EAGLES AND ART. 
273 
it finds the lambs, pigs, 'geese and turkeys of tlie farm-yard 
to be easier prey to its decaying powers than the wild crea- 
tures it had proudly conquered in the earlier lustrums of the 
century it is living to a close. 
Now the Royal Eagle sinks into a petty plunderer, and the 
final decadence of its grandeur is, when, from the last patch 
of its forest-home it launches out on stiffened wings above 
the villages on some " Independence morning," and hears, 
as it wheels slowly over the gathered crowds, wild shouts of 
patriotic recognition as the youthful Orator points aloft to 
the omen of Liberty !■ — ^Shouts that but frighten the super- 
annuated Cloud- King, which rushes on to the nearest covert 
to hide, until the warty barnacles of age overtake it, and its 
rusty plumes no longer lift it to the clouds ! 
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