On the whole, the subject of colours, when seriously considered, is calculated to excite us to the adoration of the goodness and intelligence of that Almighty Being whose wisdom planned all the arrangements of the universe, and to inspire us with gratitude for the numerous conveniences and pleasures we derive from those properties and laws he has impressed on the material system. He might have afforded us light, and even splendid illumination, without the pleasures and advantages which diversified colours now produce, and man and other animated beings might have existed in such a state. But, what a very different scene would the world have presented from what it now exhibits! Of how many thousands of pleasures should we have been deprived! and to what numerous inconveniences and perplexities should we have been subjected! The sublimity and glories of the firmament, and the endless beauties and varieties which now embellish our terrestrial system, would have been for ever unknown, and man could have had little or no incitement to study and investigate the works of his Creator. In this, as well as in many other arrangements in nature, we have a sensible proof of the presence and agency of that Almighty Intelligence “in whom we live, and move, and have our being.” None but an infinitely Wise and Beneficent Being, intimately present in all places, could thus so regularly create in us by means of colour, those exquisite sensations which afford so much delight, and which unite us, as it were, with every thing around us. In the diversity of hues spread over the face of creation, we have as real a display of the Divine presence as Moses enjoyed at the burning bush. The only difference is, that the one was out of the common order of Divine procedure, and the other in accordance with those permanent laws which regulate the economy of the universe. In every colour, then, which we contemplate, we have a sensible memorial of the presence of that Being “whose Spirit garnished the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth,” and whose “merciful visitation” sustains us every moment in existence. But the revelation of God to our senses, through the various objects of the material world, has become so familiar, that we are apt to forget the Author of all our enjoyments, even at the moment when we are investigating his works and participating of his benefits. “O that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works towards the children of men.” PART II. ON TELESCOPES. CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF THE INVENTION OF TELESCOPES.