94 OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 



Charlestown, which was under consideration, proved 

 undesirable because of lack of good water; and event- 

 ually the choice fell on "the peninsula" recommended 

 by Mr. Blackstone. The house built by Governor 

 Winthrop here, which was torn down by the soldiers 

 and used for firewood during the occupation of the 

 town by the military in 1775-76, stood "under the 

 shadow of the Old South," the church itself having 

 been built upon the site of his "garden." That he 

 raised in this garden the things needful for his table is 

 of course a certainty; it is now most equally certain 

 that not many plants which had only their blossoms to 

 recommend them, were admitted. There is but a 

 single reference to the garden, made some sixteen 

 years after he had established his household. The 

 occasion was the visit of two "Papists" who were 

 passing through the town on their way to labors in 

 the interior. 



They lingered over a Sunday and, fearful lest they 

 break the ironclad rule of the town by unseemly gad- 

 ding about, "The Lord's Day they were here the 

 Governour acquainting them with our manner that all 

 men either come to our public meetings or keep them- 

 selves quiet in their house, and finding that the place 

 where they lodged would not be convenient for them 

 that day, invited them home to his house, where they 

 continued private all that day until sunset, and made 



