CLOUDS. 



THE sky would present very little in the daytime to 

 charm the sight or interest the mind if it were destitute 

 of clouds. From these proceed all the beautiful tints of 

 sunrise and sunset, the rainbow, and the various configu- 

 rations that deck the arches of the firmament. The differ- 

 ent forms and colors they assume in their progress through 

 the atmosphere, and their ever-varying positions and com- 

 binations, are capable of awaking the most agreeable 

 emotions of beauty and sublimity. It is not often that 

 the same object causes these two different emotions. But 

 when the western clouds, piled in glittering arches one 

 above another, and widening as they recede from the 

 great source of light, display their several gradations of 

 hues, from the outermost arch successively of violet, 

 purple, crimson, vermilion, and orange, until our eyes 

 are dazzled by the radiance that beams from the throne 

 of day, the mind is affected with a sensation of beauty, 

 accompanied by the most cheerful exaltation. 



The great painters have delighted in the representation 

 of clouds, knowing that every landscape may be improved 

 by their celestial forms and tints, and that a scene repre- 

 senting any passion or situation may be heightened by 

 such accompaniments, harmonizing with the cheerfulness 

 or sadness, with the lowliness or magnificence of the 

 subject. Poets have ever been mindful of the same ef- 

 fects ; and the Hebrew prophets have exalted the sublimity 

 of their descriptions and increased the efficacy of their 

 prophecies and their admonitions by employing imagery 



