Fair ladies attached great importance to their daily visit to the Park. It was their battlefield, where they must—for their own peace of mind—mentally slay some rival, lay siege to some masculine stronghold, and render resistance useless. And be sure the gossips of the Georges had much to say about such actresses as Mrs. Oldfield, Mrs. Pritchard, Peg Woffington, Mrs. Clive, Mrs. Cibber, Mrs. Jordan, or such beauties as Lady Sarah Lennox, Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, and Lady Elizabeth Foster, all of whom were familiar figures in the Park. In that daily rendezvous in Hyde Park astute statesmen were coerced, ruled, and graciously governed by the feminine mind, and more power was acquired by Society ladies in those casual meetings than probably in any other way. Nowadays, women’s wise influence is chiefly brought to bear on public and political matters over the teacups—a pleasant social function which at that time had scarcely been established. To what extent this feminine influence existed, and could be called upon on a moment’s notice, is shown in the following note, found in Vere Foster’s _Two Duchesses of Devonshire_. It was written by Charles James Fox from the House of Commons to the beautiful Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire in 1805, about a year before the death of both writer and recipient: “Pray speak to everybody you can to come down or we shall be lost on the Slave Trade. Morpeth, Ossulton, Ld. A. H., Ld. H. Petty all away. Pray, pray send anybody you see. “Yours C. J. F.” “1/2 past seven. H. of C.” [Illustration: Camp in Hyde Park during the Gordon Riots, 1780. _From a Print in the Crace Collection, British Museum._] War with America gave zest to military affairs. Hyde Park was the nursery for new regiments. Ladies, including the Duchess of Devonshire, the Duchess of Beaufort, and Lady Sutton, appeared in a feminised edition of the military garb of their respective husbands’ commands. Near the site of Cumberland Gate targets were set up for ball practice, and it is not many years since the last of the stones used were removed. Tyburn was already doomed, not because hanging had ceased to be a fashionable entertainment, but because all sorts and conditions of men attending the executions invaded the “Arcadia” of the _beau monde_, and rendered it hideous to them. In 1783 the gallows were swept away.