“The Court, as hinted before, was the seat and Fountain of Sports, Pleasures and Enjoyments, and all the polite and magnificent Entertainments, which are generally inspired by the Inclinations of a tender, amorous and indulgent Prince. The Beauties studied to charm, the men to please; And all, in short, improved their talents the best they could. Some distinguished themselves by Dancing, others by Show and Magnificence, some by their Wit, many by their Amours, but very few by their Constancy.” It was about this time that Lord Arlington erected a house near the Mulberry Gardens, and during the Plague he brought the first pound of tea from Holland, which cost him thirty shillings; so that probably the first cup of tea drunk in England was enjoyed where Buckingham Palace now stands. James Hamilton, the Ranger of Hyde Park, and John Birch, the Auditor of Excise, were, after much discussion, successful in the negotiations for their orchard, and in 1664 they received a grant “of 55 acres of land on the borders of the said park, to be planted with trees for eating-apples or cider, reserving a way through Westminster to Kensington, on condition of their enclosing and planting the ground at their own cost, paying a rental of £5, and giving half the apples” (which were to be redstreaks or pippins) “for the use of the King’s Household.” The State Papers also record that a lease of forty-one years of 55 acres in the north-west corner of Hyde Park, for growing apples, was granted on the above conditions. But in the following year the Great Plague, more virulent and more fatal than ever, broke out and raged in London. Such a visitation, bad as the plagues had been in mediæval times, had never been known. Panic ensued, and everyone who could do so left London and its suburbs. The Metropolis became a deserted city. Hyde Park was made a plague camping-ground. Among those quartered within its boundaries were regiments of soldiers from the Tower and elsewhere. One of these men, evidently an amusing, observant fellow, without any poetical gifts, bethought himself to write a doggerel account of his experiences. It is an excellent picture of the time, and depicts the horrors of the Plague even as far afield as Hyde Park was at that day: HIDE PARK CAMP Limnd out to the Life, Truly and Impartially, for the Information and Satisfaction of such as were not Eye Witnesses, of the Souldiers’ sad sufferings, In that (never-to-be-forgotten) Year of our Lord God, one thousand six hundred and sixty-five. Written by a fellow souldier and Sufferer in the said Camp. Help now (Minerva), stand a Souldier’s friend, Direct my Muse, that I may not offend. ’Tis known I write not for to gain applause, My Sword and Pen shall maintain Martial Laws. * * * * *