PLYxMOUTH INSTITUTION. 139 



summits of the loftiest mountains ; here they are condensed and 

 give birth to springs, rills, rivulets, and rivers ; and all the con- 

 sequences resulting from them. The hardest rocks are worn 

 aw^ay by meteoric phenomena, and their ruins conveyed by fluids, 

 to form new lands. Volcanoes vomit their liquid lava to form 

 rocks, or eject ashes into the air, which are borne away by the 

 winds, to fertilize the surrounding country. Rivers protrude 

 their deltas into the sea. The Ocean undermines and demolishes 

 its rocky barrier. Here we behold a whole country, with its 

 mountains, rivers, and lakes, slowly but gradually rising above 

 the level of the sea. There we find islands just peering above 

 the waves, and again sinking beneath them. The great oceanic 

 currents roll on their mighty streams, and bring together the 

 produce of both Torrid and Frigid Zones ; while the ever 

 changing tide invades, frets, and fritters away the softest and 

 most soluble portions of our coasts. On one hand, we behold 

 the destruction of our continents and islands ; on the other hand, 

 reproduction. Yet although so many destructive agents be in 

 operation, filling the earth with the monuments of ruin and dis- 

 order, yet there are conservative principles in operation, which 

 preserve the stability of the system, and render the Earth a fit 

 habitation for its sojourner— : Man." 



January 15tii. — Mr. Barnes' second Lecture on Moral 

 Philosophy. 



The object of the lecturer was'to show the mode in which this 

 science should be pursued. To this end he stated what moral 

 philosophy is, viz., the knowledge of the moral qualities of human 

 actions ; which he showed, by reference to his former lecture, to 

 be the relations of agreement or disagreement between their 

 natural qualities and the laws of the Divine Will. 



He then pointed out the method of classifying the natural 

 qualities of human actions, and of obtaining a knowledge of the 

 laws of the Divine Will regarding each ; and explained how from 

 a knowledge of the things related is to be drawn that of their 

 relations to each other; i. e., of the /wora/ qualities of human 

 actions. 



The lecture was concluded by some observations on Paley's 

 work on this subject. 



