The Builder Magazine

January 1921 - Volume VII - 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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Entered as Second-Class Matter January 2, 1911, at the Post Offlce, Anaconda, Iowa, under the Act of August 24, 1912.

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All Articles in  Copyright 1921 by the National Masonic Research Society.

 

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

 

In the Mark degree there is a certain stone which is said, in the ritual, not to have upon it "the regular mark of the Craft." This expression is derived from the following tradition of the degree: At the building of the Temple, each workman placed his own Mark upon his own materials, so that the workmanship of every Mason might be readily distinguished, and praise or blame be justly awarded. These Marks, according to the lectures, consisted of mathematical figures, squares, angles, lines, and perpendiculars, and hence any figure of a different kind, such as a circle, would not be deemed "the regular mark of the Craft." Of the three stones used in the Mark degree, one is inscribed with a square and another with a plumb or perpendicular, be­cause these were marks familiar to the Craft; but the third, which is inscribed with a circle and certain hiero­glyphics, was not known, and was not, therefore, called "regular." (A'. G. Mackey).

 

MASONS' MARKS

 

Extracts from Robt. F. Gould's History of Free­masonry:

 

That Workmen have been accustomed to mark the pro­duct of their labor from very early times is indisputable.

 

In default of stone, the Chaldeans used bricks, sometimes of unbaked clay hardened by the heat of the sun. The curious archaic characters with which they stamped on the bricks the name of the god or goddess to whom it was dedicated, taken separately, might very well pass for Masons' Marks of a later age. Like the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, in all probability, stamped the inscription upon their bricks with a solid stamp. But, unlike the Chaldeans, who impressed the characters on a small square near the center of the broad faces of the bricks, the writing of the Assyrians either cov­ered the whole face or ran along the edge.

 

The Babylonians, like the early Chaldeans, seem to have almost entirely used bricks in their construction and like them impressed the inscription on the broad face of the brick, in a square with a solid stamp; but the Egyptians traced their Marks upon the bricks with the finger, and in the great pyramid of King Cheops, the Masons' Marks are scrawled in red pigment.

 

Each Roman brick-maker had his Mark, such as the figure of a god, a plant or an animal, encircled by his own name. After careful investivation and consideration by eminent Hebrews and others, their conclusions are that the Marks on the Temple stones at Jerusalem are only quarry marks because of the fact that the same Marks appear on the stones at the Port of Sidon and are Phoenician. How­ever, the investigations by the historians and archaeologists confirm the scriptural text that Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders together hewed the stones. Their further conclusions are that we can not be too careful when consid­ering letters, syllables or characters, lest we mistake chance or idle amusement markings for important data. With this in view, probably nothing would have more astonished the workmen of past ages than the interpretation which has been placed on their ancient signatures. For any practi­cable purpose, large collections and comparing Marks are alone valuable in determining whether the same workmen were employed to any great extent upon buildings in the same countries.

 

LETTER II.

 

Dear Sir:In the month of December, 1841, I had the pleasure of laying before the society some observa­tions on the fact, that the stones both inside and out­side numerous ancient buildings in England and France, bear, in many cases, peculiar Marks or symbols, appar­ently the work of the original builders. Since then I have had an opportunity of examining the Cathedral of Cologne, and some other sacred edifices in that city, where I found many similar Marks. Copies of some of these, half real size, I beg leave to forward with this letter, in order that they may be compared with the diagrams previously sent.

 

In length they vary from 11/2 to 2 inches. They are not so deeply cut in as those already spoken of, nor are they formed by so wide a line, but nevertheless they are all remarkably clear and distinct. More order is perceptible in the position of the Marks in the in­terior of this Cathedral than I have elsewhere ob­served; for example, they appear with considerable regularity up the center of the four chief members of each of the great clusters of columns dividing the nave and aisles; and they commence at a certain height from the ground, nearly uniformly.

