The Week.

state which gave countenance to the charge , au excited mob assembling round his house first broke tiro iviiuloivs , and then set it on fire . It was entirely destroyed . An inquest has been held on the body of Pierre Dumesnil , Avhose death was occasioned by the alleged improper administration of chloroform . The verdict , however , is— "That the deceased died from tho effects of chloroform administered at his own request , and that his death was caused by misadventure . " The man Lemon , ivho w .-. s apprehended on the charge of murdering the woman with whom he cohabitedivas

, brought before the magistrate at Bow-street on Saturday ; and as it was satisfactorily proved that the tale lis first told was true , namely , that the woman had , whilst in a state of excitement , swallowed some poison used by him in the fabrication of base coin , be n-as discharged from custody . Taylor and his wife wore brought up for final examination at the Manchester Police Court , ou tbe 30 th ' ult ., when the scientific evidence as to the cause of the deaths of the three children was taken . It was clearly established that in none of the cases

was death the result of natural causes , bufc neither the surgeons who made the post-mortem examinations , nor tbe analytical chemists to whom the stomachs and viscera were submitted , were able to form a definite conclusion as to the means by which death had been produced . Professor Taylor , like the other professional witnesses , could only hazard a speculation , and that was , that the children had been either suffocated or destroyed by some poisonous vapour , such as that of chloroform . The two prisoners were committed for trial on the

charge of murdering Mr . Meller , the Stipendiary Magistrate adding : — " The depositions upon the charges will be sent up , and any course which the authorities may think requisite , will be taken hereafter iu reference to them . " AVilliam Miller , a Russian , who ivas charged with being concerned ivith Roicbberg and others in a forgery on the Russian Bank , has been again brought up at the Mansion House . Reichberg and his companions , it will be remembered , were convicted a short time ago of the attempts at forgeryand the evidence IIOAV

, given tended to show that he ivas an accomplice . He was committed for trial . The spring tides have passed over , happily without causing further mischief in the inundated Fen districts . The works devised for stopping the progress of tho flood , and preventing the recurrence of such a disaster as that from which the Marshland farmers are now suffering , are being carried on with great energy . The most important of these is a huge coffer dam , the framework of which was completed on Saturdai-.

FOEEIGN INTELLIGENCE . —If reduction is a step to total AA'ithdrawal of the French forces from Home , that stop , Ave learn from tho Moniteur , has been taken , the corps of occupation having been reduced by an Imperial decree , to a single division , consisting of three divisional brigades , under the command of General Monteucllo . M . Fould , it is said , has obtained a promise from the Emperor of a further reduction of 30 , 000 men in the effectii-e strength of the French army . Public attention in Italy ivas directed to the re-assembling of Parliamentwhich was fixed for Tuesday . It was thought that the

, budget would be immediately laid before thc Chambers , but the greatest interest is attached to the discussions ivhich will arise relating to the frustration by tho GoA'crmont of the attempt of the Garibaldiaus to invade the Austrian territory . Garibaldi ivill not be present ; he left Turin on Tuesday for Relgeratc . An attempt to negotiate a clandestine Bourbon loan has been discovered at Naples . Garibaldi has addressed a letter to the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies in reference to the recent arrests at Brescia

and Bergamo . He denies distinctly that there AA-as any intention to attempt an invasion of the Tyrol , or to take any step which had not met the approval of Al ' ctor Emmanuel . He states that when the Ministry approved the plan of forming national rifle clubs it was proposed to raise two battalions of Genoese Carbineers , and many young men hastened to enrol themselves . For some reason the project failed , and some hundreds of i-oiing men ivho were to

have joined in it associated themselves together in Lombardy for the purposes _ of armed drill . The Government looked on their movements ivith suspicion , and accordingly ordered the arrests which have since taken place . This is Garibaldi ' s explanation of the whole affair . The Gazette contains a notice that the Government of Denmark has signified its intention no longer to require Englishmen visiting Denmark to produce passports .- — -One advantage at least will be derived by the taxpayers of the Reiehsrath . The governmentin of the remonstrances of the Finance

, consequence Committee , ' has consented to reduce considerably tlie military establishment proposed to be maintained during tho present year ; and the Committee is still engaged , with what success we shall soon learn , in urging a further reduction . The Russian Council of the Empire have unanimously adopted tbe proposed new fundamental rules for the administration oi' justice . Under these important regulations no ono can hereafter lie condemned , except by the proper tribunals ; all judicial proceedings must be conduced in public , and

trial by jury is to be introduced . It is asserted that thc intelligence of the Grand Duke Constantino ' s appointment to the viceroyalty of Poland has been received ivith much satisfaction at- AVarsaiv . Probably the Poles think that no change can be for the worse .- The Ottoman troops have not only entered Montenegro , but have defeated the Montenegrins in an engagement which cost the vanquished some 1500 men , have burned several villages , and are nrepanng to prosecute their advance into the country .

