either by way of Muswell Hill, Hornsey Lane, and Islington, or through Highgate and Kentish Town. The latter, as being the nearest as well as most interesting route, is the one we have preferred to indicate.

The salubrity of HIGHGATE is attested not only by the old records, which show during the prevalence of the Great Plague of London that not one death from that fearful disease occurred in this locality, but also by the number of hospitals and asylums that have been here erected, and the numerous families who have chosen a residence in this elevated region, for the sake of its pure and bracing atmosphere. One of the most curious circumstances connected with its history is attached to the name of Sir William Wallace. When that patriotic hero was beheaded on Tower Hill, in 1305, his remains were conveyed to the lodge of Gilbert Earl of Gloucester, the Bishop's castle before alluded to, and here also Robert Bruce, disguised as a Carmelite, remained concealed until treachery betrayed his retreat to the king. Many stirring scenes were here enacted during the "troublous times" of Henry IV.; and it is, besides, the locality of the famous necromantic conspiracy, plotted by the Duchess of Gloucester, Margaret Jourdain, and their conferates, against Henry the Sixth. On Highgate Hill was Baron Thorpe beheaded by the insurgents in 1461; and in Arundel House was imprisoned the unfortunate Lady Arabella Stuart, and hence she escaped in male attire. The adventures of this unhappy lady, who by her affinity to James I. and Elizabeth, was placed too near the throne for her own peaceful desires, form one of the most singular episodes in history. In the same house the great Lord Bacon breathed his last, leaving only the immortality of a name. Cromwell House, a curious structure close by, was built by the Protector for Ireton, his son-in-law; the armorial bearings of the family are still to be seen on the ceiling of the drawing-room. In Lauderdale House once dwelt Mistress Nell Gwynne, mother of the first Duke of St. Albans; and among the many other celebrated personages who have either

spent the greater part of their lives or ended their days here, may be enumerated Sir Richard Baker, author of the "Chronicles," Andrew Marvel, the Countess of Huntingdon, Dr. Sacheverell, Moreland, Coleridge, and Charles Lamb. The high gate which gave its name to the parish was an arch with rooms over it, and was removed in 1769, its want of height obstructing the passage of laden waggons. The north road now passes through the hill by means of a deep cutting and under an archway. The reason for establishing the old gate is thus fully communicated by Norden, one of the old local topographers:-"The Auncient Highwaie to High Barnet from Portepole, now Gray's Inn Lane, was through a lane on the east of Pancras Church called Longwich Lane; from thence leaving Highgate to the west, it passed through Tallingdone Lane, and so to Crouch End, and thence through a park called Hornsey Great Park, to Muswell Hill, Colney Hatch, Fryerne Barnet, and so to Whetstone, This Auncient Highwaie was refused of wayfarers and carriers by reason of the deepness and dirtie passage in the winter season. It was agreed between the Bishop of London and the countrie that a new way should be laide forthe through the said Bishop's possessions, beginning at Highgate Hill, to lead directly to Whetstone, for which new waie travellers yield a certain toll unto the Bishop of London, which is farmed at £40 per annum, and for that purpose was the gate erected in 1387 upon the hill, that through the same all travellers should passe, and be the more aptly staide for the said toll." At the Gate House Inn was formerly administered the celebrated Highgate oath on the horns, which strange custom is said to have originated from the fact of the tavern being frequented by graziers, who, to exclude strangers, brought an ox to the door, and allowed none to enter who would not kiss the horns. Some doggrel rhymes of the period thus allude to the circumstance:

"It's a custom at Highgate, that all who go through

Must be sworn on the horns, sir; and so, sir, must you;
Bring the horns, shut the door; now, sir, off with your hat,
And when you again come, pray don't forget that."

