THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF SUMMER As seen at AMHERST June 23.1848.

THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF SUMMER.

THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF SUMMER.

AND GOD SPAKE UNTO NOAH AND TO HIS SONS WITH HIM, SAYING, AND I, BEHOLD I ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH YOU AND WITH YOUR SEED AFTER YOU: AND WITH EVERY LIVING CREATURE THAT IS WITH YOU OF THE FOWL, OF THE CATTLE, AND OF EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH WITH YOU, FROM ALL THAT GO OUT OF THE ARK, TO EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH. AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH YOU; NEITHER SHALL ALL FLESH BE CUT OFF ANY MORE BY THE WATERS OF A FLOOD: NEITHER SHALL THERE ANY MORE BE A FLOOD TO DESTROY THE EARTH:

AND GOD SAID, THIS IS THE TOKEN OF THE COVENANT WHICH I MAKE BETWEEN YOU AND ME, AND EVERY LIV. ING CREATURE THAT IS WITH YOU, FOR PERPETUAL GENERATIONS. I DO SET MY BOW IN THE CLOUDS, AND IT SHALL

BE FOR A TOKEN OF A COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THE
EARTH. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS WHEN I BRING A
CLOUD OVER THE EARTH, THAT THE BOW SHALL BE SEEN
IN THE CLOUD. AND I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT

WHICH IS BETWEEN
CREATURE OF ALL FLESH; AND THE WATERS
MORE BECOME A FLOOD TO DESTROY ALL FLESH.

ME AND YOU AND EVERY LIVING

SHALL NO

AND THE

BE

BOW SHALL BE IN THE CLOUD; AND I WILL LOOK UPON IT THAT I MAY REMEMBER THE EVERLASTING COVENANT TWEEN GOD AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE OF ALL FLESH THAT IS UPON THE EARTH.-Genesis 9: 8--16.

Ir does not follow from this description, that the rainbow had no existence before the deluge, but only that God appealed to it upon the subsidence of the waters, as a token or sign of the promise or covenant he then made with the earth. Whenever that sign should appear in the cloud, it would be a pledge that the constancy of nature was not again to be interrupted in order to deluge the earth.

Every one has observed and delighted in the tranquilizing influence of striking scenes in nature. Let a man's nerves be ever so much rasped and irritated by the collisions and perplexities of life, how quickly will they be soothed, if some splendid landscape bursts at once upon his sight; if a meteor rushes across the heavens; or the northern aurora decorates the sky; if the thunder cloud rises slowly and majestically, or the sun emerges after a storm and paints a rainbow upon the retiring darkness. It is as if, while thus excited and ruffled, he were to attempt to perform a piece of music, or were to listen to one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument. He could not sing, and with difficulty could he hear music well executed, without becoming tranquil. And there is a music in the striking scenes of nature still more po