The Week.

AIIEEICA . —The latest intelligence is up to the 21 th ult . Tho published despatches of the 23 rd and 21 th ult . contain no intelligence whatever respecting- the campaign in the South-west , except uncertain rumours that the Confederates had evacuated Fort Wright , and had retired further down thc Mississippi to Fort Randolph , and that General Beauregard had relinquished the command of his army to General Bragg , and had himself proceeded to Richmond . From . Southern accounts it appears that a Federal flotilla from New Orleans

bad ascended the Mississippi to Vicksburg without encountering any opposition , and ivas beliivcd to havo already left Vicksburg for Memphis . General M'Clellan ' s army had crossed the Chickahominey river , partly at Bottomsbridgo and partly at Newbridge , Avithin eight miles of Richmond . The Confederate ' s , ivho had retired to a point within five miles from Richmond , had not made any serious efforts to check the Federal advance ; but all accounts represented that they ivould ofier a vigorous resistance at Richmond . The

Confederates were pressing General Banks ' s corps , in the Shenandoah A ' alley , and had driven a detachment under Colonel Bentlcy from Fort Royal , after the Federals had sustained a considerable loss in killed , wounded , and prisoners . The W ar Department at AVashington had made a fresh call for volunl cers , to the number , as it was said , of 50 , 000 . ^ Tlie British steamer Lahuna , ivhich Avas seized by a Federal cruiser , at Matamoras , on the Rio Grande , had been released , the Prize Court having declared her seizure illegal . The British

steamer Circassian had been captured , near Key West , by a Federal man-of-war . Sonic of thc- Paris journals state that the French Consul at Neiv New Orleans protested in the strongest terms against the occupation of thc Consulate by the Federal General Butler ' s orders , and that the French Em-oy at AA ashington has already been

instructed to demand reparation . COLONIAL . —By a telegram from Montreal ive learn that the Canadian Parliament has been dsssolved in consequence of the defeat of the Ministry on the Military Bill . * AA e have intelligence from the Cape of Good Hope to the 21 st of April . The Parliament was to meet on the 24 th . The question of the separation of the eastern provinces , it ivas expected , would be early brought forward , but there was a rumour that the Governor hoped to settle the difficulty by holding the Parliament alternately at Graham ' s Town and Cape

Town . The relations between the South African republic and the border states were more satisfactory than for some time past . Great progress was being made towards tlie completion of the railways in execution , and several new lines were contemplated . British Kaffraria had taken the important stop towards couservating personal liberty by adopting the principle of trial by jury . The Volkraad had also come forward in defence of Christianity , by enacting punishments against persons uttering slanderous comments upon ' the Christian

Church . ' From Melbourne we learn that Sir George Grey Avas gradually restoring the Queen ' s authority in New Zealand , and creating a loyal feeling among the natives . Gold to the amount of 133 , 510 ounces had been shipped since the departure ofthe last mail . INDIA AXD CJIINA . —News from Bombay , announces that the troubles in Afighanistan are ended , Dost Mahommed and the Persian Government having agreed to a compromise in reference to Furrah . ¦ Mr . Laing ivas to leave Calcutta for England on the 21 st May . At Shanghae the rebels had been twice defeated , with great slaughter . At Nankin the Taepings were receiving large reinforcements , and the Imperialists do not appear to have ventured to attack them .

To Correspondents.

TO CORRESPONDENTS .

P . S . —1 . The Principals of a Royal Arch Chapter wear robes . The First Principal should have a crown , though it is rarely worn . The Scribes and Sojourners do , as a rule , wear surplices ; the academical caps but rarely . 2 . In the Grand Stewards' Lodge all the members wear red aprons , as they must all of necessity be P . G . Stewards There are eighteen lodges called red apron lodges ; hut

the junior members wear the ordinary Craft apron , those brethren only who have served the office of Grand Steward being allowed to assume the red . These lodges are Nos . 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 14-, 21 , 23 , 27 , 30 , 54 , 66 , 72 , 108 , 116 , _ 233 , 324 . 3 . Bro . Hyde Pullen is the Acting Grand Secretary of the Supreme Grand Council 33 ° . 4 . The duties of the Assist . Sojs . and the Standard and Sivord Bearer in a Royal Arch Chapter are merely nominal .

GEEAL . —1 . At very regular meeting of a lodge the first business to be performed is the reading and confirmation of the minutes , and no other business can be regularly proceeded with until that is done . 2 . A Master being incompetent to perform a ceremony cannot call upon a visitor to do it for bim in the presence of a Past Master of the lodge , of ability and experience . Bro . Stephen Barton AVilson ' s scheme for the arrangement of

the Grand Lodge Property , though in type , is unavoidably posponed until next week , as are also other articles . R . E . X . shall have a reply next week .