V 
AUSTERE PURITAN GARDENS 
“For Mrs. Winthrop at Boston—” 
“My sweet wife—I prayse God I am in good 
health, peace be to thee and o r familye, so I kisse 
thee, and hope shortly to see thee: farewell. 
Hasten the sending away Scarlett, and gather¬ 
ing the Turnips. 
J. W ” 
BSENT from home on the affairs of the Col- 
1 x. ony, great and good John Winthrop com¬ 
passes, in this short and tender little letter to his wife, 
practically the whole range of life as it was lived in 
New England in Puritan days. The “prayse” of 
God first, always; then the conscious and deep, real 
thankfulness for bodily vigor and health in this new, 
rude land where these were so frequently impaired; 
and finally practical directions concerning practical, 
homely things—for even the Governor, busy with his 
duties of state, could not afford to neglect his tur¬ 
nips. Turnips in those days occupied about the same 
place that potatoes do now, furnishing the main root 
80 
