Vestments

An insignificant news despatch from Britain told that his Anglican Grace, the Bishop of London, will disembark on the U. S. heath "within the next few weeks." The Bishop, the item noted, would bring his vestments with him. His equipage will include a wardrobe which would be the envy of a Zulu wife-hunter for brilliance, of an Eskimo seal-hunter for warmth, of a U. S. antique-hunter for traditions. The most venerable are the: Alb, which is a white linen robe, once form-fitting (contracted from the flowing garment of Biblical times in order to give greater facility in handling dripping baptised persons), but recently, in the hours of the church, enlarged again. It reaches the ankles. Although a poor cleric (such as the brother of the Bishop of London) would not have embroidery on his simple alb, the Bishop's has bespangled wristlets and he could have ornaments on the lower hem if he cared to have them. A Roman Catholic bishop wears an alb, as does, too, the medieval priest of the Eastern Catholic Church. The latter's alb has alternate red and white stripes to signify the blood and bonds of Christ. Chasuble. This (Anglican Church) garb is a heavily embroidered circular garment, sleeveless and to be slipped over the head, made of moire silk preferably. Over the shoulders and down the spine, spreads a magnificent cross in the shape of the Greek letter q. This garment is quite the same in the Roman and Eastern Church. Dalmatic and Tunicle. This is a sort of fancy kimona with a slit up both sides flashed with fringes. It is flowered with embroidery. Surplice, which was at first an undershirt to keep the cold-blooded monks and abbots warm and, to be proper, must still be worn with the alb. It has long, loose, open sleeves, a gathered yolk at the neck, and drops to the knees like the skin of a ribless umbrella. Stole. A narrow strip of embroidered work nine or ten feet long and about three inches wide. A stole supposedly tallies with its alb in design and coloring. The Bishop of London wears his stole between his alb and his tunicle. The spangles across his chest supply the illusion of the cross. It signifies a yoke. In the Eastern Church instead of being a strip, the stole is a square with a hole for the head slit in one corner. It is probably the richest of Eastern vestments and in churches that can afford the best, is ornamented with jewels and precious metals worthy of a U. S. millionaire's spouse. Mitre. The bonnet is a curious piece of evolution, being variously altered from a Greek female headdress to a gold plate, to a plain linen cap, to the present splendid crown. It symbolizes in the Roman Church the retention of papal temporal power. As in all the Anglican (and U. S. Episcopal) devices, it has been appropriated from Rome.

Pastoral Staff. The heathen Roman augurs used crooks as insignia. Later, in Christian times and before the advent of seats, the staffs were utilized in the cold old churches as supports to the weak-kneed. They became the special glory of early Christian art, and today are extremely handsome. Naturally mystics associate it with the Shepherd symbol. Once it was suggested that it had often been utilized to hook in the weak-willed and wandering. The Eastern Catholic churchman has a short pole, resembling and being used as an ordinary walking stick.

Sandals. The homely shoes worn nowadays do not compare with the sublime footgear of a few centuries back, nor do the modern trousers match in daintiness the silken bloomers which were worn years agone and still are common on the Continent among Roman ecclesiastics.

Collars are affected universally by latter-day palmers and serve, as they do to laymen, only to conceal the protruding Adam's apple. Church magazines advertise cleanable varieties for $1 a dozen.

Withal, the Bishop of London possesses many a festooned garment, some of which remain unmentioned, which he will undoubtedly transport across the Atlantic, although it is a known fact that he does not assume his gilded clothes so often as do some of his U. S. brethren. He plays a good game of tennis, entertains boys and girls from the slums in his gracious gardens with parties, tenders Anglican advice to their royal majesties. He is one of the most able bishops that his diocese has known for many a decade and is throughout the empire respected for his democracy and simplicity.