5 DECEMBER 1868, Page 1

We are a long way yet from the minor appointments,

but we do hope that among them we shall not see this time the name of Mr. Layard, whose selection commits this country to the old Turkish policy abandoned by Lord Stanley. His great special knowledge might surely be made useful in other ways. Mr. Cartwright, who knows more of Continental politics than a dozen average Under Secretaries, has still his spurs to win in the Commons ; but there must be other men who have qualified themselves, the best and most prominent being probably the Member for Elgin, Mr. Grant Duff. The office will be of unusual importance, for the Principal Secretary is sure to be in the Peers, and foreign policy is not Mr. Gladstone's specialty.