I will go now to speak with Catella and see how she will take it; for hitherto Lattanzio hath gotten none but general replies from her; and for the rest God shall aid me, who knoweth my heart and knoweth that I strive for no otherwhat than to ...

The counterfactual 1982 of the novel plays variations on our historical record and contains clear allusions to the present.

Governor Winthrop attributed the heresies of Mistress Anne Hutchinson to Grindletonian doctrines.

'Mummy,' that is pounded ancient Egyptian, is, I believe, a pigment much used by artists, and especially by those of them who direct their talents to the reproduction of the works of the old masters.