TOPICS OF TH G DAY.

THE NEXT MINISTRY.

THE forming of a new Administration, at the present time, will be a task of great responsibility and some difficulty. The Mi-

nistry must be thoroughly Liberal, otherwise it will speedily fall like its predecessor, only with a deeper disgrace. But to main- tain such a Ministry against the opposition it must expect to en- counter, will be no child's play. This a ill appear from a brief survey of the parties who will be leagued together for its hindrance or destruction.

First, there is the Court—the angry, baffled Court. The King himself is a matt of stronger prejudicesthan judgment ; and, sailor as he is, be probably inherits some portion of his father's turn for finesse. At least, on a retrospect from the period of Lord GREY'S accession to office, it is difficult to believe that he ever cordially supported Liberal men or measures on any fixed principle. Ile seems always to have countenanced, or at least allowed, a " back stairs " or secret influence to counteract the policy of the responsible ad- visers of the Crown. Earl Glint himself felt this drawback on his power to serve the country; but it proved the means of de- stroying the MELBOURNE Cabinet,—for the abrupt dismissal of which. no one valid public reason has to this hour been offered. The " back stairs" influence is neither propitiated nor subdued, though it may be abashed or alarmed for the moment. The un- happy prejudices which prompted the Sovereign to listen to the leaders of the Tory faction, cannot have been removed by the ill success of the attempt to gratify them. WILLIAM " the Re- former" cannot be counted on as the natural, bond fide ally of a Reform Government.

Secondly, the Liberal Ministry will Lave a large majority of the House of Peersarrayed against it. The obstructive power of the Lords need not be dwelt upon. That they will use it so as to annoy a National Administration, who can doubt ? We know which party in the long run will lose most by this game; but in the main- while, the House of Peers presents a formidable obstacle to any Ministry which refuses to cringe to its prejudices and sacrifice the good of the community to its exclusive interests. Thirdly, in the House of Commons the Tory minority will be exceedingly numerous. If the Ministers are enabled to bring together a working majority, it will only be by the steady exer- tions of all their friends. They must be prepartsd for bitter oppo- sition—for all the arts and malignity of a defeated faction, eager to annoy the victors, and possessing the power of annoyance to a great extent. Fourthly, the strength of the Tory party in the country must not be overlooked. It was hoped that the Reform Act had pros- trated it for ever ; but late events have proved this to be a mis- take. The wealth, the zeal and activity, even the numbers of this party, though still a minority, acre displayed at the last election. It possesses allies in all parts of the country, in all the departments of State—in the Church, the Magistracy, in the Army and Navy, and wherever the hope of profiting by mis- government exists. We have had fair warning that one defeat will not discourage the Tories from making other efforts to recover the ground they lost by the Reform Act.

Enough has been said to indicate the formidable nature of the opposition which a Liberal Ministry will have to struggle against. It is plain that it can only hope to contend successfully against such a combination, by adopting principles of Government which the nation approves of, and which the Reformers of the House of Commons are bound to uphold. The majority of the National Representatives are agreed upon the great principles on which the country should be governed—the principles, namely, of the Reform Act ; which, as Mr. Sergeant WILDE correctly laid them down, are "to bring the public institutions of the country under proper control by purifying the representation ; to renew these institutions, and to ascertain how far they answer the purposes for which they were originally devised; and to make such alterations in them as the operation of time and circumstances may have rendered necessary."

An Administration based on these principles, and acting honestly and consistently upon them, will be secure of the sup- port of the majority of the House of Commons. If it is said, that men who profess to agree on general principles, yet frequently are found to disagree among themselves as to the mode of carry- ing out those principles, we answer, that this remark can hardly apply to the majority of the present House of Commons; as upon the two grand questions of Ecclesiastical and Municipal Reform there is no variance of opinion worth notice,—the men of extreme opinions being, as Mr. 0CoN:sEm. intimated, ready to enter into a compromise with those who refuse to go as far as they would go, for the sake of securing a certain amount of actual good. There are differences on minor points, however, among the Reformers who now act together; and there always must be differences among men who really act upon principle. The Tories never

allow their principles to interfere with the prospect of place. They are ever ready to band themselves together, in order, as BURKE

said, " to sell their conjunct iniquity at a higher rate." But the Reformers are not place-hunters. They can " afford to keep consciences," and therefore they are less serviceable as Parlia- mentary troops than the Tories. Now we are far from wishing any individual to abandon or compromise a single principle which he deems important or valuable. If common prudence is used in forming the new Ministry, there needs not arise the least danger to it from allowing every Reformer to advocate the measures he

approves of. The questions on which the whole party is not agreed should not be Cabinet questions, but open ones. For instance, let Ministers allow motions for Triennial Parliaments,

vote by Ballot, and the alteration of the Corn-laws, to be dis- cussed without the interference of Government. They ought not

to be carried, or rejected, as mere party questions. By adopting this rule on these, and some others, almost all the difficulty and embarrassment which the Tories hope to see arise in the ranks of the Liberal Ministry, will be avoided.

