Some importance is attached to the permission which the Czar
has given to his heir to visit the Paris Exhibition. It is quite possible that this is exaggerated, and that the lad has only persuaded his father, who is most kindly in all family relations, to give him an outing ; but it is also possible that the Czar means to intimate to the world in general that he is very friendly to France, and pardons her rulers for being Republican. It is quite certain that the Parisians, who are quick-witted, will give the Cesarewitch a grand reception, that they will exhaust even their resources in amusing him, and that nobody will cry in his presence " Vive la Pologne !" We should not wonder either if definite offers of affiance were submitted to the heir to be laid before his father, and at all events rumours of such offers will keep diplomatists alive. It is a little risky, however, to make alliances, especially secret alliances, with a Government which may be overthrown a fortnight hence, and which, even if successful, will probably continue to depend upon a fortuitous concourse of groups. Party government may be a bad thing, but it certainly strengthens the foreign policy of Parliamentary States.
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