THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 285 
timation of the august scene when he who 
makes the whirlwind his chariot shall come 
* in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
glory.’ 
“ Philosophy comes with prisms and angles, 
talking very learnedly about vibrations, analysis, 
refraction, and how the bow is spread upon the 
threatening cloud; but it points out no pledge 
of divine remembrance, nor shows a single ray 
of that brightest of all reflections, the ineffable 
Love that said, ‘ Let there be light,’ and at 
whose bidding ‘ there went up a mist from the 
earth ’ to make it fruitful, and furnish the vapor¬ 
ous canvas whereon he might reflect something 
of his own glory. The watery prisms of the 
cloud analyze the light-rays before they reach 
the earth, that they may carry with them the 
illuminated pledge of Infinite Goodness. 
“ There may be occasions when it may not 
be profane to touch the rainbow with a chem¬ 
ical hand, but it should ever be after the heart 
has glowed with the incense of gratitude and 
love; and the tongue should be vocal with 
praise to the Giver before it describes the na¬ 
ture of the gift. ‘And God said, This is the 
token of the covenant which I make between 
