Scotland.

nature . The work has been undertaken by tradesmen of much experience and skill . Our earnest wishes and hopes are that it may prove a great blessing for many generations . In conclusion , I may mention that , liberal as the contributions have been , there is still a necessity for more , and if this reach the ear of any friend who has not yet given his mite we shall be happy to receive it . Afc this stage of the proceedingsthe Rev . J . Symington rose

, aud spoke as follows : —Mr . Chairman , fellow-townsmen , and friends—It gives me much pleasure to take some small part in the interesting ceremonial of this day . It is a fresh laurel in the wreath which crowns Kilmarnock . Our good town has been improving in many ways since I became a dweller in it , and that is now nearly twenty years . We have not only new structures and new streets opening up and adorning the place of

¦ our habitation , but we have of late added some new institutions , well fitted to advance the physical , commercial , intellectual , and moral interests of the community—institutions which , I am persuaded , stand second to few or none of a provincial kind in Scotland ; and we have now laid the foundation stone of one which I believe will prove an honour and a blessing to our town in days to come—the Fever Hospital . Long looked for , it

comes at last ! Tha growth has been slow , but it has been sure and healthy . However much we may differ in some things , surely we have here a common platform on which all mayappear and plead earnestly for tbe common weal . Let me offer a few observations concerning this and kindred institutions , to stir and stimulate therein , aud to provoke to love and good ¦ works . And here let me at once take the high ground which ,

not only my office but the interests of truth call upon me to take . Let me remind you that hospitals and kindred institutions are the offspring of Christianity . Go to heathen lands , and you find the aged , diseased , dying , lelt alone to perish . Go to the more civilised states of pagan Greece and Rome , and no proper provision is made for the poor , the destitute , the diseased . Even in Judea , when Christ came , Lazarus must lie at the rich man ' s gate—that was his only hospital . Homes for the poor , sehools for the ignorant and neglected , and hospitals for the sick , are an out-birth of Christianity . They arose at its dawn , and have ever fallen in its wake . Let this then increase

our regard at once for the times and the land iu which we live , and for the better dispensation under which we are placed . It -is emphatically one of charity . Then let us say that to support ¦ such an institution as this is dutiful , and therefore encumbent on us all . There is not—there cannot be—such a thing as absolute independence in civil society- No man livoth unto himself . Each man is but a link iu the great chain : we care for the poor , and why not for the diseased ? When we think

of the extent , and the mixed character of our population , of the numerous haunts and fearful ravages of fever iu some of outovercrowded nurseries of disease , the call of duty is loud and urgent to us to do what we can to mitigate the evil . Besides , in a Christian community , we ought ever to be governed by Christian principle and rule , and this is the law of Christ—• " Look not every man on his own things , but every man also on the things of others—bear ye one another's burdens . "

Moreover , Christ regards such duty done to his suffering ones as done to himself— " I was sick , and ye visited me , " " Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren , ye have clone it unto me . " The work is economical . Here is an appeal to reason and expediency . I had almost said to self , which may have weight with some who pay little regard to those higher motives which ought to regulate our doings . It will save much timelabourand expense at once to individuals who may

, , become patients , and to the community at large . It is clear that it will prove much easier to furnish fit nurses and proper medical attendance , not to speak of other things , when a number of patients are under one roof , than when they are scattered all over tho town and neighbourhood . Moreover , ifc must be economical of the public health . I have only to mention some descriptions of fever to remind you of their malignant and infectious character . It is

self-protective action then to have fever patients carried apart and cured , for with all the comforts and very generally far more than the meagre comforts of their own poor homes , we cannot < lo good without getting good . In ministering to the diseased , we so far protect ourselves . It is benevolent this work . After making all due allowance for what we have said about duty and self-protection , we have here much genuine christian benevolence , and benevolence is blessed now , it is one of the beauties of holiness , it is the fairest fruit that grows on the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil . Mercy is twice blest . It blesses him who gives and him who takes , and surely in such action as the future of this Fever Hospital , it will be more blessed to give than to receive . On these , and many similar grounds , this work of charity , now so happily inaugurated , demands the deepest gratitude of the whole community . A special benefit to some , it is designed and fitted to be for the good of the population generally ; and I trust that there will beas in the

