nathan-hale

The young man looked down from the cart at the people in front of him. Jonah felt his teacher__ eyes meet his own, and for a fraction of a second a smile played on the prisoner__ lips. Then he glanced toward heaven and spoke. __ only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

Arnold had never given much thought to whether or not he loved America__ut now it seemed pretty obvious to him that he didn__. Not in the way Nathan Hale had loved America. Or even in the way his late father, a Dutch-Jewish refugee, had loved America. In fact, he found the idea of sacrificing his life for his country somewhat abhorrent. Moreover, it wasn__ that he disliked abstract loyalties in general. He loved New York, for instance: Senegalese takeout at three a.m., and strolling through the Botanical Gardens on the first crisp day of autumn, and feeding the peacocks at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. If Manhattan were invaded__f New Jersey were to send an expeditionary force of militiamen across the Hudson River__e__ willingly take up arms to defend his city. He also loved Sandpiper Key in Florida, where they owned a time-share, and maybe Brown University, where he__ spent five years of graduate school. But the United States? No one could mistake his qualified praise for love.