distinct. Of course the monastic institution was abolished in the time of
Henry VIII., when he plundered convents and monasteries with as much
_gusto_ as boys abolish wasps-nests. After this it was given to Edmund
Seymour, Duke of Somerset, brother-in-law to Henry VIII., afterwards the
protector of his country, but not of himself for he was beheaded in
1552. The estate then became, by royal grant, the property of the Bedford
family; and in the Privy Council Records for March, 1552, is the
following entry of the transfer:--"A patent granted to John, Earl of
Bedford, of the gifts of the Convent Garden, lying in the parish of St.
Martin's-in-the-Fields, near Charing Cross, with seven acres, called Long
Acre, of the yearly value of 6l. 6s. 8d. parcel of the possessions of the
late Duke of Somerset, to have to him and his heirs, reserving a tenure
to the king's majesty in socage, and not in capite." In 1634, Francis,
Earl of Bedford, began to clear away the old buildings, and form the
present square; and in 1671, a patent was granted for a market, which
shows the rapid state of improvement in this neighbourhood, because in
the Harleian MSS., No. 5,900, British Museum, is a letter, written in the
early part of Charles II., by an observing foreigner to his friend
abroad, who notices Bloomsbury, Hungerford, Newport, and other markets,
but never hints of the likelihood or prospect of one being established in
Covent Garden; yet before Charles's death the patent was obtained. It is
a market, _sui generis_, confined mostly to vegetables and fruits; and
the plan reflects much credit upon the speculative powers of the noble
earl who founded it.

Thus far goes the public history; now let us turn to the private
memoranda. In 1690, the parish, being very loyal, gave a grand display of
fire-works on the happy return of William the Third from Ireland; and in
the parish books appear the following entries on the subject, which will
give some idea of the moderate charges of parish festivities in those