Quote: he only lamented, that he had but one life to lose for his country (Nathan Hale 1799)

[Garson O'Toole]

Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> ... It just doesn't explain to my satisfaction
> why a quote from a guy who died in 1776 is dated 1799.

The original post on this thread contained the 1799 citation (given
further below) for the quotation ascribed to Nathan Hale. When I
started this thread this 1799 cite was the earliest verified evidence
I was able to locate for a version of the quotation. The 1799 date
referred to the date of publication of the book containing the quote.
The date did not refer to the day in 1776 on which Nathan Hale was
supposed to have uttered his famous statement. I apologize if my
presentation caused confusion.

A follow-up post included earlier citations in 1777 and 1781 that
provided evidence of the existence of some version of Hale's remark. I
did not change the title of the thread. Hence the 1799 date was still
listed in the title.

Quotation references sometimes give multiple dates for a quote:

1) the date on which the quote was supposedly spoken or written
2) the date of a piece of evidence for the quote, e.g., in a
periodical, book, or diary
3) dates that trace the evolution of the quote

Note that the 1777 quote differs markedly from the 1781 quote, and
both of these quotes differ from the 1799 quote. Hence, it is useful
to keep track of multiple dates when tracing the evolution of a
quotation.

If the earliest evidence is a diary then sometimes two more dates are
given: The date the diary was published and the date the diarist
assigned to the event/quote.

Cite: 1799, A Summary History of New-England: From the First
Settlement at Plymouth to the Acceptance of the Federal Constitution:
Comprehending a General Sketch of the American War by Hannah Adams,
Quote Page 359, Printed for the Author by H. Mann and J. H. Adams,
Dedham. (HathiTrust)
[Begin excerpt]
"Unknown to all around him, without a single friend to offer him the
least consolation, thus fell as amiable and as worthy a young man as
America could boast, with this, as his dying observation, "that he
only lamented, that he had but one life to lose for his country."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 12:00 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Quote: he only lamented, that he had but one life to lose for
>              his country (Nathan Hale 1799)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> No argument here. It just doesn't explain to my satisfaction why a
> quote from a guy who died in 1776 is dated 1799. Neoclassicism and
> Romanticism still used the calendar correctly.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Apr 22, 2012, at 10:13 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Quote: he only lamented, that he had but one life to lose for
>>              his country (Nathan Hale 1799)
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> To elucidate:  Neoclassical "Literary types" weren't hoaxers and liars;
>> they just believed that the idea was more important than exact words, and
>> that important ideas should be expressed and preserved in their most nearly
>> perfect form. The Romantics probably felt the same way.
>>
>> Or am I dreaming that?
>>
>> JL

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