The Port Gibson reveille. (Port Gibson, Miss.) 185?-1857, 1854-05-03
The Bow in the Cloud.

Oh. mother" exclaimed little Elsie, nl
she came bounding into the room. Que sum.
mer afternoon, during light shower. do
you sec thar beautiful RAINBOW? Only look
at it--how bright and beautiful its colors are,
and perfect arch -
Yes. love. / see it is very fne," replied
her mother
Elsie sat for some time watching and ad-
miring it, and then said:
Il have been trying TO think how the rain
bow is made; viii you please tell me, dear
mother? and why il is that we always sec il
when il is raining, or just after a shower ?"
Well, mydear. listen attentively. and |
will try and explain i TO you. God. in ma.
king the rainbow, as In everything else.
works by means or, id other words, uses
one thing to make another. The means used
in making the rainbow are rain and sunshine.
Here is three-sided piece Of glass, called a
prism. | will held it so that the rays of light,
in coming from the sun, will pass through it.
Now look on the wall, and tell me what you
see"
oh, mother how beautiful" exclaimed
Elsie. with delight; az see all the colors
just like the rainbow"
Yes" said hsr mother, "light, sEhich
seems to be white, is composed Of seven dis
tinct cOlors. which may be separated by the
little prism. as you have seen. Now. as the
sun shines on the falling rain-drops, each lit
tie drop serves as prism to separate the rays
Of light into different colors. which are reAec-
ted or thrown back on the sky, forming the
beautiful rainbow which you see"
"Oh, how very pretty But look, moth
or, there is another bow under the first, just
like it. only not quite as bright"
Yes, the second bow is a reflection Of the
first. You see that just as you see yourself
by looking in mirror Every reflection
renders an object more dim and that is the
reason why the second bow is not a. bright as
the first"
wish it would remain always 1 should
like to look at it all day. But sec the col.
Ors are fading; | cannot see the bow now at
all"
Yes, Elsie, the beautiful rainbow soon
passes away. A fit emblem of life The
most loved and beautiful Of earth are often
the first to fade and die. But the rainbow is
interesting to us. not so much on account Of
It's beauty, as because it is an evidence Of
Gods goodness-reminding us Of His prom
ise that lie would not drown the world again.
You have read in the Bible an account ofthe
food-that how, when mankind became 50
very wicked, God determined to drown the
whole world"
"0h, yes. mother; and how he saved Noah
and his family, aud all kinds Of animals in
the ark. which foated on the top of the water,
when every other living thing was drowned /;
aud how. when the waters began to dry away,
the ark rested on the top of the high noun
tain, called Ararat."
Il am glad my daughter. to find that you
remember so we'll. Well. when Noah came
out Of the ark with his family, when the earth
became dry again, his first care was to build
an altar, aud offer sacrifice to God, returning
thanks 70 Him for his kind preservation
God was pleased with this, and promised that.
for bis sake, lie would not drown the world
again. AS a token. or pledge Of this
lie set the rainbow in the sky, that
it might remind all who should look up.
on it Of His promise. So, when we see the
rainbow. so bright aud glorious. it is as if
God was repeating this promise to us And
in looking upoE it, our hearts shonld be filed
with love and gratitude to God for His good.
ness"
Il am glad that you told me this. dear
mother l am sure shall love to look at
the rainbow better than ever before, and shall
think of Gods promise whenever see it.
IN. Y Recorder.