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| KING WILLIAM'S STATUE, DUBLIN. -The equestrian statue of William III stands in College Green, and has stood there, more or less, since A. D. 1701. We say "more or less," because no statue in the world, perhaps, has been subject to so many vicissitudes. It has been insulted, mutilated and blown up so many times, that the original figure, never particularly graceful, is now a battered wreck, pieced and patched together, like an old, worn out garment. The material used in casting the effigy was lead, and in consequence, there was little difficulty in disfiguring it when the spirit of malice, or mischief, moved the anti-Orange populace of the Irish capital. King William was, however, the idol of the anti-national Protestants of Ireland, called Orangemen, to distinguish them from their patriotic co-religionists-the followers of Grattan, Wolfe Tone and the Emmets. This element often fought vigorously in defense of the unfortunate memento of the Victor of the Boyne. Once, indeed, in 1782, the patriotic Protestant Volunteers, who virtually won the parliamentary independence of Ireland for a time, assembled sround the statue and pledged featly to the cause fo their country. Some years later they resolved to cease decorating the figure with orange ribbons on July 12, so as to avoid giving offense to their Catholic fellow-countrymen. The figure was last blown up in 1835, but was repaired, as shown in the sketch. Since that year it has been left in peace. |
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