Life of Captain Nathan Hale Author:Isaac William Stuart Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. The Lexington Alarm. Hale gives up his school, and joins the army as a volunteer. His motives in doing Bo. Is stationed for awhile at New London. ... more »Leaves for Boston. The prospect before him. Joins the brigade of General Sullivan. His life for six months in the camp around Boston. His skill in military discipline—his studies—his amusements—with extracts from his Diary. Such was Nathan Hale—and so engaged, when the Lexington Alarm, April nineteenth, 1775, summoned the country to arms. Upon the arrival of the express with the news from Boston, the citizens of New London at once assembled in town-meeting—breathed forth in speeches and resolutions their spirit of patriotic resistance—and determined that Captain Coit's Independent Company, the only uniformed company in the place, Hon. Richard Law, District Judge of Connecticut, and Chief Justice of the Superior Court, in the chair. should march to the scene of hostilities the next morning. Hale was among the speakers on this occasion. " I was struck," says Captain Eichard Law, of New London, from whom the fact is derived, "with his noble demeanor, and the emphasis with which he addressed the assembly."—"Let us march immediately," said he, "and never lay down our arms until we obtain our independence ! " And Capt. Richard Law, afterwards in the naval service of the Revolution, was at this time a pupil of I laic—and attracted by the extraordinary bustle in the town—" partaking," as in his testimony now before us he says, " of the general excitement on the arrival of the Express," he accompanied his father, the Judge, to the Meeting—which was held, according to his belief, " in Miner's tavern—in the evening'"—and was " numerously attended.' So unfamiliar at this time to his youthful ears—as in fact also to the ...« less