But although there is no reason why the Liberal Members should abandon or compromise their opinions, the most ardent of them will be disposed to reflect that the new Ministry must stand on very different ground from that of Eirl GREY or Lord MELBOURNE in the House of Commons. Those statesmen were backed by such

immense majorities, that an occasional defeat did not endanger the existence of their Ministries. The case will be different with the next Administration. It will be important to avoid giving an excuse to the Court, such as a Parliamentary defeat would supply, to turn out the Liberals again, on the pretence that the House of Commons had declared against them. The Anti-Tories of all classes will therefore act warily : they will forbear to distress a Liberal Ministry, even when that Ministry does not go as far or as fast as might be desirable they will administer reproof, when

needed, in a friendly tone, and with a regard to the pressing difil- eel t les of t he Ministerial posit ion : in short, t hey will adopt Cit ARLES Fox's maxim, and gi% e a little to a friend rather than all to an enemy. If this disposition is manifested by the different sections of the Liberals for a reasonable time, we may safely defy the Tories: but, in the actual condition of affairs, mutual concession is neces- sary. What would have been safe and politic last spring, when the Tories could not muster 150 votes, would be hazardous and unpatriotic conduct in the flee of a Tory minority of almost double that number. It is a great point gained to have turned out the Duke and his colleagues : for the present let us strive to fortify our new position.

With regard to the personnel of the new Government, there seems to be a general, and as it appears to us, a reasonable desire to see Lord MELBOURNE restored to the past of Premier, and to give him "a fair trial." The country believed that he was sincere in his avowed intemion to remove the abuses of our Ecclesiastical and Corporate systems, and (to use his own words when addressing his neighbours at Melbourne) " to do as much as was sufficient—as much as would have remedied the most pressing evils—as much as could have bean digested and mutured—as much as in all circumstances it could be considered safe, prudent, and practicable to elDct." If Lord MELBOURNE will only strive to act up to the system of conducting the Government here laid down, he may rely upon giving satisfaction to this most reasonable, patient, and candid people.

Earl GREY has been mentioned as likely to take part in the new Administration—not.as Premier, for which the infirmities of age unfit him, but in sonic honourable office—such as President of the Council—to which no laborious duties belong. But we scarcely expect, certainly do not desire, to see Lord GREY again in the responsible station of a Cabinet Minister. We look upoa his Ministerial course as completed. He has twice, once in the House of Peers, and again after an interval of reflection at the Edinburgh Dinner, taken solemn leave of official life. This was a wise course. The public at once resolved to sink the recollection of the faults of his Administration—under some of which the country is yet labouring—and dwell only on the benefits he had conferred. Who among his real friends and wellwishers would desire to direct public attention to the faulty system which Earl GREY pursued when neither, and which, by rendering the Reformers dissatisfied, prepared the way for the recent agitation of the country by the Tories? It would be suspected, should the course of the new Mi- nistry, especially in dealing with the House of Lords, be timid and vacillating, that Earl GREY was to blame for it. It would be said, that as he cameTarward five years ago to give us the maximum of Reform, lie is now put into the Cabinet as a Conservative to give the minimum. This would be a sad detraction from his high repu- tation. The suspicion might be unjust and unfounded ; but it would be felt, and at present we see no sufficient reason fur expos- ing Earl GREY to it, justly or unjustly.

Lord BROUGHAM is also best out of the new Government. This seems to be the almost universal opinion. He may be of service as an independent member of the House of Peers; but he has been proved to be deficient in the qualities necessary to make a good Judge or a useful Minister. He has other qualities which have rendered him emiuent, and may continue to make him a distin- guished and valuable member of the Legislature ; but if he re- gards his future fame he will eschew office.

It was one of Lord BROUGHAM'S great sins of omission not to have separated the judicial and political characters of the Lord Chancellor. There seems to be no good reason why the chief Equity Judge should be a Cabinet Minister removable at pleasure, any more than the Chief Baron, or the Chief Justice. If a learned Equity lawyer is wanted for the Chancellorship, Mr. BICKERSTETH

should be appointed,—unless; perhaps, Sir C. PEPYS might be the Chancellor, and Mr. BICKERSTETII take the Rolls, with a

seat in the House of Commons, and the management of the legal reforms. Sir EDWARD SUGDEN appears to be giving satis- faction to the Irish : any legal arrangement would be defective, which prevented the country from profiting by the services of that eminent lawyer, either on this or the other side of the channel.

There is no expectation—hardly a desire—among Lord DUR■ eter's friends, to. see him Premier, at present ; but his junction with the Ministry, in any station, would add vastly to its popularity and power. It would be of itself an assurance to the country, that Ministers, if not doing as well as could be wished, were doing their best, and that their general policy was national and It is a distempered state of public affairs which renders it ob- jectionable or difficult toasee:ciate the actual rulers of a people with the ostensible rulers—which prevents 011oaNk.LL from sitting in the same Cabinet with Lord Me mem ItNE. Yet there may be such prejudices in the mind of the King, as will prevent Mr. O'CoNsieee from occupying the post for which his influence over his countrymen, his knowledge, his sagacity, his industry, his unrivalled oratorical powers, and in the present session his most conciliatory and dis- creet conduct, so eminently fit him. Ilowever this may be, it is very clear that no Ministry can safidy attempt the government of Ireland, which has nut O'CONNELL'S hearty support. It is under- stood that he is quite willing to keep his claims in abeyance for the good of the cause; but every effort should be made to overcome the obstacles in the way of his becoming a responsible Minister of that people over whom he exercises virtual sway. Although Mr. HUME, Mr. W ARBURTON, Mr. GROTE, and other gentlemen who usually act with them, will give a Liberal Ministry their earnest support, it is net supposed that they gill nor is it desirable that they should take office. The are of more service as unfettered and independent Members of Parliament. No Anti- Tory Ministry can endure without their assistance—that is now quite certain; and it will be prudent for those who have the formation of the new Cabinet to keep this in mind when deter- mining their course of polies and making their arrangements.