On the other side was Bullivant , scattering jests and mockery as he rode along . Dudley came behind with a downcast look , dreading , as well he might , to meet the indignant gaze of the people , who beheld him , their only countryman by birth , among the oppressors of his native land . The captain of a frigate in the harbor and two or three civil officers under the Crown were also there . But the figure which most attracted the public eye and stirred up the deepest feeling was the Episcopal clergyman of King 's Chapel riding haughtily among the magistrates in his priestly vestments , the fitting representative of prelacy and persecution , the union of Church and State , and all those abominations which had driven the Puritans to the wilderness . Another guard of soldiers , in double rank , brought up the rear . The whole scene was a picture of the condition of New England , and its moral , the deformity of any government that does not grow out of the nature of things and the character of the people -- on one side the religious multitude with their sad visages and dark attire , and on the other the group of despotic rulers with the high churchman in the midst and here and there a crucifix at their bosoms , all magnificently clad , flushed with wine , proud of unjust authority and scoffing at the universal groan . And the mercenary soldiers , waiting but the word to deluge the street with blood , showed the only means by which obedience could be secured . `` O Lord of hosts , '' cried a voice among the crowd , `` provide a champion for thy people ! '' This ejaculation was loudly uttered , and served as a herald 's cry to introduce a remarkable personage . The crowd had rolled back , and were now huddled together nearly at the extremity of the street , while the soldiers had advanced no more than a third of its length . The intervening space was empty -- a paved solitude between lofty edifices which threw almost a twilight shadow over it . Suddenly there was seen the figure of an ancient man who seemed to have emerged from among the people and was walking by himself along the centre of the street to confront the armed band . He wore the old Puritan dress -- a dark cloak and a steeple-crowned hat in the fashion of at least fifty years before , with a heavy sword upon his thigh , but a staff in his hand to assist the tremulous gait of age . When at some distance from the multitude , the old man turned slowly round , displaying a face of antique majesty rendered doubly venerable by the hoary beard that descended on his breast . He made a gesture at once of encouragement and warning , then turned again and resumed his way . `` Who is this gray patriarch ? '' asked the young men of their sires . `` Who is this venerable brother ? '' asked the old men among themselves . But none could make reply .
The fathers of the people , those XXXXX fourscore years and upward , were disturbed , deeming it strange that they should forget one of such evident authority whom they must have known in their early days , the associate of Winthrop and all the old councillors , giving laws and making prayers and leading them against the savage .
On among at between for from of than to while