The Park must then have been as wild as the New or Sherwood Forests of to-day. The tall trees, with their sturdy stems, were then untouched by smoky air, the sylvan glades and pasture lands had no distant vistas of houses and chimneys to spoil their rural aspect, while far off the pile of the buildings of Westminster Abbey--without the conspicuous towers, which were not finished till 1714--might be seen rising beyond the swamps and fens of St. James’s Park. Hyde Park on a May evening even now is still beautiful, if looked at from the eastern side across a golden mist, against which the dark trees stand up mysteriously, when a glow of sunset light seems to transform even ragged little Cockney children into fairies. It wants but little imagination to see that same golden haze peopled with huntsmen, and to hear the sound of the horn instead of the roar of carriages. The next scene which can be brought vividly before the mind’s eye is very different from the last pageant. These are troublous times. The monarch and his courtiers are occupied in far other pursuits than hunting deer. Charles I. was fighting in the vain endeavour to keep his throne, and Londoners were preparing to defend the city. Hyde Park and Green Park became the theatre of warlike operations. Forts were raised and trenches were dug. Two small forts, one on Constitution Hill and one near the present Mount Street in Hyde Park, were made, but the more important were those on the present sites of the Marble Arch and of Hamilton Place. The energy displayed on the occasion is described by Butler in “Hudibras,” and the part taken by women in the work. Like the “sans culottes” of the French Revolution, they helped with their own hands. “Women, who were our first apostles, Without whose aid w’ had all been lost else; * * * * * March’d rank and file, with drum and ensign, T’ entrench the city for defence in; Rais’d rampires with their own soft hands, To put the enemy to stands; From ladies down to oyster-wenches Labour’d like pioneers in trenches, Fell to their pickaxes and tools, And helped the men to dig like moles.” --BUTLER’S “_Hudibras_.” The picture of their sombre garments, neat-fitting caps, and severe faces, the close-cropped hair and stern looks of the men, working with business-like determination, stands out a striking contrast to the gay colours and cheerful looks of the company engaged in the chase.