He was Christ's
elected minister, and misbelievers were children of the devil whom it was
his sacred duty to destroy. He knew by the Word of God that all save the
orthodox were lost, and that heretics not only perished, but were the
hirelings of Satan, who tempted the innocent to their doom; he therefore
hated and feared them more than robbers or murderers. Words seemed to fail
him when he tried to express his horror: "The face of death, the King of
Terrours, the living man by instinct turneth his face from. An unusual
shape, a satanical phantasm, a ghost, or apparition, affrights the
disciples. But the face of heresie is of a more horrid aspect than all ...
put together, as arguing some signal inlargement of the power of darkness
as being diabolical, prodigeous, portentous." [Footnote: _Heart of New
Eng. Rent_, p. 46.] By nature, moreover, he had in their fullest measure
the three attributes of a preacher of a persecution,--eloquence,
resolution, and a heart callous to human suffering. To this formidable
churchman was joined a no less formidable magistrate.
No figure in our early history looms out of the past like Endicott's. The
harsh face still looks down from under the black skull-cap, the gray
moustache and pointed beard shading the determined mouth, but throwing
into relief the lines of the massive jaw.
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