THE BUILDER MAGAZINE
January 1921
volume 7 - number 1
MEMORIALS TO GREAT MEN
WHO WERE MASONS
HENRY CLAY
BY BRO. GEO. W. BAIRD, P. G. M., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
HENRY CLAY, by far the superior of the men of his time,
had three advantages: First, that he was poor born, the son of a Baptist
clergyman; Second, that he was at an early age obliged to "hustle," and thus to
acquire the habit of industry; and Third, opportunity. Success in life is
largely dependent upon opportunity, or luck, as it is sometimes called.
When a child of eight years, the writer first saw Henry
Clay. My father said to me: "Do you see that tall man talking to Mr. Frank
Taylor? That is Henry Clay, the greatest living American. He is now an old man.
He cannot live long. Look at him well, for the Nation will never produce his
equal."
Henry Clay used more words in his oratory than any man
then living. He was fearless, honest of purpose, and earnest.
In 1852 as his funeral cortege was passing down the
avenue, a Negro was leaning against a tree in front of Frank Taylor's book
store, singing. I caught the refrain only:
"Oh ! Poor Henry Clay,
In the dust you must lay."
The Negroes loved Clay. He had endeavored to have
incorporated in the Kentucky Constitution a clause looking to the gradual
emancipation of slaves. It is not generally known, but when the Civil War began
there were in existence in the United States twenty-six emancipation societies,
thirteen of which were south of
the Mason and Dixon line. Washington had freed his
slaves, and Henry Clay tried to free many. He was always called Henry Clay, just
as today Mr. Watterson is called Henry, contrary to the habit of their peers.
Henry Clay was a fifth son, and was compelled at an
early age to contribute to the support of a widowed mother. His early education
was limited, but what he learned he never forgot. His family removed to
Kentucky but he remained in Richmond as a clerk, finally gaining admission into
the office of the Clerk of the Chancery Court where he took up the study of law.
After being admitted to the Bar, he went to Kentucky to reside. His frankness,
cordiality and sunny disposition won him many friends. Clay began to take a
part in public affairs and, in 1799 (the year of Washington's death), he
advocated the gradual abolition of slavery. Had his advice been accepted the
Civil War never would have occurred.
Like Washington, Clay saw the great-advantages in better
transportation. Washington's scheme for a canal connecting the Potomac and the
Ohio rivers was not greater than Clay's proposed canal around the falls at
Louisville. His schemes were in the interest of the commonwealth, not the
individual.
Clay served in the legislature, in the Nation's
Congress and Senate. He was in nomination for the Presidency but was defeated
by the less-known candidate,
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THE BUILDER
not a "teetotaler He, together with many other Senators,
on their way from the Senate to their homes, frequently stopped in at
"Hancock's" for their libations, and their stories were absorbed and remembered
by Mr. Hancock, who lived to an old age and who delighted to repeat the bon mots
of Clay, Webster, Calhoun, Benton and others.
The story of Clay's duel with John Randolph, of Roanoke,
is interesting. Mr. Randolph was very eccentric, a powerful speaker, honorable
and unselfish, but very uncertain. He was odd in his dress, many of his
expressions were ambiguous and uncertain. He had said he would rather meet death
by a bullet from Clay's revolver, than in any other manner. As he and Clay were
working in the same interests, generally on the same side, one in the House and
the other in the Senate, there was little likelihood of a quarrel. But it came.
They fought with pistols, near Bladensburg. Both were
good shots. Clay had attacked Randolph in a speech, but all sympathy was with
Clay. Clay sent a bullet through Randolph's coat, which barely grazed the skin,
while Randolph dramatically fired his pistol into the air.
"Henry Clay, you owe me a new coat," said the eccentric
Congressman, advancing with extended hands, to which Clay replied, "Thank God,
Mr. Randolph" politicians were engaged in throwing so much mud on our Order. The
equal of that assault is unknown, but it is certain that whole lodges got "cold
feet" and surrendered their charters; Masons were boycotted in their
businesses, and the daughters of Masons were ostracized. But Clay remained loyal
to the Fraternity. And after all we have the testimony of Ben Perly Poore that
he (then a boy) with his father saw and talked with Morgan in Smyrna, in 1839.
So the judgment on Henry Clay was correct in that matter.
Henry Clay was born in Virginia in 1777, and died at
Washington in 1852. His body was taken to Lexington, Kentucky, where the
memorial shown in the frontispiece, was erected.
Clay was Grand Master of Masons in Kentucky in 1820. He
was always interested in Masonry, and was often quoted as saying that in Masonry
he could find at any time men who could be trusted to the limit. The writer has
heard Theodore Roosevelt say the same thing.
It was the custom of Clay, and indeed, of many
Congressman, to return to their homes on horse-back at the end of a session of
Congress. The writer, in 1887, drove in a buggy from Washington to the Natural
Bridge, and found a "tavern" about every fifteen miles. It was the custom to
drive about thirty miles a day with a good horse; we put up at each alternate
tavern and, after supper, it was not difficult to get Clay stories from the
elder natives. - Returning by another route, we found Clay, Randolph and other
great men to be well known at these taverns. Clay was a good "mixer," and these
"oldest inhabitants" were agreed that Henry Clay never forgot a man or a child;
that he would at once call each by his name. In social circles, here in
Washington, Clay had the reputation of being very witty, and clever at repartee,
but never once have we heard of an improper remark being attributed to him.
Clay was one of the first advocates of a protective
tariff. He fathered the Bill which enabled Louisiana to form its State
government. He opposed the first United States bank. While Speaker of the House
he constituted the committee with reference to declaration of war. He advocated
a strong army (25,000 men), and urged the construction of ten additional
frigates. He denounced the Federal Party, in opposition to Josiah Quincy's
speeches, and eulogized Jefferson.
When Missouri was admitted into the Union, the question
of slavery was very acute. Mr. Clay vehemently opposed any restrictions in the
proposed Constitution of that State as to slavery, but as Speaker of the House,
arranged a joint committee which produced the famous "Missouri Compromise" and
thus smothered the vexed slavery question for the time being. Clay had
confidence that slavery would gradually be eliminated.
The records of the Grand Lodge of the District of
Columbia for the year 1821 show a Masonic notice reading:
"Those members of Congress who belong to the Masonic
Fraternity, and those visitors in the city who are or have been members of any
Grand Lodge, are respectfully invited to attend a meeting, to be held in the
Senate Chamber this evening at seven o'clock to take into consideration matters
of general interest to the Masonic Institution. March 9th, 1822."
This is the only instance we have ever found where the
Senate Chamber has been used by the Fraternity and, on this occasion, it was by
the influence of Henry Clay.
Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson stood pat on the Masonic
threshold during the Morgan excitement, when
We are proud to know that Washington, the father of his
country, was a prominent Mason, that his life work demonstrated to all his
conscientious interpretation of Masonic teachings and of Masonic lessons. We as
Masons, however, cannot live upon the pastthe future lies before us. A greater
work is in store for us if we conscientiously measure up to our duties than
anything the past has presented. Shall we measure up? We earnestly hope and pray
that we may. If we go forth from our lodges, old members as well as new,
thoroughly imbued with the beautiful lessons of Freemasonry, convinced of the
truth of the teachings, impressed with the desire to emulate and surpass the
record of the past, we shall be empowered by our united strength to enable our
country safely to ride over the many difficulties, dangers and pitfalls that lie
before us. Masonry teaches loyalty and fealty to flag and country. We shall, we
must, have Americanism in every sense of the word, for Americanism represents
the teachings of Masonry as laid out by our wise forefathers. Unless we, as a
united, determined and faithful band set our faces firmly against disloyalty,
anarchy, bolshevism, or whatever the term applied to the foreign growth whose
seed is unfortunately being sown in this country may be, a dismal, dark,
discouraging future lies before us. Let us therefore bend our every endeavor so
that our newly welcomed brethren may truly and completely understand the noble
import and purposes of Freemasonry.
Charles C. Homer, Past Grand Master, Maryland.
THE SMITH - TOWNER EDUCATIONAL BILL
BY BRO. HOKE SMITH
The Smith-Towner Educational Bill, the text of which is
incorporated in the following speech of Senator Hoke Smith, of Georgia,
delivered in the United States Senate on July 28, 1919, will come up for
consideration during the present session of Congress. A Jesuit writer in the
November issue of "America," a Roman Catholic weekly, solicits every Roman
Catholic to "at once urge the danger of the Smith-Towner bill upon the Senators
from his State.
The men who suggested this bill were active workers in
different Christian denominations, earnestly seeking to serve their fellow men,
their country, and their God.
The only discordant note has come from certain Catholic
organizations, based, I must believe, upon a misapprehension of the bills.
Taxes paid for the support of public schools are the
highest contribution made by wealth for the welfare of our citizens and for the
future of our country.
These attacks might have been expected of leaders of
thought in the dark ages; at the present time they are surprising and shocking.
I can not believe that the real leaders of the Catholic
Church or the rank and file of its members in the United States are opposed to
public schools or to an opportunity being given to every child of obtaining an
education at the public expense.
Hoke Smith,
Democratic Senator from Georgia.
R. SMITH of Georgia. Mr. President, about two years ago
a committee of educators, composed of presidents of leading colleges and men
prominent in educational work throughout the United States, conferred with me as
to the importance of establishing a department of education, with a member of
the Cabinet at its head. These men were active workers in different Christian
religious denominations, earnestly seeking to serve their fellow men, their
country, and their God, by broadening educational opportunities for our children
and citizens. '
As nothing concerns more our national life than the
education of our citizens, it needed little argument to enlist my active
interest in the proposed measure.
After free discussion a committee was appointed to draft
a tentative bill. The bill was worked over a number of times and finally, about
12 months ago, I introduced a bill providing for the creation of a Department
of Education, with a secretary in the President's Cabinet, and copies of the
bill were sent to those interested in the subject in various parts of the
United States for further criticism and suggestion. Modifications were made in
the bill and it was again introduced during the last Congress changed somewhat
in details. It has been, since that time, reviewed and criticized by committees
from various organizations.
The bill introduced in the House by Judge Towner, l[. R.
7, and by myself in the Senate, S. 1017, still contains much of the bill which
was pending at the last session of Congress, but changes which seemed to
improve the original bill have been made.
The National Education Association has a membership of
35,000. It was organized in 1857, and many of our ablest college presidents and
educators have pre
sided over its meetings. Committees of this organization
aided in the revision of the bill, and at the Ju meeting of the association the
bill received the cords approval of its members.
I request to print, without reading, the resolution
passed by the National Education Association.
The President pro tempore. Without objection, is so
ordered.
The resolutions referred to are as follows:
THE SMITH TOWNER BILL
Resolution adopted by National Education Association,
Milwaukee meeting, July, 1919:
This association has urged for years that education
should be given just recognition by the Federal Government, and that a
department of education should be established. The war has so emphasized the
importance of education from a national standpoint that the necessity of the
immediate consideration of this question is universally recognized.
Moreover, a commission on the emergency in education,
appointed by this association one year ago, acting under the instruction of the
association, prepared a bill creating a department of education with a
secretary in the President's Cabinet, and authorizing the appropriation of
$100,000,000 to encourage the States in the promotion of education,
particularly in the removal of illiteracy, the Americanization of immigrants,
physical and health education, teacher preparation, and the equalizing of
educational opportunities, and
This association, through its commission, and with the
cooperation of other great national organizations, secured the introduction of
this bill in the Sixty-fifth Congress, and more recently its introduction in the
Sixty-sixth Congress in a carefully revised and perfected form, known as the
SmithTowner bill, H. R. 7 and S. 1017: Therefore
Resolved, That this association gives its hearty and
unqualified endorsement to the Smith-Towner bill, H. R. 7 and S. 1017, now
before the Sixty-sixth Congress, and instructs the official staff of this
association to use all honorable means to secure its passage.
Mr. Smith of Georgia. Mr. President, the American
Federation of Labor and the American Federation of Teachers have given the
measure a hearty endorsement.
I request to print, without reading, their resolutions.
The President pro tempore. If there is no objection, it
is so ordered.
The resolutions referred to are as follows:
Resolution No. 123, by Delegate Charles B. Stillman, of
the American Federation of Teachers.
Whereas in accordance with the instructions of the last
convention, the executive council of the American Federation of Labor, working
with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association,
has cooperated in the preparation and introduction of the educational bill, H.
R. 7, which creates a Federal department of education and appropriates
$100,000,000 to be apportioned among the States to aid in the payment of more
adequate teachers' salaries, in the equalization of educational opportunities,
in the removal of illiteracy, in Americanization of immigrants, in physical
education, and in the preparation of competent teachers; and
Whereas the present period of reconstruction is
revealing even more clearly than the preceding period of the war the need for a
national educational policy to secure coordination among the States, and to
promote national welfare, efficiency, and unity; and
Whereas the threatened collapse of our schools, which
influenced the action of the last convention, is still more imminent now,
through the forcing out of our best teachers by the thousands by sheer economic
pressure, and through the refusal of young men and women of ability and
independent spirit to prepare themselves for a calling which does not offer a
self-respecting living; and
Whereas the ultimate national need is for educated
manhood and womanhood, a need which will become more urgent in the period we are
entering; and
Whereas the recent past has forced upon us a
realization of the necessity of more effective physical education, of the
removal of illiteracy, and of the Americanization of immigrants; and
Whereas in the fields of vocational and agricultural
education, the value of the stimulus to the States of Federal appropriations
available to a State on its meeting specified standards, and on the
appropriation by that State of equal amounts, has been proved by experience;
therefore, be it
Resolved, That this thirty-ninth convention of the
American Federation of Labor, in conformity with the recommendation of the
preceding convention, indorse the educational bill, H. R. 7, and instruct the
president and executive council to use the full influence of the American
Federation of Labor in its support.
Adopted.
Many other organizations, including school boards and
chambers of commerce, have indorsed the measure. Indeed, so far as I know, the
only discordant note of opposition has come from certain Catholic
organizations, based, I must believe, upon a misapprehension of the bills.
