rom me!
Speak thou for me [_To Dimsdell_]; as my pastor speak;
Speak now; and say if any harm from me
Will hurt the child. I will not part with her!
Say if thou canst, for thou hast sympathies
Which these men lack, say what the mother's rights
Are in her child; and what those rights must be
When naught beside the child is left to her--
Her husband gone, her friends deserted,
No reputation, no sympathy, no love--
But only those twin brands of shame, her baby
And The Scarlet Letter!

_Dimsdell._ I have a dual duty to discharge;
I am this woman's pastor--and her friend,
And therefore she hath called me to defend her;
I am, beside, a member of your council,
And hence am with you in your consultation;
And yet, I think, these duties may be made
To yoke and draw me to a just conclusion.

_Wilson._ Thou also hast a duty to the child.

_Dimsdell._ Aye, so I have. Our aim is well enough,
But let us pause before we do adopt
A means that varies from the one marked out
By God and Nature.

_Governor._ Is there not command
To teach our children in the fear of God
And guide them from impurity?

_Dimsdell._ God gave us mothers when He gave us life,
And to their tender care He did entrust
The mortal and immortal parts of us.
What then? Would we improve upon His system;
Would we now deprive this little one
Of that fond mother-care which nurtures her?
Or would we put, in place of mother-love,
The cold, hard, formal training of a paid
Instructor?

_Governor._ But is this woman, stained with sin,
A mother to entrust a child to?

_Dimsdell._ That question God hath answered; and we know
The stain of sin doth fade beneath the bleach
Of true repentance; through it all appears
The woven figure of the woman-fabric--
Her motherhood!
We owe our lives to woman's suffering,
We owe our health unto her temperance,
We owe her all the best of us. Let God
Condemn her sin, but let us not presume
To punish her where He hath healed her heart.

_Wilson._ There is weight in what he says.

_Roger._ Yea, and earnestness!

_Governor._ Well, Hester, go thy way; the child is thine.
Remember thou dost owe a gentle thanks
Unto this pious man. Go, Hester, keep
The child. Think well upon his words; be thou
A mother in all righteousness, as well
As in thy sin. Farewell.

_Hester._ I thank you, gentlemen. [