The story of the coming Council after Pentecost is more than rumor. All the Bishops have received an invitation to the canonization of the Japanese martyrs at Pentecost. It is not openly said that there will be a Council but it is believed that the occasion will be used for one. It is rumored that the French ambassador has objected and said that if it is held the French troops will be withdrawn. The Nuncio has not left Rome for Paris. Hart has received a letter from Dr. Bernard Smith that McFarland has been invited to the canonization. Hart hopes that McFarland will accept the invitation and offer his travel experience to him. If the Bishop does not come Hart will return home without going to Rome. They are pleased with the news that Mason and Slidel have been released and war with England deferred. The raising of the Southern blockade will be the next step if the Grand Army of the Republic continues to do nothing but boast. In Europe they are looked upon as a pack of cowardly braggarts. Preparations are afoot in England to feast Mason and Slidell. His Grace Archbishop John Hughes continues to keep the Tuileries at bay. He has had no reception yet. Thurlow Weed is around but even with the aid of the Archbishop cannot make as good a thing as at Albany or Washington. The South has the whip hand all over Europe chiefly because of bombast. General John Smith Phelps proclamation will destroy any sympathy that remains among the Catholic populations for the North. :: I-1-b A.L.S. 4pp. 8vo.