In the Morning Star, printed in New Orleans, on May 31,
I find the statement that the Federation of Catholic Societies condemn the
Smith-Towner educational bill as un-American and un-Christian, and certain
resolutions were reported as adopted which I request to have printed without
reading them.
The President pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The matter referred to is as follows:
Rev. M. Kenny, S. J., read this section of the report of
the Committee on Education:
"Whereas Catholic education, and particularly our
parochial school system, are indispensable nurseries of religion and of the
virtues essential to true civic character and to the maintenance of Christian
civilization; and
"Whereas the Constitution of the Nation and of the
States guarantees religious liberty to every citizen and strictly defines the
authoritative boundaries of State and Federal power; and
"Whereas certain legislative measures now introduced in
Congress and various legislatures aim, directly and indirectly, to weaken,
emasculate and destroy religious schools and educational individuality, and to
subject all schools, in finance and curriculum, to a centralized bureau of
political nationalization in Washington, thus robbing State and family and
individual of their God-given rights: Therefore be it
"Resolved, That we, the representatives of the Catholic
Federated Societies of Louisiana, are unanimously opposed
to such measures as both un-American and unchristian,
and earnestly urge our people to support our Christian schools with increased
unanimity and loyalty, and to combine with all Christian and patriotic citizens
in opposing, by voice and pen and vote and every constitutional instrument, the
advocacy, adoption, and advocates of those subversive and destructive
educational schemes, thus erecting an impregnable barrier against this sinister
menace to religion and Constitution, to family and Nation; be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be forwarded to
the President and Cabinet of the United States, to the President of the Senate,
the Speaker of the Louse, and to our State and National Representatives."
Mr. Smith of Georgia. Mr. President, the Morning Star on
the same date commended the "magnificent stand which the Federation of Catholic
Societies has made against the Smith educational bill which is to be
re-introduced into Congress under the name of the Smith-Towner bill."
The Star of the same issue quoted from a paper called
"America," declaring that the Smith bill was for the Prussianization of the
public schools and that the Smith-Bankhead bill, for the Americanization of
illiterates, was a scheme scarcely less dangerous.
On July 1,1909, at Peru, III., the National Benedictine
Educational Association of America adopted a platform of educational
reconstruction condemning the Smith-Towner bill. I request that it be printed in
the Record.
The President pro tempore. If there is no objection, it
is so ordered.
The matter referred to is as follows:
BENEDICTINE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION PROTESTS
AGAINST AUTOCRACY IN EDUCATION
July 1, 1919.
Assembled at a time when the war-worn peoples of the
globe watch with anxiety the threatening triumph of might over right, of tyranny
over democracy, of international chaos over organized government, The National
Benedictine Educational Association of America, convened in St. Bede College,
Peru, III., and representing independent institutions in the States of Oregon,
Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Missouri, Kansas Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and
Florida, hereby proclaims its solemn conviction that education is the bulwark
of freedom, and invites the universal cooperation of serious-minded American
citizens upon the platform of educational reconstruction that here follows:
1. Federal cooperation with our free and self-controlled
educational activities we recognize and welcome as an ally of educational
freedom. Federal domination we condemn as educational tyranny.
2. The spirit of liberty, the fountainhead of our
national Constitution, serves to condemn any governmental agency that tends to
disregard or abolish the God-given right of each and every American father to
create and control for his child a school which satisfies the dictates of his
conscience.
3. Power to create and control the school depends on the
power to control the man that creates the school.
4. Consequently, Federalization of all school moneys,
the essential feature of the Smith-Towner bill, is the death knell of
educational freedom.
5. Consequently, the voters of America will employ all
legitimate agencies, and the final sanction of the ballot box, against a measure
subversive of the educational freedom guaranteed to our families and our States
by a Constitution that has lately been rewritten in the life-blood of their sons
and brothers. Shall the educational tyranny of Bismarek, after devouring with
cynical smile the flower of American manhood, ride with our returning armies
across the Atlantic to complete in Washington what it began in Berlin?
Mr. Smith of Georgia. Mr. President, I trust these
attacks upon the bills to create a Department of Education have been due to a
lack of knowledge of the real provisions of the bills on the part of those who
made them. I can not believe that these attacks represent the mature views of
any considerable number of our citizens. Rather, I believe, they have been
inspired by addresses such as that recently delivered by Rev. E. D. L.
McDonnell, S. J., of Loyola College, Baltimore, Md. The address to which I refer
was reported in the Washington Post on the 16th day of June. I send to the desk
of the Secretary of the Senate some extracts from that report, which I ask to
have read.
The President pro tempore. The Secretary will read as
requested.
The Secretary read as follows:
(From The Washington Post. June 16, 1919.)
PRIEST ATTACKS BILL. REV. MR. McDONNELL WARNS OF MENACE
IN EDUCATIONAL ACT. SPEAKS TO G. U. GRADUATES. DECLARES SENATOR HOKE SMITH'S
MEASURE FOR DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WOULD MEAN "DICTATOR" IN WASHINGTON.
A bitter attack upon Senator Efoke Smith's educational
bill and similar measures pending in Congress creating a Department of Education
was made yesterday by the Rev E. De L. McDonnell, S. J., of Loyola College,
Baltimore, Md., in a baccalaureate sermon delivered before the graduating
classes of Georgetown Universitv.
* * *
WARNS OF AN "OVERSEER"
Dr. McDonnell referred to the proposed legislation as
"designed to place the whole educational machinery of the country under the
control of one autocratic overseer here in Washington," and described it as "the
most dangerous and viciously audacious bill ever introduced into our halls of
legislation, having lurking within it a most damnable plot to drive Jesus Christ
out of the land."
Dr. McDonnell continued:
"And now, last of all, but by no means least of all, our
freedom is still further threatened, and still greater power is to be given to
the Central Government, and State rights are still further to be weakened by a
bill in Congress, the Iloke Smith educational bill, by which the whole
educational machinery of the country is to be placed under the control of one
autocratic overseer here in Washington.
"But there is another aspect of this bill which, for us
Catholics and for every right-thinking American, must seem much more serious,
for whilst the bill does nothing ostensibly against religion, in effect it aims
at banishing God from every schoolroom, whether public or private, in the United
States.
"This bill destroys all freedom of education, takes away
the sacrosanct duty and right of parents to educate their own children and the
right of the children to be so educated. It is a direct assault upon religion
and it penalizes Jesus Christ, His faith and all who believe.
Mr. Smith of Georgia. Mr. President, this address
embodies three distinct charges against the pending bills to create a department
of education.
First. That the whole educational machinery of the
country is to be placed under the control of one autocratic overseer here in
Washington.
Second. That the bill takes away the duty and right of
parents to educate their own children and the right of the children to be so
educated.
Third. That the bill would banish God from every
schoolroom and is a direct assault upon religion.
Each of these charges is so utterly false that it is
difficult to understand how anyone could have been willing to make them. It is
especially difficult to understand how a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
could have been their author.
I request now to have printed in the Record, without
reading, Senate bill 1017, which is almost identical with House bill No. 7,
introduced by Congressman Towner.
The President pro tempore. If there is no objection, the
request is granted.
