PSTEAD 133
ASHER WRIGHT 136
ELISHA BOSTWICK 137
EDWARD EVERETT HALE 140

CHAPTER X

ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS OF NATHAN HALE'S

PARENTS 143

CHAPTER XI
ASSERTED BETRAYAL OF NATHAN HALE 147

CHAPTER XII
CONTRASTS BETWEEN HALE AND ANDRE 152

CHAPTER I

NATHAN HALE'S EARLY YEARS

It is to-day a recognized fact that no life worthy of our reverence, or
even a life calculated to awaken our fear, is the result of accident.
Whatever may be the character, its basis has been the result of
long-developing causes. This the life of Nathan Hale well illustrates.
He was born at a time and under influences that were sure to develop the
best qualities in him. He was an immediate descendant of the best of the
Puritans on both sides of the sea. His great-grandfather, John Hale, was
the son of Robert Hale, who came to America in 1632. John Hale graduated
from Harvard in 1657 and was the first pastor settled in Beverly,
Massachusetts, remaining there until he died, an aged man. An ardent
patriot, this John Hale, in 1676, gave about one-twelfth of his salary,
some seventy pounds, for defense in King Philip's War. When need arose
in the French War, he went to Canada as a volunteer, for a threefold
purpose,--so that he might accompany a number of his own parishioners,
act as chaplain for one of the regiments, and fight when his aid was
needed.

Living during the witchcraft trials, he was one of the first to be
convinced of the mistaken course pursued. We are not certain as to his
approval or disapproval of the progress of the excitement in regard to
witchcraft until it became intensely personal to his own family. His
wife was, fortunately as the results proved, accused by some misguided
person of being a witch. The well-known nobility of her life, and her
lovely character, at once convinced all who knew the circumstances that
some terrible mistake had been made by her accuser. And if a mistake had
been made in her case, why not in others? At once the deadly power of
the delusion was broken and, happily, the tide turned back forever.
There was no question after this of the Rev. Mr. Hale