The impression which the newly made Mason acquires of the fraternity is formed almost wholly from that which he derives from the presentation of the ritual. The ritual may be said to be of two kinds; the esoteric, which is never put in legible form but is communicated from mouth to ear, and the monitorial portion consisting of that part which deals in a general. way with the symbolism of the society and for convenience is usually issued in printed form. Because of the great stress which has always been placed upon the ritual, it has been a difficult matter for the average Mason to separate it from the fundamentals of the society.

The ritual employed at the time of the revival of Masonry in 1717 was undoubtedly very crude. It was lacking in exact language and its presentation depended largely upon the literary ability of the presiding officer. If his talents were sufficient to permit him to dilate upon the various phases presented, it assumed a most interesting and entertaining a character, otherwise it was meagre and barren. Simultaneously with the issuance of the first Book of Constitutions, Dr. James Anderson and Dr. Desaguliers devoted themselves to the arrangement of the Masonic lectures, putting them into questions and answers after the form of catechisms employed by the Church. In the meantime the fraternity was progressing and a revision of the Anderson Lectures was called for in order to correct certain imperfections. This work was intrusted to Martin Clair, who afterwards became Deputy Grand Master. He added a few scriptural admonitions and is also credited with an allusion to the five human senses. A few years later Thomas Dunckerley, who was regarded as the most intelligent Freemason of his day and who possessed no small amount of literary ability greatly extended and improved the lectures. He introduced very many Christian allusions. The lectures of Dunckerley were the standard in England until the year 1763 when the Rev. William Hutchinson, revised and improved them. He set up the claim that the third degree was distinctly Christian and that the three degrees referred to the three great dispensations namely: the Patriarchial, the Mosaic and the Christian. In the Hutchinson lectures are presented, for the first time the three great pillars, Wisdom, strength, and beauty. This ritualist also is credited with having introduced the four cardinal virtues and their teachings.

Two men were more largely responsible for the evolution of the ritual of Freemasonry than any others. These were William Preston of England and Thomas Smith Webb of America. To these Craftsmen Masonry is deeply indebted for much of the ritual of the present time. It is true that there have been others who have contributed to its development but for the most part their contributions have consisted merely of extensions or amplifications of Preston and Webb who laid the foundations and made possible whatever element of success, or power of charm is to be found in the work of the present day.

William Preston was born at Edinburgh in 1742. His father, being a gentleman of culture, saw to it that the education of his son was not neglected. The training given the youth, especially prepared him for the important work which he was later on to perform in the interest of Masonry.

Preston was made a Mason in 1772 in a lodge meeting at the White Hart in the Strand. The lodge in which Preston was initiated was not recognized by the Grand Lodge of England but later went over and became a constituent of the legitimate Grand Lodge. He was in due time elected Master and made it his business to fully inform himself concerning the general rules of the society in order that he might discharge his duties to the very best of his ability. One of his first acts was to enforce discipline and this with certain other changes in the manner of procedure which he adopted led to the charge being made against him that he was introducing innovations into the society. Altho beset by many discouragements and embarrassed by the criticisms of the poorly informed, Preston persisted and wherever instruction could be acquired, thither he directed his way. He even sought conversation with the most experienced Masons from other countries. In due time, he became an authority upon Masonry. He convened his friends once or twice a week and revealed to them that which lie had learned with the result that his lectures commenced to be popular, so much so, that in 1772 a Grand Banquet was given him at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand at which officers of the Grand Lodge of England were present as well as many other distinguished members of the Craft: On this occasion Preston delivered a lecture on Masonry, which was so well received that it was printed in the first edition of the illustrations of Masonry published by him near the close of that year.

So successful had he been thus far that he applied himself with even greater zeal in the interests of Freemasonry. He employed skillful brethren at his own expense to visit different towns and country lodges for die purpose of gaining all the information that was possible. In due time, he arranged his system of Masonic lectures in which were embodied many of the ritualistic gems which are heard in every Masonic Lodge at the present time.

It is to him that Masonry owes the extended system of catechisms now so much in vogue. It is true that Pres ton did not originate this particular method of imparting Masonic in struction, both Anderson and Desaguliers having used it. The catechetical form was probably derived from that of the church being patterned after the manner of questions and answers. Findel in his history gives what is alleged to be the examination of a German Stone Mason, which he declared to have been in use in the Fourteenth Century and which is in the form of questions and answers.

Dr. Oliver claimed to be in possession of what purported to he a formula, which he alleged to have been used during the Grand Mastership of Archbishop Chichely, in the reign of Henry VI, and from which (Rem. of a Sq., page II), he makes the following extracts:

"Q. Peace be here? A. I hope there is. Q. What o'clock is it? A. It is going to six, or going to twelve. Q. Are you very busy? A. No. Q. Will you give or take? A. Both; or which you please. Q. How go squares? A. Straight. Q. Are you rich or poor? A. Neither. Q. Change me that? A. I will. Q. In the name of the King and Holy Church, are you a Mason? A. I am so taken to be. Q. What is a Mason? A. A man begot by a man, born of a woman, brother of a king. Q. What is a fellow? A. A companion of a prince, etc."

