The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-07-06
NATHAN HALE AT COLLEGE
STUDENT LITE OF MARTTR SPY
Historical Character in Whom wear
 CTS of the Blue Are Interested Just

Now.
 The historical character in whom Yale men are especially interested at the present time is the martyr spy of the Revolution, Nathan Hale. The in- terest has been particularly aroused by the rivalry of the two committees on the Nathan Hale memorial, each or which has collected subscriptions, had its statue designed and all but com pleted plans for it's unveiling at the bl- centennial celebration next falkland both of which have received a severe setback from the recent faculty edlct for the. A short time ago Rev. T. T.. Munger called the attention of Yale men to the manner in which the unl- versity had ignored one of the most worthy and heroic of her sons, and call- ed upon them to make some reparation, even at this late day. It really seemed at one time that this and other similar appeals were to be effective, and that Nathan Hale, as one of the purest and most inspiring figures in American history, was to be properly honored at the 200th anniversary at Yale. The proposition, however, aroused almost too much enthusiasm, with the result that the idea of erecting statue to Hale on the college campus has been indefinitely postponed.
 The name of Hale was not new one at Yale when in 1769 the youthful Ma than-he was only 14 at the time-left his fathers modest home and enrolled himself among the small band or New Haven students. There had even been Nathan Hales before his day. and Ill the same class with the most llluStflous bearer of the name was his brother Enoch. While college training, there fore, was the general rule in the Hale family, Nathan himself was favored III this way only on sufferance. His fath- CT an honest Connecticut farmer ana Congregational deacon. was at first op- posed to Nathans collegiate asplra- tions. The young man finally carried his point, however, and, when matrlcu- lated at the New Haven college, had amply made good his pretenslons to some other life than the dreary exist ence of a New England farmer. Under the tutorship of pr. Joseph Huntington, a noted Connecticut divine of the day, Nathan Hale had developed into an ad- minable scholar; and he had not been at Yale many months before he was recognized as one of the lntellectual forces of his class. He was more, too' than a mere mechanical dig; TOT ne was one of those rare youths who stand high both in scholarship and in feats or manly strength. He had developed from a sickly child into a robust youth. and easily led in all athletic sports. In formation concerning his college days is somewhat meager and 1ndennlte, put it Is sufficiently precise on this point at least-that Hale was great walker runner, wrestler-what would now De called an "all-around athlete.' In fact he was the great record-b breaker of the day. and many years after his death the people of New Haven used to point out famous jump made by Hale on the New Haven green In his undergrad nate days Among the mighty feats recorded of him is that he could vault with one hand over fence as high as his head: and tradition has it that he was also an adept at feat that is now one of the marvels of modern vaude-- V1Il6-LIldI IS lO ScS, ii% NN''iN' SN'''f from one hogshead to another and from that into a third without so much
 Hale was an exceptionally fine-look- ing fellow. He was nearly six feet tall. with a large frame, full chest, well proportioned and dignif1ed. He had blue eyes, light-brown halr ana face browned by his work at his fath- CTS farm. He Is said to have been eX- tremely fastidious, almost dandlhed Tn his dress. That he was popular in New Haven te-Revolutionary "sooclety, is unnecessary to say; and New Haven "society' was an important feature Of the undergraduate existence ot that day. It requires no great imaginative f1ieht to picture all the colonial beauty out in force on that night when, as for ma1Iv detailed in the records, Nathan Hale wah the central figure in stu dent revival of "The Beaux Strata- gem',-his only important rival being James Hillhouse, name famous 1n the annals of Yale and New Haven The secretary's minutes highly prolse Hale's acting on this occasion, ana naively add that, after the play we ware well entertained with supper. Perhaps Hale also found in the New Haven damself his inspiration for the noetry he is said to have composed, but of which, fortunately perhaps, no samnIes have been handed down. There was, indeed, a great deal of po- etry in the Yale atmosphere durlhg HaIe's college period; and 1t would have been strange had he not been ln- fected Some of this verse, such as TrumbulI's Progress of Dulness, IS readable even at this day; and Hill house himself made some poetical rep utation later on. The first Timothy Dwight was a tutor in those days; poet who, if for nothing else, will be remembered for the lines dedicated to the memory of Hale himself;
 "With genius living flame his bosom
 glowed,
 And science lured him to her sweet
 abode" etc.
 But Hale had more serious business in New Haven than poetry or social d. version. He was first and foremost in the intellectual activities of his day. Those were the days when college de- batting was zealously cultivated art, and in the records of debating during his college generation his name stands consnicuous. He was one of the found- CTS of the new debating society, the Brothers in Unity-started as rival to J,inonia-and the minutes of the socle- iv are still preserved in the college f- brarv in Hale's handwriting and
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