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bears everywhere the traces of great derangement and 

 revolution. The lapse of time since the first Constitution 

 of cur earth, must have occasioned great changes ; the 

 effects of climate, heat and frosts, being everywhere dis- 

 coverable in rounding and smoothing the rugged character 

 of the surface, and reducing the more elevated points. 



Since the period of the universal deluge, these ever 

 acting causes have been in Operation ; but there are others 

 aiding and assisting in the same great changes, which are 

 apparent on the earth's surface. The ocean, which received 

 the Almighty fiat, " Hitherto shalt though come, and no 

 further, nor turn again to cover the earth," by its constant 

 agitation, and the flowing and ebbing of its tides, has also 

 produced considerable changes on the shores exposed to its 

 influence. On the eastern coast of Kent its inroads have 

 overwhelmed immense tracts of land, which are now called 

 the Goodwin Sands, from the name of their possessor, the 

 Earl of Kent, and are now extensive shoals, dangerous to 

 mariners. 



In these changes we may observe something like a 

 balanced and compensating effect between destruction and 

 renovation by the powerful agency of the sea ; headlands 

 and promontories, wdiose component parts are of a soft and 

 friable nature, yield to the constant action of the waves, 

 and are washed away ; but the soil thus torn from the 

 heights is annually thrown back, and according to its 

 quality forms extensive tracts of marsh land along the less 

 exposed parts of the coast, or is accumulated in the sea, 

 becoming shoals and sand-banks along the shore. 



2. The extended marshes which border on the Bristol 

 Channel, in Somersetshire, bear evident traces of having 

 been, at an early period, lestuaries of the sea, and their 

 boundaries may be easily traced along the base of the 



