NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE whole country is occupied with the Election, the papers are full of speeches and addresses, and the wire-pullers put out endless calculations. We trust none of them, under the ballot, and in presence of the fact that it still wants ten days to the earliest elections. A good deal occurs in ten days, and if Lord Beaconsfield does not do or say something the moment Parliament rises, we shall be surprised. The general drift of events, however, so far, is favourable to the Liberals. They have little or no difficulty about candidates, their committees are enthusiastic, and at their meetings one symptom of 1868 has reappeared. Speakers are stopped by the cheering whenever they mention Mr. Gladstone's name. In the medium boroughs of England, too, where results are not so incalculable, the Liberal agents are unexpectedly cheerful, and the fight will certainly be most energetic. The great doubt is about the Metropolis, but in Scotland, the North of Eng- land, and Ireland, the Liberals will certainly emerge from the contest in a far better position than they now hold. Over- confidence would be absurd, but there is a reasonable chance of the great object, the termination of the rule of Tory Democracy, being secured. All else is trivial, beside that.
