It is the duty
of a builder to carry out the plans put into his hands according to stipulated
terms. He can justify no departure from these specifications, on the plea
that something else will do as well. Being employed to do a certain piece
of work in a certain way, he has no right to substitute his own notions for
those of his employers.
When the workman commences to learn his trade, he places himself as an apprentice
under some first class builder; then, after a thorough training, he becomes
a master workman. Upon his skill depend his bread, shelter, and clothing;
if he has spent his time profitably while an apprentice, his success will
be assured. He must be acquainted with the qualities of all the different
kinds of material, and be very particular what kind of material he uses. This
is illustrated by a story I read when a small girl. It was about some ship-builders
who used two small pieces of worm-eaten wood. The ship was very beautiful,
and admired by every one. It sailed on the ocean many years. But, remember,
those two pieces of worm-eaten wood were in the ship, and the worms had not
been idle. In due time this beautiful vessel and many lives were lost, all
from two bad pieces of wood, used by careless workmen.
In erecting buildings, first the foundation is laid. The necessity for a solid
foundation has been so often discussed that it does not seem necessary to
emphasize this point. After the foundation comes the structure. If a frame
building, the rafters are next put up. How careful the builders must be in
fitting and joining together every piece so as to have the work properly done.
Think how long our State Capitol was in building, and what a number were at
work! Now we have a beautiful structure, one of which Georgia can justly be
proud.
Each of us is employed, not simply in building a structure made of wood or
brick, but in building this great republic. School-mates, you will not be
surprised when I say that some of the responsibilities of this building depend
on you. You can help make the world what you would have it, because "Woman
rules man and man rules the world." Thus it is very necessary that woman
should possess all the qualities belonging to a good and honorable life.
Some one has said, "The prosperity of a country depends not on the strength
of its fortifications, nor the beauty of its public buildings, but it consists
in the number of its cultivated citizens, its men of education, culture, and
true moral worth; here are to be found its true interest, its chief strength,
its real power." Then to be true builders we must be educated, enlightened,
and moral. Education does not consist alone in what we get from books. There
must be education of the hand, the head, and, most important of all, the heart.
Our hands must be trained to do well everything that needs to be done; our
hearts to prompt us to perform all duties faithfully and keep the feet ever
in the path of duty.
The educated, however, are not always the chief builders: because to be a
chief builder in this great structure, we must not only be cultivated citizens,
but we must have true moral worth. A man may be accomplished in art, literature,
and science; and yet in honesty, virtue, truthfulness, and the spirit of duty,
be worse than any poor and ignorant man. Intellectual capacity is sometimes
associated with the meanest moral character. Then to be a successful builder
we must be educated, enlightened, and of true moral character. We must be
fully equipped for the work, and use every opportunity in helping others to
build. We should not be selfish workmen and keep what we know to ourselves.
Those that are prepared should help to prepare others.
Do not start too soon, but remain an apprentice until you are prepared. The
great trouble is that the majority of workmen are not prepared. We do not
know just how to start in helping others. We know enough, but do not know
how to use what we know.
When I first began teaching, I was told by the commissioner to open school
at eight o'clock in the morning and close at four in the afternoon. I had
six scholars - a large number to begin with in cotton-picking time. So I began
teaching a few minutes after devotions, and, with the exception of a few minutes'
recess, I heard these six recite all day, with "The book right up before
their eyes, shutting out all nature and its beauty." At last, one of
the little girls, worried out with the book, remarked, "I never saw a
teacher like you; you want to learn us all in one day." That child, though
saucy, was perfectly right; teachers should be stopped when they overtax children
in that way, even though the children themselves have to warn the teacher.
A few days after this, a little boy that had never been to school before was
sent to me. I had to teach him the a, b, c's. When the time came for his lesson
he could say as far as c and no farther. After being helped to the letter
g he thought the next letter must be haw, so he said, "g haw." He
had heard his father say "gee haw" when plowing, so he thought if
g was a letter, haw must be one, too. If he had been shown the picture of
some object and then taught to spell the word, and so on until all the letters
in the alphabet had been learned, it would have been so much better.
Teachers are doing more good and moulding more character than any other class.
A man holding any prominent position, who does not know how to teach, is unfit
for the position. Doctors, judges, lawyers, and ministers all teach in their
way. Teachers are performing the chief work in building this structure. You
that are trying to elevate this race have a greater amount of work to do than
any others. The Negro problem has been the great question for the last score
of years, but the best way to solve it is by education. The true Negro teacher
will give himself wholly to the elevation of this, our people. Teach them
to love work, and, above all, teach them to save. They have the whole world
to gain. Goldsmith says:
"Nature, a mother kind alike to all,
Still grants her bliss at labor's earnest call."
"Master
Builder," Spelman Messenger 8.4 (February 1892): 3.
Courtesy of the Spelman College Archive