The Development of the Trigradal System

[Tamrin]

The Development of the Trigradal System (The Prestonian Lecture 1925) by Bro. Lionel Vibert P.A.G.D.C.
Prepared in this format by Bro. Mike Lawrence, Freemasons are Us

The Development of the Trigradal System – Part 1 of 6 (excerpt):

The Three Degrees, as we have them in the Craft today, are a development at the hands of speculative craftsmen of a Gild system which consisted originally, as far as we can ascertain, of a simple oath of admission for the apprentice, a lad in his teens, and a formal ceremony of admission to full membership, with possibly a secret rite associated with the mastership. By the days of Grand Lodge this had come to be a system of two degrees only, the Acceptance and the Master’s Part. In, or just before 1725 the Acceptance was divided up to form the E.A. and F.C. degrees, and by 1730 the trigradal system was definitely established. But the form of working which we practice today cannot be said to have come into existence until after the ritual had been agreed on by the Lodge of Reconciliation. That ritual was rehearsed at the Especial Meeting of Grand Lodge, held on the 20th May, 1816, but it is probably the case that the Lodge of Reconciliation did not arrange a set form of words for the whole of each ceremony and did not intend to do so.

The Development of the Trigradal System – Part 2 of 6

The Development of the Trigradal System – Part 3 of 6

The Development of the Trigradal System – Part 4 of 6

The Development of the Trigradal System – Part 5 of 6

The Development of the Trigradal System – Part 6 of 6