difference of hours and minutes: That we derive the solar virtue of the sun’s rays to our uses, infinitely extend the sphere of light, enlarge the near appearances of objects, bring remote objects near, discover hidden things, trace nature out of her concealments, and unfold her dark mysteries: That we delight our eyes with beautiful images, cunningly imitate the devices and portray the works of nature; imitate, did I say? nay excel; while we form to ourselves things not in being, exhibit things absent, and represent things past: That we recreate our minds, and delight our ears, with melodious sounds; attemperate the inconstant undulations of the air to musical tones; add a pleasant voice to a sapless log; and draw a sweet eloquence from a rigid metal; celebrate our Maker with an harmonious praise, and not unaptly imitate the blessed choirs of heaven: That we approach and examine the inaccessible seats of the clouds, distant tracts of land, unfrequented paths of the sea; lofty tops of mountains, low bottoms of vallies, and deep gulphs of the ocean: That we scale the ethereal towers; freely range through the celestial fields; measure the magnitudes and determine the interstices of the stars; prescribe inviolable laws to the heavens themselves, and contain the wandering circuit of the stars within strict bounds: Lastly, that we comprehend the huge fabric of the universe; admire and contemplate the wonderful beauty of the divine workmanship, and so learn the incredible force and sagacity of our own minds by certain experiments, as to acknowledge the blessings of heaven with a pious affection.” ----- Footnote 47: This very eminent mathematician, as well as learned and pious divine, died in the year 1677, aged only forty-seven years. See the life of this extraordinary man, written in 1683, by the learned Abraham Hill; prefixed to the first volume of the doctor’s theological works; a fifth edition of which, in three folio volumes, was published by archbishop Tillotson, in 1741. He also wrote and published many geometrical and mathematical works, all in Latin. “The name of Dr. Barrow,” says Mr. Granger, one of his biographers, “will ever be illustrious, for a strength of mind and a compass of knowledge that did honour to his country. He was unrivalled in mathematical learning, and especially in the sublime geometry, in which he was excelled only by one man; and that man was his pupil, the great Sir Isaac Newton. The same genius that seemed to be born only to bring hidden things to light, to rise to the heights or descend to the depths of science, would sometimes amuse itself in the flowery paths of poetry, and he composed verses both in Greek and Latin.” This “prodigy of learning,” as he is called by Mr. Granger, was interred in Westminster Abbey, where a monument, adorned with his bust, is erected to his memory. -----