Not longer back than sixty years, when eighty stages stopped daily at the Red Lion Inn-now where are they?-three out of every five passengers were regularly sworn. The landlord, introducing a pair of horns on a long pole, bade every guest be uncovered, and then gave a rigmarole affirmation of what every one might and might not do with impunity, such as not to eat brown bread when they could get white, except they liked it better, and so forth, with other whimsical injunctions, in the same strain. These mummeries of a past age, when boisterous merriment was mistaken for happiness, are now quite extinct. The handsome gothic church of St. Michael's was completed in 1832, and forms a landmark seen for miles round; the interior is exceedingly neat and commodious. The grammar school, which was originally an hermitage, was founded by Sir Roger Cholmely in 1565, who left some estates for its support. The school at first educated only forty boys; but by judicious management, and the receipt of a small extra sum from the scholars, the benefits have been extended to nearly double the number, and the income has increased from £10 to nearly £900 annually. The original Whittington's Stone has been long since removed, but some handsome almshouses mark the spot where he heard the peal of Bow Bells ringing the mystic injunction in his ear of "Turn again Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London." He was Lord Mayor during the three reigns of Richard II., Henry IV., and Henry V., having been at first sheriff in 1393. Before leaving Highgate no one should omit a visit to the Highgate or North London Cemetery, consecrated by the Bishop of London in May, 1839. The grounds, comprising an area of about twenty acres, form a portion of that side of Highgate Hill which faces the metropolis. They are entered from a lane on the west by a little gothic building. To the left is the chapel, and broad gravel paths wind in each direction, through flowery parterres, clumps of evergreens, and picturesque combinations of trees. An Egyptian archway forms the entrance to the catacombs, where a fine cypress-tree,

in the central compartment, flings a congenial shadow over the solid masonry beneath. The terrace which runs at the foot of the church commands an extensive view over London and the adjacent country.

Again resorting to omnibus conveyance, the excursionist can either go through Holloway and Islington, or to Camden Town, as his desires may tend; but he must not forget, if he returns through Islington, that the old tavern called "The Queen Elizabeth's Head" has some noticeable antique furniture and apartments, with the real Whittington Stone, it is said, for its threshold-that Canonbury has an old Manor House, formerly belonging to the Priory of St. Bartholomew at Smithfield-and that at the old tavern of "The Red Lion," in St. John Street Road, the notorious Thomas Paine wrote some of the works that gave rise to such endlesss law proceedings with Carlile and others.

A day may well be devoted to this excursion, but, omitting Finchley, the whole can be comfortably explored with the aid of omnibii in the course of a summer's afternoon.

EXCURSION II.

HARROW-THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAYKENSAL GREEN-WILLESDEN-HARROW-ON-THE-HILL-HARROW CHURCH-THE SCHOOL-BYRON'S FAVORITE SPOTGREENFORD-HANWELL-JONAS HANWAY-EALING-ACTON BERRYMEAD PRIORY-NOTTING HILL AND BAYSWATER.

FROM Euston Square to Harrow, by the London and Birmingham Railway, is a rapid railroad transit of nine and a half miles; and, as few would prefer to this speedy travelling the slower progress along the Harrow road, by Paddington and Westbourne Green, we shall assume that this is the route chosen. Possessed, therefore, of a ticket to the Harrow station, we can leisurely glance at the intervening objects we encounter on our way, as we effectually shorten, by the aid of steam, the time occupied in our journey. Passing through the Primrose Hill Tunnel, which is 1,120 yards in length, and the excavation of which occupied a period of three years, we are next carried under the Edgeware Road, and beneath a number of bridges, chiefly used for connecting private property severed by the line. Three miles from the Primrose-Hill Tunnel we come to the Kensal Green Tunnel, 960 feet in length, the celebrated cemetery being on the other side, and forming of itself a place worthy of pilgrimage, from the number of eminent individuals who are entombed within its limits; branches of royalty itself, in the persons of the Duke of Sussex and the Princess Sophia, having, in 1843 and 1848, been added to the other illustrious names. At a small cottage adjacent, demolished in 1837, Goldsmith wrote the "Deserted Village" and the "Vicar of Wakefield." Some modern villas have lately been built upon the site. In the Abbey Field, at Kilburn, stood a Priory, once famous for a medicinal spring. At Willesden