Travelling Notes.

TRAVELLING NOTES .

LONDON , SATURDAY , JULY lo , 1865 .

BY A PEOVINCIAL MASON . The Inauguration Festival of the Eoyal Masonic Institution for Boys , or , in simpler language , the ceremony of opening the Boys' School at Wood Green , and of formally dedicating it to the purpose

for which it Avas built—such is the official prospect of enjoyment for Saturday , July Sth ; but I suppose Dr . Chevenix French himself could not explain why the Boys' School is called an " Institution , " Avhile their sisters are sent to the " School for Female Children " at Battersea Rise .

In my own case , a cheery note of invitation , a ticket for the banquet , a fine , sunny , breezy day , and the certainty of meeting a kindly , genial Avelcome , afforded additional stimulants to induce me to " assist at the solemnity , " as our neighbours

opposite Avould style it ; and so took coach , and got me out of the city , thinking of old Pepys , and Jane Shore or Sir John de Soerdich , Avhichever may have the authentic title of naming that district of cheap crockery , eel pies , and AA'ax-work

over against St . Leonard ' s Church , and thus along Kingsland-road and up the discreet and correct Stoke NeAvington Hill , AA'here Daniel Defoe and John HoAvard , the philanthropist , lived , and where Mrs . Barbauld died , and by Abney Park Cemetery ,

where Dr . Isaac Watts would have been buried if hehadlived until our generation , and so through the Quaker luxuries of Tottenham , and the affectionate memorial High Cross of the clihreReine —• happy to find that the " sound dues" are no longer

levied at turnpikes on this road , and that the toll gates themselves , like the Octroi barriers at Brussels , are things of the past—that Rebecca , who once took a leading part in demolishing the " pikes" must have been a quakeress , and began work in her OAVU district . Travellers on roads

where " pikemen" take the place of Turpm seem to me like a player at certain round games , wherein the instructions run " stop here and pay three to the dealer , " and one for watering the roads . Reaching at last Lordship-lane , which is still a

lane Avith hedges and Avild honeysuckle and dogroses in them , bound together Avith convolvulus , the sound of whetting scythes and the smell of hay comes pleasantly over the hedges , and the air breathes elastic , and fresh , and Aatal , and Wood Green is gained at last . You perceive even the

local names carry with them a feeling of greenery and ozone . Here burnt red clay , which forms the gravel of thenorthern district , andscaffoldingpolesand nearly finished buildings surmounted Avith flags ,

sufficiently indicate that I am arrived at the " Institution for Boys ; " and here , on August Sth , 1863 , was the foundation stone laid of the Masonic

Scholastic Establishment—I cannot make up my mind to call it a school , for the building , as it stands , partakes of the character , externally , of a college , a convent , and a palace . The obsolete little plaster house , which it will supersede , still stands

in front of it , to serve as a contrast , and will be speedily demolished . Wood Green is on the alert , and the Wood Greeners are in a high state of excitement and wonderment . To them enter omnibuses filled

with g irls , or , rather , " female children , " from Battersea-rise , neat , healthy , and good looking , with the blazon of their Masonic descent like a

badge of honour round their necks . Miss Garwood , the Matron and presiding goddess , is there wreathed with smiles , and the accomplished Governess , Miss Davis , looking like one of her own pupils . Now vehicles arrive with brethren

from everywhere ; and oh , happiness ! a flood of ladies . The rustle of silk , the ebb and AOAV of vaporous muslin , and the silver tones of pleasant voices make the air vibrate . Some come by trains " at frequent intervals , " but all arrive , and

perhaps nearer 800 than 700 is their number , exclusive of stewards pro hae vice , and policemen to guard against every vice , both of which abounded ( steAvards and policemen , I mean , not vices ) . There was no breach of her Majesty ' s peace to

require the services of the belted men m blue , nor Avas there likely to be . But the interests of truth and virtue require it to be told that there was , from first to last , a defective organisation of details , and a Avant of systematic pre-arrangement of

minor matters Avhich might have been obviated . For the most part the many steAvards wandered about with AA'ands and rosettes , like English Tourists with an Alpen stock , but Avithout a " Murray . " No organised plan of proceedings seems to have

been agreed upon beyond the dry programme . It is not surprising that strangers of the outer world , and ladies of their own inner world , should be ignorant of Avhat they were to do , or to see , or to hear , and where they were to go in order to do , and see , and hear what they came to do , and see ,