Now, however, the Queen has sent the Duke and Duchess of York to Dublin to open the exhibition of Irish industries in that city. The Duke of York is the Queen's grandson, the eldest living son of the Prince of Wales. He is the heir to the throne, and will be the King of Great Britain and Ireland if he survives his grandmother and father. The Queen has therefore entrusted one of the most precious members of her family to the keeping of the Irish, and the importance of this act may go a long way toward making peace with Ireland. The wife of the Duke of York is the daughter of one of the most popular of the English princesses, and is said to have inherited all her mother's amiability and charm of manner. Entertainments and fetes have been given the young couple, and it is rumored that the Queen is about to purchase for them the beautiful "Muckross" estate near Killarney. If this is done, her Majesty will probably require the young people to spend a good deal of their time in Ireland. The Irish themselves have not been very friendly to the young Prince. They have indeed rather resented this attempt to gain their friendship. The entertainments that have been given have been by the government officials, the Irish themselves carefully abstaining from any signs of satisfaction at the visit. It has been conveyed to the Prince, however, that the Irish as a nation are quite willing to be friendly with him after he has proved himself worthy of their friendship. * * * * * France is very proud and happy over the visit of her President, Monsieur Faure, to the Czar of Russia. Last October the Czar visited Paris, and during his stay it was openly hinted that an alliance between Russia and France had been formed which was to be of great benefit to both countries. The return visit of Monsieur Faure to Russia is supposed to be for the sake of finally cementing the new alliance. The Russians are making his trip delightful to him in their own charmingly hospitable way, and from general appearances it would seem that M. Faure's visit is purely one of pleasure. Diplomatists, however, declare that the outcome of M. Faure's visit will be a new arrangement of the European alliances, which will leave Great Britain out in the cold, and lessen her influence in European politics. * * * * * Prof. David Starr Jordan has written a letter from the seal islands which fully confirms the worst fears about the decrease of the seal herd. He says that if the sealing is carried on in its present fashion the seals will disappear in the Bering Sea in a very short while, and that even with the greatest care the herd will not be up to its full strength for a good many years.