_March 3rd._--Bucher brings me from upstairs instructions and material for a Rome despatch for the _Kölnische Zeitung_. It runs as follows: “Rumours have already been circulated on various occasions to the effect that the Pope intends to leave Rome. According to the latest of these the Council which was adjourned in the summer, will be reopened at another place, some persons mentioning Malta and others Trient. This report has now assumed a more positive form, and it is asserted that the departure of the Holy Father is near at hand. From what we hear there would appear to be something in this report, although the question of the convoking the Council afresh may not yet be ripe for decision. It is understood on good authority that the idea is mooted and recommended by a priest named Mermillod, who has come here from Geneva. He is a Savoyard by birth, and recently occupied the position of Suffragan Bishop in Calvin’s city. He is one of the most active agents in promoting the recognition of the doctrine of infallibility, and the restoration of the temporal power of the Roman Pontiff. For this purpose he has recently paid numerous visits to France and Belgium, and--as others assert--to Germany also. He has returned with the results of his observations and an account of the recruits he has been able to raise. It appears that his report has determined the Pope, or those who exercise a decisive influence upon him, no longer to hesitate between the party which is for remaining in Rome and that which urges his departure, and that it is now resolved to proceed either to Malta or Trient for the purpose of summoning the Council to meet there in April or May. Doubtless the main object of this gathering will be to elicit from the assembled fathers a strong declaration in favour of the necessity of the Temporal Power. Obviously a secondary object of this Parliament of Bishops, convoked away from Rome, would be to demonstrate to Europe that the Vatican does not enjoy the necessary liberty, although the Act of Guarantee proves that the Italian Government, in its desire for a reconciliation and its readiness to meet the wishes of the Curia, has actually done everything that lies in its power. The twenty Italian bishops nominated by the Pope on the 23rd of February, as well as the mitred abbots, were instructed not to submit the Bulls containing the nominations to the Italian Government, and were assured of compensation should they be deprived of their temporalities. This shows that if the Pope has really, and not merely nominally, less liberty than he requires, he at least has money enough.”