France and England in North America Author:Francis Parkman Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER H. 1643-1645. LA TOUR AND THE PURITANS. La Toub At Boston: His Meeting With Winthbop.— Boston Ik 1643. — Training Dat. — An Alabm. — La Todb's Bab... more »gain. — Doubts And Disputes. — The Allies Sail. — La Tocm And Endicott.—D'aunay's Ovebtube To The Pubitans.— Mabie's Mission. On the twelfth of June, 1643, the people of the infant town of Boston saw with some misgiving a French ship entering their harbor. It chanced that the wife of Captain Edward Gibbons, with her children, was on her way in a boat to a farm belonging to her husband on an island in the harbor. One of La Tour's party, who had before made a visit to Boston, and had been the guest of Gibbons, recognized his former hostess; and he, with La Tour and a few sailors, cast off from the ship and went to speak to her in a boat that was towed at the stern of the "St. Clement." Mrs. Gibbons, seeing herself chased by a crew of outlandish foreigners, took refuge on the island where Fort Winthrop was afterwards built, which was then known as the "Governor's Garden," as it had an orchard, a vineyard, and"many other conveniences."1 The islands in the harbor, most of which were at that time well wooded, seem to have been favorite places of cultivation, as sheep and cattle were there safe from those pests of the mainland, the wolves. La Tour, no doubt to the dismay of Mrs. Gibbons and her children, landed after them, and was presently met by the governor himself, who, with his wife, two sons, and a daughter- in-law, had apparently rowed over to their garden for the unwonted recreation of an afternoon's outing." La Tour made himself known to the governor, and, after -mutual civilities, told him that a ship bringing supplies from France had been stopped by his enemy, D'Aunay, and that he had come to ask for help to raise ...« less