The matter referred to is as follows
SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. S. 1017.
IN THE SENATE OF TIDE UNITED STATES.
Mr. Smith of Georgia introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Education
A bill to create a Department of Education, to authorize
appropriations for the conduct of said department, to authorize the
appropriation of money to encourage the States in the promotion and support of
education, and for other Purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
there is hereby created an executive department in the Government to be called
the Department of Education, with a Secretary of Education, who shall be the
head thereof, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, and who shall receive a salary of $12,000 per annum, and
whose tenure of office shall be the same as that of the heads of other executive
departments; and section 158 of the Revised Statutes is hereby amended to
include such department, and the provisions of title 4 of the Revised Statutes,
including all amendments thereto, are hereby made applicable to said department.
The Secretary of Education shall cause a seal of office to be made for such
department of such device as the President shall approve, and judicial notice
shall be taken of said seal.
Sec. 2. That there shall be in said department an
Assistant Secretary of Education, to be appointed by the President, who shall
receive a salary of $5,000 per annum. He shall perform such duties as may be
prescribed by the secretary or required by law. There shall also be one chief
clerk and a disbursing clerk and such chiefs of bureaus and clerical assistants
as may from time to time be authorized by Congress.
Sec. 3. That there is hereby transferred to the
Department of Education, the Bureau of Education, and the President is
authorized and empowered, in his discretion, to transfer to the Department of
Education such offices, bureaus, divisions, boards, or branches of the
Government devoted to educational matters and connected with or attached to any
of the executive departments or organized independently of any department as in
his judgment should be controlled by, or the functions of which should be
exercised by, the Department of Education; and all such offices, bureaus,
divisions, boards, or branches of the Government so transferred by the
President or by act of Congress, shall thereafter be administered by the
Department of Education, as hereinafter provided.
THE BUILDER
All officers, clerks, and employees employed in or by
any office, bureau, division, board, or branch of the Government, transferred in
accordance with the provisions of this act to the Department of Education, shall
each and all be transferred to said Department of Education at their existing
grades and salaries, except where otherwise provided in this act; and the office
records and papers on file and pertaining exclusively to the business of any
such office, bureau, division, board, or branch of the Government so
transferred, together with the furniture and equipment thereof, shall be
transferred to said department.
Sec. 4. That the Secretary of Education shall have
charge, in the buildings or premises occupied by or assigned to the Department
of Education, of the library, furniture, fixtures, records, and other property
used therein or pertaining thereto, and may expend for rental of appropriate
quarters for the accommodation of the Department of Education within the
District of Columbia, and for the library, furniture, equipment, and all other
incidental expenses, such sums as Congress may provide from time to time.
All power and authority conferred by law upon or
exercised by the head of any executive department, or by any administrative
board, over any officer, office, bureau, division, board, or branch of the
Government, transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the
Department of Education, and any and all business arising therefrom or
pertaining thereto, and all duties performed in connection therewith, shall,
after such transfer, be vested in and exercised by the Secretary of Education.
All laws prescribing the work and defining the duties
and powers of the several offices, bureaus, divisions, boards, or branches of
the Government, transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the
Department of Education, shall, in so far as the same are not in conflict with
the provisions of this act, remain in full force and effect and be executed
under the direction of the Secretary of Education, to whom is hereby granted
definite authority to reorganize the work of any and all of the said offices,
bureaus, divisions, boards, or branches of the Government so transferred, in
such way as will in his judgment best accomplish the purposes of this act.
Sec. 5. That it shall be the duty of the Department of
Education to conduct studies and investigations in the field of education and to
report thereon. RESEARCH SHALL BE UNDERTAKEN IN (A) ILLITERACY; (B) IMMIGRANT
EDUCATION; (C) PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION, AND ESPECIALLY RURAL EDUCATION; (D)
PHYSICAL EDUCATION, INCLUDING HEALTH EDUCATION, RECREATION, AND SANITATION; (E)
PREPARATION AND SUPPLY OF COMPETENT TEACHERS FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS; AND (F) IN
SUCH OTHER FIELDS AS, IN THE JUDGMENT OF THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION, MAY
REQUIRE ATTENTION AND STUDY.
In order to carry out the provisions of this section the
Secretary of Education is authorized, in the same manner as provided for
appointments in other departments, to make appointments, or recommendations of
appointments of educational attaches to foreign embassies, and of such
investigators and representatives as may be needed, subject to the
appropriations that have been made or may hereafter be made to any office,
bureau, division, board or branch of the Government, transferred in accordance
with the provisions of this act to the Department of Education; and where
appropriations have not been made therefor the appropriation provided in
section 6 of this act shall be available.
Sec. 6. That for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1921,
and annually thereafter, the sum of $500,000 is hereby authorized to be
appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to
the Department of Education, for the purpose of paying salaries and conducting
investigations and paying all incidental and traveling expenses and rent where
necessary, and for the purpose of enabling
the Department of Education to carry out the provisions
of this act. And all appropriations which have been made and which may hereafter
be made to any office, bureau, division, board or branch of the Government,
transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the Department of
Education, are hereby continued in full force and effect, and shall be
administered by the Secretary of Education in such manner as is prescribed by
law.
Sec. 7. That in order to encourage the States in the
promotion and support of education, there is hereby authorized to be
appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1921, and annually thereafter, $100,000,000, to
be apportioned, disbursed, and expended as hereinafter provided.
Sec. 8. That in order to encourage the States to remove
illiteracy, three-fortieths of the sum authorized to be appropriated by section
7 of this act shall be used for the instruction of illiterates ten years of age
and over. Such instruction shall deal with the common-school branches and the
duties of citizenship, and when advisable shall prepare for some definite
occupation. Said sum shall be apportioned to the States in the proportions which
their respective illiterate populations of ten years of age and over, not
including foreign-born illiterates, bear to such total illiterate population
of the United States, not including outlying possessions, according to the last
preceding census of the United States.
Sec. 9. That in order to encourage the States in the
Americanization of immigrants, three-fortieths of the sum authorized to be
appropriated by section 7 of this act shall be used to teach immigrants ten
years of age and over to speak and read the English language and to understand
and appreciate the spirit and purpose of the American Government and the duties
of citizenship in a free country. The said sum shall be apportioned to the
States in the proportions which their respective foreign-born populations bear
to the total foreign-born population of the United States, not including
outlying possessions, according to the last preceding census of the United
States.
Sec. 10. That in order to encourage the States to
improve educational opportunities, five-tenths of the sum authorized to be
appropriated by section 7 of this act shall be used in public elementary and
secondary schools for the partial payment of teachers' salaries, for providing
better instruction and extending school terms, especially in rural schools and
schools in sparsely settled localities, and otherwise providing equally good
educational opportunities fox the children in the several States, and for the
extension and adaptation of public libraries for educational purposes. The said
sum shall be apportioned to the States, one-half in the proportions which the
number of children between the ages of six and twenty-one of the respective
States bear to the total number of such children in the United States, and one
half in the proportions which the number of public-school teachers employed in
teaching positions in the respective States bear to the total number of
public-school teachers ss employed in the United States, not including outlying
pos sessions, said apportionment to be based upon statistics collected annually
by the Department of Education.
