COLLEGE DAYS
In September, 1769, accompanied by Enoch, an older brother, Nathan Hale
entered the Freshman class at Yale. His personal traits easily won the
hearts of his classmates, while his quick understanding, his high
scholarship, and his loyalty to the college standards made him as
popular among tutors and professors as among his classmates. It is
pleasant to know that, from the time we first learn of him until we see
him standing beside the fatal tree, he appears to have won all hearts
worth winning.
But Nathan Hale had yet another gift that would surely endear him to
college students of to-day as much as it doubtless did to his own
classmates. He was a powerful athlete. So great was his skill in this
line that, to successive generations of Yale men, the "broad jump" made
by Nathan Hale remained unequaled. It is said to have taken place on
what is now called "The Green" in New Haven, not far from the Old State
House; and for many years the spot was marked to designate the length
of the jump. Even during the years when his courageous death appeared to
be well-nigh forgotten, "Hale's jump" was vividly remembered. But he not
only "jumped," he excelled in all games then popular in college, besides
being a capital shot with his rifle, as well as a fine swimmer.
Hale could, it is said, lay one hand on the top of a six-foot fence and
easily vault over it; and, though this astonishing feat is reported as
occurring while he was a teacher, he used to delight his companions by
showing them how to stand in a hogshead with his hands on his hips, leap
over the first hogshead, land in a second, leap from that into a third,
and from that out on to the ground,--all this before he was twenty.
Imagine the delight of the "other fellows" standing around to watch Hale
go through his various stunts in athletics! It almost makes one feel as
if one had been a student and shared in the cheering when Hale did these
things, so easy to himself, so difficult to the onlookers. Then fancy
the talk at the supper tables, when the candles burned brightly and the
eatables tasted twice as good because "old Hale" had won laurels for
"old Yale" that afternoon by some "splendid" deed, as the boys called
it. Whatever he did, we may be sure that it was done well and with all
his might, and that nobody equaled him.
This much for the athletic life of Hale in his student days. It was only
natural to such a man that whatever he was--friend, student, teacher, or
soldier--he should carry zest and earnestness to all his work, even as
he carried his manliness, his courtesy, and his unquenchable spirit.
Let us now turn to the record of his years of successful work at Yale.
It has been said that whatever he did, he did with all his might, and
his brain work was as notable in its results as were the strength and
agility of his body. In those early days the college bell rang for
prayers, as the beginning of the day's work, at half past four in summer
and an hour later in winter; and there are men still living who
remember, in later years and at later hours, the wild rushes
half-dressed students used to make, adjusting what they could of their
hastily donned clothing on their race to morning chapel.
Hale, however, as well as his companions a hundred and forty years ago,
were accustomed to early rising, and able to fill every hour of their
long days with work or play. The course of study then was much shorter
than it is now, but if lacking in quantity it certainly made up in some
of its qualities. We doubt if Freshmen to-day would outshine their
fellows of that very early time if their declamations on Fridays were
required to be in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, "no English being allowed
save by special permission."
Science as we now know it had not entered into the college course, but
the little then known, and the other studies considered essential,
comparatively limited as they must have been, were taught so thoroughly
that the men who carried away a college diploma carried a sure guarantee
that they had been carefully taught whatever was then considered
essential to a college education.
Although it is true that science was then in comparative infancy, it is
also true that it was deeply absorbing to young Hale. Some of his most
valued books were scientific, and, aside from the studies he was obliged
to pursue, he eagerly absorbed educational theories and the best
literary works then available. As a college student, he stood high; as a
thinker and as one interested in the finest pursuits of his period, he
ranked equally high. Before he was nineteen he had won the permanent
friendship and ardent admiration of a man who was then his tutor,
Timothy Dwight, later the renowned president of Yale College, and to
the end of his long life a lover of his boy-friend, Nathan Hale.
Another warm friend, a classmate, destined to be notable in future
years, was James Hillhouse, later United States Senator, the first man
to leave the stamp of beauty on his native city, New Haven, in the
wonderful elms of his planting.
In addition to these two noted men, many of Hale's warmest friendships
were formed at college among the leading men of his own and of other
classes. At least two or three of these were his companions in arms, to
whom we may refer later. Of his scholarship, one sure test remains. At
graduation, of the thirty-six men in his class, he ranked among the
first thirteen.
