The King of Italy, who is visiting Russia, appears to
have been warmly received by the Czar, though at the State banquet at Peterhof the speeches were unusually con- ventional. The visit is watched with some jealousy both in Germany and Austria, the idea being that negotiations might be commenced which would greatly affect the future of the Balkans. The Queen of Italy is a Montenegrin Princess, and all Italians look upon Albania as a reversion of their own. There is no evidence, however, to justify these apprehensions, and it is more probable that the King of Italy desires only to make the acquaintance of the Russian Court. He is also to visit Berlin, and he would visit Vienna but that there are difficulties connected with the special relations of the Austrian Court with the Vatican. The Pope is strong in Austria, and Leo XIII. would never forgive a Hapsburg who called" in Rome upon the "usurp- ing" Savoyard.
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