There Are Numerous Versions Of Hale's Final Speech.

Hale's farewell address was not captured in any official records. He is said to have said, in part or in all, "I just lament that I have but one life to lose for my nation" as his final words. The British Captain John Montresor, who was present at the hanging, is credited with coming up with the quotation. The following day, he had a truce-signaled conversation with American Captain William Hull.

Nathan Hale's famous line is now generally accepted to be more of an abbreviation of a speech he was able to deliver before being hanged, which is an interesting piece of information about him. According to some historians, he allegedly referenced the following scene from Joseph Addison's play Cato, which was well-known at the time and possibly well-known to Hale given his Yale education:

“How beautiful is death, when earn’d by virtue!

Who would not be that youth? What pity is it

That we can die but once to serve our country.”

There are several differing descriptions of Hale's coolness and commitment to his cause from officers who witnessed the execution and wrote about it. Many people were moved by his "intelligent and impassioned discourse," which is why Hale is still well-liked today.

Hale very certainly spoke in more than one sentence during his final statement. Different things he stated are mentioned in several early reports. These aren't inherently at odds; rather, when taken as a whole, they paint a picture of how the speech may have been. The quotations that follow were all taken from George Dudley Seymour's 1941 book, Documentary Life of Nathan Hale. After questioning those in attendance on October 26, 1776, Nathan Hale's brother Enoch wrote in his diary, "When at the Gallows he spoke & told them that he was a Capt in the Cont Army by name Nathan Hale."