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54
but rather maintained and cherished for the consecration and
the preservation of municipal traditions. It is because I value
the privileges of the City of London, that I wish them not
cooped up in a narrow space, but extended to all the citizens of
London. It is because I highly estimate those privileges which
were meant for all London, that I wish them extended to all
London ; and you in your way do not, I am quite sure, because
you live under a new district constitution, reject in any way the
memorials of your past. I see a coat-of-arms opposite to me
which I suppose refers to that Priory of Clerkenwell around
which this borough has grouped itself; and I am sure that you,
in preserving all the antiquity of your borough, while moving
towards a new and freer m micipal life, recognise that it is a
consecration and an ornament of your municipal life that you seek
in your past, and not a mere stereotyping of that past. Perhaps
there are some present who differ from me on this point, but I
hope there are some among you who will learn from Clerkenwell
this truer wisdom, and that those who value the immemorial
traditions and the ancient history of the City of London will
value them, not as a bulwark against an irresistible change, but
as a means of softening, hallowing, and gilding the inevitable
change from the old to the new. I now declare this Hall open.
(Loud cheers.)
The Vestry held its first meeting in the new
Town Hall on the 11th July, when they passed a
unanimous resolution of congratulation to their
Chairman, William Robson, Esq., J.P., on occupying
the position of Chairman at the first meeting
in the new municipal building, the successful
erection of which he had done so much to promote.
At this meeting, also, Mr. Walton presented the
Vestry with a gold medallion commemorative of
the opening of the Town Hall by Lord Rosebery,
which was accepted with thanks, and ordered to be
deposited in the public library.
The Vestry granted the use of the Town Hall to
the Vicar of the Parish, the Rev. J. H. Rose, M.A.,
and the Committee of the Clerkenwell Parochial
Schools, Amwell Street, for a Bazaar in aid of the
funds of the Schools. The Bazaar was opened by