[C] St. Hubert.
[D] St. Hubert, the apostle of Ardennes, a saint of the Roman Catholic
Church, the patron of huntsmen. He was of a noble family of Acquitaine.
While hunting in the forests of Ardennes he had a vision of a stag with
a shining crucifix between its antlers, and heard a warning voice. He
was converted, entered the church, and eventually became Bishop of
Maestricht and Liege. He worked many miracles, and is said to have died
in 727 or 729. Spofford's Cyclopædia, Vol. 4, page 470.
Suggested by a Mountain Eagle.
I gazed at the azure-hued mantle of heaven,
The measureless depths of ethereal space;
I gazed at the clouds, so invisibly driven,
And an eagle, which wheeled with symmetrical grace.
I gazed at that eagle, majestically wheeling,
With dignity, born of the free mountain air;
I envied that bird, with an envious feeling
Which springs from a heart that is shackled with care.
I envied that eagle, which bowed to no master,
But soared at his will, through the ambient skies,
Defiant of danger, and scorning disaster,
He screamed at the cliffs, which re-echoed his cries.
I envied that bird, on that fair summer morning,
When nature lay decked with spontaneous art,
As he circled, with aspect defiant and scorning,
And perched on a pinnacle's loftiest part.
[Illustration:
"And by the mountain crystal lake
A rustic habitation make."