His body was buried near the spot where he died and a British officer was sent to acquaint Washington with the fate of his young messenger. A rude stone placed by the side of the grave of his father in the burial ground of the Congregational Church in his native town for many years revealed to passersby the fact that it was “In Commemoration of Nathan Hale, Esquire, a Captain in the Army of the United States, who was Born June Sixth, 1755, and Received the First Honors of Yale College, September 17, 1773, and Resigned His Life a Sacrifice to His Country’s Liberty at New York, September 22, 1776, Age Twenty-two.” Sixty years ago, long before there was a monument to the memory of Hale, George Gibbs, librarian of the New York Historical Society, wrote this epitaph, which is worthy of preservation: STRANGER, BENEATH THIS STONE LIES THE DUST OF A SPY, WHO PERISHED UPON THE GIBBET; YET THE STORIED MARBLES OF THE GREAT, THE SHRINES OF HEROES, ENTOMBED ONE NOT MORE WORTHY OF HONOR THAN HIM WHO HERE SLEEPS HIS LAST SLEEP. NATIONS BOW WITH REVERENCE BEFORE THE DUST OF HIM WHO DIES A GLORIOUS DEATH, URGED ON BY THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET AND THE SHOUTS OF ADMIRING THOUSANDS BUT WHAT REVERENCE, WHAT HONOR, IS NOT DUE TO ONE, WHO FOR HIS COUNTRY ENCOUNTERED EVEN AN INFAMOUS DEATH, SOOTHED BY NO SYMPATHY, ANIMATED BY NO PRAISE! The simple narrative of Nathan Hale’s life and death effectively disposes of the tradition that he undertook his perilous mission reluctantly or that he had any scruples about essaying the rôle of a spy. He regarded that task as part of the day’s work—an unpleasant part to be sure, but one of the things that had to be cheerfully undertaken in the line of duty. But there is one phase of the tragic business that is shrouded in mystery and it is the story of his betrayal. Who was the strange man in “The Cedars”? Was he a cousin? Was he a Tory? Do the descendants of that man still live in New York City and what must their feelings be when they read the inscription upon the monument to the young patriot and martyr? Until these questions have been answered and until this mystery has been made clear the story of Nathan Hale will be incomplete. XIV MAJOR LE CARON AND THE FENIAN INVASION OF CANADA