BE OMNIBUS REBUS.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 174, 29 December 1874, Page 4

BE OMNIBUS REBUS.

According to the Itecneil Militaire the Russian fleet is now composed of 29 ironclad and 196 wooden vessels, carrying altogether 921 guns. It comprises 1305 officers and 25,000 sailors. The London correspondent of the Liverpool Mercury says “ Queen Victoria has, I believe, given a large order for Honiton lace. Of late, Belgian lace has been all the rage with our aristocracy, and the English manufacture has languished. The Queen's order is intended to give it new life.’ A monument to the memory of Captain Cook is to be erected at Kaawaloa, Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, where the celebrated navigator fell. Writing on the subject, the Hawaiian Gazette says:—“The centennial of Captain Cook’s death will occur in 1879, and nothing could be more appropriate than for his countrymen, in every part of the world, to contribute a fund to erect a noble and lasting monument—perhaps a hospital—to perpetuate the name of one who did more than any other discoverer in the eighteenth century to add to the glory of England.” “ On Clerical Dress,” Mr Gladstone wrote as follows in his lately-published paper on Ritualism :—“ I will mention a familiar matter, though it may provoke a smile. It is the matter of clerical costume; on which I will not scruple to say that, in my judgment, the party of costume is right. A costume for the clergy is as much connected with discipline and self respect as a uniform for the army, and is no small guarantee for conduct. The disuse of clerical costume was a recent innovation; but 35 or 40 years ago the abuse bad become almost universal. It was consummated by the change in lay fashions—a very singular one—to a nearly exclusive use of black. The reaction began in the cut of the waistcoat; which was carried by the innovators, without dividing up to the cravat. This was deemed so distinctly Popish that it acquired the nickname of “ The Mark of the Beast;” and it is a fact that, among the tailors of the West-end of London, this shape of waistcaat was familiarly known as “ the M. B. waistcoat.” Anyone who will now take the pains to notice the dress of the regular Presbyterian or Dissenting ministers will, I think, find that, in the majority of instances, he, too, when in his best, w’ears, like the clergyman, the M. B. waistcoat. True, the distance between these Presbyterian and Nonconforming services and those of the Church of England, in point of ritual, remains as great, or perhaps greater than, before ; but that is because one and the same forward movement has taken possession of both, only the speeds may have been different. The question rises to the lip, ought this matter-of-fact, which will scarcely be disputed, to be viewed with satisfaction or displeasure ? It seems to me that ritual is—in what amount I do not attempt now to inquire—a legitimate accompaniment, nay, effect of the religions life ; but I view with mistrust and jealousy all tendency, wherever shown, either to employ ritual as its substitute, or to treat ritual as its producing cause. Monday, the 16th of November, was observed in Honolulu with great honor as a national holiday. It was the king’s thirtysixth birthday, and, moreover, his majesty had, by royal proclamation, invited his people to join in the offices of religion in invoking the protecting care of Divine Providence over our ruler during a visit to the United States of America and elsewhere abroad. After the religious ceremonies were over, King Kalakau, in the course of a speech, said—“ In the history of nations, we may learn that it is no unusual thing for the head of one Government to visit that of another for the purpose of seeking the welfare of the people. It is for this purpose — in the endeavor to forward the best interests of you, my people—that I am about to visit the seat of Government of our good friends, the United States of America. That Govern ment has given another instance of its friendship to us, by placing one of its war vessels at my disposal to convey me to its shores. To-day, our country needs the aid of a Treaty of Commercial Reciprocity with America, in order to ensure our material prospirity, and I believe that if such a Treaty can I e secured the beneficial effects will soon be apparent to all classes, and our nation, ui der its reviving influences, will grow again,”