Preston continued to be the great Masonic Luminary until December 17, 1777. At that time the Lodge of Antiquity of which he was Master determined to observe the festival of St. John by forming a procession and marching to St. Dunstan's Church a short distance from the tavern where the Lodge met. It appears that at that time all Masonic processions were prohibited by the Grand Lodge of England, without special dispensation. This Preston did not think necessary to procure and in due time, lie with nine of his brethren assembled at the place of meeting, invested themselves with Masonic regalia and marched to the place of worship, and listened to a sermon. These audacious brethren then returned to the Lodge Room. The Grand Lodge of England upon learning of the incident, expelled Preston and several of his companions from the fraternity. Ten years later he was restored to his honors and dignities and again resumed his labors for the advancement of the society. He died at the age of 76, on April 1, 1818. Notwithstanding the humiliation caused him by the fraternity he left $1500, the proceeds therefrom to be devoted to teaching the work and lectures as arranged by him. He also left $2500 to the Masonic charities of the Grand Lodge of England.

The expansion of the Masonic ritual in America is largely due to the labors of Thomas Smith Webb. This distinguished Craftsman was born in Massachusetts in 1771. He received an excellent education and at once took up the trade of a printer. He was initiated in Rising Sun Lodge of Keene, New Hampshire, in 1792. He very early commenced his work as a Masonic teacher and during his life gave much of his spare time to the cause of the Craft. In 1797, he published the first edition of his Freemason's Monitor or Illustrations o f Masonry. He acknowledges in the preface of his book, his great indebtedness to Preston for the observations of the first three degrees but very frankly states that he rearranged Preston's system for the reason that it was not agreeable to the mode of working in America. The Work of Webb, however, possesses much originality and shows that while that which he accomplished was influenced more or less by the Prestonian system of lectures, yet he did not follow it accurately. In 1801 Webb removed to Providence, R. I., and in due time became Grand Master of the State.

His death occurred on July 6, 1819, at Cleveland, Ohio, from an attack of apoplexy. Webb has been referred to as the ablest Masonic ritualist of his day. He laid the basis of the present system of work and lectures in America and while his knowledge of philosophy and symbolism was far from profound, yet his ritualistic skill and devotion to the cause resulted very largely in advancing the fraternity.

In 1810, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts formally adopted the Webb-Preston ritual, and this marked the beginning of the growth of the ritual in America. The doctrines of Freemasonry are the same wherever Freemasonry is found.

The ritual, however, varies greatly in the Masonic jurisdictions of the world, due to the fact that in each Grand Lodge its development has been left to the caprices and inventive genius of the individuals who were charged with its care and propagation. For this reason there is great variance in the. ritual of Masonry and it can be truthfully said that no two jurisdictions use work which is identical. The signs and modes of recognition are practically the same the world over. In some places the degrees are short and embody only those essentials which were common to the fraternity in its early periods. In other jurisdictions the work is made very elaborate by the injection into it of lengthy paragraphs all the conception of some ritual builder, who imagined that that which he had to present, not only was a highly desired embellishment, but added much to the real value of the work.

The lecture as given by the Senior Deacon in the State of New York, in the Second Degree is extremely long, in which are extended dissertations upon the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences. In a number of Western jurisdictions there is quite a long lecture in the Third Degree on the nine classes of emblems, which is not at all used by some of the older Grand Lodges of the East.

In Pennsylvania the drama of the Third Degree is very simple and is enacted by the Master and Wardens from their respective stations, after which the story is told to the candidate resulting in his final raising as a Master Mason. In the State of Illinois the second section of the Master's degree has been highly dramatized so much so that its presentation requires actors of ability.

Originally the Hiramic legend or the story of the Master Builder was merely related as a story and was given in this form as a part of the Third Degree for many years. Its dramatization with its character actors, costumes, and various trappings is merely the result of modern ritualistic extension.

In an article entitled "The cause of Divergence in Ritual" by Roscoe Pound, a distinguished writer of Massachusetts, the following reasons are assigned for the very great differences existing in the rituals of the several jurisdictions. They are as follows:

1. Masonry was transplanted to this country while the ritual was still formative in many respects in England.

2. There were several foci, and as it were, several sub-foci, of Masonry in the United States, from each of which was transmitted its own version of what it received.

3. The schism of ancients and moderns which obtained in England in the last half of the Eighteenth Century, led to two rituals in this country during the formative period of American Masonry, and later these were fused in varying degrees in different jurisdictions.

4. It was not until the end of the Eighteenth Century in England, and not until the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century in this country, that literal knowledge of the work was regarded as of paramount importance. Moreover complete uniformity of work does not obtain in England, where two distinct schools perpetuate the work as taught by ancient Masonic teachers of the first part of the last century.

5. New Grand Lodges were formed in this country by the union of Lodges chartered from different states, and these unions gave rise to all sorts of combinations.

6. Each jurisdiction, when it established a Grand Lodge, became independent and preserved its ritual as it had received it, or made it over by way of compromise or worked it out, as a possession of its own.

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