The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-11 00:00:00

GERMANY.

Professor Ewald, the famous Oriental scholar, is to be
prosecuted for treason. Some time ago he was deprived
of his post in the Giittingen University, because
he declined to take the oath of allegiance to the Prussian
Government. These intimations that freedom of speech
and political creed are not tolerated in Prussia did not
prevent the professor from publishing a pamphlet in which
he severely condemned the annexation policy of the
Government, and extolled the deposed Ha nov erian monarch
and his people. He has been ordered to discontinue his
lectures, and in a few days will be tried on a charge of
treason.

31E71?0POL1TAN GOSSIP-7hurstlay.

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Although Mr. Disraeli's resignation took the country
by surprise, Mr. Gladstone evidently was prepared for it.
The result is that he has constituted his Cabinet in five
days, and the greater part of his Administration in a week,
an instance of speed almost, if not altogether unparalleled.
It is not to be denied that the new Government does nut
give universal satisfaction. Ido not here refer to the
disappointed aspirants, of whom there must always be more
or less. The dissatisfaction is shared by those who have
no expectations, and who desire only to see the best pos-
sible Administration. When journals like the Daily News
and the Daily Telegraph complain, you may be sure that
there is some reason for grumbling. The cause of offence
is, that while Mr. Lowe, the vehement Anti-Reformer of
1866, has been taken into the Cabinet, Mr. Forster, the
consistent Reformer, has been excluded. Of course
it was necessary to conciliate the Adullamite
leader, just as Lord Palmerston and Lord
Russell alternately found it necessary to conciliate
each other. But that Mr. Forster, whose consistency,
ability, and eloquence, Conservative, no less than Liberal
journals have praised, should be excluded, seems as though
faithful service were treated as a disqualification. The
minor appointments shew one or two curious selections. I
am doubtful, for instance, how far Mr. Otway is acquainted
with the duties of the Board of Trade, and I am inclined
to think that Mr. Norwood, the member for Hull, would
better understand the work. But probably the fact that Mr,
Otway has fought many battles for the Liberal cause, while
Mr. Norwood is a young member, had something to do
with the preference shewn for the member for Chatham.
It is probable, too, that Mr. Norwood and Mr. Bright
would not pull well together. The first was one of the
chief promoters of the purchase of the telegraph; by the
Government ; the second holds that the less Government
undertakes the better.

There is little doubt but that Sir G. M. Giffard
will be the new Lord Justice, and the rumour
that Lord Westbury would go to Lincoln's Inn while
Sir W. Page Wood—l beg his pardon, Lord Ratherley
—sits on the woolsack, was absurd. Lord Westbury
would never play second fiddle to any one. Moreover,
does he not enjoy his pension of £5,000 a year as ex-Chan-
cellor, which he would have to resign if made Lord
Justice, a post worth only £l,OOO a year more ? The
vacancy in the Vice-Chancellor's Court, caused by
the promotion of Sir George Giffard, will, I hear,
be filled by Mr. W. M. James (" Fat" James,
his friends call him), Vice-Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster and brother-in-law of Lord Romilly. It so
happened that Mr. James was pleading yesterday before
Vice-Chancellor Giffard, and that a reference had to be
made to Lord Justice Page Wood. " I suppose we must
call him Chancellor," remarked the expectant Lord
Justice. " No, your lordship," replied the expectant
Vice-Chancellor ; "he does not take the seal until half-
past two." It was then two o'clock.
Mr. Young's friends in Cambridgeshire are furious at
his defeat. They assert that Mr. Brand most solemnly
promised that he would retire rather than endanger Mr.
Young's seat, and though he now declares himself heart-
broken at the rejection of the old member, they are not
satisfied, but say that the heart-breaking ought to have
been reserved for Mr. Young on Mr. Brand's account.
Of course there is no question as to which is the abler man.
Mr. Young is so unsuited for Parliament that a sort of pledge
was extracted from him on a previous occasion that if he
were elected he would not open his mouth in the House ;
and this pledge he kept. Nevertheless, he is so adored by
the Dissenters of Cambridge and Wisbeach, that if Mr.
Brand were to offer himself now, they would, Liberals
though they are, vote against him. It is under these cir-
cumstances that the late Treasury whip has declined a
post in the new Government, knowing well that it would
cost him his seat in Parliament. There is a rumour that
he will be called to the Upper House ; in that case Cam-
bridgeshire might again be favoured with the presence of
its old silent member.
The legal changes of the last few years have played
havoc with the bar on the Western Circuit. First of all Sir
R. Collier left, then Sir John Karslake, and now Mr.
Coleridge follows their example. Under these circum-
stances it is expected that Mr. Lopes and Mr. Edlin, of
that circuit, will be made Queen's Counsel.• Still on legal
matters, it may be mentioned as a curious incident that
the late Solicitor-General did not receive the usual honour of
knighthood until after he had resigned the post with which
the honour is associated. Another curious circumstance
will be the existence of two Sir John Coleridges, father