Scotland. Bacon had just ended life and labor; Hooker's
Ecclesiastical Polity was before the world, though not completed
until 1632, and the dissensions of the time had given birth to a
"mass of sermons, books of devotion, religious tracts and
controversial pamphlets." Sermons abounded, those of Archbishop
Usher, Andrews and Donne being specially valued, while "The
Saint's Cordial," of Dr. Richard Sibbs, and the pious meditations
of Bishop Hall were on every Puritan bookshelf. But few strictly
sectarian books appeared, "the censorship of the press, the right
of licensing books being almost entirely arrogated to himself by
the untiring enemy of the Nonconformists, Laud, Bishop of London,
whose watchful eye few heretical writings could escape.. . . Many
of the most ultra pamphlets and tracts were the prints of foreign
presses secretly introduced into the country without the form of a
legal entry at Stationers' Hall."

The same activity which filled the religious world, was found also
in scientific directions and Dr. Harvey's discovery of the
circulation of the blood, and Napier's introduction of logarithms,
made a new era for both medicine and mathematics.

That every pulse of this new tide was felt in the castle at
Lempingham is very evident, in all Anne Bradstreet's work. The
busy steward found time for study and his daughter shared it, and
when he revolted against the incessant round of cares and for a
time resigned the position, the leisure gained was devoted to the
same ends. The family removed to Boston in Lincolnshire, and there
an acquaintance was formed which had permanent influence on the
minds of all.