which was reluctantly compiled in late 1914.<ref>Kathleen Burk, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BbtwAwAAQBAJ&q=Britain,+America+and+the+Sinews+of+War+1914-1918 ''Britain, America and the Sinews of War 1914–1918''] (Routledge, 2014), p. 17 (Retrieved 25 July 2016).</ref>

[[File:Signing the British War Loan 1917.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Spring Rice (second from left) signing the third US [[War bond|War Loan]] to Britain in 1917.]]
By 1916, the British government was becoming increasingly worried about the [[Ghadar Party]], a US-based political movement which was agitating for rebellion against British rule in India. The American authorities had been reluctant to check the Indian seditionist movement earlier in the war, and fear about the potential political fallout had prevented Spring Rice from pressing the matter diplomatically. However, in February 1916 Spring Rice was ordered to raise the issue with the new US Secretary of State, [[Robert Lansing]]. The subsequent [[Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial]] uncovered plans to incite an armed revolt in India with German support.<ref name=Strachan800>{{Harvnb|Strachan|2001|p=800}}</ref><ref name=Strachan804>{{Harvnb|Strachan|2001|p=804}}</ref>

In 1916, Spring Rice constantly sought a reprieve for [[Roger Casement]], citing the danger of protests from [[Irish Americans]], but he also advised political and religious leaders of Casement's "perversion" and the existence of the ''[[Black Diaries]]''. In January 1917 he signed the agreement of the third US [[War bond|War Loan]] to Britain on behalf of his government. Spring Rice's efforts to end US neutrality eventually met with success when the USA [[American entry into World War I|entered the conflict]] on the side of the Allies in 1917. In mid-January 1918, following a disagreement with [[Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe|Lord Northcliffe]], the head of the British war mission to America, he was abruptly recalled to London in a one-line telegram.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 426 (Volume II)}}

Spring Rice immediately travelled to Canada to begin his journey back to Britain. In Canada, Spring Rice was the guest of his wife's cousin, the Duke of Devonshire, who was at the time serving as [[Governor General of Canada]]. Although only 58 and in reasonably good health, Spring Rice unexpectedly died at the viceregal seat, [[Rideau Hall]] in Ottawa, a mere three weeks after leaving his post.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 435 (Volume II)}} It is believed that his underlying health condition (Graves' disease) had been exacerbated by exhaustion and stress. It was suggested by his family and close friends that Spring Rice had died of a broken heart following his removal from office, with [[Henry Cabot Lodge]] commenting that "the sudden cessation of his work and responsibilities in which his heart was bound up caused him the loss of the will to live".<ref name=burton/> He is buried in [[Beechwood Cemetery]] in [[Ottawa]]. Spring Rice was replaced as ambassador by Lord Reading, who was a direct representative of Britain's [[war cabinet]] and had been afforded additional negotiating powers, thus combining the roles previously held by Northcliffe and Spring Rice.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 January 1918 |title=Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, the British Ambassador at Washington, is coming home on leave |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/12th-january-1918/3/sir-cecil-spring-rice-the-british-ambassador-at-wa |newspaper=The Spectator |location=London |access-date=26 July 2016 }}</ref>

===Assessment of work===
In ''[[The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt]]'', [[Edmund Morris (writer)|Edmund Morris]] described Spring Rice as "a born diplomat [who] invariably picked out and cultivated the most important person in any place".<ref>{{cite book | title=The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | publisher=Modern Library | author=Morris, Edmund | year=2001 | location=7271 of 20280 (p. 357) | isbn=978-0-307-77782-9| edition=Kindle }}</ref> He was well respected in London's diplomatic circles, and had a wide network of influential friends in the United States and Britain. The diplomat [[Malcolm Robertson (diplomat)|Sir Malcolm Robertson]] described Spring Rice as "one of the two or three really brilliant ambassadors whom I have met in thirty years of diplomatic life."{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 213 (Volume II)}}