Provided, however, That in order to share in the appor
tionment provided by this section a State shall establish ant maintain the
following requirements unless prevented b constitutional limitations, in which
case these requirement shall be approximated as nearly as constitutional
provision will permit: (A) A LEGAL SCHOOL TERM OF A' LEAST 24 WEEKS IN EACH YEAR
FOR THE BENEFI' OF ALL CHILDREN OF SCHOOL AGE IN SUCH STATE (B) A COMPULSORY
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE LAX REQUIRING ALL CHILDREN BETWEEN THE AGE, OF SEVEN AND
FOURTEEN TO ATTEND SOM] SCHOOL FOR AT LEAST 24 WEEKS IN EACH YEAR (C) A LAW
REQUIRING THAT THE ENGLISH LAN (1TTA(^TE SHALL BE THE BASIC LANGUAGE OF
SMITH-TOWNER EDUCATIONAL BILL INSTRUCTION IN THE COMMON-SCHOOL BRANCHES IN ALL
SCHOOLS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
Sec. 11. That in order to encourage the States in the
promotion of physical education, two-tenths of the sum authorized to be
appropriated by section 7 of this act shall be used for physical education and
instruction in the principles of health and sanitation, and for providing school
nurses, school dental clinics, and otherwise promoting physical and mental
welfare. The said sum shall be apportioned to the States in the proportions
which their respective populations bear to the total population of the United
States, not including outlying possessions, according to the last preceding
census of the United States.
Sec. 12. That in order to encourage the States in the
preparation of teachers for public-school service, particularly in rural
schools, three-twentieths of the sum authorized to be appropriated by section 7
of this act shall be used to provide and extend facilities for the improvement
of teachers already in service and for the more adequate preparation of
prospective teachers, and to provide an increased number of trained and
competent teachers by encouraging, through the establishment of scholarships and
otherwise, a greater number of talented young people to make adequate
preparation for public-school service. The said sum shall be apportioned to the
States in the proportions which the number of publicschool teachers employed in
teaching positions in the respective States bear to the total number of
public-school teachers so employed in the United States, not including outlying
possessions, said apportionments to be based on statistics collected annually
by the Department of Education.
Sec. 13. That in order to secure the benefits of the
appropriation authorized in section 7, and of any of the apportionments made
in sections 8, 9,10, 11, and 12 of this act, a State shall by legislative
enactment accept the provisions of this act and provide for the distribution of
such funds as may be apportioned to said State, and shall designate the State's
chief educational authority, whether a State superintendent of public
instruction, a commissioner of education, a State board of education, or other
legally constituted chief educational authority, to represent said State in the
administration of this act, and such authority so designated shall be
recognized by the Secretary of Education: Provided, That in any State in which
the legislature does not meet in 1920, the governor of said State, in so far as
he may have authority so to do, may take such action temporarily as is herein
provided to be taken by legislative enactment in order to secure the benefits of
this act, and such action by the governor shall be recognized by the Secretary
of Education for the purposes of this act, when reported by the chief
educational authority designated to represent said State, until the legislature
of said State shall have met in due course and been in session 60 days.
In any State accepting the provisions of this act the
State treasurer shall be designated and appointed as custodian of all funds
received by said State as apportionments under the provisions of this act, to
receive and provide for the proper custody and disbursement of the same, such
disbursements to be made in accordance with the legal provisions of said State,
on warrants duly drawn by the State's chief educational authority designated to
represent said State in the administration of this act.
A State may accept the provisions of any one or more of
the respective apportionments authorized in sections 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of
this act, and may defer the acceptance of any one or more of said
apportionments: Provided, however, That no money shall be apportioned to any
State from any of the funds provided in sections 8, 9,10, 11, and 12 of this act
unless a sum equally as large shall be provided by said State, or by local
authorities, or by both, for the same purpose: And provided, That the sum or
sums provided by a State for the improvement of educational opportunities, for
the promotion of physical education, and for the preparation of teachers, shall
not be less for any year than the amount
provided for the same purpose for the fiscal year next
preceding the acceptance of the provisions of this act by said State: And
provided further, That no money apportioned to any State under the provisions of
this act shall be used by any State or local authority, directly or indirectly,
for the purchase, rental, erection, preservation, or repair of any building or
equipment, or for the purchase or rental of land, or for the payment of debts or
the interest thereon.
Sec. 14. That when a State shall have accepted the
provisions of this act and shall have provided for the distribution and
administration of such funds as may be apportioned to said State, as herein
provided, the State's chief educational authority designated to represent said
State shall so report in writing to the Secretary of Education. If such report
shows that said State is prepared to carry out the provisions of this act with
respect to any one or more of the apportionments authorized in sections 8,
9,10,11, and 12 of this act, the Secretary of Education shall apportion to said
State for the fiscal year, or for the remainder of the fiscal year, as the case
may be, such funds as said State may be entitled to receive under the provisions
of this act, and shall certify such apportionment or apportionments to the
Secretary of the Treasury: PROVIDED, THAT THIS ACT SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED TO
REQUIRE UNIFORMITY OF PLANS, MEANS, OR METHODS IN THE SEVERAL STATES IN ORDER
TO SECURE THE BENEFITS HEREIN PROVIDED, EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY STATED HEREIN:
AND PROVIDED FURTHER, THAT ALL THE EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES ENCOURAGED BY THE
PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT AND ACCEPTED BY A STATE SHALL BE ORGANIZED, SUPERVISED,
AND ADMINISTERED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE LEGALLY CONSTITUTED STATE AND LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITIES OF SAID STATE, AND THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION SHALL
EXERCISE NO AUTHORITY IN RELATION THERETO EXCEPT AS HEREIN PROVIDED TO INSURE
THAT ALL FUNDS APPORTIONED TO SAID STATE SHALL BE USED FOR THE PURPOSES FOR
WHICH THEY ARE APPROPRIATED, AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT
ACCEPTED BY SAID STATE.
Sec. 15. That the Secretary of Education is authorized
to prescribe plans for keeping accounts of the expenditures of such funds as may
be apportioned to the States under the provisions of this act, and to audit such
accounts. The Secretary of Education may withhold the apportionment or
apportionments of any State for the next ensuing fiscal year whenever he shall
determine that such apportionment or apportionments made to said State for the
current fiscal year are not being expended in accordance with the provisions of
this act: Provided, however, That before withholding any such apportionment
from any State, as herein provided, the Secretary of Education shall give due
notice in writing to the chief educational authority designated to represent
said State, stating specifically wherein said State fails to comply with the
provisions of this act.
If any portion of the money received by the treasurer of
a State under the provisions of this act for any of the purposes herein provided
shall, by action or contingency, be diminished or lost, the same shall be
replaced by said State, and until so replaced no subsequent apportionment for
such purpose shall be paid to said State. If any part of the funds apportioned
annually to any State for any of the purposes named in sections 8, 9, 10, 11,
and 12 of this act has not been expended for such purpose, a sum equal to such
unexpended part shall be deducted from the next succeeding annual apportionment
made to said State for such purpose.
