XXXII. 



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 con- 

 figurations that deck the arches of the firmament. The 

 different forms and colors they assume in their progress 

 through the atmosphere, and their ever varying positions 

 and combinations are capable of awakening the most 

 agreeable emotions of beauty and sublimity. I shall not 

 speak of the scientific arrangements of clouds. The 

 classifications of natural objects are necessary to the 

 progress of science, to eiiable the mind to grasp all their 

 species, and to understand their differences and their 

 relations. But these artificial systems have done more 

 than any vulgar prejudice to render the study of nature 

 unpopular. The immense vocabulary of terms pre- 

 sented to the mind of the young student, gives him a 

 magnified sense of the task he must perform, at the 

 very threshold of nature's temple, that discourages him, 

 and deters him from entering within it. I shall simply 

 treat of clouds as they appear to the eyes and the mind 

 of a person of sensibility and fancy. 



