The eloquent voice, on which the souls of the listening audiencehad been borne aloft as on the swelling waves of the sea, atlength came to a pause. There was a momentary silence, profoundas what should follow the utterance of oracles. Then ensued amurmur and half-hushed tumult, as if the auditors, released fromthe high spell that had transported them into the region ofanother's mind, were returning into themselves, with all theirawe and wonder still heavy on them. In a moment more the crowdbegan to gush forth from the doors of the church. Now that therewas an end, they needed more breath, more fit to support thegross and earthly life into which they relapsed, than thatatmosphere which the preacher had converted into words of flame,and had burdened with the rich fragrance of his thought.

In the open air their rapture broke into speech. The street andthe market-place absolutely babbled, from side to side, withapplauses of the minister. His hearers could not rest until theyhad told one another of what each knew better than he could tellor hear.

According to their united testimony, never had man spoken in sowise, so high, and so holy a spirit, as he that spake this day;nor had inspiration ever breathed through mortal lips moreevidently than it did through his. Its influence could be seen,as it were, descending upon him, and possessing him, andcontinually lifting him out of the written discourse that laybefore him, and filling him with ideas that must have been asmarvellous to himself as to his audience. His subject, itappeared, had been the relation between the Deity and thecommunities of mankind, with a special reference to the NewEngland which they were here planting in the wilderness. And, ashe drew towards the close, a spirit as of prophecy had come uponhim, constraining him to its purpose as mightily as the oldprophets of Israel were constrained, only with this difference,that, whereas the Jewish seers had denounced judgments and ruinon their country, it was his mission to foretell a high andglorious destiny for the newly gathered people of the Lord. But,throughout it all, and through the whole discourse, there hadbeen a certain deep, sad undertone of pathos, which could not beinterpreted otherwise than as the natural regret of one soon topass away. Yes; their minister whom they so loved--and who soloved them all, that he could not depart heavenward without asigh--had the foreboding of untimely death upon him, and wouldsoon leave them in their tears. This idea of his transitory stayon earth gave the last emphasis to the effect which the preacherhad produced; it was as if an angel, in his passage to the skies,had shaken his bright wings over the people for an instant--atonce a shadow and a splendour--and had shed down a shower ofgolden truths upon them.

Thus, there had come to the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale--as to mostmen, in their various spheres, though seldom recognised untilthey see it far behind them--an epoch of life more brilliant andfull of triumph than any previous one, or than any which couldhereafter be. He stood, at this moment, on the very proudesteminence of superiority, to which the gifts or intellect, richlore, prevailing eloquence, and a reputation of whitestsanctity, could exalt a clergyman in New England's earliestdays, when the professional character was of itself a loftypedestal. Such was the position which the minister occupied, ashe bowed his head forward on the cushions of the pulpit at theclose of his Election Sermon. Meanwhile Hester Prynne wasstanding beside the scaffold of the pillory, with the scarletletter still burning on her breast!

Now was heard again the clamour of the music, and the measuredtramp of the military escort issuing from the church door. Theprocession was to be marshalled thence to the town hall, where asolemn banquet would complete the ceremonies of the day.

Once more, therefore, the train of venerable and majesticfathers were seen moving through a broad pathway of the people,who drew back reverently, on either side, as the Governor andmagistrates, the old and wise men, the holy ministers, and allthat were eminent and renowned, advanced into the midst of them.When they were fairly in the marketplace, their presence wasgreeted by a shout. This--though doubtless it might acquireadditional force and volume from the child-like loyalty whichthe age awarded to its rulers--was felt to be an irrepressibleoutburst of enthusiasm kindled in the auditors by that highstrain of eloquence which was yet reverberating in their ears.Each felt the impulse in himself, and in the same breath, caughtit from his neighbour. Within the church, it had hardly beenkept down; beneath the sky it pealed upward to the zenith. Therewere human beings enough, and enough of highly wrought andsymphonious feeling to produce that more impressive sound thanthe organ tones of the blast, or the thunder, or the roar of thesea; even that mighty swell of many voices, blended into onegreat voice by the universal impulse which makes likewise onevast heart out of the many. Never, from the soil of New Englandhad gone up such a shout! Never, on New England soil had stoodthe man so honoured by his mortal brethren as the preacher!

How fared it with him, then? Were there not the brilliantparticles of a halo in the air about his head? So etherealisedby spirit as he was, and so apotheosised by worshippingadmirers, did his footsteps, in the procession, really treadupon the dust of earth?

As the ranks of military men and civil fathers moved onward, alleyes were turned towards the point where the minister was seento approach among them. The shout died into a murmur, as oneportion of the crowd after another obtained a glimpse of him.How feeble and pale he looked, amid all his triumph! Theenergy--or say, rather, the inspiration which had held him up,until he should have delivered the sacred message that hadbrought its own strength along with it from heaven--waswithdrawn, now that it had so faithfully performed its office.The glow, which they had just before beheld burning on hischeek, was extinguished, like a flame that sinks down hopelesslyamong the late decaying embers. It seemed hardly the face of aman alive, with such a death-like hue: it was hardly a man withlife in him, that tottered on his path so nervously, yettottered, and did not fall!

