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Posted by Roger Saunders Jun 21, 2008 |
That famous quote about only having one life to give was attributed to him by his friend, William Hull, who was not there when he was hung. However, not all is lost in this deviance from American folklore. It is very possible that Nathan Hale said something like this in that situation. Some accounts tell us that he used very similar words and ... who would know more, than his best friend.
In the same way that movies quotes have become somewhat legendary today, i.e. "Go ahead. Make my day!", "E.T. Phone home" or "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!", people in that day quoted popular plays. There was a very popular play during that time period called Cato (A Tragedy in Five Acts). It was about a tragic leader of the Roman Republic who gave up his life when a new regime brought in the rule of the Roman Emperors, dismantling the classical Roman Republic.
In the play, in Act IV, Scene 4 Cato says, "What a pity it is that we can die but once to serve our country." Hale and his college classmates at Yale were known to write entire letters to each other either in code or even just using the words from this play. So, it is entirely possible based on eyewitness accounts and upon his familiarity with this play, that Nathan Hale did indeed say in at least some form: "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country!"