ABSTRACT
The liberty of these times hath afforded wisdom a larger passport to travel than was ever able formerly to be obtained, when the world kept her fettered in an implicit obedience by the threefold cord of custom, education and ignorance. The popular heretical tradition, which had survived from Lollards through Familists and sectaries, surfaced. A tinker John Bunyan and the son of a north-country yeoman Edward Burrough had a fierce dispute about the relative importance of the spirit and the letter of the Bible, and about the historical existence of Christ: and it got into print. The printing explosion was the most remarkable feature of these decades. Milton’s friend, the bookseller George Thomason, sensing the historical significance of the times, started in 1640 to collect a copy of every book, pamphlet and newspaper published. One of the most lasting consequences of the Revolution was its irreverence, its rejection of the traditional deference of a hierarchical society.
