The German Emperor has got himself into a Parlia- mentary
fix. Although secure of a majority, through the coalition of Catholics and Conservatives in its favour, the irritation of all Liberals against his Prussian Education Bill, an irritation extending far beyond the boundaries of Prussia, has daunted him, and on the 17th inst. he announced to the Prussian Ministry that it must be withdrawn or deprived of all its dis- tinctive clauses. Count Zedlitz, Prussian Minister of Educa- tion, at once resigned, and after a brief delay, Count Caprivi, us Prussian Premier, followed his example. As the Chancellor- ship and the Premiership have hitherto been held together, great c =fusion was expected, and the Emperor-King, ill with worry and a very bad cold—emphysema of the lungs, the Tageblatt rashly says—set off for a hunting-box, whither he summoned Count Caprivi. Between them they devised a working arrange- ment, Count Eulenberg, the Minister of Education whom Prince Bismarck so unceremoniously flung over, taking the Prussian Premiership, while Count Caprivi remains Chancellor of the Empire and Minister for Prussian Foreign Affairs. The Bill is therefore dead, and the Catholics are so disgusted, that the Government is said to have no longer a trustworthy majority in the Landtag ; nor, as the Liberals are angry, can it form one without a dissolution. The Emperor-King, it is clear, with all his ability, acts impulsively ; and we do not like the stories about his health. Wholly apart from the possibility
of brain-disease, recurrent ear-ache from suppurations within the organ is not favourable to calm reflection.
