They were both executed, they both died very penitently, especially the woman, who had some comfortable hope of pardon of her sin, and gave good exhortation to all young maids to be obedient to their parents, and to take heed of evil company, etc. The man also was very much cast down for his sins, but was loth to die, and petitioned the general court for his life, but they would not grant it, though some of the magistrates spake much for it and questioned the letter whether adultery was death by God’s law now.* This Britton had been a professor in England, but coming hither he opposed our church government, etc., and grew dissolute, losing both power and profession of godliness.
The woman proved very penitent, and had deep apprehension of the foulness of her sin, and at length attained to hope of pardon by the blood of Christ, and was willing to die in satisfaction to justice. Five of these were apprehended and committed, (the rest were gone,) but denying it, and there being no other witness against them than the testimony of a condemned person, there could be no proceeding against them. And yet some of the magistrates thought the evidence not sufficient against her, because there were not two direct witnesses but the jury cast her, and then she confessed the fact, and accused twelve others, whereof two were married men. It was reported also that she did frequently abuse her husband, setting a knife to his breast and threatening to kill him, calling him old rogue and cuckold, and said she would make him wear horns as big as a bull. Upon her examination, she confessed he did attempt the fact but did not commit it, and witness was produced that testified (which they both confessed) that in the evening of a day of humiliation through the country for England, etc., a company met at Britton’s and there continued drinking sack, etc., till late in the night, and then Britton and the woman were seen upon the ground together, a little from the house. The woman dwelt now in Plymouth patent, and one of the magistrates there, hearing she was detected, etc., sent her to us. But God smiting him with a deadly palsy and fearful horror of conscience withal, he could not keep secret, but discovered this, and other the like with other women, and was forced to acknowledge the justice of God in that having often called others fools, etc., for confessing against themselves, he was now forced to do the like. Whereupon, soon after she was married, divers young men solicited her chastity, and drawing her into bad company, and giving her wine and other gifts, easily prevailed with her, and among others this Britton. This woman, being rejected by a young man whom she had an affection unto, vowed she would marry the next that came to her, and accordingly, against her friends’ minds, she matched with an ancient man who had neither honesty nor ability, and one whom she had no affection unto.
One James Britton, a man ill affected both to our church discipline and civil government, and one Mary Latham, a proper young woman about 18 years of age, whose father was a godly man and had brought her up well, were condemned to die for adultery, upon a law formerly made and published in print. As a culminating task, students will be asked to produce their own podcast that explores one of the key thematic questions through the lens of a current societal issue.1644: Mary Latham and James Britton, adulterous lovers To further develop students’ understanding of the thematic topics, they will listen to several podcasts during this unit that engage with themes and questions similar to those raised in the novel.
Critical of the relationship between religion and law in Puritan society, Hawthorne raises questions about the society and its treatment of the individuals that will likely resonate with students as being as applicable to today’s society as they are to the world of Hester, Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. As students track Hawthorne’s development of his characters, plot, and themes, they will analyze his use of such literary techniques as symbols, motifs, and evocative names to communicate his message to his readers. In his renowned novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the themes of sin, compassion, and hypocrisy as they play out in seventeenth-century Puritan New England. As one of the most widely read novels in the American literary canon, The Scarlet Letter is a fitting end to this course.