Banquet To Sir George Philipson.

the absence of Canon Tristram , he proceeded to say that Her Majesty was well advised in conterring the honour ot knighthood upon Sir George Philipson . Some men were only honoured in their own protessions , but as Freemasons who

were interested in various classes ot lite in that and the neighbouring county who knew what Sir George Philipson had done tor them , and knew the high position he held among them , they felt they had a right to share in giving honour to a man who had been honoured by the JN orth of England .

The New Infirmary , the foundation stone of which was laid so successfully by the Prince of Wales , amid such great enthusiasm , had a great future of prosperity before it , and they owed more of that hope of prosperity to Sir George Philipson than to any other man . He believed that for twenty-eight

years their guest was Acting Physician in that Infirmary , and was never absent one day from his duties . He was , Sir Matthew proceeded , the head of the medical profession , was president of the University College of Medicine in Newcastle and Durham , and represented the College in the Medical

Council of England . No man deserved better the honours conferred upon him by his medical Brethren , and the laymen among the Freemasons felt entirely persuaded that the medical profession had done quite ri ght in conferring upon him all the honours in their power . I he honour conterred by Her

Majesty upon Sir George Philipson was an honour to the medical profession in the North ot England , a profession which amply deserved the Royal recognition in the person of a distinguished citizen , who in all walks of life had endeared himself to every class of the community .

Bro . Sir George Philipson , who was received with a great outburst of enthusiasm , in feeling terms expressed his gratitude for the cordial manifestation of their regard and for the great kindness they had shown him . This mark of regard from his Brother Masons he particularly valued , as their endorsement

of the high honour paid him by Her Majesty . He desired especially to thank the members of the Committee who had organised that banquet , and the exertions of Bro . Seymour Bell and Dr . Leech as Secretaries . The form their honour had taken would leave in his breast a remembrance which would

never be effaced . The recognition his own medical brethren intended to give him , superadded to the welcome of his Brother Masons , was almost more than any man could hope or wish for . He returned thanks for the graceful references made by the Provincial Grand Master to himself and to the New Infirmary

, one of the greatest medical and surgical Institutions in the North of England between Edinburgh and the cities of the South . It held a unique position , and compared favourably in the work of its honorary staffs with any of the metropolitan or provincial hospitals . The recognition conferred upon the

profession would inspirit and incite them to still greater efforts to see that the New Infirmary should be in no way wanting . They would do all they could to make it one of the greatest Institutions for the relief of the sick and suffering poor of that and the neighbouring county .

The toast of the Provincial Grand Master was proposed by Bro . Richard Luck , and responded to by Sir Matthew White Ridley .

On the proposition of Bro . John Goolden the toast of the Provinces of Durham and Northumberland was honoured , Bro . Robert Hudson and Bro . Henry Usher replying . The Masonic dinner on Friday night is to be followed by similar

a gathering of his brother medicos ; and probably in Durham , where his Masonic career began under the tuition of the Rev . Canon Tristram , and where he advanced highest in Office , there will also be a reunion of his old friends in his honour .

The new banquetting hall of the County Hotel was really inaugurated by the Philipson dinner . It is a long and spacious room , extending the full length of the Neville Street side of the Hotel . Very richly decorated , gold predominating , and magnificently illuminated by electricity , it is of a character very far in advance of any Hotel dining room in Newcastle .

Church Service.

CHURCH SERVICE .

ON Sunday , under the auspices of St . Paul ' s Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter , No . 160 ( I . C . ) , a Masonic Service was held in the Old Presbyterian Church , Templepatrick . A special train travelled from Belfast , and a number of Brethren from the city took advantage of the opportunity of assisting their friends . The Brethren met at the Masonic

Church Service.

Hall , Templepatrick , and marched in procession to the church , which was nlled to its utmost capacity . Bro . Rev . A . Turner chose tor his text I . Kings vi ., 7—

" And the house , when it was in building , was built ot stone made ready before it was brought thither ; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house , while it was in building . "

The origin of Freemasonry , let them freely admit , was lost in obscurity . The line of descent was not straight . Tracing backwards , they followed a zig _ -zag course , touching one corporation here , another there , until at last there was no path left , and they paused , 'i ' o make the institution coevil

with creation was beyond his power . But even so , its great antiquity was acknowledged and at least dated back to the time when men were first gathered together in numbers to build the grand architectural structures of the world . In the fact that the vast numbers employed lay , he thought , the

beginning of the present Institution . The first care of the architect was to provide for his men . Huts were builtfrequently called Lodges—wherein the workers might lodge , ten men to a Lodge , and one of the ten was appointed Warden or Overseer over the remaining nine . Those small groups

doubtless fostered the spirit of Brotherly Love among themselves , and thus from the very beginning Speculative Masonry existed to some extent alongside the operative kind . It was easy to imagine that a worker injured or maimed in the course

of his work would be carried to his Lodge , and faithfully and tenderly cared for by the remaining members thereof . Charity of the highest description thus crept in from the commencement , and became an integral part of Freemasonry .

A peculiarity about those old-time architects and builders was that they moved about " en bloc " from , place to place , from country to country , to wherever especially good work was to be done . This travelling about in company unconsciously bound them together as a society , kept the Lodges

intact , with all their membership and Office-bearers , and fostered a desire to keep within themselves the secrets of their Craft . About the year 1044 before Christ , the Dionysiac Fraternity appeared in Asia Minor—that is to say , about half a century before the building of Solomon ' s Temple . The

Fraternity was established in Tyre , when King Hiram was called upon to assist King Solomon in his design . The Dionysiac workmen were sent from Tyre , at the head of whom was Hiram , the widow ' s son , correctly known and styled in the Lutherin version of the Scriptures as Pliram Abiff . To this band of workmen many attributed the origin of

Freemasonry . In 926 A . D . the English Freemasons met at York and under the title of the " Gothic Institution " they adopted their rules and regulations . To this Craft they owed the magnificent Gothic religious edifices of the middle ages such as the

Cathedral of Strasburg , built between 1015 and 1439 , and that of Cologne founded in 1248 . The abbey at Kilwinning in Scotland was raised by this . Fraternity in the thirteenth century , and the Kilwinning and York Lodges are the most ancient

on record . The Grand Mastership of Kilwinning was hereditary in the family of St . Clare of Roslin ; while several English Kings have consented to accept the corresponding dignity from the York Lodge .

About the year 1714 a formal resolution was passed by the English Grand Lodge that the privileges of the Order should no longer be restricted to Operative Masons , but extended to men of various professions , provided they were regularly approved and initiated . It was interesting to recall

that Sir Chistopher Wren , designer and builder of St . Paul ' s , was in his time Grand Master . The Dionysiac Fraternity settled in Asia Minor about fifty years , before the building of Solomon ' s Temple . With them Freemasonry was by many

believed to have begun . This was a little more than one thousand years before Christ . From Asia Minor they made their way to Tyre , and seem to have securely established themselves there when King Solomon sent to King Hiram for help to build the Temple .

Proceeding , Rev . Bro . Turner gave a description of Solomon ' s Temple , which was one of the most magnificent structures of the ancient world . He drew particular attention to the methods pursued in the building of it—to the awful , the reverent silence which pervaded the work . No doubt the

world had listened to a great deal of noise in the name of religion , but it was , perhaps , so-called religion , and one should discriminate between the reality and the semblance . In conclusion , he said he had to ask for their alms in the interests of their Masonic Institution in the village of Templepatrick . He