, case of Glasgow and Edinburgh Infirmaries , a very general and hearty response made to the claims of this institution for regular support . And on such an occasion as this , let us not forget to make honourable mention of those kind and liberal benefactors who have hitherto promoted this work by contributing so handsomely to the building fund ; our warmest gratitude is due to them . The savour of their benevolence will remain for many

years to come . I have now in common with all before and around me only to invoke a blessing on the work of our hands —may the Great Architect of this great universe send a rich blessing down upon our fever hospital , and may fche superstructure to be reared on the foundation this day laid , long remain to dispense the gifts of christian charity to the fever patients of Kilmarnock . The rev . gentlemanwho was listened to with great interest

, , as were also the Provost and Bro . Wylie , concluded amidst applause ; and the Kilmarnock band having played " Rule Britannia , " the procession was re-formed , and in reversed order , the Masonic deputation left the ground . On reaching the council chamber , the Craft opened up , and allowed the civic authorities to pass up the centre into their hall , and having countermarched the procession , moved towards the George

Hotel , where it broke up . Bro . D . Murray Lyon , of Ayr , directed with consummate ease and efficiency the marshalling of the procession , and the entire ceremony at laying the stone . Bro . Lyon has directed all the public Masonic ceremonials of any note that has taken place during tbe last eight or nine years , including the inauguration of the Neill and Eglinton monument at Ayr . Captain Gait also rendered good service by the judicious arrangement of the police , who kept the line of procession free of interruption . After the ceremonial was concluded several of tbe brethren and

a few guests sat down to dinner in the George Hotel . The chair was occupied by Bro . J . McKay , W . M ., 23 , supported on the right by the following brethren : —Bros . Wylie , Prov . G . M . ; Rev . lnglis , J . Steven , D . Murray Lyon , Rev . J . Thomson , & c . And ou fche left by Bros . Ross , Provost Dickie , Bailies Wilson , and Mitchell , Messrs . Wallace , M'Laren , French ; Bros . Conn , Capt . Gait , & c . Bros . Shaw and Brown officiated as croupiers . The dinner having been served up in Mr . Walker ' s excellent

style , and the usual loyal toasts having been disposed of , The Chairman , in proposing " Prosperity to the Fever Hospital " said they could not meet after the interesting and important ceremony of the day without heartil y wishing success to the institution whose foundation stone had just been laid under such auspicious circumstances . He had no doubt it would be the means of alleviating human misery in our midstand

, those who had aided in endowing it would hereafter be blessed by many a poor patient within its walls . He coupled with the toast the name of the provost . Provost Dickie , in replying , said that they had certainly shown the interest with which they regarded the institution by being present that day , many of them from a considerable distanceto lay with Masonic honours the foundation' stone .

, He begged again to return them the thanks of himself and of all jinterested in the institution . There had not many days ago been some doubt as to the propriety of'asking tbe Freemasons to be present , and a gentleman , who was the oldest of the original subscribers—Mr . Craufurd , of Craufurdlandhad been selected to perforin the ceremony ; but on account of his advanced ageand the uncertain state of his healthhe

, , had declined the honour . Oiuthis account the committee had been led to apply to a quarter where he ( the Provost ) thought they should have applied first . He thought the projectors of every public institution should accept the services of the Freemasons on an occasion like this , and have the foundation stone laid with due Masonic honours . He had experienced the greatest pleasure iu witnessing the whole of the proceedingsthe

-, regu larity , order , and solemnity of which bad deeply impressed him . Some of the reverend gentlemen did not see the propriety of such a ceremony as had taken place , but perhaps they would by and by be enlightened on- the subject . There was another foundation stone which ought to have been laid to-day , but it