A minor honor was soon to come to Nathan Hale.
Late in 1775 Enoch Hale was licensed to preach.
In the summer of 1776 he attended Commencement
at New Haven, from July 23 to 26. He
makes note in his diary of friends and classmates
whom he saw; also that he obtained the degree of
Master of Arts for Nathan and himself. Of the
latter his record is, "Write to brother to tell him I
have got him his degree."

One or two more letters of Hale are extant from
which only partial extracts have been made. One
that was written on the 3d of June, 1776, we give
with more fullness, omitting only some unimportant
clauses. This letter has especial value as an illustration
of the fact that most of us now and then
have received letters that seemed casual in themselves,
but have, to our surprise and often to our
deep sadness, proved to be farewell letters.

It is not probable that, in the hurried days that
followed, further messages were sent to his grandmother,
to his former pastor and beloved teacher,
Mr. Huntington, and to his sister Rose and her
family. In the late autumn of 1776, after they
had learned his fate, and in the years that followed,
one can easily imagine how precious seemed these
appreciative words, embalming as it were the
abiding affection of the man who wrote them.

[[62]]

p061 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p062w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p063

v?