The Week.

biguous position" she occupies at the present moment , and she is warned , in language which does not admit of a double meaning , that that position must be abandoned . As for Russia , " if , by some motive difficult to understand , His Majesty the Emperor of Russia should meet with another refusal the moderate de . mands of the Powers , then we should be compelled once more

to leave to the decision of arms , and to the chances of war , what might still be settled by reason and justice . " If we may believe a statement , published by the Presse , of Vienna , the negociations on the Polish question between the three protesting powers , have entered into a somewhat new phase . It is said to have been suggested and accepted as desirable for those

Cabiue agree at once on a common ulterior line of action to be followed in the event of Russia ' s persistent refusal to accede to the demands " made upon her . An active correspondence said to be passing on this very important but by no means simple question . The meeting of the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia at Gastein is made to assume as much

as possible of a non-political aspect ; but the Presse of Vienna intimates that , under the appearance of a mere visit of ceremony , the interview will not be without its influence on the question of reform in the German Confederation . The tone of the Russian press is very warlike , and the Invalide Russe , the official organ of the St . Petersburgh Government , plainly

declares that if the Western Powers persist in the policy of intervention in Poland , they will be responsible for leaving no other issue to the question than , the arbitrament of war . At Moscow , where the old Russian party most prevails , the replies of Prince Gortschakoff to the notes of England , France , and Austria have been hailed with intense satisfaction , and the public enthusiasm has found vent in a grand banquet , at which toasts were drunk to the Emperor and his chief Minister , and

a despatch was sent to the latter thanking him for the manner in which he had expressed the wishes and thoughts of the nation , and upheld the honour and dignity of the empire . ——From St . Petersburgh , ' via Berlin , we learn that tbe- two million peasants , who are tenants of the Russian Crown , have been declared free landholders . The National Government of Poland is stated to have issued a warning to the people of

Warsaw against being entrapped into an insurrectionary demonstration which Russian agents were alleged to be getting up for the 9 sh inst . The National Government will inform the inhabitants when the right time for insurrection shall have arrived . - —A band of brigands , composed of Neapolitans , Spaniards , and Bavarians , has been dispersed by the Italian troops near

Sors , on the Papal frontier . A number of these ' patriots " were captured , but the remainder , as the telegram states , contrived to get back to Rome . It will be with pleasure that the health of the King of the Belgians ( who is now at Ostend ) is so far restored as to permit him to pass in review the troops assembled at this busy port and watering-place .

INDIA AND CHINA . — Intelligence has been received of tbe capture of Nana Sahib . The captors appeared to be confident that they had at length secured the monster of Cawnpore , but in some quarters there were still doubts entertained as to the identity of the prisoner . The Cotton Frauds Bill—a measure passed by the Legislative Council of Bombay for the

purpose of suppressing a species of dishonesty from which the cotton trade in this country has often suffered to a most . serious extent—had received the assent of the Governor-General , and now stands part of the law of Isdifi . The capture of Herat by Dost Mahomed appears , by this maii , to be placed beyond doubt ; but authentic intelligence is also said to have been received of the Ameer's death . The news from Japan comes clown only to the 27 th of May , at which date no hos-

The Week.

tilities were determined upon , but the prevailing impression was that war was impending . The Chinese rebels had suffered the loss of Quinsan , which bad been captured by the Anglo-Chinese contingent under Major Gordon . The Imperial soldiersat the capture of Taitsan took seven rebel prisoners , and wehave to record the horrid fact that these poor wretches had their clothes saturated in oil , aud then were roasted . There are some differences of statement as to the details of this horrid

holocaust , but none as to the fact . AMERICA . —The Asia , Great Eastern , and Jura have arrived from America , bringing several interesting items of intelligence . A sharp cavalry action was fought at a place between Shepherdstown and Martinsburg , in which it appears the Confederates under Stuart inflicted a heavy blow on their opponents , but the Federal journals give no details . The siege of Charleston was

continued ; the Federals were beaten , back to the protection of the gun boats on James Island . On Morris Island , Fort Wagner held out . General Johnstone retreating from the neighbourhood of Vicksburg , threw his army into Jackson , where he held the Federals at bay for more than a week . On the-16 th he evacuated the town , and his pursuers gave

upfurther chase of him . General Morgan ' s daring raid into Ohio has turned out badly . His force was surrounded , and nearly thewhole surrendered ; the gallant leader , with a force of some-500 broke away , but they do not appear to have reached a place of safety . The retreat of the Confederates has laid several districts open to the Federals , and the journals report a largeamount of stores taken from the neighbourhood of Tatchen . Mr . Vallandigham had addressed the citizens of Ohio , accepting the nomination for governor . From his enforced experience in the South he denies the practicability of restoring the Union

by war . Washington dispatches state that General Meade ' s movements will prevent General Lee getting back to Richmond ; but on the other hand it is reported that General Lee has been reinforced with 10 , 000 men ; and at all events an important battle seems imminent , while it is also stated that " the opinion still prevails iu some quarters that Lee proposes another invasion of the North . " The Confederate states , it will be seen , are making preparations and sacrifices to carry on the war with

renewed energy . Admiral Farragut ' s squadron in the Mississippi is preparing , it is said , for an important expedition . The Federal debt is reported at 197 millions of dollars . In Maryland a " spirited resistance to the draft" is being manifestedso spirited that the barns of two enrolling officers have been burnt , and their residencies attached . Among other items of news it is stated that a Federal expedition has captured and

destroyed Wythville , S . E . Virginia , with 100 prisoners , and two pieces of artillery and cutting the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad . By a telegram from Paris we learn that " official intelligence" has been received there from New York , to the effect that the Washington Government " appears to definitively renounce the conscription , " which has been declared unconstitutional by a New York judge . It is added that the abandonment of the draft is " to be attributed to the progress of pacific ideas in the North . "

To Correspondents.

TO CORRESPONDENTS .

A JERSEY BROTHER writes : — " In France there appear to betwo sources of Masonic authority , whence warrants for theformation of lodges are issued , the one being the Grand Orient of France , the other that known as the Rite Ecossais . Undoubtedly the former is recognised by the Grand Lodge of England . Query—Is the latter so recognised ? A definitereply to this question is of much importance to those who

hold intercourse with French lodges . " [ Neither are officially recognised by the Grand Lodge of England , that is to say , we do not exchange representatives with either , it being a rule only to do so with a supreme governing body of a countryarid not a divided authority . The members of both . Constitutions are , however , received and acknowledged as Masons , and even in France the members of the one Constitution visit the lodges of the other . ]