obinson. 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.

CHAPTER III

A CALL TO TEACH

College days behind them, Nathan, now eighteen years old, and Enoch
pressed on toward their future. Here, to some extent, we part with
Enoch, catching only occasional glimpses of him in a few straggling
letters to his brother. It is probable that, as he intended to enter the
ministry, he soon began his theological studies. In 1775 he was licensed
to preach. Nathan, however, turned toward teaching as the next step in
his career.

In the meantime Nathan's love for Alice Adams had not prospered. An
older brother, John, had married Alice Adams's elder sister Sarah, and
the mother and sister of Alice thought that she should not wait four or
five years for Nathan. Perhaps they decided that two intermarriages in
one family were quite enough; anyway, they induced Alice to accept the
offer of a prosperous merchant of Coventry, Mr. Elijah Ripley, and a
short time before Nathan's graduation her marriage had apparently
terminated their personal relations.

Nathan Hale was at this time an unusually handsome young man, almost
six feet in height, well proportioned, with broad chest, athletic, as we
have seen, and with a handsome, intelligent face, blue eyes, light brown
hair of a rich color, and a winning smile. These, added to a musical
voice and gracious manners, gave him a personal charm that attracted all
who saw him.

As a teacher he combined unusual tact and manly dignity, making his
discipline in school as effective as it was reasonable. He also proved
to be as skillful in imparting knowledge as he had been in acquiring it,
and his success as a teacher was assured from the outset.

His first school was in East Haddam, Connecticut. There was then much
wealth and business activity in the town, although, to a man fresh from
college and the city, it appeared to be a very