woman whofe Extract and Eftate were Confiderable." Under the preaching of the well-known Puritan ministers, Dodd and Hildersham, and others of less note, he became a Nonconformist, and ever after adhered most strictly to the views which he thus adopted. In 1616 Henry de Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, died, his title descending to his son Thomas. The latter survived but three years to enjoy his honors, and left to his son Theophilus, a young man, a large estate heavily encumbered with his father's debts. In this emergency, Dudley was recommended to the young Earl as steward, by Lord Saye and Sele, Lord Compton, and others who had satisfied themselves of his worth and ability. He accordingly took the entire charge of the Earl's large estate, and, by his skilful management, in the space of a few years entirely freed the estate from the debts with which it was laden. By many important services which he rendered, and also by his fidelity and constancy in the discharge of his duties, he greatly endeared himself to the family. For nine or ten years, he continued to be the Earl's steward; but, after that, growing weary of his laborious position, he left the Earl's service, and removed to Boston, in Lincolnshire. He there formed an intimate acquaintance with the vicar of that town, the Rev. John Cotton, who was to be his companion at Boston, in the New World. As his services were again much needed by the Earl of Lincoln, he was obliged to return to his family, and there he remained most of the time, until he left the country.* *MATHER'S MAGNALIA. London: 1702. Bk. ii. pp. 15-17. — Old manuscript life, printed in "The Sutton-Dudleys," pp. 24-38. -"Dudley Genealogies." Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts Bay. Boston: 1795. Vol. i. p. 21, note *. — “Herald and Genealogist," Vol. ii. pp. 409-426; Historic B In Isaac Johnson's will, dated March, 1629, O.S., of which Dudley is constituted one of the executors, he is described as of Clipsham in the county of Rutland; but it is not known how long he lived there. Dudley's first child was a son, Samuel, born in 1610. His second child was Anne, the subject of this sketch. She was born in 1612-13, probably at Northampton. † Of her youth and of her bringing up, we know but little. We can infer, however, from what she wrote of herself, later in life, that she was strictly and religiously trained; while it is evident from her poems, that she had read and studied, with unusual diligence, for one of her age and sex. She gives the following account of her early religious experiences :— "In my yovng years, about 6 or 7 as I take it, I began to make confcience of my wayes, and what I knew was finfull, as lying, difobedience to Parents, &c. I avoided it. If at any time I was overtaken with the like evills, it was a great Trouble. I could not be at reft 'till by prayer I had confeft it vnto God. I was alfo troubled at the neglect of Private Dutyes, tho: too often tardy that way. I alfo fovnd much comfort in reading the Scriptures, especially those places I thought moft concerned my Condition, and as I grew to haue more vnderstanding, so the more folace I took in them. "In a long fitt of ficknes wch I had on my bed I often commvned with my heart, and made my fupplication to the most High who fett me free from that affliction. "But as I grew vp to bee about 14 or 15 I fovnd my heart more carnall and fitting loose from God, vanity and the follyes of youth take hold of me. Peerage of England, by Sir H. Nicolas, p. 289; Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th series, Vol. viii. p. 342. *Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 3d series, Vol. viii. p. 245. † See page 391; "Dudley Genealogies," p. 18; "Sutton-Dudleys," p. 97. “About 16, the Lord layd his hand fore upon me and smott mee with the small pox. When I was in my affliction, I befovght the Lord, and confeffed my Pride and Vanity and he was entreated of me, and again restored me. But I rendered not to him according to ye benefitt received. "After a fhort time I changed my condition and was marryed, and came into this Covntry, where I fovnd a new world and new manners, at which my heart rofe. But after I was convinced it was the way of God, I fubmitted to it and joined to the church at Boston." * In her poem, "In Honour of Du Bartas," she has left a very pleasant reminiscence of her childhood, in these verses: "My mufe unto a Child I may compare, Who fees the riches of fome famous Fair, At night turns to his Mothers cot again, And tells her tales, (his full heart over glad) Of all the glorious fights his Eyes have had: Notwithstanding the gloom which over-conscientiousness threw over her youth, we can easily imagine the pleasure with which she perused the many new books which were then appearing in such unwonted numbers, and the zest with which she devoured their delicious contents. The quarter of a century preceding the departure of the Massachusetts Company for New England was one of the most remarkable in the history of English literature. Coming, as it did, at the close of the great Elizabethan Age, the more peaceful reign of James was better fitted for the quiet and considerate study and cultivation of literature than the more glorious and splendid, though more warlike and disturbed, reign of the "Virgin Queen." The impulse given by the great minds of her epoch had not yet died out, but had transmitted much of its vigor to their successors of the Jacoban Age; many renowned writers of the one living late into the other. Spenser had died, near the close of the century, leaving his great poem unfinished; having written. enough, however, to charm posterity ever after, and to found a new school of poetry. His patron, the accomplished writer, the elegant poet, and knightly soldier, Sir Philip Sidney, had fallen, some fifteen years before, on the bloody field before Zutphen. One year, 1616, had been rendered famous, by the death of two of the most brilliant names in the world's literature,-Shakespeare and Cervantes; one in the prime of life, and the other at threescore and ten, summoned hence within ten days of each other. To Don Quixote and his squire, Mrs. Bradstreet may have been introduced by Shelton's translation. With the plays of Shakespeare, as well as those of Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Middleton, Webster, Massinger, and the other dramatists, we may well presume that she was not familiar, and that she rather shunned them, as irreligious. There are some passages in her "Poems," however, which seem as if they must have been suggested by a reading of Shakespeare. The Puritans were bitter enemies of the stage, and all connected with it; and their dislike was reciprocated most heartily by the playwrights and players. Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson, speaking of the treatment of the Puritans, says, "every stage, and every table, and every puppet-play, belched forth profane scoffs upon them, the drunkards made them their songs, and all fiddlers and mimics learned to abuse them, as finding it the most gameful way of fooling." * In 1611, the common version of the Bible was published. We have already seen how early Mrs. Bradstreet began to find comfort in this volume, which was to be the solace of her lonely and melancholy hours, for the rest of her life. The charming essays of Montaigne, with their varied learning and keen insight into human nature, had been "done into English" by John Florio, and had attracted the attention of the immortal dramatist himself. Burton had tried in vain to drive away his melancholy, by writing its “Anatomy." Chapman had given to the world his grand version of Homer. Sir Thomas North had translated "Plutarch's Lives" in a manner most aptly suited to the easy storytelling style of the original; and his book was to be "a household book, for the whole of the seventeenth century.”† The "silver-tongued" Sylvester, who was himself the author of many poems, had translated the works of the favorite French poet, the "divine" Du Bartas, of whom we shall hear more farther on. The poets of this period were numerous, and the writings of many of them are even now read. Some of them are noted for their sensuousness, * Life of Col. Hutchinson, Bohn's ed. p. 82. Hooper's Introduction to Chapman's Homer's Iliad, p. ix. |