even in death, capt. levett could not avoid the controversies roiling the age. letters he carried aboard the vessel" porcupine", addressed by john winthrop and other leaders of the massachusetts bay colony to sympathetic friends in england, fell into the hands of puritan foes in england, apparently after levett's possessions were searched after his death. the letters stirred up some measure of controversy in england for the unfavorable stance the writers took toward the english church.