_____(4) William Hull_____

When Captain William Hull, impelled by a strong
natural caution, spoke as forcibly as he could of the
disastrous results that might follow Nathan Hale's
acceptance of the office of a spy in his country's
service, he described not only the result of the
failure which seemed almost inevitable, and which
would result in a disgraceful death, but also the
contempt that would be felt among his fellow-officers
should he be successful. Hale, as we have
seen, deliberately chose these dangers that appeared
so appalling, and lost his life in the manner
predicted by Hull.

Could Captain Hull, on that September day in
1776, have looked forward to other days in 1812,
when, because of his surrender of Detroit, he himself
would stand as the most disgraced man in the
American army, he would have wondered what
disastrous set of causes could have doomed him to
lower depths of discredit than he had imagined
possible for his friend Hale.

This is the story of Captain Hull as told by his
grandson, the Rev. James Freeman Clarke, a Unitarian
clergyman, and an author of high repute.

After remaining in the army throughout the
Revolutionary War, where he distinguished him-

[[129]]

p128 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p129w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p130

v?