In one other important line Nathan Hale made a notable mark in college,
namely, in his intense interest in Linonia. This society had been
founded in 1753 "to promote in addition to the regular course of
academic study, literary stimulus and rhetorical improvement to the
undergraduates," and to create friendly relations among its members. The
organization lived a long and honorable life, and did a most helpful
work among its members. Nathan Hale was the first in his class to become
its Chancellor, later styled President. He was for some time also its
scribe, and many of his entries in the Linonian reports are still
"clear throughout and well-preserved" as is his signature at the end,
after the passing of more than a hundred years.
During his college course his name occurs in the reports of almost every
meeting of the society. At one time he delivered "a very interesting
narration"; at another, "an eloquent extemporaneous address." On various
occasions he is said to have taken part in some of the plays that were
frequently acted, and to have proposed questions for discussion.
Besides taking part in the society and college exercises, he enjoyed
frequent correspondence with a number of his classmates on themes of
taste and criticism and of grammar and philology.
As incoming Chancellor at the end of the college year of 1772, Hale
responded in behalf of Linonia to the parting address from one of the
graduating class.
Hale's farewell address to the Linonians of the class of 1772 is
preserved to Yale College on the society records. In reading it one must
remember that the speech was made by a boy of seventeen. The dignity of
the address, the assured ease with which he speaks, the sense of the
Yale bond, as strong then as it ever has been, all show the only boyish
thing about the speaker, namely, his sense of the superiority of
Linonia, then nearly twenty years old, to the struggling new society of
"The Brothers," less than eight years old. All this brings before us
very vividly a boy in years, but a man in thoughts and aspirations,
ardent and scholarly, and full of a noble ambition that looked forward,
as do all ambitious students in their college days, to years of generous
life.
A few paragraphs quoted from various parts of the quaintly courteous
speech will illustrate alike the youth and the maturity of the speaker.
He said:
"The high opinion we ought to maintain of the ability of these worthy
Gentlemen" [the retiring members of the Society] "as well as the regard
they express for Linonia and her Sons, tends very much to increase our
desire for their longer continuance. Under whatsoever character we
consider them, we have the greatest reason to regret their departure. As
our patrons, we have shared their utmost care and vigilance in
supporting Linonia's cause, and protecting her from the malice of her
insulting foes. As our benefactors, we have partaken of their
liberality, not only in their rich and valuable donations to our
library, but, what is still more, their amiable company and
conversation."
["This is a fine portrait of Hale painted by himself," says a friend of
Hale to-day.]
"But as our friends, what inexpressible happiness have we experienced in
their disinterested love and cordial affection! We have lived together
not as fellow students and members of the same college, but as brothers
and children of the same family; not as superiors and inferiors, but
rather as equals and companions. The only thing which hath given them
the preeminence is their superior knowledge in those arts and sciences
which are here cultivated, and their greater skill and prudence in the
management of such important affairs as those which concern the good
order and regularity of this Society. Under the prudent conduct of these
our once worthy patrons, but now parting friends, things have been so
wisely regulated, as that while we have been entertained with all the
pleasures of familiar conversation, we have been no less profited by our
improvements in useful knowledge and literature."
Hale's direct address to the parting members is as follows:
"Kind and generous Sirs, it is with the greatest reluctance that we are
now all obliged to bid adieu to you, our dearest friends. Fain would we
ask you longer to tarry--but it is otherwise determined, and we must
comply. Accept then our sincerest thanks, as some poor return for your
disinterested zeal in Linonia's cause, and your unwearied pains to
suppress her opposers.... Be assured that we shall be spirited in
Linonia's cause and with steadiness and resolution strive to make her
shine with unparalleled luster.... Be assured that your memory will
always be very dear to us; that though hundreds of miles should
interfere, you will always be attended with our best wishes.
"May Providence protect you in all your ways, and may you have
prosperity in all your undertakings! May you live long and happily, and
at last die satisfied with the pleasures of this world, and go hence to
that world where joys shall never cease, and pleasures never end! Dear
Gentlemen, farewell!"
Not only in speeches but also in deeds Hale proved his love for Linonia.
He is said to have contributed some of his own books to the library of
the Society, and to have cooeperated with Timothy Dwight and James
Hillhouse in promoting its growth. In time the library owned more than
thirteen thousand volumes. These three Linonians were always considered
its real founders, and were so honored at the Society's centennial
anniversary on July 27, 1853.
