I. TO HAMPSTEAD* }5 



the regions of boundless space, we shall per- 

 ceive that they also possess various degrees 

 of brilliancy and magnificence ; and shall 

 be forced to acknowledge, that, if such dif- 

 ferences did not exist, astronomy must for 

 ever have remained stationary. 



If nature had intended only to exercise 

 the organs of man, her purpose would have 

 been accomplished with respect of sight, 

 merely by illuminating objects, and impart- 

 ing to them different colors and different 

 forms. 



But, ever beneficent in her operations, 

 she has also established, between external 

 objects and the delicate organ on which 

 the impression is made, what, you will re- 

 collect, we have termed the relations of uti- 

 lity. Among these relations, the most 

 Striking perhaps is the mode employed by 

 nature in delineating the ground-work of 

 the different landscapes which the universe 

 displays to our view. Two principal colors 

 form the basis of this picture j and those 



colors 