One of his clerical brethren--it was the venerable JohnWilson--observing the state in which Mr. Dimmesdale was left bythe retiring wave of intellect and sensibility, stepped forwardhastily to offer his support. The minister tremulously, butdecidedly, repelled the old man's arm. He still walked onward,if that movement could be so described, which rather resembledthe wavering effort of an infant, with its mother's arms inview, outstretched to tempt him forward. And now, almostimperceptible as were the latter steps of his progress, he hadcome opposite the well-remembered and weather-darkened scaffold,where, long since, with all that dreary lapse of time between,Hester Prynne had encountered the world's ignominious stare.There stood Hester, holding little Pearl by the hand! And therewas the scarlet letter on her breast! The minister here made apause; although the music still played the stately and rejoicingmarch to which the procession moved. It summoned himonward--inward to the festival!--but here he made a pause.

Bellingham, for the last few moments, had kept an anxious eyeupon him. He now left his own place in the procession, andadvanced to give assistance judging, from Mr. Dimmesdale'saspect that he must otherwise inevitably fall. But there wassomething in the latter's expression that warned back themagistrate, although a man not readily obeying the vagueintimations that pass from one spirit to another. The crowd,meanwhile, looked on with awe and wonder. This earthlyfaintness, was, in their view, only another phase of theminister's celestial strength; nor would it have seemed amiracle too high to be wrought for one so holy, had he ascendedbefore their eyes, waxing dimmer and brighter, and fading atlast into the light of heaven!

He turned towards the scaffold, and stretched forth his arms.

"Hester," said he, "come hither! Come, my little Pearl!"

It was a ghastly look with which he regarded them; but there wassomething at once tender and strangely triumphant in it. Thechild, with the bird-like motion, which was one of hercharacteristics, flew to him, and clasped her arms about hisknees. Hester Prynne--slowly, as if impelled by inevitable fate,and against her strongest will--likewise drew near, but pausedbefore she reached him. At this instant old Roger Chillingworththrust himself through the crowd--or, perhaps, so dark,disturbed, and evil was his look, he rose up out of some netherregion--to snatch back his victim from what he sought to do! Bethat as it might, the old man rushed forward, and caught theminister by the arm.

"Madman, hold! what is your purpose?" whispered he. "Wave backthat woman! Cast off this child! All shall be well! Do notblacken your fame, and perish in dishonour! I can yet save you!Would you bring infamy on your sacred profession?"

"Ha, tempter! Methinks thou art too late!" answered theminister, encountering his eye, fearfully, but firmly. "Thypower is not what it was! With God's help, I shall escape theenow!"

He again extended his hand to the woman of the scarlet letter.

"Hester Prynne," cried he, with a piercing earnestness, "in thename of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, atthis last moment, to do what--for my own heavy sin and miserableagony--I withheld myself from doing seven years ago, come hithernow, and twine thy strength about me! Thy strength, Hester; butlet it be guided by the will which God hath granted me! Thiswretched and wronged old man is opposing it with all hismight!--with all his own might, and the fiend's! Come,Hester--come! Support me up yonder scaffold."

The crowd was in a tumult. The men of rank and dignity, whostood more immediately around the clergyman, were so taken bysurprise, and so perplexed as to the purport of what theysaw--unable to receive the explanation which most readilypresented itself, or to imagine any other--that they remainedsilent and inactive spectators of the judgement which Providenceseemed about to work. They beheld the minister, leaning onHester's shoulder, and supported by her arm around him, approachthe scaffold, and ascend its steps; while still the little handof the sin-born child was clasped in his. Old RogerChillingworth followed, as one intimately connected with thedrama of guilt and sorrow in which they had all been actors, andwell entitled, therefore to be present at its closing scene.

"Hadst thou sought the whole earth over," said he looking darklyat the clergyman, "there was no one place so secret--no highplace nor lowly place, where thou couldst have escaped me--saveon this very scaffold!"

"Thanks be to Him who hath led me hither!" answered theminister.

Yet he trembled, and turned to Hester, with an expression ofdoubt and anxiety in his eyes, not the less evidently betrayed,that there was a feeble smile upon his lips.

"Is not this better," murmured he, "than what we dreamed of inthe forest?"

"I know not! I know not!" she hurriedly replied. "Better? Yea;so we may both die, and little Pearl die with us!"

"For thee and Pearl, be it as God shall order," said theminister; "and God is merciful! Let me now do the will which Hehath made plain before my sight. For, Hester, I am a dying man.So let me make haste to take my shame upon me!"

