Litchfield enquirer., 1880-05-27

HALE's EXECUTION AS SPY.-After tn
 Long Island affair, Washington was totally 2
 loss Tor proper intelligence, and sugpestel every temporary expedient for securing ii
 Nothing but the East River being now he tween him and the powerful enemy. it wa ol the utmost importance that he should b, warned ID ample time of their advance GA, everything, i" he wrote to Heath. at Kings bridge, sina manner depends upoi, obtainins lntehlgenceof the eneniy,s mohonaI do ri1osl earnestly entreat you and General Clinton to exeN yourselves te accomplish this most de, siraole end. Leave no stone unturned, nor do not stick at expense to bring this to pass. as never was more uneasy than on account of my want or Knowledge on this score. Keen con. stant iook-outs, he adds, with good glasses on some commanding heights that eiook well
 It vas in this emergency. when a successful accomplishment of Washingtons wishes would nae vbeen of the greatest use to the army, that Captain Hale stepped forward to offer his servlces It happened that he had recently volunteered to act as one of the officers of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas -Knowlton's new corps Of Rangers, organized to scout between the ilnesy feel the enemy's position, and report directly to the commander-ln-chief. Knowl- ton was gallant officer, near townsman of Hales, and must have known his worth. or he
 
 Early in September, when Washington's sus- pense was keenest, the colonel preached che matter of obtaining the desired information to his own officers, in the hope that some one Of them might be able to serve the chief The, suggestion appears to have deeply impressed Hale, who, after the interview with Knowlton, went to talk the subject over with his fellow officer and college friend Captain William Hull of Webbs regiment. This we know from. Hull, Hh<r .A,s.- AAr4- tion of undertaking the 0,ole of a spy Hull used every argument to dissuade Hale from the dangerous service, and appeafed to him as a soldier not to run the risk tof closing his prcfnising career with an ighoniniouss death.s Haie, however. although fully sensible of the consequences of capture, could think of noth- ing but duty. He told Hull that fora year he had been attached to the army, and had ren. dered no material service; that he wished to be useful; was uninfuenced by the expecta tion of promotion or pecuniary reward !; and SO far as the peculiar duty in question was con. cerned, he felt that "eUe4y kSasd o sesuiceneces- sory to tue pubic good 5ecase honorable 6y .6e- t'ag necessary" 3F#
 Calmly and firmly deciding the question for himself. Hale soon after reported to Washing ! ton his readiness to enter the British lines in disguise. What instructions, what advice, what cautions, he received from the general there are no records to tell us. These facts only we know certainly that he suddenly disappeared from camp, passed up the Connecticut coast, changed his uniform for aschool-masters garb, crossed to Huntington, Long Island, and then made his way to the enemy at Brooklyn, and New York-never to return. After making satisfactory observations, taking sketches of works, and writing his notes in Latin, he was on the point of returning to the Connecticut shore, when he was seized and held as spy A boat was to have met him at Huntington l Bay. and en the morning of the 18th or 18th of i September, as he was waiting near the shore, the supposed craft made it's appearance; but he approached it only to find that It was yawl from British cruiser lying below, and that retreat on his part was impossible. Or dered to surrender with the guns of the ma rines levelled at him, he yielded to the situa- tion, was taken to the mau-of-war, conveyed i to New York, and there delivered to the mii- tary authoritief. er
 At New York, Hale was brought before Sir William Howe, the English commander-in- chief. An American spy at that time wasl like ly to receive but trifiing consideration. Hale reccived none. Four years later, when Andre < was captured, every attention and comfort was | accorded him by Washington's officers during his confinement and trial. He himself ex- pressed his grateful appreciation of their ten derness. But Andre was the adjutant- general of the British army, and mixed up withArnold and Clinton in dazzling plot to obtain an American stronghold. He was out on ''ofi- ciar' business In addition, in 1780 both sides were treating each other with more military respect than in the first years of the war. In 1776 poor Hale was wretched Continental rebel as we'll as a spy pnnishn1ent conlds < be neither tod swift nor too severe. Possibly in 1776 an English officer, caught in the Amer. ican camp under Hale's circumstances, would have received like treatment, so far as imme- diate condemnation was concerned. In Hale's case certainly the treatment was summary as well as peculiarly heartless. The only relief in the picture is the noble bearing of the pris- oner. Instead of attempting a'defence, or ex- 1 plaining the papers found upon his person, he frankly declared his rank in Washngton's army, and the object of his visit to the Brit ish camp. If tradition and meagre records are correct, the scene of his examination and sen tence was the little greenhouse in the garden ofthe old Beekman mansion, on Fifty second Street near First Avenue, where Howe had fixed his headquarters. Upon this confession the British commander-andi it is difficult to see how he could have done otherwise pro nounced him spy, and ordered his execution to take place on the following morning
 The following morning. was Sunday, the 22d of September, 1776. Where Hale spent that night, whether at the jail (the present Hall of Records), or at some guard does not appear One thing is known, that he was put into the care of a provost-marshal of a most inhuman sort said te be the noted Gun ningham, whose name afterward sent shud- der through every one who chanced to become his prisoner. Assured that his fate was sealed, Hale requested that he might be attended by a clergyman, but this was refused by the mar shal; so too was his request for a Bible. On the fatal morning he was led out to the place of his execution, which upon the best data at hand appears to have been the Rutgers or chard, not far above Franklin Square, on East Broadway, and there calmly awaited his fate. Pending the preparations, an English officer received permission to have Hale remain in his tent, where the latter found time to write letters to his mother and comrade in the army. A .
 When Andre walked to the scaffold in 17S0 no sign of faintuess escaped him, but lowing to all around, he said, at the closing moment 'Gentlemen, you will bear witness that die with the frmness becoming soldier" Eye witnesses on the occasion have left the record that bis self possession throughout the trying scene was perfect. This was equally true of Hale, but Hale was far from being profes- .sional soldier, and the thought of sustaining that character to the end seem ms not to have oc-
  .ditional courage of the British officer. Hale could not belle the cause he had voluntarily espoused, and when summoned from the tent where he had written the letters, to suffer his fate, his heart found spontaneous and uuaffect- ed utterance in words not to be forgotten. "f only regret, he said, to few spectators pres- ent, 'aat Ihaoe bat one kfs to Jose tormay costa- try." Does any page in history furnish the example of purer patriot than Hale HEN KY P. JOHNSTON, in Hdape,'s Magusine .tor June.
 We extract that the following from a recent letter of ''Templeton," the Boston correspon- dent of the Hartford Ceurant rs...,., ?.
 The Hon. P A.. Collins, one of the ablest and most popular of the Irish politicians of Boston, has written letter in which he ex- presses disgust at the manner in which the campaigns to elect men to congress from Bos- ton are conducted, and also for the work that is expected of member of congress at Wash