Winthrop, John. Modell of Christian Charity.

(ca.) Winthrop delivers the speech to members of the Massachusetts Bay Company either in Southampton, England or on board ship en route to New England. In it, he declares, “For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. Soe that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word throughout the world.” The words are adapted from Matthew 5:14 – “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” The phrase “city on a hill” is subsequently adapted by presidents John F. Kennedy in 1961* and Ronald Reagan. A book on the topic is published in 2019.*