at an enormous bunch of shamrocks, to which, by repeated
gestures, he kept incessantly calling the attention of the crowd. More
than once as he gazed upon his admiring followers he was observed to
shed tears. Afterwards he attended reviews, showed himself at the
theatre, was present at a great ball at the Mansion House, received an
entertainment at Trinity College, and visited the residences of some of
the Irish nobility. He talked to everybody, and sometimes in his
conversation showed much of the good sense and shrewdness which really
belonged to him, but in his demeanor towards the general multitude he
always enacted the part of an enthusiastic Sovereign whose enthusiasm
sometimes showed itself in the form of what might have been called, if
he were not a Sovereign, outrageous mountebankcry. On Monday,
September 3, he quitted the shores of Ireland. Just before his
departure he received a deputation headed by Daniel O'Connell, who fell
upon his knees, and in that attitude of loyal devotion presented his
Majesty with a laurel crown. The King was particularly gracious to
O'Connell, shook him warmly by the hand, and accepted gratefully the
gift offered to him, and, for the time, O'Connell divided the applause
of the crowd with the monarch. There was a renewed interchange of good
wishes and blessings, and then the King got into his barge to be
conveyed to the steamer, and several loyal Irishmen, in their
enthusiasm, rushing to see the last of him, tumbled into the sea, and
with some difficulty rescued themselves, or were rescued, from drowning.

This may be said to have ended the royal visit so far as history is
concerned, for, although the King's return to England was delayed for
several days by contrary winds, he had nothing more to do with his
Irish subjects. Byron {27} wrote some satirical verses, which he
prefaced with the words of Curran, the great Irish advocate and orator,
describing Ireland like "a bastinadoed elephant kneeling to receive the
paltry rider," and in which he made mockery of O'Connell's loyalty,
paid a just and generous tribute to Grattan, and proclaimed sincerely
his own love for Ireland and his thorough appreciation of her national
cause. Then the royal visit was over, and the Irish people were soon
to learn the value of the King's profession of sympathy with the wishes
and the wants of his devoted Irish subjects. A curious illustration of
the sincerity of these royal sentiments may be foun