Sec. 16. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby
authorized and directed to pay quarterly, on the 1st day of July, October,
January, and April, to the treasury of any State designated to receive such
funds, such apportionment or apportionments as are properly certified to him by
the Secretarv of Education. and he shall discontinue such payments when notified
so to do by the Secretary of Education, as provided in this act. - Sec. 17.
That the chief educational authority designated to represent any State receiving
the benefits of this act shall, not later than September 1 of each year, make a
report to the Secretary of Education showing the work done in said State in
carrying out the provisions of this act, and the receipts and expenditures of
money apportioned to said State under the provisions of this act. If the chief
educational authority designated to represent any State shall fail to report as
herein provided, the Secretary of Education shall notify the Secretary of the
Treasury to discontinue the payment of all apportionments to said State until
such report shall have been made. Sec. 18. That the Secretary of Education
shall annually at the close of each fiscal year make a report in writing to
Congress giving an account of all moneys received and disbursed by the
Department of Education, and describing the work done by the department. He
shall also, not later than December 1 of each year, make a report to Congress on
the administration of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 of
this act, and shall include in said report a summary of the reports made to him
by the several States showing the condition of public education therein, and
shall at the same time make such recommendations to Congress as will, in his
judgment, improve public education in the United States. He shall also from time
to time make such special investigations and reports as may be required of him
by the President or by Congress. Sec. 19. That this act shall take effect April
1, 1920, and all acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby
repealed.
REPLY TO ATTACKS BY CERTAIN CATHOLICS ON THE BILL TO
CREATE A DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Mr. Smith of Georgia Mr. President, no one can read the
bill without observing that no autocratic overseer of education is created in
Washington. It will also readily be seen that the bill in no way interferes
with the right of a parent to place his child in a private school or religious
denominational school if he sees fit to do so. The bill seeks to aid the States
in fighting illiteracy, in teaching the English language to immigrants in
strengthening the schools by adding to the pay of teachers, and by contributing
toward the better preparation of teachers for their work. The charge that it
banishes God from the schoolroom and that it is an assault upon religion will
be tolerated only by one who opposes public education conducted by the State or
local authorities, and who opposes all schools, except denominational and
parochial schools. Let us consider the bill somewhat in detail. The first four
paragraphs of the bill provide for the creation of a department of education,
with a secretary of education who shall be a member of the President's Cabinet.
They transfer the Bureau of Education to the Department of Education, and
authorize the President to transfer from time to time, at his discretion, other
national educational activities to the Department of Education. They give the
secretary of education supervisory authority over the department of education.
Section 5 requires the department to conduct studies and investigation in the
field of education and that research be undertaken in illiteracy; immigrant
education; public-school education, and especially rural education; physical
education, including health education, recreation, and sanitation; and
preparation and supply of competent teachers for public schools.
It will be seen that these provisions give the
department in Washington no authority over the problems of education named, but
require research in the interest of the schools of the entire country, that the
information thus gathered may be furnished for the benefit of all States and all
schools in the States.
Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 provide for
appropriations, a part for the instruction of illiterates; a part for the
Americanization of immigrants; a part to be used in public elementary and
secondary schools toward payment of teachers' salaries and for providing better
instruction and extending school terms, especially in rural schools and schools
in sparsely settled localities; a part for physical education and instruction
in the principles of health and sanitation, and for providing school nurses and
school dental clinics and otherwise promoting physical and mental welfare; a
part for the preparation of teachers for public-school service, particularly in
rural schools.
These funds, except the amount to be used to conduct
the work of investigation by the department here in Washington, are to be
distributed to the States, and used by the States and the educational
authorities of the States.
So far from giving the department here control over the
work in the respective States, it is specifically provided in section 14:
That this act shall not be construed to require
uniformity of plans, means or methods in the several States in order to secure
the benefits herein provided, and the use of the funds and all the educational
facilities encouraged by the provisions of this act and accepted by the States,
shall be organized, supervised and administered exclusively by the legally
constituted State and local authorities of said States.
And the Secretary of Education shall exercise no
authority in relation thereto, except as herein provided, to insure that all
funds apportioned to said State shall be used for the purposes for which they
are appropriated.
The language of the bill shows how absurd was the charge
that the educational machinery of the country is to be placed under the control
of one autocratic over seer here in Washington.
A provision is made that each State must duplicate the
fund offered by the National Government if it is to be received by the State,
and a further provision i found in section 10 that in order to share in the
appor tionment provided by this section (which is the appra priation to be used
in public elementary and secondary schools for the partial payment of teacher's
salaries) a State shall establish and maintain the following rf quirements, or
these requirements shall be approximal ed as nearly as constitutional provisions
will permit "(a) A legal school term of at least 24 weeks in eac year for the
benefit of all the children of school age i such State; (b) a compulsory school
attendance la requiring all children between the ages of 7 and 14 t attend some
school for at least 24 weeks in each yea] (c) a law requiring that the English
language shall be the basic language of instruction in the common-school
branches in all schools, public and private."
The purpose of the bill is to aid the States in
furnishing an opportunity for each child to attend a public school and to aid
in improving the work of the school; to require a term of at least 24 weeks in
each year for the benefit of all children is a reasonable provision, and the
least that any State should furnish.
If the bill stimulates every State to furnish public
schools open for not less than 24 weeks each year to all the children of the
State, it will do great good.
Surely no one will question the propriety of making the
English language the basic language of instruction in the common schools,
public and private.
This disposes of two of the three requirements necessary
to sharing in the appropriation.
The provision requiring a compulsory school-attendance
law does not require that the children shall attend the public schools but
requires the 24 weeks' attendance to be in some school, public, parochial, or
private, leaving the choice to the parents. That all children may have a
chance to go to school, the State must see to it that the opportunity is given,
but no requirement is made upon parents that their children shall attend the
public school.
The Presbyterian Church in the city of Atlanta of which
I am a member, maintains a church school. The bill in no way interferes with
this school. Attendance for 24 weeks each year upon this school or any church
school Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, or Catholics any private
school meets the requirements of the bill. The claim that it takes away the
right of parents to educate their own children is plainly false.
The charge that this bill would banish God from every
school is without the slightest foundation. The bill can only be considered an
assault upon religion by those who oppose public schools, and by those who
believe ignorance on the part of the masses increases religious faith. The
charge is really an attack upon public education and shall not be permitted to
hide behind an expressed attack on this bill. It is founded upon opposition to
taxing all the people that all the children may have an opportunity to obtain an
education. It is an assault upon our public-school systems in every State, and
carried to its logical consequence would abolish all public education conducted
by State or local authorities.
If public education were suppressed, more than half of
the children of our country would grow up in ignorance.
I need not dwell upon the calamity which would be
visited upon our country if the opportunity for education at public expense
were suppressed.
Taxes paid for the support of public schools are the
highest contribution made by wealth for the welfare of our citizens and for the
future of our country.
These attacks might have been expected of leaders of
thought in the Dark Ages; at the present time they are surprising and shocking.
I can not believe that the real leaders of the Catholic
Church or the rank and file of its members in the United States are opposed to
public schools, or to opportunity being given to every child of obtaining
education at the public expense.