However, Spring Rice's success in turning the earlier close links to the US administration to a relationship of use to his government is debatable. By the end of his appointment, Spring Rice had earned the enmity of his government after becoming paranoid about the threat posed by German spies, and also because of his immense dislike of the many British delegations to Washington that were not under the control of his embassy. Furthermore, Spring Rice's personal connections to many notable [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] politicians was well known, so some members of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] administration of [[Woodrow Wilson]] were dubious about trusting him. He was damaged by his association with Roosevelt following the former President's attacks on Wilson for his policy of neutrality and for a lack of military preparedness.<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org"/> Spring Rice found [[William Jennings Bryan]], the Secretary of State, hard to take seriously and disliked having to deal with [[Edward M. House]], Wilson's confidential adviser, who held no official post in the US government. Even so, after his death the British government publicly recognised Spring Rice's extraordinary contribution to the war effort. His untiring attempts to get the United States to join the [[Allies (World War I)|Allies]] were evident as well as his success in frustrating the work of the German ambassador, von Bernstorff.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 352 (Volume II)}}

In a speech in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in 1919, [[Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood|Lord Robert Cecil]] said:{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 436 (Volume II)}}

{{blockquote|"No ambassador has ever had to discharge duties of greater delicacy or of more far reaching importance than fell to his lot. Nor has any ambassador ever fulfilled his task with more unwearied vigilance, conspicuous ability and ultimate success."}}

==Writings and friendships==
[[File:Theodore Roosevelt by the Pach Bros.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Spring Rice maintained a close friendship with President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and served as best man at his second wedding.]]
Spring Rice was a poet throughout his adult life.<ref name=burton/> In 1918, he rewrote the words of his most notable poem, ''Urbs Dei (The City of God)'' or ''The Two Fatherlands'', to become the text for the [[hymn]] ''[[I&nbsp;Vow to Thee My Country]]''. The hymn was first performed in 1925, after Spring Rice's death and has since become a widely recognised British anthem. His poetry was published in the 1922 edition of ''[[Poems of Today]]'', and has since been published in several other poetry collections.

He became acquainted with [[Theodore Roosevelt]] on a trans-Atlantic crossing from New York in 1886, and the two men quickly became close friends and confidants. He has been described as "one of President Theodore Roosevelt's most ardent and loyal admirers"<ref>{{cite book | title=The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | publisher=Modern Library | author=Morris, Edmund | year=2001 | location=7265 of 20280 (Page 356) | isbn=978-0-307-77782-9| edition=Kindle }}</ref> and acted as Roosevelt's best man in Roosevelt's wedding to [[Edith Roosevelt|Edith Carow]].<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org"/> Roosevelt became the godfather of Spring Rice's son in 1908. Spring Rice memorably remarked about Roosevelt: "You must always remember that the president is about six".<ref>{{cite book | title=The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | publisher=Modern Library | author=Morris, Edmund | year=2001 | location=366 of 20280 | isbn=978-0-307-77782-9| edition=Kindle }}</ref> The two men continued to write to each other until Spring Rice's death, and their close relationship undoubtedly added to the latter's diplomatic clout in the US.

He was a close friend of [[Sir&nbsp;Ignatius Valentine Chirol]], a British journalist and later diplomat, and [[Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar]], with whom he corresponded for many years.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 October 1929 |title=Sir Cecil Spring Rice |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/12th-october-1929/23/sir-cecil-spring-rice |newspaper=The Spectator |location=London |access-date=29 July 2016 }}</ref> One of his closest political friends was the Irish nationalist, [[John Dillon]]; his unwavering sense of duty attempted to overcome his sister's very public espousal of nationalist causes and friendships within the hierarchy of Sinn Féin.  The personal moral overtones and private contradictions failed to dent an overwhelming sense of obligation to the British Empire.  However it may have informed his uneasy relationship with the [[Balfour Mission]].<ref>British Sinews of War, pp. 7–9</ref>

A fluent speaker of [[Persian language|Persian]] (as well as German and French), Spring Rice was responsible for translating numerous Persian poems into English. Spring Rice's letters and poems were collected together by his daughter, Lady Arthur, and many are now held by [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]]. Further papers, relating to his diplomatic postings, and diaries of his travels in Japan, are held by the [[Churchill Archives Centre]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Collection: The Papers of Sir Cecil Spring-Rice|url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1465|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-30|website=Churchill Archives Centre, ArchiveSearch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930113853/https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1465 |archive-date=30 September 2021 }}</ref>

