a-tempered

Updated: May 4, 2025

By middle age, or sooner, the creed has generally wrought upon the heart, or been a-tempered by it. As the minister passes into the church, the bell holds its iron tongue, and all the low murmur of the congregation dies away. The gray sexton looks up and down the street, and then at my window-curtain, where, through the small peephole, I half fancy that he has caught my eye.

Nathaniel Hawthorne - Sunday at Home (From "Twice Told Tales")