Councillor Frank Hunt delivered the oration of the day on behalf of the County Council. He spoke as follows:
"This is an important occasion. Important because it makes a page in the history of the county. It establishes a milestone marking the progress of a people who first planted civilization in this county a century ago. The burning of the old Court House necessitated the building of a new one, and this gave the present council the opportunity to erect a building characteristic of the people, and of the arts and sciences of this particular period. The old court house was emblematic of the pioneers of this county. It exhibited wisdom, strength and beauty. As much as I admire the new structure I am glad the front of the old court house is preserved, and will hand down to future ages in its Grecian columns and pilasters, the artistic taste of the pioneers who could spare from the rewards of unceasing toil money to erect a court house that bore the impress of the best art of their time. The excellence and thoroughness of the structure attest the true worth and integrity of the pioneers of the County of Elgin. I cannot but think, when considering the population and wealth of the county fifty years ago with that of to-day, that in the erection of the new court house we have spent less for artistic effect than did the pioneers. Modern requirements for the comforts of those attending courts, or on official business, entailed a large expense, which was not considered in the erection of buildings fifty years ago. The provision made for women during a forced attendance at court shows how far we have advanced on one particular line. It is a grand building of the utilitarian type, and erected on such lines that great beauty may be discovered by a casual glance. I want to say a word in praise of the architect who designed the building and supervised its erection to the satisfaction of the Building Committee. The epitaph in St. Paul's Cathedral says: "If you would know the genius of Christopher Wren, look around you." I will say, also, and it is all that is necessary, if you would know the genius of Mr. Darrach, look around you and see that he is master of his art.
New occasions teach new duties,
Time makes ancient good uncouth,
We must upward still and onward,
Who would reach the realms of truth.
Art, national or individual, is the result of a long course of previous life and training; a necessary result, if that life has been loyal, and an impossible one, if it has been base.—Ruskin.
WINDOW, MAIN STAIRWAY.
In its important examples, all municipal art should be at once a decoration and a commemoration—it must beautify and should celebrate; thus becoming a double stimulus, first to the aesthetic sense, second to the sense of patriotism.—Blashfield.
I cannot close without reference to His Honor Judge Hughes and his long judicial career in the County of Elgin. He opened the old court house forty-six years ago; he has been spared to open the new. In the first courts he grasped by the hand the men who planted civilization on the shores of Lake Erie. He has lived to grasp by the hand their children and grand-children. He came here in his early years, a type of that manhood which comes from the chisel of Pericles, and the great masters of the Grecian school. He has seen the county a wilderness, he now sees it populous and wealthy, inhabited by a people educated, industrious; a people who love God and keep his commandments.
COURT HOUSE, EAST SIDE, SHOWING GAOL ENTRANCE.