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841
Lastly
,
the
inhabitants
of
the
town
(
their
own
interest
in
this
worn-out
subject
languidly
reviving
itself
,
by
sympathy
with
what
they
saw
others
feel
)
lounged
idly
to
the
same
quarter
,
and
tormented
Hester
Prynne
,
perhaps
more
than
all
the
rest
,
with
their
cool
,
well-acquainted
gaze
at
her
familiar
shame
.
Hester
saw
and
recognized
the
selfsame
faces
of
that
group
of
matrons
,
who
had
awaited
her
forthcoming
from
the
prison-door
seven
years
ago
;
all
save
one
,
the
youngest
and
only
compassionate
among
them
,
whose
burial-robe
she
had
since
made
.
At
the
final
hour
,
when
she
was
so
soon
to
fling
aside
the
burning
letter
,
it
had
strangely
become
the
centre
of
more
remark
and
excitement
,
and
was
thus
made
to
sear
her
breast
more
painfully
,
than
at
any
time
since
the
first
day
she
put
it
on
.
842
While
Hester
stood
in
that
magic
circle
of
ignominy
,
where
the
cunning
cruelty
of
her
sentence
seemed
to
have
fixed
her
for
ever
,
the
admirable
preacher
was
looking
down
from
the
sacred
pulpit
upon
an
audience
whose
very
inmost
spirits
had
yielded
to
his
control
.
The
sainted
minister
in
the
church
!
The
woman
of
the
scarlet
letter
in
the
marketplace
!
What
imagination
would
have
been
irreverent
enough
to
surmise
that
the
same
scorching
stigma
was
on
them
both
!
843
The
eloquent
voice
,
on
which
the
souls
of
the
listening
audience
had
been
borne
aloft
as
on
the
swelling
waves
of
the
sea
,
at
length
came
to
a
pause
.
There
was
a
momentary
silence
,
profound
as
what
should
follow
the
utterance
of
oracles
.
Then
ensued
a
murmur
and
half-hushed
tumult
,
as
if
the
auditors
,
released
from
the
high
spell
that
had
transported
them
into
the
region
of
another
's
mind
,
were
returning
into
themselves
,
with
all
their
awe
and
wonder
still
heavy
on
them
.
In
a
moment
more
the
crowd
began
to
gush
forth
from
the
doors
of
the
church
.
Now
that
there
was
an
end
,
they
needed
more
breath
,
more
fit
to
support
the
gross
and
earthly
life
into
which
they
relapsed
,
than
that
atmosphere
which
the
preacher
had
converted
into
words
of
flame
,
and
had
burdened
with
the
rich
fragrance
of
his
thought
.
Отключить рекламу
844
In
the
open
air
their
rapture
broke
into
speech
.
The
street
and
the
market-place
absolutely
babbled
,
from
side
to
side
,
with
applauses
of
the
minister
.
His
hearers
could
not
rest
until
they
had
told
one
another
of
what
each
knew
better
than
he
could
tell
or
hear
.
845
According
to
their
united
testimony
,
never
had
man
spoken
in
so
wise
,
so
high
,
and
so
holy
a
spirit
,
as
he
that
spake
this
day
;
nor
had
inspiration
ever
breathed
through
mortal
lips
more
evidently
than
it
did
through
his
.
Its
influence
could
be
seen
,
as
it
were
,
descending
upon
him
,
and
possessing
him
,
and
continually
lifting
him
out
of
the
written
discourse
that
lay
before
him
,
and
filling
him
with
ideas
that
must
have
been
as
marvellous
to
himself
as
to
his
audience
.
846
His
subject
,
it
appeared
,
had
been
the
relation
between
the
Deity
and
the
communities
of
mankind
,
with
a
special
reference
to
the
New
England
which
they
were
here
planting
in
the
wilderness
.
And
,
as
he
drew
towards
the
close
,
a
spirit
as
of
prophecy
had
come
upon
him
,
constraining
him
to
its
purpose
as
mightily
as
the
old
prophets
of
Israel
were
constrained
,
only
with
this
difference
,
that
,
whereas
the
Jewish
seers
had
denounced
judgments
and
ruin
on
their
country
,
it
was
his
mission
to
foretell
a
high
and
glorious
destiny
for
the
newly
gathered
people
of
the
Lord
.
But
,
throughout
it
all
,
and
through
the
whole
discourse
,
there
had
been
a
certain
deep
,
sad
undertone
of
pathos
,
which
could
not
be
interpreted
otherwise
than
as
the
natural
regret
of
one
soon
to
pass
away
.
Yes
;
their
minister
whom
they
so
loved
--
and
who
so
loved
them
all
,
that
he
could
not
depart
heavenward
without
a
sigh
--
had
the
foreboding
of
untimely
death
upon
him
,
and
would
soon
leave
them
in
their
tears
.
This
idea
of
his
transitory
stay
on
earth
gave
the
last
emphasis
to
the
effect
which
the
preacher
had
produced
;
it
was
if
an
angel
,
in
his
passage
to
the
skies
,
had
shaken
his
bright
wings
over
the
people
for
an
instant
--
at
once
a
shadow
and
a
splendour
--
and
had
shed
down
a
shower
of
golden
truths
upon
them
.
847
Thus
,
there
had
come
to
the
Reverend
Mr.
Dimmesdale
--
as
to
most
men
,
in
their
various
spheres
,
though
seldom
recognised
until
they
see
it
far
behind
them
--
an
epoch
of
life
more
brilliant
and
full
of
triumph
than
any
previous
one
,
or
than
any
which
could
hereafter
be
.
Отключить рекламу
848
He
stood
,
at
this
moment
,
on
the
very
proudest
eminence
of
superiority
,
to
which
the
gifts
or
intellect
,
rich
lore
,
prevailing
eloquence
,
and
a
reputation
of
whitest
sanctity
,
could
exalt
a
clergyman
in
New
England
's
earliest
days
,
when
the
professional
character
was
of
itself
a
lofty
pedestal
.
Such
was
the
position
which
the
minister
occupied
,
as
he
bowed
his
head
forward
on
the
cushions
of
the
pulpit
at
the
close
of
his
Election
Sermon
.
Meanwhile
Hester
Prynne
was
standing
beside
the
scaffold
of
the
pillory
,
with
the
scarlet
letter
still
burning
on
her
breast
!
849
Now
was
heard
again
the
clamour
of
the
music
,
and
the
measured
tramp
of
the
military
escort
issuing
from
the
church
door
.
The
procession
was
to
be
marshalled
thence
to
the
town
hall
,
where
a
solemn
banquet
would
complete
the
ceremonies
of
the
day
.
850
Once
more
,
therefore
,
the
train
of
venerable
and
majestic
fathers
were
seen
moving
through
a
broad
pathway
of
the
people
,
who
drew
back
reverently
,
on
either
side
,
as
the
Governor
and
magistrates
,
the
old
and
wise
men
,
the
holy
ministers
,
and
all
that
were
eminent
and
renowned
,
advanced
into
the
midst
of
them
.
When
they
were
fairly
in
the
marketplace
,
their
presence
was
greeted
by
a
shout
.
This
--
though
doubtless
it
might
acquire
additional
force
and
volume
from
the
child-like
loyalty
which
the
age
awarded
to
its
rulers
--
was
felt
to
be
an
irrepressible
outburst
of
enthusiasm
kindled
in
the
auditors
by
that
high
strain
of
eloquence
which
was
yet
reverberating
in
their
ears
.
Each
felt
the
impulse
in
himself
,
and
in
the
same
breath
,
caught
it
from
his
neighbour
.