TOPICS OF THE DAY.

THE GOVERNMENT STRENGTHENED.

WELL, the Ministry has been "reconstructed." The seed sown in May fructifies in August. When Lord MELBOURNE returned to office on the shoulders of the Bedchtunber-women, no change in the personnel of his Cabinet, or what by courtesy is called the policy of his Government, was announced; but " wait till the close of the session," and then you shall see all the fine things Lord MELBOURNE Will (10. The session has closed, and the days of ex- pectancy are succeeded by the season of fruition. The arrange- ments which were to revive the hopes of Reformers and strengthen the Liberal Goverment, have been completed in their essential parts. The remodelled Alinistry stands before the country, chal- lenging its verdict. In considering the new appointments, the first question that occurs is—on what principle have they been made ? With what inten- tion did Lord MELBOURNE go to work ? No doubt, the good of his country was the thought uppermost in his mind. Conscious of weakness, he sought strength, where alone it could be found—in the selection of colleagues possessing the confidence of the public, and distinguished by their talent and knowledge of affairs. From an honest and sagacious Minister, in his circumstances, what different course could be expected? But lies Lord AlELBOVIENE acted on this principle ? No. Ills aim' as usual, was to save himself trouble. " RICE goes out—Ah, well, who comes next ? " 11xtuxo of the Treasury. " Then let RARING be Chancellor of the Exchequer. Who follows BARING r ROBERT Gonnox. 6' Then Roamer Goan()); shall go to the Trea- sury : fill the stool capitally!" NORMANBY is sick of the Colo- nies. "Don't wonder at that—the Colonies are sick of NORMANBY. Let him have JOHN RUSSELL'S place, and RUSSELL his. Can any thing be more snugly arranged—all within ourselves ?" And upon this plan of chopping and changing—this clerklike principle of pro- motion—has Lord MELBOURNE reconstructed his Cabinet.

Most of these changes are not merely impotent for good—they are positively injurious to the public service. Not one of the un- derlings twirled out of this place into that, possessed an advantage over any other decently-educated person, save the experience derived from the performative of routine duties ; and by change of office they lose even this.

But there are some new men—some fresh blood has been infused into the Government. Yes, Irish blood; and O'CONNELL, trouble- some in the recess though pliant in Parliament, is soothed. He approves of the direction in which Lord itim,nocaNE looked for his minute supply of new materials. The " Irish interest" has been strengthened, if the Government is weak as befbre.

Let us now glance at the puppets in this game of " wheel-about and turn-about."

1. THOMAS SPRING RICE, LORD MONTEAGLE, is, as yet, Lord MONTEAGLE and nothing more. Sir JOHN NEWPORT Will neither die nor resign. Who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him ? But there he is, at the Exchequer ; and as no re- tiring-pension is vacant, (after all, Lord G LE:s six: played his cards like a canny Scot !) Mr. Mtn takes nothing from the Cabinet but his blushing honours. -2■1c11 laugh at the soaring title which Mr. RICE filched from the Marquis of Smoo—who also is Baron . MovrEAc; r,F, and votes and -franks in virtue of that Barony.

2. Lord JOHN RUSSELL and the Marquis of NORMANiiv. These noble lords change places. The Marquis's conspicuous fhilure at the Colonial Office rendered his removal absolutely necessary—and yet he most be provided for. Lady NORMA N BY is the Queen's friend, and Lord Mt:maws:NE shrinks from a breeze at Court. So NORMANBY goes to the I tome Office, because, with all the instruc- tion he can obtain, incapable of making even a decent appearance in the House of Lords as Colonial Secretary. Not that he is the fittest man for the Horne Office, but most unfit for the other place, which his consummate vanity tempted him to take from Lord GLEN 1.3.G.

Lord Jon x Rtssnm is beyond question the cleverest man in the Ministry. Moreover, he has a will of his own. The Under 'Secre- taries will not be Viceroys over him. Date the downffil of your power, Mr. STEPHEN, from the hour Lord Jonx ii ussm.r crosses your threshold. Lord Jou N, as the Ministerial leader in the Commons, was necessarily in some degree acquainted with every department of the Government, and therefiav will not be an entire novice in the Colonial Office. The Colonies have at least a re- sponsible ruler. and, we believe, the best m !licit the 'Whig, official staff could furnish,—though the Colonies must not. imagine that arrangement was made with a view to their benefit, being merely the result of another shuffle of tile cards.

3. Lord Ilowielc goes—out! and with him, apparently, Mr. CHARLES Woon, his brother-in-law. It is understood that Lord Howler: claimed the Colonies, and, meeting with tt refusal, re- signed. The Secretaryship at War has been offered to Mr. MA- CAULAY, W110 had declined office \without a seat in the Cabinet.

