The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-04 00:00:00

THE FIRST CLUB-HOUSE AT BIRMINGUAM.

Club-houses are no longer to be confined to the
metropolis. The joint-stock palaces, which the ladies
dislike so much, are spreading to the provinces.
Birmingham has erected a refuge for gentlemen.
The Midland metropolis opened yesterday a large
club-house, built in the Italian style, capable of
accommodating 700 members. The building is said
to be very fine, and will form one of the ornaments
of Birmingham.

THE PAPAL STATES.

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(FRO3I OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
ROME, Ann 27.

The Austrian alliance with Italy is not yet a fait accom-
phi, as the cession of the Trentino is a condition which the
Catholic party in Austria and the province itself are
resolved to combat to the very last. Trent has just sent a
large sum of money to the Pope, and among the many
members of her noblesse who have enlisted as simple
Zonaves, I may rame the Count Josef di Paoli, who took
service last week. Letters from Vienna speak of
the suggestion of a mixed occupation of Rome as
impossible, as the Austrian Liberals would not retard the
fall of the Temporal Power by a day; and the Austrian
Catholics would join those of all other countries in oppo-
sition to the insult implied in the presence of the Italian
troops in Rome. In Florence a withdrawal of the French
Corps Expeditionnaire is looked upon as certain after the
French elections, and in such a case the attack of 1867
would probably be renewed. In Rome itself an optimist
view seems to prevail, and far too much reliance is placed
on the discomfiture of the Garibaldians in 1867. Another
invasion would now be attempted, if at all, with the ban
et arriere ban of the Italian army, and the whole
"dangerous class " of Italy, and would be a very different
matter to the levy of raw boys and canaille of Mentana.
Moreover, it would have the full benefit of Mazzinrs direct
aid and experience, and, as is nearly certain, the under-
hand help of the United States, whose fleet is relied on by
the Mazzinian party, as pledged to the unfortunate Hie
of Admiral Mundy's squadron in 1860.
On the other hand, the Pope's position, as not exclusively
dependent on France, is greatly improved, and the
Catholic party in Italy is strengthened by the recent
gathering in Rome. The entrance of Germany on the
Ultramontane stage is a great event, and this has con-
siderably lessened the danger of an attack, although it
has by no means assured its not being made.
A meeting of the heads of all the national Catholic
committees now in Rome was held yesterday, Count von
Biome (married to a daughter of Count Bush) repre-
senting Austria ; the
.Chevalier Dexmet, France ; Mgr.
Stonor, England ; M. D'Emptine, Belgium ; and von
Gheeland, Holland. Measures for the better organisation
and mutual understanding were discussed, and a common
plan of action decided on. The maintenance of the Papal
army costs above £600,000 annually, and the levy on the
usurped provinces £BOO,OOO, making a total of £1,400,000,
to be supplied by Catholic funds.

The feast of St. George was observed by the English
contingent of Zouaves this year with great festivities. The
young men, above sixty in number, and among whom
were Messrs. Vavasour, Stourton, Watts, Russell,
Cullingridge, Woodward, Welman, Vansittart, Maxwell,
and Errington dined together at the Parigi. Mgr.
Stonor was in the chair, and gave the Pope's health,
which was drunk with a genuine burst of English cheer-
ing, and then, in a very excellent speech, her Majesty
Queen Victoria's, impressing on his young hearers
the duty of every English Catholic of being a loyal
subject to the Crown, and alluding to the baneful effects
of treason, rebellion, and sedition, which they, in a most
special sense, were pledged to oppose at home and abroad.
There was evidently very little necessity for the Zouave
chaplain's appeal, for a scene of great enthusiam followed,
the cheers only ceasing to give place to the " God save
the Queen," sung in chorus, to the great astonishment of
the Romans.

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si
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epde roeuc
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ev
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pe
ctial i y
the English Zo
"
veterans," e
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, and e
th
eday,sur-
viving brothers of Julian Russell and Alfred Collingridge,
both killed in action in the last campaign. A soirée to the
Catholic gentlemen now in Rome was given at the English
Zfulave Club in the evening.
Victor Emmanuel has, the telegrams of this evening
inform us, left Naples, Prince Napoleon arriving in his
yacht an hour later ; and as the royal visit had been timed
expressly to meet the Prince, this hurried departure is
the subject of much comment. All along the line the
King was hissed at the sations, and cries of "Abasso la
Monarchia !" " -Viva Mazzini!" " Viva Garibaldi !"
saluted him. The conspiracy of Milan is considered to be
far from arrested. Its ramifications extend to every city
in Italy, and to Naples and Florence especially. The
Italian Government has made a strong remonstrance to
M. Pioda, the Minister of the SWi99 Confederation,
against Mazzini's residence at Lugano, and as it has
not obtained any satisfaction, it has established
a cordon of troops across the Ticenese frontier, with the
object of preventing the passage of the Mazzinian agents,
by whom the mot d'ordre has been daily given from other
parts of Italy. The Garibaldians disclaim any complicity
in the Milan plot ; but no one gives any credit to this
disavowal, as both Menotti and Ricciotti have been con-
stant visitors at I,ugano this spring, and the former was
on his way back there when the arrests at Milan were
male.

The resumption of diplomatic relations between the
Coats of Rome and St; Petersburg is currently reported