I hope they will learn the real meaning of the bills to
create a Department of Education.- If they so, and if I am right in my estimate
of their attitude toward public schools, they will aid in stopping the wise
opposition to these bills to which I have referred.
THE VOICE OF AMERICA
I have taken the breed of all nations, Barred no
religion or race, From the highest and lowest of stations They came and I found
them place. Powers invisible drew them, Freedom unborn was their quest, 'Til my
uttermost borderlands knew them The least of the world and the best. They came
with the wisdom of sages, The darkness, the stain and the dirt, They came with
the glory of ages, And I took the my hope and my hurt. I have gathered the
breed of all nations, Drawn from each caste and each clan; Tried them and proved
them and loved them And made them American. Made them a nation of Builders,
Fearless and faithful and free, Entered them, passed them and raised them To the
Master's Sublime Degree. Theirs is the task of restoring The Ancient and Honored
Guild The work to the Speculative, The spirit to those who build. 'Til none
shall be less than a Master, And know but one Ruler above, Bound by the spirit
of justice And the mortar of brotherly love. 'Til the house shall belong to the
Workman And the Craft come again to its own; And this is your task, oh, my
people! Through you will the Lost Word be known.
Josephine B. Bowrnan. Peoria, Illinois.
OLD BOOK
BY BRO. GERALD A. NANCARROW, INDIANA
Old Book! Thou solid Rock of all the years Thy covers
bring to me sweet memories, Thy golden Truth and Promise still my fears - And
feed my soul.
My father's eyes did search Thee and did find Thy
fruited lessons which he made to show In e'en his smallest dealings with mankind
While he was here.
My mother's hands caressed Thy page and board While from
her blessed lips Thy truths have come. O Bright illume this picture for me,
Lord, My eyes grow dim.
They loved us both, Old Book, and taught me Thee. Though
scarred Thy boards and yellow is Thy page, No other book can ever be for me So
loved a guide.
MASONS' MARKS AND MARK MASONRY
BY BRO. CHARLES A. CONOVER. MORTON
(CONTINUED FROM DECEMBER)
THE MASON'S MARK
HEN the enquiring Master Mason seeks for still "further
light in Masonry" he is informed that the next group of degrees to which he is
eligible is those of the chapter and the first one consists of Mark Master
Mason. The very name "Mark" is at once suggestive to him as he undoubtedly
remembers his first school experience when sent to the blackboard to "mark."
It has occurred to me that a short history or resume of
the "Mark," that is the Mason's Mark, its early use and its appropriation by the
"operatives" whereby their work might be known and designated, and then later
when symbolically appropriated by the "speculatives" when evolving the
ceremonies which have now come to be known as the degree of Mark Master, might
be of interest to the majority of the Craft readers. These articles are not
claimed by the writer as original but they are gathered from such sources as
have been available in a very hasty preparation. It is hoped, however, that
they may not be entirely uninteresting to you. I acknowledge my indebtedness to
the Iowa Masonic Library for many references.
In an extended article on "Masons' Marks" by R. W.
Brother Chas. Aburrow, P. D. G., in the Masonic Journal of South Africa, is a
list of some 34 groups of Marks selected from as many different locations. These
were collected and published by Prof. G. Godwin in a paper read before the Royal
Institute of British Architects in 1868. These Marks extend over many
centuries of time and have been gathered from buildings in many climes. These
embrace the Great Pyramids of Gizeh; Churches in the Holy Land; Pompeii; the
Doge's Palace, Venice; Roman Altars in England; Yorkshire; Kenilworth; Sussex;
Lincoln Cathedral; Leicester; Canterbury Cathedral; Haddon Hall; Yarmouth; Bray;
Great Briton; an old Minute Book of the "Court of the Bricklayers and Tylers
Company," those signing the book in 1580 also appended their Marks; Glasgow
Cathedral Crypt; Ireland, St. Mary's Youghal, 13th Century; Strasburg Cathedral;
France; St. Michall's Dijon, Notre Dame; Tyrol, Botzen; Switzerland, Lausanne
Cathedral; Geneva Cathedral; Sweden, Upsala Cathedral; Germany, Cathedral
Munster; Austria, St. Stephen's; Spain, San Ysidor, Santiago de Compostella, St.
Maria; Portugal, Church of St. Francis, St. Cross, etc. These Marks as
illustrated form all possible combinations of lines and figures. The most
striking feature is the similarity found in several countries and in different
centuries.
In a letter from Prof. Godwin to the Society of
Antiquaries, he says: "The Marks of which we are speaking, it can perhaps hardly
be doubted, were made
chiefly to distinguish the work of different
individuals. At the present time the man who works a stone (being different from
the man who sets it) makes his Mark on the bed or internal face of it, so that
it may be identified.
"The fact, however, that in the ancient buildings it is
only a certain number of the stones which bear symbols, and that the Marks found
in different countries (although the variety is great) are in many cases
identical, and in all have a tendency to show that the men who employed them did
so by system, and that the system, if not the same, was closely analogous in one
country to that of the others."
In Portugal, however, going further than this, it would
seem to have been urged that these signs were symbolical, and were used as means
of recognition by the Freemasons, who, as some believed, traveled over Central
Europe, exercising their art. I may here mention that the principal object of
the Chevalier's Memoir is to show that the opinion of those who have believed
that these Marks have a Masonic significance cannot be admitted. He writes:
"Why should the Freemasons, who traveled to execute
their labours in a body, each accompanied by his family, have placed these signs
upon the stones, since each one knew the other for his partner? For none but
those initiated or affiliated to their lodges were permitted to help in the
construction of those beautiful edifices; thus enabling them to protect each
other reciprocally as loyal brothers, and, above all, to keep amongst themselves
the secrets of their art. Why, then, show these Marks to all the world (as it
was said) if they were simply used with the intention of making themselves known
as Freemasons, when every workman knew the other as a brother? And besides,
would they have been permitted to make public these signs if they were really
those of the order into which they had been admitted? Again, if these signs were
really characteristic of the Masonic order, they ought, without doubt, to be
identical on all buildings, because the hieroglyphic alphabet, or scale, being
composed of a limited number of figures, and Masonry having at the
commencement but a single rite, the sign would have been reserved for the most
urgent cases for recognition or correspondence, and never employed uselessly or
exposed to the observation of the profane."
Prof. Godwin concludes his writings on this interesting
theme by saying: "No circumstance which promises to throw even the smallest
additional light on the early history of those wonderful men to whom we are
indebted for so many magnificent buildings can be deemed insignificant or
unworthy of consideration, and I think we, as Freemasons, having a deep interest
in this subject, certainly agree with him."
In "The Builder," year 1863, April 4 and IS, June and
July issues, Mr. John E. Dove wrote four articles on "Geometrical and Other
Symbols," which cover a very wide area of research, extending outside the realms
of the particular subject we are considering, but still, from its affinity,
giving useful light on the origin of "Masons' Marks."
The author says: "There is sufficient evidence that some
of these symbols have been extensively and generally used, both in ancient and
modern times, and both amongst Eastern and Western nations, singular accordance
in character, seems as well as amongst heathen and Christian communities."
