It mattered little
for his object, whether celestial or from what other region. By
its aid, in all the subsequent relations betwixt him and Mr.
Dimmesdale, not merely the external presence, but the very
inmost soul of the latter, seemed to be brought out before his
eyes, so that he could see and comprehend its every movement. He
became, thenceforth, not a spectator only, but a chief actor in
the poor minister's interior world. He could play upon him as he
chose. Would he arouse him with a throb of agony? The victim was
for ever on the rack; it needed only to know the spring that
controlled the engine: and the physician knew it well. Would he
startle him with sudden fear? As at the waving of a magician's
wand, up rose a grisly phantom--up rose a thousand phantoms--in
many shapes, of death, or more awful shame, all flocking round
about the clergyman, and pointing with their fingers at his
breast!
All this was accomplished with a subtlety so perfect, that the
minister, though he had constantly a dim perception of some evil
influence watching over him, could never gain a knowledge of its
actual nature. True, he looked doubtfully, fearfully--even, at
times, with horror and the bitterness of hatred--at the deformed
figure of the old physician.
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