PROVING THE RULE 



Feast would supply an indication of equal 

 value. Of course, what happens on a 

 red-letter day is better noted and remem- 

 bered. We recall a Christmas storm, but 

 could not for the life of us tell whether it 

 snowed on the 24th or 26th. Beyond rea- 

 sonable question there are certain groups 

 of critical days throughout the year, and 

 the presence or absence then of seasonable 

 characteristics is a basis for quite respect- 

 able forecasts. 



Man's habit has ever been to minister to 

 the barren vanity of the moon (Stevenson's 

 phrase, I think). At this moment my fu- 

 ture crop of as yet unplanted potatoes is 

 taking sad chance of autumn frosts; be- 

 cause it would savour of impiety in this 

 County to commit the patates to earth be- 

 fore the moon entered her second quarter. 



On how exiguous a foundation rests her 

 fame as mistress of the skies and of vegeta- 

 tion! She attends punctually to her tidal 

 duties, and the tides add local emphasis to 

 the weather; at the full she has some power 

 of dissipating cloud, (this is doubted now) 

 but her changes have no more meteoro- 

 logical consequence than the periodicities 

 of Jupiter's seven (or is it eight) satellites. 



133 