In the second and third articles (April 18 and June 6)
frequent reference is made to the early writings of Prof. Godwin and other
writers in connection with "Masons' Marks."
The fourth article (July 11) deals with the
psychological phase of Freemasonry and ancient religious mysteries in general,
which is best read and thought over by the Mason in the quietude of his own
sanctum.
The following extracts from "The History of
Freemasonry," by the late Bro. R. F. Gould, are instructive. Volume 2, Chapter
9.
In 1841 to 1843, M. Didron, of Paris, communicated a
series of observations on Marks to the "Comite Historique des Arts et
Monuments." He says it is generally thought these Marks divide themselves into
two classes those of the overseers and those of the men who worked the stones.
The Marks of the first class consist generally of monogrammatic characters, and
are placed separately on the stones; those of the second class partake more of
the nature of symbols, such as shoes, trowels, mallets, etc.
Bro. Gould says: "It was a law in St. Ninian's Lodge No.
66, at Brechin, that every Mason should register his Mark in a book, and he
could not change that Mark at pleasure." To the inquiry, on what principle
these Marks were formed, Scottish Masons generally replied: "That they probably
had in early times a meaning now unknown, and are still regarded with a sort of
reverence; that the only rule for their formation is, that they shall have at
least one angle; that the circle must be avoided, and cannot be a true Mason's
mark unless in combination with some line that shall form an angle with it; that
there is no distinction of rank that is, that there is no particular class of
Marks set apart for and assigned to Master Masons as distinguished from their
workmen; and if it should happen that two Masons, meeting at the same work from
distant parts, should have the same Mark, then one must for a time assume a
distinction, or, as Herolds say, a difference."
The Irish Craftsmen and Masons of the middle ages, it is
said, not only had private Marks, but also a dialect called "Bearlagair-na-Sair,"
which was unknown to any but the initiated of their own callings; and the
writer, who is responsible for this statement, asserts that this dialect is
still in use among Masons (though not exclusively confined to them) in the
counties of Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Cork.
Upon the question as to whether or not Marks were
heritable by descent from father to son, the highest authority on Scottish
Masonry says: "We have been able to discover in the Mary Chapel records only one
instance of a Craftsman having adopted his deceased father's Mark."
Mr. Lyon continues: "Whatever may have been their
original significance as exponents of a secret language, a position which is
assigned to them by some writers, there is no ground for believing that in the
choice of these Marks the sixteenth century Masons were guided by any
consideration of their symbolical quality, or of their relation to the
propositions of Euclid."
Bro. Gould says as follows:
"A view which has been very generally received is that
the short-hand signatures or markings which Masons have for centuries been in
the habit of cutting on the stones wrought or hewn by them, may be all included
in two classes he false or blind Mark of the Apprentice, displaying an equal
number of points, and the true Mark of the Fellow Craft or passed Mason,
consisting of an unequal number of points. Indeed, the late Mr. E. W. Shaw, who
had made a collection of 11,000 Marks, professed his ability to discriminate
between the Marks of the Master Masons, Fellow Crafts and Apprentices and the
'blind Marks,' as he termed them of those hired to work, but who were not
members of the Guild. Two Marks not unfrequently occur on the same stone,
showing, according to one view, that it had been hewn by the Apprentice, and
finished or passed as correct by the Mason; and, in the opinion of other
authorities, that the second Mark belonged to the overseer.
I can recommend all Masons to read this exhaustive
article on "Masons' Marks," and especially would call your attention to the
plate or diagram of Marks given, and the detailed description of same.
"History of Freemasonry," by Mackey and Singleton,
Masons' Marks (see Chapter 24.) Mr. Godwin's works are therein often referred
to, and many other writers are quoted from, and the whole subject of Marks and
their history is fully dealt with. This work will well repay your study.
In "Symbols and Legends of Freemasonry," J Finlay
Finlayson says:
"It was a custom among Operative Masons that each
individual artisan should have his special 'Mark,' a signature to identify
himself with his works. This Mark, for the greater part, consisted of new
arrangements of old geometrical forms, which were peculiar to the Craft,
reproducing in the main symbols of the greatest antiquity with such developments
and variations as the skill or genius of the Craftsman might suggest."
The late Bro. T. Hayter Lewis read a long paper,
"Masonry and Masons' Marks," before the Lodge Quatuor Coronati. This is given in
Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Volume 3, 1890.
MASONS' MARKS AND MARK MASONRY
Mark Man or Mark Master depends less on tradition to
establish its antiquity and has more corroborative history than any other
degree, and is considered the oldest in Masonry. It preceded the Master's degree
by just so much time as was necessary to make a perfect workman or mechanic out
of an apprentice or beginner, and was specialized by means of a Mark.
In the beginning the Mark was used only in order that
the stone might be set in its proper place, but afterward, as the number of
workmen increased, some proficient, some otherwise, it became necessary, in
order to trace inferior work to its proper source, to require the private Mark
of each workman, also and later on for a more specific reason. It became the
heriage handed down from father to son, each family Mark being identified by
some peculiar variation, or additional symbol, that was unvarying in location
and character. These Marks exist in profusion; they can be found on the stones
of the most ancient buildings, those on the Castle of Richmond, built in 1052,
being still easily decipherable.
MARKS OF TIDE CRAFT
In former times Operative Masons, the "Steinmetzen" of
Germany, were accustomed to place some mark or sign of their own invention
which, like the monogram of the painters, would seem to identify the work of
each. They are to be found upon the cathedrals, churches, castles, and other
stately buildings erected since the twelfth century, or a little earlier, in
Germany, France, England, and Scotland. As Mr. Godwin has observed in his
History in Ruins, it is curious to see that these Marks are of the same
character in form, in all these different countries. They were principally
crosses, triangles, and other mathematical figures, and many of them were
religious symbols.
In 1843 "The Builder," an architectural magazine
published in England, had two articles of much interest on the subject of
Masons' Marks and I take pleasure in reproducing portions. The first is an
article carrying the general title of this chapter.
Masons' Marks as a phrase, and in themselves, will be to
many a mystery and hieroglyphics; but this is the title we choose to give to a
brief notice of a subject which we must at a more leisure period more largely
enter upon. We have been reading two published letters of Mr. George Godwin's
on "Certain Marks discoverable on the Stones of various Buildings erected in the
Middle Ages," which letters are the subject of a communication by that
gentleman to the Society of Antiquaries, through Sir Henry Ellisall honored
names, and not least so that of the author of these letters. Mr. Godwin is yet
but a young man, but he has, by the indefatigable and earnest exercise of a
fitting talent, managed to associate his name with some of the most interesting
researches and doings in art that have engaged our attention for the last seven
years; and we sincerely hope that his future career may be the appropriate
continuance of so much promise at setting out. In these letters he brings to
view some 160 specimens of Masons' Marks, from various edifices of the Middle
Ages, from Gloucester, Bristol, and Cologne Cathedrals, from various abbeys and
churches in England and on the Continent, and from Punic inscriptions found upon
the site of Carthage.
MARK OF THE CRAFT REGULAR
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