==Honours and legacy==
[[File:Cecil Spring Rice memorial plaque, Aira Force.jpg|300px|thumb|The memorial plaque to Sir Cecil Spring Rice on the lower bridge at [[Aira Force]], Cumbria.]]
Spring Rice was appointed a Knight Commander Cross of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] on 29 June 1906<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27926 |page=4461 |date=26 June 1906}}</ref><ref>https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27935/page/5131/data.pdf</ref> and a Knight Grand Cross of the [[Royal Victorian Order]] on 17 November 1908.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28199 |page=8698 |date=24 November 1908}}</ref> In 1906 he was made a Grand Cordon of [[Order of the Medjidie]]. In 1912 he was made a Commander (1st Class) of the [[Order of the Polar Star]] and he was made a member of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Imperial Privy Council]] on 7 March 1913.<ref name="gazette7march1913">{{London Gazette |issue=28697 |date=7 March 1913 |page=1749 }}</ref> Spring Rice was going to be offered a [[peerage]] upon his return to the United Kingdom, but died before the honour could be proposed.

In his will he left money to Balliol College to found the Cecil Spring Rice Memorial Fund which funds the learning of languages by students who intend to join the diplomatic service. Before his death, Spring Rice gave substantial funds for repairs to be carried out on [[St Peter and St Paul's Church, Lavenham]], the ancestral church of the [[Spring family]].<ref>Philip J. Turner, 'Romance of a Wool Merchant' (Homecraft Publications Limited, Canada, 1936)</ref>

===Commemorations===
Shortly after his death, Spring Rice's family, friends and colleagues erected a bridge to his memory over the waterfall at [[Aira Force]], near his childhood home on Ullswater. [[All Saints Church, Watermillock]], contains a stone memorial tablet to Spring Rice.

In July 2013 a memorial was unveiled by Cecil Spring Rice's granddaughter, Caroline Kenny, at Spring Rice's graveside in Ottawa. The grave was cleaned up and a memorial plaque and ceremony was organised by the then British Consul, Ashley Prime, working in Toronto with support from the Freeman of the City of London (North America).<ref name="Simon"/> [[Mount Spring-Rice]] in [[British Columbia]] was named after Spring Rice in 1918 by surveyor Arthur Wheeler.

==See also==
* [[Baron Monteagle of Brandon]]
* "[[I Vow to Thee, My Country]]"
* [[Foreign policy of the Theodore Roosevelt administration]]
* [[Foreign policy of the Woodrow Wilson administration]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Citation | author-link = Stephen Gwynn| last = Gwynn | first = Stephen | year = 1929| title = The Letters and Friendships of Sir Cecil Spring Rice | place = London | publisher = Constable & Co Ltd | type = Biography | oclc = 827000892 }}.
*Churchill Archives Centre, The Papers of Sir Cecil Spring Rice, CASR: [http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FCASR]<!-- Restore the deleted references -->
*Burton, David Henry (1990). ''Cecil Spring Rice: A Diplomat's Life''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8386-3395-3}}.
* {{cite book | last=Strachan | first=Hew | title=The First World War: Volume I: To Arms | publisher=OUP Oxford | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-19-160834-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChpqA02Sa10C | oclc=44509322}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
{{wikisource|Sir Cecil Spring-Rice}}

*[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/index.html ]

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{{succession box | before=[[James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce|James Bryce]] | title=[[British Ambassador to the United States]] | years=1912–1918 | after=[[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading|The Earl of Reading]] }}
{{succession box | before=[[Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell|Sir Rennell Rodd]] | title=[[British Ambassador to Sweden]] | years=1908–1912 | after=[[Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith|Esme Howard]] }}
{{succession box | before=[[Arthur Henry Hardinge|Sir Arthur Hardinge]] | title=[[British Ambassador to Iran|British Ambassador to Persia]] | years=1906–1908 | after=[[George Head Barclay|Sir George Barclay]] }}
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[[Category:1859 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States]]
[[Category:Spring family|Cecil]]
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[[Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Sweden]]
[[Category:People of Anglo-Irish descent]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie]]
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[[Category:People from Matterdale]]