A MOCK LUMINARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2416, 28 June 1900, Page 70

A MOCK LUMINARY.

By a Bankeb.

High in the upper regions of the atmosphere, one! practically beyond the influence of. the heat radiating from the earth, v.-c frequently see, especially m summer, a number of fleecy white cnrl-clovids:, which, it is easy to discern, are far above any other clouds which may be passing a I the time. These graceful, almost diaphanous flecks of apparent vapour are at a very great elevaiion ; in fact, so high that to aeronauts, even in their highest flights, they appear as far removed in the upper leaches of tho rarefied air as when viewed from the surface of the earth. But although apparently ordinaiy clouds, they are really formed of microscopic -crystals of ice, so minute thai even in that attenuated atmosphere it is possible fcr them 'o remain suspended, almost on nothing. • Sometimes, -though perhaps rarely, the icespangles are so diffused that a scarce perceptible haze is all that is discernible, and on these occasions most wonderful phenomena become apparent, the most noteworthy being mook suns and luminous circles.

Several years ago the writer had the advantage of observing the former phenomenon from, the Righi in Switzerland. He had Btayed the night at the summit, and rose at daybreak in, order to witness the glories of the rising sue, glories positively bewildering in their startlingmagnificence. Isolated in the midst of lofty snow-capped mountains, the peak rises sheer from the lovely lake of Lucerne on the one side, and of Zug on the other. Immediately beneath the enchanting scene, dark forests anrl glttering lake 3, green meadows and winding 1 roads, small townships and pretty chalets, all are spread out like a map, which, if the ascent be made on foot (a v?n<3al railway is now the general mode of ascent), gradually expands out to the view, every additional thousand feet of elevation, adding to the charm of the scene. But the view of the sunrise in the early morning surpasses all. At first all tho lower scene is blotted out from view, hidden in the, as yes, tmdispelled. shades of night, while the peaks and buttresses of the surrounding mountains, all clad in a shroud of virgin snow, are hut vaguely visible in the gloom. Soon, however, a strange luminosity appears to light them, up, clearer and clearer, until first the highest; poirts, then tne entire range, giadually assume a glorious rose tint, which grows ever brighter and more lus'-rjus, until at length the. mountains appear ?s if carved out of lovely sardonyx itself

And now ths orb of day rises full into view, the mists are dispel sed, the roseate mountain tops ar° metamorphosed into their natural dazzling and spotless purity, and the"" prospec'fc beneath opoas out as a thapely defined picture.

But on the occasion to which the writer alluded ih.e conditions were somewhat different. Perhaps a quarter of an hour before its time, and before the mountains had fully assumed their usiial rose tint, the sun commenced to rise. It lacked, however, its usual brilliance, and v.-hen fully risen rapidly Toecame less and less bright, at length, to the astonishment of all, disappearing altogether without any apparent cause. But almost immediately afterwards, the great luminary again commenced to lise; this time brilliant and resplendent; and it was realised that the first was but a cotxnterfeit — a mook sun — and that while we believed that we were witnessing the advent of the real orb of day, we saw only a sham presentment, a vapoury nothing.

And juat so is it sometimes with ourselves. Besircms, perhaps, of accepting the Sun of Righteousness as our Mediator; instead of holding fast to the simple Gospel, we substitute for the easy scriptural doctrine of justification by faith a series of man-made dogmas which draw us farther and farther away from. Him, until at length we must find to our dismay tha'fc in holding on to the Sun of our own righteousness, our Luminary ia but a vain' and profitless dcccit — a Mock Sun.

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