4. POULETT THOMSON. " Pow." goes to Canada, as the Morning Chronicle said he would, though the Globe, eerier Sun, and Ad- vertiser had " authority" from Downing Street to &clue that he would not. The Min.), Chronicle pets " Pow ;" and reminds us that he is " a novas homo"—for which reminiscence, however, the Governor-General will not thank our contemporary—and " created for himself in the House of Commons, by great acuteness and ex- tensive information, tile reputation which introduced him to office." True—Mr. THOMSON did create a reputation ; but it a more arduous than grateful task to carry his return come of it ? It gained him a seat for Manchester, antdhceanad a candidate now for Manchester, we believe his friends weaiNd what supercilious Minister, the vigorous advocate of free tradeT; the attentive man of business. Mr. THOMSON goes stituents cannot recognize, in the assiduous tuft-hunter and Manchester placed him in the Cabinet. But if Mr. Timms:east,: redeem a lost reputation. The Chronicle says that " Ile is aII time of life when the bodily powers are equal to any exertion A't Mr. THOMSON himself; addressing the electors of Manehesieli alleges ill health as a reason for resigning his officce,h,a.otnt21.1dee.BoTarodate-ef.: BOURNE guarantees his fitness, again pleads the

Trade, and accepting the government of Canada! eeLlloonr1:14 sure he does : the Premier is guarantee for the whole batch!

5. FRANCIS THORNHILL BARING. The IICW Chan Exchequer reminded his constituents that he had represented Port:. mouth fourteen years—a sufficiently long period to enable a mall superior talent to shine forth upon the world. But Mr, IlAnnois a commonplace, not a brilliant person ; exact in figures, not very agreeable in manners, and a foe to " blarney ;" in which las respect he is the opposite of his predecessor, and will be liked ail the better for the difference. The general impression is that lr BARING Will commit few blunders, and manage the financeare. spectably. Lord MELBOURNE could not have picked a better elm. cellor of' the Exchequer out of his bundle of clerks.

6. HENRY LanoueitERli. Everybody speaks well of Mr. Llnot. cuman—an accomplished gentleman, of Liberal tendencies, average talent, and laudable activity. Possessing these recommendations, however, Mr. LABOUCHERE is scarcely qualified for the llinist .` TY of Commerce in times like the present, when, to revive the trade of the country and buoy it up against foreign competition, a S(110 of important measures are required, which it would tax the know. ledge, experience, and above all the firmness, of' a IIUSKISSONto mature and execute.

7. RR:limn) LALOR SHEIT,. Behold the assistance Lord MED BOURNE has provided for Mr. LATIOUCHERE MT. S ii EIL is to be Vice-President of the Board of Trade ! Never surely was a clever man more ridiculously misplaced. What single qualification forhis new office does Mr. Sum, possess—imaginative, poetical, sar• castle, epigrammatic Mr. Some ? Who can expect " the Minstrel Boy" to meditate on molasses, or explain the terms of a treaty on tallow ? Fancy a deputation from Mincing Lane in conference with the author of Ermine on a point affecting "low grayish to middling" or " P. Y. C." !

Moreover, Mr. Sitsar,, M.P. for Tipperary, is a supporter of the Corn-laws; which he refuses to relax in the slightest degree. He even opposed the paltry- " grinding " concession. And to him the commercial interests of' the country are confided ! It' inexperience and ignorance of the duties of' his office were not a sufficient dis. qualification, his opinion—at least his pledges—on the Corn ques. tion, surely ought to have kept him from the Board of Trade.

8. VEallos SMITH. This gentleman's appointment to the Under Secretaryship of the Colonies was announced before Lord Join Ressm.t.'s exchange of' places with Lord NonmAxny was arranged. " Why," said the venerable Whigs at Brooks's, " is not some per. son of' weight and influence in the country—some statesman °Com- manding talents and address, who would win back the affections of the Colonies—introduced to the Colonial Office ? Cannot Lord ME LBO(' RN e secure the services of Mr. VERNON SMITH ?" These sayings of the wise being (it is thought) reported to the Premier, led to a negotiation with Air. SMITH, the happy result of which is or will be recorded in the Gazette. Bustling, voluble, and self. confident, Mr. 'VERNON Small will be a bore in the House, and prove it troublesome colleague to Mr. SrselleN. 9. SIR Giantee, GREY retains the office or Judge-Advocate, and is promoted to a seat in the Cabinet, lie is one the " cousins" who pulled with the Premier against Lord II( ov meld and his clique of " cousins," and, receives his reward from the dispenser of power and places.

JO. llonEwr Gonoos stops up the gap left by Mr. FaANets TIA- niNu's removal from the Treasury. Mr. Goa lam is a very olive. Meat personage, who will gob.) the India I hoard, or the Admiralty, or the Treasury ; being equally efficient in one department as another, 11. TuomAs Wysc and Moss OTEnam.1,. Mr. WYSE takes

the Treasury Lordship relinquished by Mr. 0' Fm: s ; who, it is said, will succeed Mr. Cu AR LEs Woo D al the Admiralty. Tile appointments of Mr. Wysn and Mr. SHEIL reward the " Tail" for indistwnsable support, and secure its continuance to grateful ma,ters. Time was when O'CoNNELL sneered at Mr. WI!.■li as a " dilettante ;" but now he is " among the most eminent men of his age no 111011 more highly gifted "—" a sterling patriot and a distinguished individual."* MP. WYSE, without Irish exaggeration, is a most respectable 1111111, of useful talents. He tuts been for some time known as a candidate for office ; and we are glad to sec him in the public service, though a Treasury Lordship is not exactly his We believe that the list is exhausted. The details of the new arrangements bear out our opening remark, that Lord MELnotaoss reconstruction of his Government involves little more than the promotion of some clerks and a change in the departments of others, To say that he has "strengthened" his Ministry, would be an abuse of language. Perhaps, however, the removal of Lord Howlett may tend in some slight degree to liberalize it.

* Vide Mr. O'CONNELL. S speech in Dublin on Wedueiday last.