300 
THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
purple of the setting sun! And when the celes¬ 
tial tabernacle is folded up and hides the fading 
glories of the west, the same beneficent Hand 
drops a silvery radiance over the landscape as 
the moon comes forth to reflect its borrowed 
rays and the stars take their places in the cor¬ 
onal of night. 
“ In beautiful and sweet contrast with the 
brighter radiance of the day, the soft, calm 
glow of a summer night is truly entrancing. 
Horror and dread are lifted from the night 
hours, and the departing sun is seen without 
regret and painful forebodings. But with these 
scenes you are familiar, and they may'be passed 
without more special mention, while attention 
is directed to other glories of the night. 
“Few ever enjoy the rare opportunity of 
observing a lunar rainbow^ but whoever has 
been thus richly favored will never forget the 
occasion. This phenomenon is produced by 
the same general laws that give the brighter 
solar glory to the skies, but the conditions 
are so varied as to give a softer and milder 
picture. It does not follow the wake of the 
black thundercloud, watching for a rift through 
its darkness for the soft beams of the moon to 
