'if tou think it will bring peace to your soul, and will bring you closer to the path to heaven, speak out the name of the man! Do not be silent because you feel sorry for him. Believe me, Hester, although he may have to step down from a high place and stand beside you on the platfrom of the shame, it is better to do that than to hide a guilty heart through his life. Heaven has allowed you pubilc shame, and the chance to win an open battle with the evil inside you and the sadness outside. Do you refuse to give him that same chance-which he may be too afriad to take himself?'