The statue was of lead, dark, heavy, and dull like the character
of the king it represented, but it was richly gilded outside and
looked, at first, like pure gold. Some of the pieces in the
museum still show the gilding. It must have been a brilliant
ornament in the little city when, on August 1, 1770, it was
placed on Bowling Green, facing the Fort Gate. But it did not
stand there very long in peace, for the stormy days of the
Revolution were approaching. England continued to impose taxes
and the colonies to resist them, until the discontent of the
people broke out in many ways. More than one attempt was made to
injure King George's statue before it was finally torn down on
the night of July 9, 1776.

[Illustration: KING GEORGE THE THIRD

Courtesy of Mr. Charles M. Lefferts and the New York Historical
Society

A drawing by Mr Lefferts from descriptions and measurements of
fragments of the statue]

If we want to know what the British thought of this last insult
to their king, we shall find out by reading the journal of
Captain John Montresor, an officer in the British army.

"Hearing," he writes, "that the Rebels [that is, the Americans]
had cut the king's head off the equestrian statue in the centre
of the Ellipps [near the Fort] at New York, which represented
George the 3rd in the figure of Marcus Aurelius, and that they