Evening star., 1931-11-29

where two policemen grabbed him and escorted
him beyond the limits of the House of Com
mons. AS soon he disappeared Mr.. Mac
Donald asked for Becketts suspension. Amid
loud booS and boots the member was suS-
pended by vote of 800 to f.
This Is said to have been the worst uproar
in the British Parliament for 800 years. Not
since Oliver Cromwell pointed to the golden
mace and shouted "Take away that bauble,"
has SO audacious a thing happened in legis-
lative body. Had the irate Mr.. Beckett actually
made way with the mace the entire business
of the House of Commons would have been at
a standstin until another mace of authority
was procured. This catastrophe could not so
easily happen to the House OF Lords, because
they already have two official maces, although
the United States Senate has no such symbol
of authority
House of Commons, which Mr.. Beckett so un-
tremendously snatched from its official place.
is feet 10R inches long. The shaft Is carved
with roses, thistles, feur-de-liS, laurel and
harps. royal crown, the globe, cross, the
royal arms and, of course, the lion and unicorn
are all included in the design Of the head The
shaft was made by Thomas Maundy in 1649.
The original head replaced IL years later
with the regal symbols of the Restoration.
Among the historic solid silver maces Of the
eighteenth century some fragments of the
mace of 1853 of the Virginia House Of Bur-
gesseS, which are now preserved at Norfolk as
relics. and the mace of the House OF Repre-
sentatives of South Carolina which made
in London in 1855 for 80 guineas. This solid
silver gold-burnished antique is said to be the
only mace in in the United States
which antedates the Revolution. On it are
engraved the royal arms Of Great Britain, the
arms of the House of Hanover and other ancient
insignia, along with the arms Of the Province
Of South Carolina.
The South Carolina mace was stolen during
the Revolution by British sympathizers and Of
fered for sale to the House Of Assembly Of the
Bahama Islands. The proposed transaction is
shrouded in mystery, and legends have grown
up about both the Nassau and the South Caro-
lima maceS. Some people still believe that the
Nassau mace is really the old South Carolina
mace, but this is not true, for 1t has been as
certained that the former was made in 1799-
43 years after the Carolina mace made
and the latter found and brought back to
the South Carolina legislature Historians now
claim that this mace has not been outside the
United States since it was brought to this
country from London.
The South Carolina mace has also inherited
some of the Cromwell Bauble" legends, and
for long time some people have claimed that
1t was the original Cromwell Bauble," but the
present golden mace of the House of Commons,
so recently desecrated by Mr.. Beckett is really
the mace to which Cromwell referred.
THE most remarkable mace, or scepter, is that
] of the Lord Mayor of London. Nothing is
known of the age or history of this relic. It's
head is of the fifteenth century, and some
authorities think that the shaft dates back to
Saxon times, because of its peculiar workman
ship. It Is ~ feet long. The shaft is of
crystal mounted in gold; the head is of an
other color of gold and jeweled with rubes.
Continued on EIevl IN Page