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Kids 5: Activity Day Resources The Nobility of a Boy (continued...) David leaned far over the desk and looked right in the eyes of the president of the bank. “Sir,” he said, “as long as I live, I have to live with myself and I don’t want to live with a thief.” A few days later the mother and Millie went to the country but not alone. David went with them and they spent the whole summer in the countryside—a gift from the bank to show their deep appreciation for the nobility of the boy.* *Adapted from a story told by Margaret Eggleston in her book “The Use of the Story in Religious Education” Read and discuss the Nathan Hale story with the children. Nathan Hale School Teacher, Patriot, Soldier, Spy On September 22, 1776, the Redcoats hanged Captain Nathan Hale, a 21-year-old Patriot spy. His last words — “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country” — became a rallying cry for the Continental Army. The British gave Nathan Hale no trial, and after his death, buried him in an unmarked grave like a common criminal. But, just who was Nathan Hale? Nathan graduated from Yale University in 1773 at a time when less than 1% of the male population attended college. He almost became a Christian minister, as his brother Enoch did, but instead became a Grammar School teacher. When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, Hale left his teaching position to enlist in the Continental Army. He accepted a commission as first lieutenant in the 7th Connecticut Regiment under Colonel Charles Webb of Stamford. Over the ensuing year, Hale proved an effective commanding officer. He held his unit together despite steady military setbacks and inconsistent pay that shattered morale and prompted mass desertions in other regiments of the Continental Army. A fellow soldier of Nathan Hale, Lt. Elisha Bostwick said of him, “when any of the soldiers of his company were sick he always visited them and usually prayed for and with them in their sickness.” In the Spring of 1776, Hale’s unit joined the Continental Army’s effort to prevent the British from taking New York City. According to tradition, Nathan Hale was part of a daring band of patriots who captured an English sloop filled with provisions from right under the guns of a British man-of-war. That summer, as British troops and Hessian mercenaries advanced on New York City, General Washington sought a spy to penetrate the British lines at Long Island to get information. Nathan Hale was the only volunteer. Fellow officer Captain William Hull attempted to talk him out of it, but Hale responded, “I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary. If the exigencies of my country demand a peculiar service, its claim to perform that service are imperious.” Nathan barely had time to infiltrate New York before the Redcoats seized and burned the town. On September 21, 1776, Hale was captured by the “Queen’s Rangers” commanded by an American loyalist, Lieut. Col. Robert Rogers. 8 Cottage Kids ✯ Moms for America (continued...)