Papers of the Winthrop Family, Volume 2
1629-06-19
I wrote to thee this weeke by Roger Mather, but shall expect no other lettre from thee, because of thy iournye to Maplested, from whence, I hope thou art safely returned, blessed be the Lord our good God, who watcheth ouer vs in all our wayes, to doe vs good, and to comfort vs with his manyfould blessinges, not takinge occation by our sinnes to punishe vs as we deserue: through his mercye it is, that I continue in health, and that to my great ioye I heare well of thee and our famylye; the Lord teach vs the right vse of all his blessinges, and so temper our Affections towardes the good thinges of this life, as our greatest ioye may be, that our names are in the booke of life, that we haue the goodwill of our heauenly father, that Christ Jesus is ours, and that by him we haue right to all thinges: then, come what will, we may haue ioye and confidence.
My sweet wife, I am sorye that I cannot now appoint the tyme that I hope to returne, which cannot be the next weeke though it is like, my sister Fones or some of her company will come downe then, but you shall heare more the beginninge of next weeke.
For newes, I haue but one to write of, but that wilbe more wellcome to thee, then a great deale of other, my Office is gone, and my chamber,2 and 100I shalbe a sauer in them both: so as I hope, we shall now enioye each other againe as we desire, the Lorde teach vs to improue our tyme and society to more vse for our mutuall comfort and the good of our familye etc. then before. It is now bedd tyme but I must lye alone, therefore I make lesse haste, yet I must kisse my sweet wife, and so with my blessing to our children, and salutation to all our frendes, I comende thee to the grace and blessinge of the Lord and rest Thy faithfull husband
my brother D: and sister and sister F: comende them to thee.
W. 7 A. 29; Savage (1825), I. 335; (1853), I. 426–427;
L. and L.
, I. 300–301.
Opposite “my Office is gone, and my chamber,” there is written in the margin “Mr. Fowle.” Some have supposed that Winthrop's manifest sympathy with those suffering from the proscriptions of the government cost him his place. Against this is to be set the fact that his colleague and brother-in-law, Emmanuel Downing, of like Puritan relationships, had no difficulty, so far as we know, in retaining his position. It seems much more probable that Winthrop's withdrawal was voluntary, caused by his contemplated removal to New England, and that his own desire was the impelling force in the transfer of his attorneyship and chamber to Fowle, whose name henceforth replaces his in the records of the Court of Wards. See, however, his allusion to the same event in his letter of June 5 to Margaret Winthrop, supra.