The Earl of Northampton, wishing to cross to Holland, secured a pass to embark from London, and arriving at the fortress at Hyde Park Corner, then so called, but now the Marble Arch, duly handed it to the Captain commanding the Guard. That officer, finding the Earl was accompanied by five servants while his pass only allowed four, seized one of the horses. The Earl, detained much to his annoyance by this incident, petitioned the Committee of both Kingdoms to restore the animal. The Committee, although commending the Captain for close observance of duty, explained that as the Earl of Northampton was going beyond the seas he would need the horse, and therefore they wished it returned. This examination at Hyde Park must have been very searching, for in the _Perfect Diurnal_ of 5th January 1643, it is recorded that “Sir Edward Wardner, Doctor Castle of Westminster, Doctor Fuller of the Savoy, Mr. Dinckson of Saint Clements, and some others this day set forward towards Oxford with a Petition to His Majesty for an accommodation (as is pretended); and being examined upon the way by the Courts of Guard at Hide Parke, they produced a Warrant from the Lords in Parliament for the free Passage with their Petition to His Majesty without interception. Whereupon the Captaine of the Guard told them that though he was commanded by their Warrant to give them free Passage with their Petition, yet he would search them, that they should carry nothing else to his Majesty, which he did accordingly, and found divers Letters about them, especially Doctor Dinckson.” These papers were handed to the Commons, and the Committee found them to be “of a very high and dangerous consequence.” The party, after having been stripped of all papers except their petition, had been allowed to proceed to Oxford, but a troop of “Dragouners” was sent to bring them back to Parliament, so back they came, done. CHAPTER IV UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH As soon as the death of Charles I. upon the scaffold under the windows of Whitehall Banqueting House left the Regicides in undisputed possession of the Royal lands, new difficulties arose. No one knew what to do with them. Hyde Park entered upon a period of unexampled vicissitude. No doubt the sterner section of the Puritans, who had now gained the upper hand, looked upon all the gallantries and follies of which the Park had been a centre as so much devilment, and would gladly have seen the place swept away. It was a time when bartering was keen, and money sorely needed for the service of the State. The spacious Park grounds must have been a tempting bait to offer for sale. On the other hand, a numerous body of the citizens would have been quite content to seize the Royal Parks for their own unrestricted use, and were strongly adverse to their being handed over for enclosure by the farmer or for destruction by the builder.