a turbid
river, or a strong and singularly shaped idea leapt forth and seized
at once on the understanding or the heart. But the course of her
unearthly eloquence soon led her to the persecutions of her sect, and
from thence the step was short to her own peculiar sorrows. She was
naturally a woman of mighty passions, and hatred and revenge now
wrapped themselves in the garb of piety. The character of her speech
was changed; her images became distinct though wild, and her
denunciations had an almost hellish bitterness.

"The governor and his mighty men," she said, "have gathered together,
taking counsel among themselves and saying, 'What shall we do unto
this people--even unto the people that have come into this land to put
our iniquity to the blush?' And, lo! the devil entereth into the
council-chamber like a lame man of low stature and gravely apparelled,
with a dark and twisted countenance and a bright, downcast eye. And he
standeth up among the rulers; yea, he goeth to and fro, whispering to
each; and every man lends his ear, for his word is 'Slay! Slay!' But I
say unto ye, Woe to them that slay! Woe to them that shed the blood of
saints! Woe to them that have slain the husband and cast forth the
child, the tender infant, to wander homeless and hungry and cold till
he die, and have saved the mother alive in the cruelty of their tender
mercies! Woe to them in their lifetime! Cursed are they in the delight
and pleasure of their hearts! Woe to them in their death-hour, whether
it come swiftly with blood and violence or after long and lingering
pain! Woe in the dark house, in the rottenness of the grave, when the
children's children shall revile the ashes of the fathers! Woe, woe,
woe, at the judgment, when all the persecuted and all the slain in
this bloody land, and the father, the mother and the child, shall
await them in a day that they cannot escape! Seed of the faith, seed
of the faith, ye whose hearts are moving with a power that ye know
not, arise, wash your hands of this innocent blood! Lift your voices,
chosen ones, cry aloud, and call down a woe and a judgment with me!"

Having thus given vent to the flood of malignity which she mistook for
inspiration, the speaker was silent. Her voice was succeeded by the
hysteric shrieks of several women, but the feelings of the audience
generally had not been drawn onward in the current with her own. They
remained stupefied, stranded, as it were, in the midst of a torren