Commemoration Of Guy Fawkes

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 18, 10 November 1950, Page 7

Commemoration Of Guy Fawkes

Well, Guy Fawkes Day is once again behind. We grown ups are still a little mystified as to why this occasion should have stood the test of time so far as its commemoration is concerned. There are even some who suggest that it was a very great pity that the Parliament of 1605 was not blown sky high. In those days political abuses were by no means absent. Even if the plot had not been discovered it is very doubtful if, historically speaking, the event would have been as important as its commemoration sugests. A few politicians blown sky high can be replaced just as other people can be replaced. One can but wonder if those individuals did not have an altogether exaggerated opinion of themselves. Recent wars have shown just what can be blown sky high and yet the community survive. It is probably not the act, but the method of commemorating it that has stood the test of time. There are many other events which we either commemorate in a scant manner or not at all, which are of far greater significance than the capture of Guy Fawkes. This individual, moreover, received decidedly harsh treatment, being tortured for a year, and put through various third degree methods which very few condone.