Governor Winthrop's Return to Boston: An Interview with a Great Character

A poetic interview imagines the spirit of John Winthrop returning to Boston to survey the city as it has grown, to occupy the statue made in his likeness, and to reflect on the covenant he helped compose. He observes architectural and civic changes, remarks on obsolete punishments and vanished investments, recalls the minister John Wilson's visionary dream and the preservation of the communion cup, and notes the transition from Thursday lectures to a social and scientific Thursday Evening Club. Short biographical and memorial sketches of civic figures and institutions punctuate the piece before the imagined founder offers a benediction and departs.