9 o OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 



for his turnips presents the entire spirit of Puritan 

 gardening more comprehensively than volumes writ- 

 ten about it could, albeit Winthrop himself was, gen- 

 erally speaking, far more gracious and gentle than the 

 holders of religious convictions of a similar nature 

 seemed to know how to be. 



He was an exceptional man in every way, however; 

 otherwise he would scarcely have been chosen Gover- 

 nor by the twelve "gentlemen" who took the first step 

 towards the actual freedom of this continent 

 though they may not have been aware of it when 

 they pledged themselves to each other to take up 

 permanent residence in New England with their 

 families, providing the charter of the "Governor & 

 Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New Eng- 

 land," and the administration under it, were trans- 

 ferred to the Colony. Two sons-in-law of Thomas, 

 third Earl of Lincoln, were among the group John 

 Humphrey and Isaac Johnson as well as the man- 

 ager of his estates, Thomas Dudley; another, The- 

 ophilus Eaton, who was a merchant in London, had 

 been a Minister to Denmark; and every man of the 

 group was of high standing and independent fortune. 



Poor Lady Arabella Johnson, daughter of the noble 

 earl, came with her husband and the rest in the 

 Arabella; but the "wilderness of wants" in which she 

 found herself proved too much for her endurance, 



