It is unnecessary to follow him into hie disquisition on aay of these topics. We should suppose both that his main position will be generally admitted to be unassailable, and also that there will be little or no opinion as to the particular examples by which hho illustrates it The species of self-deception, however, with which Mr. Greg de: splays itself frequently in these latter days ina form which we lieve to be of wholly modern origin, and which has escaped his acute analysis, One of the commonest of contemporary oases of self-indulgence masquerading as' duty, of passion passing itself off for principle, can scarcely be treated as a case of perverted or del uso: conscientiousness" at all. The vice in this instance scarcely pays as much homage to virtue, or has as much difficulty in justifying itself, as that would imply. We have reached a period of unsettlement and tre in all forms of belief, when sell-love and self-sufi ency do not feel themselves compelled to devi recondite excuses for the gratification of their appetites, but are content with the simple do-fence that the appetites themselves are ultimate {acts of the moral nature in which they inhere. It is surprising how mach this simplifies matters. It is obviously most convenient, for instance, for a ''superior" young man, full of the "higher" tendencies in philusoph: Mterature, and art, to be able to point to t strength of his own irre impulses, and the incontestable fact that they form' ps ofa character whose unchecked development he ventures to consider " precious," as constituting In itself a sufficient reason for ting upon their gratification, At a enlightened and advanced period of our civilization it was not, as itis in these days, considered the thing" to be a law to oneself. Established rules of conduct, oven the most conventional of them, were regarded possession and those who wished to act them at defiance were compelled to the cise of some skill in casuistry in order, as lawyers say, to distinguish the from those to which the rules in no longer neceavary to distinguish but the shorter method of overruling us may be #0 readily resorted to, insurrection Is made easy. The lino of argument Is siroplicity {tself; and it needs only © sufficiency of conceit for any one who chooses to do ea to avail himeelf of it. The fundamental assumption has first to be made vidual and that, ones they have mined that such consequences would injurious to the perfect development of their character, it becomes their sacred and supreme duty, paramount to all conventional obligations of morality binding upon meaner fouls, to give these impulses froest play. The interesting young wan who thus argues must, he will often tell you, live his life"—meaning thereby that be must gratly petites because they are is appetites, and because his own individual ity is of such ineffable value to the world that ho has no business to play tricky with it by imposing any check even upon its apparent aberrations. For who is he to say that they aberrations, or that there can be a1 impulse which is not towards the highest in the highest of all possible natures? This, of course, is pure Antivomianism transferred from the world of religion t" the world of culture; and the zealots of self who reason in fashion occupy in the intellectual order ly the same position as "Trusty Temin the theological order. It is by such reasoning as this that the most da cesses of the most profligate ' reli ancient and modern times have been justified package of and made holy to their perpetrators though uncommon perhaps in its extreme form, this species of half-hypocrisy, half-delusion is not at all unusual among us in a more or less modified shape, and it was probably never more common than it is at present day.
An interesting geological discovery hae been lately announced, which wes made by Dr. Moesta, the Geological Director of Marburg, in the course of some extensive explorations in the neighbourhood of Rotenburg on the in Hesse Cassel, From his investigation Moesta has come to the conclusion that an oak wood lies buried in that portion of the valley of the Fulda, at about a depth of from six to nine feet below the surface, This wood flourished at a very remote period of the earth's existence, Explorations carried on in the bed of the Fulda has brought to light several of the trees.
It imated that between 200 and 300 trees are embedded in the river bed between Hersfeld and Mel gen (about, 30 miles), wh h would warrant the expectation that at I ten times that number are to be il of the adjoining valley. The greater number of the trees discovered wore in. Good preservation; but, ow to the action of water through unnumbered ages, they ave become thoroughly black in colour. They have also become very hard and close, so ti lat they woul be excellent material. for carving an ornamental cabinet-work, Some, of the trees are of great size; one taken out 8 gravelly portion of the Led opposite the village of Baumbach, and since sent to the Geological Museum at Berlin, was 59ft. long, nearly Sft. in diameter near the root, and about 38in, at the top, so that ite solid contents are about 630 cubic feet, Even larger linens have. been found. It is reported the Geological Museum at Murburg are to be made from this long-buried timber, An inter remains to be belong to a species still existing, or to an exe tinct on i—The Times. says the Foochow Herald, a Penang mere! subject, received letter, was n silk envel 1g a piece of on which was inscribed a poetical tion of his past good: de command to continue' them in the future, with promise of Heaven's blessing, On aske ing who brought the letter, he was informed that the person was a stranger, but ho had that an answer might be sent to a Chinese bank. The merchant, immediately wont to the bank himself, and, after some inquiry, the person who had delivered the letter was found. On being asked where ho yot the letter, he said that he had recently been far into the interior to find some of Lis relatives; that while ho was walking one of the highest mou in Ki venerable im, avd inquired wheth certain merchant at Foochow plied that ho did not; but the divine por son handed him the silken envelope, and commanded him to deliver it, charging bim not to receive a cash for doing so, on penalty of being isomediately struck by lightning; and that another letter was also given to chieh he was not to deliver until the merch first done some great benevolent deed. The merchant demanded that this second letter should be immediately produced. On the refusal of the man to do this, the me haut aald he would immediately have hu chained up, and keep him chained, w the god appeared and demanded his release, Upon this, the mau promised to deliver the second letter, and a servant accompanied him to his house, to receive it. The house was a very good one, well built, and stylish, but filled with images and Budhistic symbols, &c, The man soon appeared with a package of ashes, which he sent to the merchant, ing that when he went to take up the lette it immediately took fire, and buryed up spor taveously—the god being angry at his com-minds. When the merchant received the ai ice of the di plication of his cane, he extorted the cent n that the whole story was invented, as a means of becoming acquainted with the merchant and of course profiting by such acquaintance,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.