5 MAY 1900, Page 13

THE MAP OF FRANCE.

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTAIJR."]

SIR,—I was interested in your account of the original and some- what extraordinary present sent by the Czar of Russia to Presi- dent Loubet, which had escaped my notice in the daily Press. Do you think it possible that this gift meant more than appeared on the surface, and was intended as a gentle hint to France that Russia has no intention of assisting her to the increase of her present boundaries, but regards the map of France as portrayed in such lasting pigments—precious minerals and metals—as a delicate intimation that her hopes of recovering Alsace and Lorraine will not be furthered by