Timothy Dwight, the first of that name to be president of Yale College,
was, like Nathan Hale, a descendant of Elder Strong who founded
Northampton, Massachusetts. Dwight graduated in 1769, the year Hale
entered college. He then became a tutor and was a personal friend of
Hale's. He was a teacher of extraordinary power and was made president
of Yale in 1795. He was one of the most remarkable men of his time,
molding the moral and religious, as well as intellectual, character of
the college so that his influence extended not only over the whole state
but, to a great degree, over the whole United States. He was a fine
illustration of the great abilities that centered in so many of the
leading families of the colonists. Such connections as this man add even
a higher luster to the genealogy of Elizabeth Strong Hale, and lessen
our wonder that a son of hers, while hardly more than a boy, could face
the duty and calmly accept the responsibility that he felt rested upon
him.
As may easily be inferred, the Hale boys, Enoch and Nathan, were not
forgotten by their home friends while making honorable records in
college, and forming pleasant friendships outside the college
walls--then the happy lot of all the best men in college--among the
cultured families of what was then a small New England city.
An instance of the friendships Nathan made in New Haven is shown by the
words of AEneas Munson, M.D., formerly of that city. When an aged man he
spoke in the warmest terms of Hale's fine qualities as he observed them
when he was a boy in his father's house, and he treasured a letter to
his father from Hale in 1774 which will be given farther on.
Of home letters, happily a few from their father in Coventry to his two
sons in college are still preserved; these prove, as no words of any
stranger could, his constant and practical interest in all that
concerned them. They show us how an upright father tried to influence
his boys' religious characters while distant from them, and at the same
time they show the economies which even well-to-do fathers then had to
exercise in providing for their sons while at college. The first letter
also shows that Nathan must have entered college when fourteen years and
three months old, having been born in June, 1755, and entering college
in September, 1769. We here give the first letter, with all its quaint
old spelling, and after it two others written during successive years.
We may smile at their old-time expressions, but we must own to a sincere
admiration for the kind and thoughtful father, so interested in his
boys, and so solicitous concerning their health "after the measles."
DEAR CHILDREN:
I Rec'd your Letter of the 7th instant and am glad to hear that you
are well suited with Living in College and would let you know that
wee are all well threw the Divine goodness, as I hope these lines
will find you. I hope you will carefully mind your studies that
your time be not Lost and that you will mind all the orders of
College with care.... I intend to send you some money the first
opportunity perhaps by Mr. Sherman when he Returns home from of the
surcit [circuit court] he is now on. If you can hire Horses at New
Haven to come home without too much trouble and cost I don't know
but it is best and should be glad to know how you can hire them and
send me word. If I don't here from you I shall depend upon sending
Horses to you by the 6th of May,--if I should have know opportunity
to send you any money till May and should then come to New Haven
and clear all of it would it not do? If not you will let me know
it. Your friends are all well at Coventry--your mother sends her
Regards to you--from your kind and loving
Father
RICHD HALE
COVENTRY Decr. 26th
A.D. 1769.
DEAR CHILDREN:
I have nothing spettial to write but would by all means desire you
to mind your Studies and carefully attend to the orders of Coledge.
Attend not only Prayers in the chapel but Secret Prayr carefully.
Shun all vice especially card Playing. Read your Bibles a chapter
night and morning. I cannot now send you much money but hope when
Sr Strong comes to Coventry to be able to send by him what you
want....
from your Loving Father
RICHD HALE
Coventry, Decr. 17th, 1770
LOVING CHILDREN--by a line would let you know that I with my family
threw the Divine Goodness are well as I hope these lines will find
you. I have heard that you are better of the measles. The Cloath
for your Coat is not Done. But will be Done next week I hope at
furthest. I know of no opportunity we shall have to send it to
Newhaven and have Laid in with Mr. Strong for his Horse which his
son will Ride down to New Haven for one of you to Ride home if you
can get Leave and have your close made at home. I sopose that one
measure will do for both of you. I am told that it is not good to
study hard after the measles--hope you will youse Prudance in that
afare. If you do not one of you come home I dont see but that you
must do with out any New Close till after Commensment. I send you
Eight Pound in cash by Mr. Strong--hope it will do for the
present--
Your Loving Father
RICHD HALE
COVENTRY August 13th, 1771
Some students of to-day in college with elder brothers might protest
vigorously at the idea of new suits provided for two boys of different
sizes being fitted for the larger, though the younger might find some
consolation in the fact that he would have plenty of room in which to
grow! At all events, good Deacon Hale's kindly letters give us a very
friendly feeling toward him, revealing as they do his love for his boys.
