The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-03

be obtained in only one way. A coun- ell of officers was called, and the ne- cessity clearly outlined. Lieutenant Colonel Knowlton called for someone to volunteer. It was almost certain death: and yet the need was so great that the hazard must be taken, No one offered himself It was not the danger, but the ignominy that men feared. Physical courage was not wanting but where was the man with the moral courage to die the death of spy? At the moment when 1Snowl
 ton had made his last appeal only to be met by silence, Captain Nathan Hale offered himself, and his words at that time forever clear him from the ignoring which is associated, by the traditions of warfare, with the death of a spy. II wish to be useful were his words, "and every kind of service necessary for the public good, becomes honorable by being necessary. If tho exigencles of my country demand | peculiar service, it's claims to the per l fofmance of it's service are imperious." T iIS lGSl VI LljG lIcLBlI SAQA IS bEAGllJ 1 told. Hale proceeded to Norwalk, dis l guised himself, crossed to Long Island, l found his way into the British camp, 1 kept notes of all he saw, made draw | ings of the fortlfieations; in a word, 1 accomplished his mission, except in one particular. He failed-not through fault 1 of his own but through treachery it Is i suspected--at least, he failed to regain l the American camp. He was captured
 on the night of the Fist of September,
 taken to the headquarters of Lord
 Howe and searched for evidence. The papers and drawings were found and
 his identity fully established Indeed, 1 he made no effort to clear himself. l His confession was full and frank, md
 he expressed regret only that he could not better serve his country than by 1 failure. Without the formality of | trial he was sentenced to be hanged
 the next morning. AS to how he pass ed the night we have no accurate rec ord; we only know that he was refused 1 the attendance of q clergyman, of the use of q Bible. The letters that he wrote were destroyed. The provost martial' says Captain Hale, who had the information from British officer,
 fin the diabolical spirit of cruelty, I destroyed the letters of the prisoner, and assigned as a reason that tho re-
 bels should not know that they had q l man in their army who could die with l so much firmness.'
 It was beautiful morning, we are told, that young Hale was marched to I the place of his execution. We know not how he went, nor with what
 thoughts; we only know that he main
 tained himself in manner that deeply impressed those who witnessed the scene. T like to think" says one who has written of that last hour with ada
 mirable restraint, "that he came to his room simply and quietly. thinking of the bright fields of his home in Coven-
 try. of the Old Brick Row at New
 Haven, of his family and his friends;
 that he bore himself calmly-a brave
 fellow about to die. l can imagine him
 unninehing without, but tremulous
 within-he was young, fife was dear to 1 him, the earth that he looked upon
 was fair friendship had been sweet to | him--he did not want to die" No, he
 did not want to die; and yet cannot help feeling that there must have come to him in that last hour some exaltation 1 of spirit that compensated him, even for the loss of life itself; some pro 1 phetic vision of his country's future l glory that lifted him to the very sum init of experience expressed in those
 words of the young Christ marching to
 what men in his day called an igno- | minious death: T have a bap-
 tism to be baptized with; and
 how am I straightened till 1t
 be accomplishedi" Out of only such a spirit of self-abnegation could have come those last words in which the soul of the martyr lowered into beauty. T only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country" To what other words do these answer as the echo to the call? As I raise the question your minds answer it: "Great- CT love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends
 This, and I speak particularly to the young men present, this is the story that I have called the most romantic in the annals of our country. The state of Connecticut is rich in the mem ories and associations of the past, but no other incident in it's history Is of such priceless value as this. Every school-boy should know tine details of the story of Hale by heart, and every citizen should go back to it again and again to refresh his memory. It Is not, understand, simply the fact that this youth died for his country--lt is not this which gives him so great claim for remembrance. It was the manner of his death, it was the motive lying back of 1t, it was the purpose burning like steady flame in his soul-it was this that we must consider. Our text does not speak of mans dying, but of a mans laying down his life, a wholly different thing. The deed was rendered heroic by becoming voluntary
 Three times did this youth to whom life seemed sweet make the voluntary offering of himself-once, at the be- ginning of the enterprise, in the pres ence of his brother officers; again when the news. came to him during his march towards the British lines that Wash ington had broken camp thus afford