The 18th Century Genesis of our 'Peculiar System'

A Masonic Talk by Clive Moore. 16 A5 pages including illustrations, plus illustrated covers.

During the 18th century Freemasonry developed from its original fairly simple premiss, into the 'peculiar system of morality' we know today. It would still retain the lodge format, working tools, and Old Charges borrowed from operative stonemasonry; but its speculative aspects blossomed, with much longer more esoteric Degree and installation ceremonies, and the addition of the Royal Arch. The key elements of the present Craft ritual were then in place; although not entirely in their present form, it was not until the 19th century that much of the original Degree lectures was moved into our present extended floor workings.

This booklet was written in response to a specific question asked of the author during the tercentenary celebrations of Anderson's 1723 Constitutions, 'What impact did those Constitutions have upon our ritual?'. In the booklet he describes how the Craft ritual developed in the 18th century and the many factors that influenced it, but was Anderson's Constitutions one of them?