Partly supported by Hester Prynne, and holding one hand oflittle Pearl's, the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale turned to thedignified and venerable rulers; to the holy ministers, who werehis brethren; to the people, whose great heart was thoroughlyappalled yet overflowing with tearful sympathy, as knowing thatsome deep life-matter--which, if full of sin, was full ofanguish and repentance likewise--was now to be laid open tothem. The sun, but little past its meridian, shone down upon theclergyman, and gave a distinctness to his figure, as he stoodout from all the earth, to put in his plea of guilty at the barof Eternal Justice.

"People of New England!" cried he, with a voice that rose overthem, high, solemn, and majestic--yet had always a tremorthrough it, and sometimes a shriek, struggling up out of afathomless depth of remorse and woe--"ye, that have lovedme!--ye, that have deemed me holy!--behold me here, the onesinner of the world! At last--at last!--I stand upon the spotwhere, seven years since, I should have stood, here, with thiswoman, whose arm, more than the little strength wherewith I havecrept hitherward, sustains me at this dreadful moment, fromgrovelling down upon my face! Lo, the scarlet letter whichHester wears! Ye have all shuddered at it! Wherever her walkhath been--wherever, so miserably burdened, she may have hopedto find repose--it hath cast a lurid gleam of awe and horriblerepugnance round about her. But there stood one in the midst ofyou, at whose brand of sin and infamy ye have not shuddered!"

It seemed, at this point, as if the minister must leave theremainder of his secret undisclosed. But he fought back thebodily weakness--and, still more, the faintness of heart--thatwas striving for the mastery with him. He threw off allassistance, and stepped passionately forward a pace before thewoman and the children.

"It was on him!" he continued, with a kind of fierceness; sodetermined was he to speak out the whole. "God's eye beheld it!The angels were for ever pointing at it! (The Devil knew itwell, and fretted it continually with the touch of his burningfinger!) But he hid it cunningly from men, and walked among youwith the mien of a spirit, mournful, because so pure in a sinfulworld!--and sad, because he missed his heavenly kindred! Now, atthe death-hour, he stands up before you! He bids you look againat Hester's scarlet letter! He tells you, that, with all itsmysterious horror, it is but the shadow of what he bears on hisown breast, and that even this, his own red stigma, is no morethan the type of what has seared his inmost heart! Stand anyhere that question God's judgment on a sinner! Behold! Behold,a dreadful witness of it!"

With a convulsive motion, he tore away the ministerial band frombefore his breast. It was revealed! But it were irreverent todescribe that revelation. For an instant, the gaze of thehorror-stricken multitude was concentrated on the ghastlymiracle; while the minister stood, with a flush of triumph inhis face, as one who, in the crisis of acutest pain, had won avictory. Then, down he sank upon the scaffold! Hester partlyraised him, and supported his head against her bosom. Old RogerChillingworth knelt down beside him, with a blank, dullcountenance, out of which the life seemed to have departed.

"Thou hast escaped me!" he repeated more than once. "Thou hastescaped me!"

"May God forgive thee!" said the minister. "Thou, too, hastdeeply sinned!"

He withdrew his dying eyes from the old man, and fixed them onthe woman and the child.

"My little Pearl," said he, feebly and there was a sweet andgentle smile over his face, as of a spirit sinking into deeprepose; nay, now that the burden was removed, it seemed almostas if he would be sportive with the child--"dear little Pearl,wilt thou kiss me now? Thou wouldst not, yonder, in the forest!But now thou wilt?"

Pearl kissed his lips. A spell was broken. The great scene ofgrief, in which the wild infant bore a part had developed allher sympathies; and as her tears fell upon her father's cheek,they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy andsorrow, nor forever do battle with the world, but be a woman init. Towards her mother, too, Pearl's errand as a messenger ofanguish was fulfilled.

"Hester," said the clergyman, "farewell!"

"Shall we not meet again?" whispered she, bending her face downclose to his. "Shall we not spend our immortal life together?Surely, surely, we have ransomed one another, with all this woe!Thou lookest far into eternity, with those bright dying eyes!Then tell me what thou seest!"

"Hush, Hester--hush!" said he, with tremulous solemnity. "Thelaw we broke!--the sin here awfully revealed!--let these alonebe in thy thoughts! I fear! I fear! It may be, that, when weforgot our God--when we violated our reverence each for theother's soul--it was thenceforth vain to hope that we could meethereafter, in an everlasting and pure reunion. God knows; and Heis merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in myafflictions. By giving me this burning torture to bear upon mybreast! By sending yonder dark and terrible old man, to keep thetorture always at red-heat! By bringing me hither, to die thisdeath of triumphant ignominy before the people! Had either ofthese agonies been wanting, I had been lost for ever! Praised beHis name! His will be done! Farewell!"

That final word came forth with the minister's expiring breath.The multitude, silent till then, broke out in a strange, deepvoice of awe and wonder, which could not as yet find utterance,save in this murmur that rolled so heavily after the departedspirit.