The letters also suggest indirectly the happy home-coming of these
college boys, riding thither on horseback over many miles, buoyed up by
high spirits, college news, and the prospect of vacation.
In their home, as time went by, they found the two new members of the
family, their stepmother's daughters, Nathan to find in Alice Adams, the
youngest, some of the happiest inspirations of his manly young life. It
is pleasant to linger a moment and try to realize the pride Deacon Hale
must have felt in his boys, and their delight in being once more home
with him and with all the family circle. We can fancy them as they sat
around that generous board--none the less generous, we are sure, because
of the home-coming of the "Yale boys."
Deacon Hale was a man of remarkable energy--"a driver," in other words.
As a rule, in the busiest season of the year he would finish his meal
before the family were half through theirs, rise, return thanks, and be
off to the field, leaving the others to resume their seats around the
table. Alice Adams used to say of him, "I never saw a man work so hard
for both worlds as Deacon Hale."
One amusing incident was long in circulation and laughed over by many
who did not know the energetic haymaker by name. As it really happened
to Deacon Hale, it is worth telling as an example of the energy that has
characterized his descendants.
One haying season Deacon Hale hired a tall, brawny countryman, of
uncommon strength, to help him house his crop. While in the field he
took upon himself the task of "packing" the load, the hired man's duty
being to pitch it on to the cart. The man began his work too slowly to
suit Deacon Hale, who soon called out, "More hay!" This call he repeated
three or four times, as cock after cock of hay was still somewhat lazily
pitched up to him. Finally his tardy helper, becoming sensible that his
easy way of working was being rebuked, set himself to work with a will
equal to the Deacon's, and at last pitched the hay up so rapidly that
his employer was unable to "pack" it properly upon the cart. Very soon,
therefore, to the dismay of both men, the whole load slipped off in one
great mass on to the ground, carrying the Deacon along with it!
"What do you want now, Deacon?" shouted the Hercules by his side with a
satisfied grin.
"_More hay!_" instantly replied the discomfited Deacon, nimbly
scrambling back to his place on the cart.
Despite this little accident at the beginning of the afternoon, it is
safe to state that a generous storage of hay took place before sunset.
But happy as were these college days and home-comings, and rich as were
the harvests gleaned in them, the four years in college halls sped
swiftly, and in 1773 Enoch Hale and Nathan turned their faces toward the
future; the one to a long life and faithful Christian service, the other
toward the briefest of mortal days, but to a service whose memory will
not end till his college walls shall have crumbled, and the names of all
its heroic sons faded from the earth. For even though stones may
crumble, influence lives on.
It has already been said that at graduation Nathan Hale stood among the
first thirteen in a class of thirty-six. On Commencement Day, September
3, 1773, he took part in a forensic debate on the question, "Whether the
Education of Daughters be not, without any just reason, more neglected
than that of Sons."
In "Memories of a Hundred Years" Dr. Edward Everett Hale says: "As early
as 1772 there appears at Yale College the first question ever debated
by the Linonian Society. It was, 'Is it right to enslave the Affricans?'
I think, by the way, that this record, bad spelling and all, is made by
my great-uncle, Nathan Hale." These debates show how seriously, even in
the colonial period, men were thinking of the urgent problems of later
days.
In the debate first mentioned, the others taking part in it were
Benjamin Tallmadge, Ezra Samson, and William Robinson. Some account of
Major Tallmadge's after life is given in later pages. Samson was, for a
time, a clergyman, and then became an editor, first in Hudson, New York,
and then of the _Courant_, at Hartford, Connecticut.
William Robinson was a direct descendant of Pastor John Robinson of
Leyden. He studied for the ministry and was ordained in 1780 at
Southington, Connecticut. In the winter of that year--which was one of
the coldest and most severe on record--he walked the whole distance from
Windsor to Southington, about thirty miles, on snowshoes, to be
installed as pastor, an office he held for forty-one years.