THE PRESTONIAN LECTURE

by Akram R. Elias | Past Grand Master

The Prestonian Lecture is the only lecture given under the authority of the United Grand Lodge of England. William Preston (1742-1818), regarded as the foremost Masonic educator of his time, left a legacy to provide for an Annual Lectureship.

The preamble to the list of Prestonian Lectures which appears in each Grand Lodge of England Masonic Year Book is set out below:

‘‘During his lifetime William Preston developed an elaborate system of masonic instruction which was practised in association with the Lodge of Antiquity of which he was at one time Master. At his death in 1818, Preston bequeathed to Grand Lodge the sum of £300 for the perpetuation of his system of instruction… Lectures in accordance with this system were delivered from 1820 until 1862, when the Lectureship was permitted to lapse. In 1924 the Prestonian Lectureship was revived with a modification to the original Scheme, the lecturer now submitting a Masonic subject of his own selection, and with the exception of the war years, 1940-1946, regular appointments have been made annually since 1924 to the present day.’’

The selection procedure for lecturers was altered in 2018 and the Provincial Grand Masters, Metropolitan Grand Master and the Secretary of Quatuor Coronati Lodge now submit names of possible lecturers. Those put forward provide a synopsis of their proposed lecture by September, the synopses are reviewed in November, and the lecturer selected the following May, announced in June, and invested in December at that Quarterly

Communication of Grand Lodge. The lectureship lasts for one calendar year.

On the occasion of The Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the United Grand Lodge of England approved at its Quarterly Communication on June 8, 2022, my appointment as the Prestonian Lecturer for the year 2023. I delivered the lecture titled The 1723 Constitutions: The Indispensable Trowel; Cementing America’s Foundations at Freemasons’ Hall in London at an Especial Meeting of the United Grand Lodge of England on January 31, 2023.

I have already presented the Lecture at The William Preston Lodge No. 766 in London on March 23, 2023, and at the Annual Banquet of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut on March 31, 2023.

Being a Prestonian Lecturer comes with the requirement and/or expectation to present the lecture at four Lodges that are selected officially by the United Grand Lodge of England. In my case, I will be presenting the Lecture at the following English Lodges:

• Durham Lodge of Installed Master No. 444, Durham, England

• Cornucopia Lodge of Provincial Grand Stewards of Derbyshire No 9925, Derby, England

• Methuen Lodge No 8692 in Swindon, England

• British Lodge No. viii in London, England

Furthermore, I have been asked to give my Prestonian

Lecture this year at the following institutions:

• The Grand Lodge of Ontario, Canada

• The Scottish Rite Research Society at the Biennial Session of the Supreme Council

• Queens’ College at the University of Cambridge, England

• Villard de Honnecourt, the premier research Lodge under the Grande Loge Nationale Française (GLNF)

My Prestonian Lecture: The 1723 Constitutions: The Indispensable Trowel; Cementing America’s Foundations

As an American who is squarely focused on the preservation of freedom and expansion of democratic governance, I address in my Lecture the unique contribution made by Freemasonry and its 1723 Constitutions to the establishment in the United States of a new and extraordinary experiment in human governance.

My Lecture was not designed to list the Freemasons who fought in the War of Independence or those who were signers of the founding documents of the United States. There are numerous books and publications on that subject. Instead, I focus my writing on Freemasonry’s unique contribution to a new construct of society that was necessary for the operational success of the new system of governance established in 1789 in the United States of America.

Then, as a speculative Free-Mason, I explain why and how a renewed focus on the core values and precepts of our Noble Craft framed by the 1723 Constitutions, might reinvigorate and reposition Freemasonry to fulfill its most scared mission of “graduating” free and enlightened citizen builders in the United States.

For a list of previous Prestonian Lectures (1925 – 2019), visit: https://www.quatuorcoronati.com/prestonian-lecturers/ 