ASSERTED BETRAYAL OF NATHAN HALE
For some time after the death of Nathan Hale a report was circulated,
and apparently substantiated, that he had been betrayed into the hands
of the British by a Tory cousin. Ultimately this report was printed in a
Newburyport (Massachusetts) newspaper of the day, and read by Mr. Samuel
Hale of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This Mr. Hale was a prominent teacher
and a strong friend of the American cause, and uncle both to Nathan Hale
and to Samuel Hale, the cousin who was said to have betrayed Nathan.
Mr. Samuel Hale never for a moment believed the report, and set himself
at once to disprove it. This appears to have been done in the most
effectual way by the combined efforts of Mr. Samuel Hale and Deacon
Hale, who furnished proof that the supposed betrayer of Nathan Hale had
never visited in Deacon Hale's family, and, not being in his uncle's
house when Nathan visited there, had never so much as seen Nathan Hale.
There were, of course, at the time, strong animosities existing between
those who supported the British cause among the Americans, and the
Americans who were opposing England. As at all such times, some members
of each party were not only unjust but cruel to the other party; and in
some respects this nephew of the teacher, Samuel Hale, and asserted
betrayer of Nathan, paid very heavily for his loyalty to the English
cause. We will let him tell his own story, only adding that when
hostilities broke out he was a young and successful barrister practicing
in Portsmouth, was married, and had one child.
Unswerving in his loyalty to the English cause, he was soon obliged to
leave New Hampshire, and eventually to go into English territory. He
wrote to his uncle Samuel, in whose family he had been reared, and later
to his wife; neither letter is dated, but it is probable that when the
latter was written he was in Nova Scotia. His letter to his uncle runs
in part as follows:
"My affections as well as my allegiance are due to another nation. I
love the British government with filial fondness. I have never been
actuated by any political rancor towards the Americans. My conduct has
always been fair, explicit, and open, and I may add, _some of your
people have found it humane_ at a time when affairs on our side wore
the most flattering appearances. My veneration is as high, my friendship
as warm, and my attachment as great as ever it was for many characters
among you, though I have differed much from them in politics. In the
justness of the reasoning which led to the principles that have guided
me through life, I can suppose myself mistaken. The same thing may have
been the case with my opponents. Our powers are so limited, our means of
information so inadequate to the end, that common decency requires we
should forgive each other when we have every reason to think that each
has acted honestly.
"Sure I am, this is the case with me and I hope it is the same with some
of you. My conduct during this unhappy contest has been invariably
uniform. I can in no sense be called a traitor to your state. I never
owed it any allegiance, because I left it before it had assumed the form
or even the name of an independent state, and when I neither saw or felt
any oppression. I must have been mad as well as wicked to have acted any
other part than I did upon the principles I held. If I have been
mistaken I am sorry for the error, and if it be error I still continue
in it."
This letter is certainly a good illustration of the truth that, in all
great contests, perfectly honorable and consistent men are forced to
take opposite sides, even at the cost of suffering heavy injustice. The
letter to his wife is here given in full.
MY DEAR GIRL,--
This you will get by Mr. Hart's flag of Truce, who is coming to
Boston for his family. I know the disposition of the Leaders at
Boston so well, that I doubt not of his success. I would have come
for you and the boy, but I thought you would leave your father with
reluctance, nor am I sure that I could have obtained leave for you
to come away, if you were disposed. I fear the resentment of the
people against me may have injured you, but I hope not. I am sorry
such a prejudice has arisen.
Depend upon it, there never was the least truth in that infamous
newspaper publication charging me with ingratitude, etc. I am happy
that they have had [to have] recourse to falsehood to vilify my
character. Attachment to the old Constitution of my country is my
only crime with them--for which I have still the disposition of the
primitive martyr.
I hope and believe you want no pecuniary assistance. If you should
you may apply to some of my friends or your relations. You may then
use my name with confidence that they shall be amply satisfied. I
believe I shall have the power, I am sure I shall have the will, to
recompense them again.
I somewhat expect to see you in a few months--perhaps not before I
have seen England. In the meanwhile, my dear Girl, take care of
your own and the Boy's health. He may live to be serviceable to his
country in some distant period. Respect, Love, Duty, etc., await
all my inquiring and real friends.
I am, etc.
S. HALE.
TO MRS HALE
These letters sufficiently attest the character of the man, and we can
hope that in later days he was enabled to return to his family, and to
prove that political differences of opinion had not changed the
integrity of his life.
Knowing nothing of his later days, we may rejoice that the base
assertion that this own cousin had betrayed Nathan Hale was wholly
without foundation; and that in him, also, the Hale trait of loyalty to
honest opinions enabled him to make sacrifices as great in their way as
those made by many of his kindred.