 

Monsieur Didron, of Paris, it seems, has communi­cated a series of observations on these Marks to the Comite Historique des Arts et Monuments. He has found them at Strasburgh, Spire, Worms, Rheims, Basle, and elsewhere, and believes he can discover in them reference to distinct schools or lodges of Masons. The Marks collected by M. Didron divide themselves, according to his opinion, 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. It is stated that at Rheims, in one of the portals, the lowest of the stones forming one of the arcades, is marked with a kind of monogrammatic character, and the outline of the sole of a shoe. The stone above it has the same character, and two soles of shoes; the third the same character and three soles and so all around the arcade. The shoe mark he found also at Strasburgh, and nowhere else, and accounts for this by the fact, that parts of the Cathedral of Rheims were executed by Masons fetched from Strasburgh.

 

The committee either have published, or are about to publish, a set of instructions to their correspondents on this point, with plates of the Marks already collected, in order that they may obtain additional informa­tion and means of comparison.

 

Strengthened by this proceeding on their part in my belief before expressed, that the observation and collection of these Marks may ultimately aid in eluci­dating the history of the Free Masons, I feel encouraged to bring the subject again before the society, which otherwise I should not have done.

 

- The lamented Mr. Rokewode, in a paper on the dedication and consecration of churches, printed in the twenty-fifth volume of the Arehaeologia, observes that "the ancient altar stone, known by the crosses graven in the center and at the angles, is now frequently to be found in our churches, generally applied to sepulchral purposes. The crosses upon it were intended to mark the spots anointed with chrism,and if I do not mis­take, this was the object of the crosses once inlaid with metal, cut in the external walls of some churches, as in the Cathedral of Salisbury, and the Churches of Edindon in Wilts, Cannington in Somersetshire, and Brent Pelham in Herts. It may also be observed, that on one of the Norman Pillars in New Shoreham church, are two Jerusalem crosses, probably graven on the oc­casion of the dedication."

 

Mr. Sydney Smirke, in a paper which follows the last quoted, and illustrates it from the church of St. John at Syracuse, refers to a pontifical printed at Rome in 1595, and now in the British Museum, where the Bishop is enjoined to mark with his thumb dipped in the chrism, twelve crosses on the walls of the church and others on the door, and altar. It further provides that these crosses are to be at the height of 7 feet 5 inches above the floor.

 

I do not quote these observations with the view of showing an immediate connection between any relig­ious ceremonies and the Marks in question. They may, however, be deemed to bear, although slightly, upon the subject; and therefore they are introduced; the more so, too, perhaps because in searching for Marks at Furness Abbey (where they abound), a large cross, 14 inches high, and 14 inches wide, was found, cut on the external face of a stone, at the east end of the church, as represented at the head of this extract.

 

The Marks of which we are especially 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 other 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, that the Marks found in different countries (although the variety is great), are in many cases iden­tical, and in all have a singular accordance in character, seems to show that the men who employed them did so by system, and that the system, if not the same in England, Germany, and France, was closely analogous in one country to that of the others.

 

Moreover, many of the signs are evidently relig­ious and symbolical, and agree fully with our notions of the body of men known as the Free Masons.

 

With reference to the religious characters of asso­ciated Masons in very early times (times much earlier than any of the works already mentioned belong to), I am induced to allude to a curious MS. account of the proceedings of four sculptors who worked "in the name of the Lord." It is in No. 91 of the Arundel MSS. at

 

1921

 

MASONS' MARKS AND MARK MASONRY

 

the British Museum, deseribed as "Sanctorum vitae miracula, et martyria," and is to be found at folie 218, headed, "Claudii Sociumq. ejus." It commences thus: "At the time Diocletian was Emperor, various metallic substances were cut by the Pannonians from the moun­tains in his presence. It came to pass that when he had collected all the workers in metal, he found amongst those endowed with great skill in art certain men named Claudius, Castor, Simphorianus, and Nico­stratus, who were wonderful in the art of masonry. These men were secretly Christians, observing the com­mandments of the Lord, and, wh