THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 299 
“ But now, as we have but two or three even¬ 
ings more to spare in striving to climb our 
beautiful ladder, let us turn to the question of 
the evening; and our preparation has given us 
a happy impulsion in the direction of our con¬ 
templation. 
“ A night of rayless gloom was one of the 
most terrible judgments brought upon the guilty 
oppressors of Israel. There was ‘thick dark¬ 
ness in all the land of Egypt for three days; 
they saw not one another, neither rose any out 
of his place for three days.’ Of all the plagues 
with which Egypt had been smitten, this one 
produced the greatest effect on the obdurate 
monarch, though not sufficient to overcome 
his avarice. 
“ Now, to envelop the earth in a similar night 
of dread it would only be necessary to with¬ 
draw all the watery vapor from the atmosphere, 
so that the diffusion and refraction of light would 
be suspended. Then, when the sun went down 
on any part of the earth, a horror of darkness 
would seize upon it. What a blessing God 
conferred upon the world when he caused the 
‘vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth,’ 
to make the heavens glow with the gold and 
