NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Warrstrxrinn comes upon us with the weather of Christmas, and the aspect of the sky begins to affect not only the comfort of us all but the material interests of the country. The wind keeps at East and North, the rain from time to time drives in the face of the passenger like needles of ice, and not only men but crops are imperilled. There is indeed still time : "if a more kindly season follow, and quickly, we may still have good crops of almost every- thing"; they are said to be looking well almost everywhere : but can they stand this weather P—Christians cannot : can grasses? The question really is important, as Christendom depends in some 'degree upon those grasses. Days pass by, but the farmer's weather cometh not. Under Free-trade, indeed, we do not quite depend upon English weather, and the excessive coldness of the season appears to be not universal : even in Ireland the temperature has been more genial; and if in Paris it is cold, our markets are freely supplied from the corn-growing regions. But there is something more than corn at stake, or flesh. When our unscienced ancestors looked to the portent of the skies, and comets-perplexed monarchs with fear of change, ignorance jumped to the conclusions of the most advanced knowledge : for the latest report of._our official meteorologists tells us that the state a a na- tion's health may depend upon its weather, and itits Itenik-then- its mood ; and if its mood, then its actions ; and thus by the laws which govern comets and jack-o-lanterns, we may ourselves work out absolutisms and revolutions.
Possibly to the weather we must refer the extraordinary species of monomania which is exhibited by the Irish Members in the House of Commons just now ; or we may charitably infer that for a long time past Mr. Stafford and his colleagues have been very unwell. If we pray for a return of sunshine, it is not only for the growth of crop, but for the extraction of bills from a morbid Par- liament, and the sustentation of national life. And verily, while we write, the sun breaks through the cold clouds, probably still "in time."
