I shall mention only another instance of this description which lately occurred in France, and for a time caused a powerful sensation among all ranks. On Sunday the 17th of December, 1826, the clergy in the parish of Migné, in the vicinity of Poictiers, were engaged in the exercises of the Jubilee which preceded the festival of Christmas, and a number of persons to the amount of 3000 souls assisted in the service. They had planted as part of the ceremony, a large cross, twenty-five feet high, and painted red, in the open air beside the church. While one of the preachers, about five in the evening, was addressing the multitude, he reminded them of the miraculous cross which appeared in the sky to Constantine and his army, and the effect it produced--when suddenly a similar celestial cross appeared in the heavens just before the porch of the church about 200 feet above the horizon, and 140 feet in length, and its breadth from three to four feet, of a bright silver colour tinged with red. The curate and congregation fixed their wondering gaze upon this extraordinary phenomenon, and the effect produced on the minds of the assembly was strong and solemn: they spontaneously threw themselves on their knees; and many, who had been remiss in their religious duties, humbly confessed their sins, and made vows of penance and reformation. A commission was appointed to investigate the truth of this extraordinary appearance, and a memorial stating the above and other facts was subscribed by more than forty persons of rank and intelligence, so that no doubt was entertained as to the reality of the phenomenon. By many it was considered as strictly miraculous, as having happened at the time and in the circumstances mentioned. But it is evident, from what we have already stated, that it may be accounted for on physical principles. The large cross of wood painted red was doubtless the real object which produced the magnified image. The state of the atmosphere, according to the descriptions given in the memorial, must have been favourable for the production of such images. The spectrum of the wooden cross must have been cast on the concave surface of some atmospheric mirror, and so reflected back to the eyes of the spectators, from an opposite place--retaining exactly the same shape and proportions, but dilated in size; and what is worthy of attention, it was tinged with red, the very colour of the object of which it was the reflected image.