STUDY IV. i^3 



** to darknefs, and fearcheth out all perfeftionj 

 ** the ftones of darknefs, and the (hadow of death :'* 

 He likewife knows the moment when that ftone, 

 buried in darknefs, muft fpring into hght, to ferve 

 as a monument to the Nations. 



Independent of geographical proofs, without 

 R-umber, which demonftrate, that the Ocean, by 

 it's irruptions, has not hollowed out one fingle bay 

 on the face of the Globe, nor detached any one 

 part of the Continent from the reft, there are ftill 

 many more which may be deduced from the vege- 

 table and animal kingdoms, and from Man. 



This is not the proper place for dwelling on 

 the fubjeél : but I Ihall quote, on my way, an 

 obfervation from the vegetable World, which 

 proves, for example, that Britain never was united 

 to the European Continent, as has been fuppofed, 

 but muft have been, from the beginning, feparated 

 by the Channel. It is a remark of Cefar's, in his 

 Commentaries, that during his ftay in that Ifland, 

 he had never feen either the beech tree or the 

 fir; though thefe trees were very common in 

 Gaul, along the banks of the Seine, and of the 

 Rhine. If, therefore, thefe rivers had ever flowed 

 through any part of Britain, they muft have car- 

 ried with them, the feeds of the vegetables, which 

 grew at their fources, or upon their banks. The 

 beech apd the fir, which, at this day, thrive ex- 

 ceedingly 



