MOSCOW.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 435, 3 January 1857, Page 5

MOSCOW.

The 'Times' contains a long communication from'its correspondent at Moscow detailing festivities which succeeded the coronstion. The Emperor uud Empress had been pleased to^ expreys n wish that the newspaper correspondents

should receive every particular. The legate of the Pope had been presented .in precedence of all foreign ambassadors at the levee at the court. The Emperor had danced with Lady Granville, and the Empress with his Lordship. At the levee his Majesty conversed with M. de Morny some thue,and alluded to the readiness of France to conclude peace. To Lord Granville,his manner was most reserved. It is understood that the Emperor made some private questions as to the attitude of the English Cabinet, and expressed a hope that the estrangement would not continue. To Prince Esterhazy his manner was at first cold, but the Prince spoke with earnestness, and before he had ceased the Emperor gave him his hand. These accounts circulated a > the gossip of the day.

The intelligence from Spain is of a somewhat conciliatory character. The official 'Gazette' contains a proclamation which re-establishes^ the constitution of 1845, with an additional article. Offences in newspapers will be submitted to the decision of a f jury. The Cortes' are to' assemble at least four months out of the twelve, and. there is to be a. Council-of State br:Senate. The 'marriage -of the -Princes, heirs to the crown, will require the approbation of the Cortes. O'Donnell is said to be in high favour with''the Queen,' and he seems anxious* by the course he is adopting, to retrieve, impossible, some of the popularity which lie sacrificed by the atrocious coup d'etat. The official ' Gazette' also contains a circular from the War Minister addressed to the cap-tains-general of provinces, to the effect that the state of siege in which all Spain was placed should be so modified as to permit the return of things as speedily as possible to their old condition. The sale of church property continues with increased activity, and a portion of the National Debt is to be paid off by the first of January next. That O'Donnell is a man of energy is undoubted, and if his rival, Espartero, had had half his pluck, Spain at the present moment would be in a much happier condition.

In Naples, affairs appear to be approaching a climax. Although the city is said to resemble a place besieged, people speak openly in the most contemptuous terms of the Government. The infatuated King, undeterred by the past, is said to be on the yoint of renewing the political ti£als which were suspended in the course of the summer, and he is not likely to pause before the country is in the blaze of revolt. It appears from recent filterings of news that Bomba's defiant letter to the remonstrances of England and France had, after he despatched it, frightened even himself, and that he immediately forwarded alofcher, in which he recalled any offensive plirases contained in the first. We are led to conclude from the tone of one of the letters from Naples that the allegiance of the army is wavering, in which case his doom is sealed. An explosion in Naples at the present time might shake more thrones in Europe than are dreamt of in our philosophy. Turning towards home, we find that our countrymen at Portsmouth have been doing honour to the Crimean heroes stationed in that locality. A grand banquet to the soldiers and sailors embodied the patriotism of the great naval arsenal, and an effort- is making in Ireland towards which more than £1,000 has been subscribed, for a similar compliment to the soldiers there. The speech-making on^these occasions, which appeals to the martial feelings of the nation, appears to us to be a little overdone; for we have not come out of the Eussian war in a way to provoke any extraordinary amount of enthusiasm. At the same time, these recognitions of the bravery of our army have in them so much heal-t, and show such an earnestness for the honour and dignity of the nation, that criticism cannot afford' to be illiberal, The men, it must be admitted, did their duty nobly—in a way which would have done honor to any country, and we wish we could say as much for the gynerals who led them.

The distribution of these church prizes (the inures of London and Durham) will realise the old joke. that everything suffers by translation but a bishop. The salaries attached to these sees ought; to secure a score of excellent bishops, and woukl "support them in comfort and affluence, if a seat in the bouse of peers and other accom-pani-Gents of Lord Prelacy were dispensed with. Lord Palmerston may be pardoned for bearing h's friends in mind on these occasions, for patronage of this kind is amongst the gifts which fortune lays at the feet of her favourites. The •London. ' Times ' of yesterday points out tip

difference between the past and the present :-— "No conscientious man can accept a bishopric now without the full intention to work hard. If he purposes sparing himself, and thinks he can get off with a plausible quantity of light work and mere official routine,he is simply acting dishonestly. He receives his appointment on the express understanding that he is undertaking hard work —work which will, to a large extent, interefere with his domestic comfort, which Avill put him at the command of his clergy for the disposal of his time, and impose on him the duty of being ready at any moment to listen to any appeal or obey any summons in behalf of the. interests of his diocese." We must confess that we like this language. It is such as bishops have seldom been accustomed to hear, and Lord Palmerston cannot do better than to direct the recipients of his favours to ponder upon and carry out the iound advice which it contains.