- Museum number
- 1876,0510.973
- Title
- Object: A theological antodite firing off the lees of opposition.
- Description
-
A short, fat man (Lees) in top-boots, stands on the pedestal (right) of the monument of William III on College Green, Dublin, from which the horse is absent (see BM Satires 14405). Across his shoulders sits the displaced statue, in its Roman armour, holding out a marshal's baton; its left hand holds round his supporter's top-hat a bandage by which a placard inscribed Antidot[e] is fixed in front of the hat. The statue says: my bane & Antidote are both before me. The bane is Wellesley, who stands (left) on a cushion, receiving a blast from a large bottle which Lees holds horizontally on his shoulder. On the bottle is depicted a devil holding in one hand a rattle, in the other a bottle. The fiery blast from the bottle is filled with papers, many inscribed Address, Castle Hack, or Racing Calendar. Others are: Address Sweeps, Address Cypria[ns], Bottle Smoke [two], Pie Corner [two], Protestant, Much ado Nothing. A big rattle is about to descend on Wellesley's head; the blast and the shower of papers make him stagger back, poised on one toe. In his pocket is a paper: King's Letter [see BM Satires 14408]. He says: I fear ye not, the King's Letter is my protection. At Lees' feet are a large book: Sir H. L[ee]s Works and a portfolio: Placa[rd] Politi[cs]. A large label issues from Lees' closed mouth:
William my Boy, I'll tell you what,
Eer Boyne, or Aughrim, are forgot,
I'd burn my books, I'd fire the Bottle,
I'd seize Old W—y by the Trottle
Fd catch O'C—ll by the throat
And crush them with my Antidote,
Oh Billy my dear my darling honey,
Theve sold yr Horse, but I'm yr Poney.
On the pedestal: The Glorious and Immortal Memory. Against it leans a ladder on which stands a man supporting Lees' posterior and brandishing a rattle. He says: Persevere my hero, I'll support you. Behind Wellesley and on the extreme left stands Plunket (Irish Attorney-General), tall and sturdy in contrast with his puny chief; with a determined gesture he says: We will do our duty. c. February 1823
Hand-coloured etching
- Production date
- 1823
- Dimensions
-
Height: 221 millimetres
-
Width: 335 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- (Description and comment from M. Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', X, 1952)
For the bottle (here also an emblem of imposture) see No. 14507. Wellesley's attempt to prevent the annual Dublin riot on William III's birthday, see No. 14405, exasperated the Orange Lodges, and they tried to drive him to resign. Trials of rioters led to a vendetta between Plunket and Dublin juries. Wellesley received many Addresses after the riot, here disparaged as in No. 14507. O'Connell used the occasion to show that loyalty was not a prerogative of one party. Lees, see No. 14515, was a butt: Mackintosh said, 21 Apr. 1825: 'In favour of the Catholics were Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt; and against them Sir Harcourt Lees and Archdeacon Dennis.' Parl. Deb., N.S. xiii. 65.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1876
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1876,0510.973
