AUSTERE PURITAN GARDENS 
105 
were filled with flowers and fruit trees, and the sum¬ 
mer-house commanded a view down upon them and 
away to the harbor and all that lay beyond. Some 
great trees near it were a landmark for mariners ap¬ 
proaching the coast, up to the time of the Revolu¬ 
tion; but these were cut down by the British during 
the siege of Boston. 
Another notable place was the seat of Thomas 
Brattle, Esq., in Cambridge. This was perhaps the 
most remarkable of any of the places worthy of rec¬ 
ord, although it was of considerably later develop¬ 
ment. Brattle was a native of New England, promi¬ 
nent in Boston as a merchant when the troubles of 
the late eighteenth century were brewing. When 
these demoralized business, he retired temporarily—and 
some have criticised him sharply for retiring from the 
country at such a time, as well as from his counting 
house. He had a taste for travel, however, and pre- 
sumably he reasoned that it might conveniently be in¬ 
dulged during the enforced idleness which lay before 
him. So he went across the sea in 1775, and jour¬ 
neyed and observed; and when he came back four 
years later he was well equipped to “develop, improve 
and embellish his patrimony.” No doubt he con¬ 
tributed much of real value to the horticulture of that 
time, for horticulture he made his favorite study and 
pastime. 
