NEWS OF THE WEEK.
T T is the custom of the German Emperor to keep the birth- I- day of the Emperor of Russia, and this year the custom was observed at Metz, where William II. happened to be staying. Naturally the Russian Ambassador was asked to the festival, and naturally also the Emperor proposed a toast to his brother-Sovereign, whom be once more thanked for his support of Count Waldersee as Commander-in-Chief in China. The incident is not alarming, but the Prench think • themselves humiliated by it,' as if Russia had thereby sanc- tioned the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. As the cession of Metz occurred thirty years ago, it is probable that the Czar, who was then only a child, does sanction it, but the sanction is no stronger because his Ambassador complies with a courtly etiquette. The French, however, cannot forget their lost provinces, and ask every day what, if Russia will give no help to recover them, is the value of the Alliance. Is it perhaps a privilege that France receives when she is asked, as she was on the day after the festival at Metz, to raise a Russian loan ?
