Evening journal., 1892-08-30
THE SCARLET LETTER.
: By NATHANIEL HAWTHoRNR
CHAPTER l.


ihe grass plot before the Jail,
IN Prison lane. on certain summer
morning not less than two centuries ago,
was occupied by pretty large number
Of the inhabitants Of Boston, all with
their eyes intently fastened on the iron
clamped oaken door. Among any other
population, or ut a later period in the
history Of New England, the grim rigid
sty that petrified the bearded physiogno-
mics Of these good people would have
augured some awful business in hand.
II could have betokened nothing short
Of the anticipated execution Of some
noted culprit, on whom the sentence Of
a legal tribunal had but confirmed the
verdict Of public sentiment. But in
that early severity Of the Puritan char
acter an inference of this kind could not
so indubitably be drawn. 1t might be
that a sluggish bond servant, or an I'M
dutiful child, whom his parents had
given over to the civil authority, was to
be corrected at the whipping post.
1t might DO that an Antinomian, a
Quaker or other heterodox religionist
was to be scourged out of the town, or
an idle and vagrant Indian. whom the
white mans fire water had made riotous
about the streets, was to be driven with
stripes into the shadow Of the forest. II
might be, too, that a witch, like old
Mistress Hibbins, the bitter tempered
widow of the magistrate, was to die
npon the gallows. In either case, there
was very much the same solemnity Of
demeanor on the part Of the spectators;
as beiitted people among whom religion
and law were almost identical, and in
whose character both were so thorough
ly lnterfused that the mildest and So
verest acts Of public discipline were
alike made venerable and awful
Meager, indeed, and cold was the sym
pathy that a transgressor might look
for, from such bystanders, at the scat
fold On the other hand, q penalty.
which in our days would infer a degree
Of mocking infamy and ridicule. might
then be invested with almost as stern a
dignity as the punishment Of death it
self
Il was a circumstance to be noted, on
the sumner morning when our story be-
gins its course. that the women, of whom
there were several in the crowd, ap-
peared 70 take a peculiar interest in
whatever penal inhiction might be ex-
pected TO ensue. The age had not so
mnch'retinement that any sense Of i'm
prOpriety restrained the wearers Of pet
ticoat and farthingale from stepping
their not unsubstantial persons. if oc-
casion were. into the throng nearest to
the scaHOld of an execution. Morally
as well as materially, there was a coarser
fiber in those wives and maidens of old
English birth and breeding than in their
fair descendants, separated from them
by a series of six or seven generations;
for throughout that chain of ancestry
every successive mother has transmitted
to her child a fainter bloom, more del
icate and briefer beauty and a slighter
physical frame, if not a character Of less
force and solidity than her own.
The women who are now standing
about the prison door stood within less
than half century of the period when
the manlke Elizabeth had been the not
altogether unsuitable representative OF
the sex They Were her countrywomen
and the beef and ale of their native land
with a moral diet not a whit more re-
fined. entered largely into their compo-
sition. The bright morning sun there
fore shone on broad shoulders and well
. developed busts and on round and rnddy
cheeks that had ripened in the far of
By island, and had hardly yet grown palel
I'd Or thinner in the atmosphere of New
England. There was moreover a bold
ness and rotundity Of speech among
these matrons. as most of them seemed
TO be. that would startle us at the pres
ent day. whether in respect to its pur
port or its volume of tone.
"Goodwives," said a hard featured
dame Of fifty, IN tell ye piece Of m,
mind. It would be greatly for the pub
lie behoof. If we women. being Of matur
age and church members in good repute
should have the handling of such male
factresses as this Hester Prynne. Wha
think We. gossips? If the hussy stood nj
for Judgment before us five that are nov
here in "a knot together, would she com
oil with such a sentence as the worship
full magistrates have awarded? Marry
trow notw
People say" said another, 'that tn
Reverend MIR. Dimmesdale, her godl
pastor. takes it very grievously to hear
that such a scandal should have com
upon his congregation.
The magistrates are Godfearing ger
tlemen but merciful overmuch-that
truth, added a third autumnal ma
iron. AT the very least, they shout
have put the brand Of hot iron o
Hester Prynne's forehead. Madam He:
ter would have WINGED at that, | wal
rant me. But she--the naughty bag
gage little will she care what they pu
upon the bodice Of her gowni Why
look you, she may cover it with brooc
OF such like heathenish adornment an
10 walk the streets as brave as everI"
All. but" interposed more softly
Young wife. holding a child by the hanC
let her cover the mark as she will, I'll
pang of it will be always in her heart
What do We talk of marks an
brands. whether on the bodice of be
gown or the flesh of her forehead
cried another female. the ugliest as we