Society of St. George on October 28 at the resumption of its monthly luncheons, Mr, Herbert Phillips, as chief guest, confessed that he would have preferred to have made his débüt as Consul-General at Shanghai in other circumstances, but he felt heartened by the? assurances. of cooperation which he received from his fellow British subjects and in particular from St. George's Society, which had thus early honoured him. He pointed out that on the shoulders of the Commander-in-Chief, the Major-General, and himself, grave responsibilities rested at the present time, and it was all the more important that they should feel that their community was at their backs as they handled the problems of a very difficult crisis.
Mr. E. S. Wilkinson in introducing Mr. Phillips referred to the fact that the new Consul-General was born in Reading and came from Reading School, one of the oldest in England, the crest of the school and the town (Reading) being adopted by the County of Berkshire and duly displayed at the lüncheon in conformity with the Society's practice. Mr. "Wilkinson, however, claimed the Society's support of Mr. Phillips om less remote grounds. Mr. Phillips came fo them as the senior member of His Majestys Consular Service who could talk to them from personal experience of the Boxer Rebellion days and, incidentally, looked very little older than he appeared 25 years ago as a Consul in Shanghai—a good testimony to the climatic benefits of China.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.