612 



pear very richly chased ; and at the other extremity of the Stem are 

 two Shields, the one bearing the Arms of the Society, the other the 

 following Inscription* : — 



Ex Munificentia 

 Augustissimi Monarchse 

 Caroli II. 

 Dei Gra. Mag. Brit. Franc, et Hib. 

 Regis &c. 

 Societatis Regalis ad Scientiam 

 Naturalem promouenda institutes 

 Fundatoris et Patroni 

 An. Dni 1663. 



To this Mace attaches a celebrity, \vhich has long caused it to be 

 regarded with extraordinary interest. It is almost superfluous to 

 state, that this arises from the belief of its being the identical Mace 

 turned out of the House of Commons by Oliver Cromwell when he 

 dissolved the Long Parliament. So general has been this credence, 

 that numberless visitors have come purposely to the Apartments of 

 the Society to see the Mace, having read, or been assured, that it is 

 the famous "Bauble;" and after minutely examining it, have de- 

 parted, firmly persuaded that they have seen the Mace so rudely 

 dealt with by the Protector. 



Nor has its fame been confined to oral tradition. Books, profess- 

 ing to be authentic histories, have chronicled, that the Bauble Mace 

 is in the possession of the Royal Society ; and I may mention that 

 a few months ago, the proprietors of the Abbotsford Edition of the 

 Waverley Novels applied for permission to make a drawing of the 

 Mace to illustrate " Woodstock," an engraving of which appears in 

 the above work, accompanied by a statement, "that it is a repre- 

 sentation of the 'Bauble Mace' formerly belonging to the Long 

 Parliament, and now in the possession of the Royal Society," 



* The Arms of the Society and the Inscription were engraved on the Mace 

 "by the Society's directions in the year 1663 ; it was cleaned and regilt in 1756 at 

 the expense of Lord Macclesfield, who was at that period President of the Society, 

 as appears by the following entrv in the Council Minutes under the date of Julv 

 29,1756:— 



" The President having declared by letter to Mr. Watson, that he intended that 

 the Mace shall be cleaned and repaired at his expense, it was 



" Ordered, that Mr. Hawksbee do deliver the Mace to ^Messrs. Wyckes and 

 Netherton, Silversmiths in Panton Street, for that purpose." 



The Mace accordingly was put into thorough repair, regilt, and registered in 

 the Excise office as weighing 190 oz.^ At a IMeeting of the Society on the 25th 

 of November 1756, the thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to the Pre- 

 sident " for this obliging mark of his regard for them^." 



In 1828 the Mace was again regilt and repaired, at an expense of £23 lOs. It 

 is now in excellent condition. 



By the obliging kindness of Mr. CadeU, I am enabled to annex a very beautiful 

 and accurate representation of the IMace, printed from the block used in the Ab- 

 botsford Edition of the "Waverley Novels. 



^ Council Jdinutes, Vol. 4. pp. 177 and 178. 

 ' Journal-Book, Vol. 23. p. 418. 



