The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-27 00:00:00

Gitana,.

Garadt ... ...
British Remedy

Eighteen ran.%
BARON'S STAKOS.

1

FrigLt I -•••••-• • •
Barbarity .
S. to Spindle

RADCLIFFE RACES.—(This Vay.)

(BY ELEOTRIO TELEGRAPH.)
RADCLIFFE TWO:YEAR-OLD STAKES,
Mongrel
Norton
Lady Jersey

Seven ran.
WHITEFIELD HANDICAP.

Cora Lynne
Alfrei

Sacrifice filly

Fuur ran.

CEREMONIALS OF THE CZAR'S

CORONATION.

The noble science of the herald and the marshal
is somewhat out of vogue in England. Rules of
precedence which were strictly obeyed even in the
last generation have now fallen into desuetude ;
people are apt to take what arms they like, and
there is no officer empowered by the Heralds' Col-

lege to deface their Plate or their carriage panels.
Even Royal christenings and civic processions are
unable to restore a taste which has passed away ;
but if the numerous English wile have flocked to
Moscow for the coronation of his Majesty Alex-
ander IL do not bring -back an enthusiasm for
pomps and pageants it will not be the fault of the
Russian ceremonialists. Nothing that Rheims or
Westminster has ever been able to boast can equal
in grandeur, richness, and tediousness what is pre-
paring for the sightseers at Moscow on the present
occasion. It will require no mean powers of gene-
ralship to organise the multitudinous processions,
to ,get the hundreds of officials into the Cathedral
and out cf it again, and even, it would seem, to
feed and lodge, with due attention to each, so
many personages of such strictly graduated im-
portance. As for the saluting, it appears as if no
small part of the Imperial: artillery will be re-
quisite for the incessant cannonading.- • The begin-
ing of the proceedings will be the "solemn entry 7
of his Majesty into the city. • "At the signal
of nine-guns,-fired from a battery oppositelhlCOU-.
vent of Tchoudow, the bells of the Cathedral of
the Assumption indicate to the cb urehes of Mos:
cow the moment to ring their " When all
the persons have occupied the pla.ces assigned tr..,
them"—a process which, without rehearsal, will be
somewhat difficult—the procession sets out. We
need not say that the whole order of this impres-
sive cavalcade is given in the " ceremonial con-
firmed by his Majesty," and that we can give no
idea of it to ourselves. Gendarmes on foot and
gendarmes on horseback, Cossacks from the Black
Sea, the representatives of the high nobility, of the
Asiatic tribes, foot valets and chamber valets,
" negroes of the Court in grand livery," the Grand.
Master of the Ceremonies, Chamberlains, and Gen-
tlemen of the Chamber, precede Ow Emperor and
the Princes and the Princesses of the blood. On
his Majesty's arrival he is greeted by a salvo of 71. -
guns, the usual receptions take place, and the
usual loyal speechez are uttered.
The proclamation which announces the day of
coronation needs no notice, but chapter 3 of the
" ceremonial" ordains the decoration of the Cathe-
dral with a minuteness worthy of study. The canopy,
the thrones, and their respective ornaments, are
described in the most elevated language of the
upholsterer. The coronation itself bewilders the
intellect by the multitude and elaborateness of its
ceremonies. Where and when his Majesty is to
sit, where the heir-apparent is to be placed, how
the ladies of honour and the maids of honour are
to follow, are duly registered. " The canopy is
carried by eight functionaries of the fourth class ;
the cords are hold by eight functionaries of the
third class." And so the whole proceeding is re-
gulated, no doubt, in strict conformity with pre-
cedent and the manners of the empire. It is so
long since suoh a ceremony has taken place in
Western Europe, and its elaborate pomp is so op-
posed to the tastes of our own country and age,
that we can hardly pretend to judge it with fair-
ness. To the English, French, or American visitor
it will, no doubt, be unmeaning and tedious. The
long preparation for acts which are accomplished.
in a few minutes, the jaded look of troops kept
under arms for a whole day together, the tired
ladies of the Court wishing all the ceremonies at an
end, the tawdry display of diamonds and feathers
by broad daylight, the crushing, the disputes, the
disappointments, will beenough to move the looker-
on to weariness. As is usually the case at such
sight-seeings, the chorus when it is over will be,
"Is this all ?" "Is this what we have come

2,000 miles to see ?"
Yet the coronation of a Russian Czar must not
be regarded in the same light as the investiture of
a Western Sovereign. The words "by the Grace
of God," which in England are construed by mo-
dern notions into a mere pious phrase, have, in
a country like Russia, their original meaning. That
authority of the Sovereign is supposed to be directly
derived from on High ; he receives his commission
from Heaven, through the Church, and is answer-
able to no human tribunal for the exercise of his

,over. The coronation and its accompanying con-
secration are the rites by which the appointment
to govern the Muscovite world is legitimately con-
ferred. Until the Emperor is covered with the
actual material crown and anointed with the holy
oil he exercises merely a provisional jurisdiction.
He is the designated but not the installed Vice-
gerent of Heaven. Hence the officers of State, the
chief prelates of the Church, the ambassadors of
foreign Powers, are assembled to witness a cere-
mony which has to the empire a practical reality.
Muscovite custom requires that each corporation,
each profession, each province, each regiment of
the army, should be represented on the great day.
If the assembled functionaries were only such per-
sonages as the masters, the grand masters, and the
arch-masters of the ceremonies, the whole would
lose much of its significance. But each tribe of
Asiatics has its representative among thespectators
of the rite. The chiefs of the peasants of the State
domains, one for each government, are there ; the
ancients of the guilds of traders, the foreign mer-
chants, the magistrates, the section of the Council
of Manufactures, the officials of the Custom-house,
take a part in the ceremony. The Board of Mines,
the Chamber of Finance, the Commissariat, the
University, the Post-office, the Department of
Theatres, with a number of other bodies, equally
share in the great solemnity.
Thus the coronation of a Czar is tho occasion of
gathering together every element which goes to
make up the great whole of the Russian system.
For nearly six months have the preparations for the
event continued, and the result,whatever may he its
effect to our eyes, is no doubt a matter of pride to
the patriotic Russian. The people whom Alexander
rules are still in that stage of civilisation when sym-
bolical ceremonies have their full meaning and influ.
ence. The firing of salvos, the ringing of bells, the
blessing by priests,w tilhlein a fewproces weekssions,t be matterhefirewor fkos,
and
from the
e ath
feastingmong myriads of untaught men
inquiry
frontiers of Germany to the shores of
feraog
the Pacific. Each community and corporation,
each colony or nomad tribe, will be proud of
the part which its representative has played at
the great solemnity of the whole empire. The
enthronement and consecration of the Imperial
person will have been witnessed by individuals
of every race and region within a sixth of the
earth's surface. In this fact lies the reality which
gives a meaning to otherwise tedious and foolish
ceremonies. It may be that many of our country-
men will return impressed with the vanity of
national solemnities, and disposed to compare the
representations they have witnessed at Moscow
with the histrionic achievements of the theatre and

the circus ; but amid such sarcasms they dcr
well to remember that the show was not intended.

for them, but for thousands who will believe in iG
and remember it with veneration to their latest

day. The age of pomp may have passed away
among ourselves, but the Russian is still young
enough to admire what we have learned to contemn.

Times,