Nathan Hale in “Unfinished Business”

Final words before being hanged by the British (22 September 1776).

The actual final words of Hale, according to the account by William Hull based on reports by British Captain John Montresor, were:

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.1

Another early variant of his last words, as reported in the Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser (17 May 1781), were:

I am so satisfied with the cause in which I have engaged, that my only regret is, that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service.2