y was sworn on a pair of horns fastened, never to
kiss the maid when he could the mistress; never to eat brown bread when
he could get white; never to drink small beer when he could get strong;
with many other injunctions of the kind, to all which was added the
saving clause, "unless you like it best." Lambert tells us, "the oath
formerly was tendered to every person stopping at any of the
public-houses of the village, which are very numerous, and mostly
distinguished by a large pair of horns placed over the signs." I need
not add, no horns are seen now. When a person consented to be sworn, he
laid his hand on a pair of horns fixed to a long staff, and the oath was
administered. This ridiculous ceremony being over, the juror was to kiss
the horns and pay a shilling for the oath, to be spent among the company
to which he or she belonged. To complete the incongruous character of
the ceremony, the father, for such was the style of the person
administering the oath, officiated in a wig and gown, with the addition
of a mask. The origin of this custom is completely lost, but it was so
common at one time, that one man is said to have sworn one hundred and
fifty in a day. It appears to have been the fashion to make up parties
to Highgate for the purpose of taking the oath, and as a prerequisite for
admission to certain convivial societies now no more, the freedom of
Highgate was indispensable. The father facetiously said if the son, as
the individual sworn was termed, was too poor to pay for wine himself, he
was recommended to call for it at the first inn, and to place it to his
father's score, "and now, my good son," the formula continued, "I wish
you a safe journey through Highgate and this life." If the father's good
wishes were realized, one is almost inclined to regret that the ceremony
exists no longer. Another ancient institution is the grammar school,
founded in 1562 by Sir Roger Cholmeley, Lord Chief Baron of the
Exchequer, and after that Chief Justice of the King's Bench.

But we must leave Highgate, now the retreat of the wealthy citizen, and
the great North Road, along which coaches galloped almost every minute,
and along which lords and ladies posted, ere that frightful leveller, the
railroad had been formed. By the Favourite omnibuses it is but a
sixpenny ride to Highgate from the Bank, but in the good old times, the
fare by the stage was half-a-crown. It would do aldermen good to go up
its hill, and th