THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

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_Lodges_ that met,
1. At the _Goose_ and _Gridiron_ Ale house in _St. Paul's
Church-Yard_.
2. At the _Crown_ Ale-house in _Parker's Lane_ near _Drury
Lane_.
3. At the _Apple-Tree_ Tavern in _Charles-street,
Covent-Garden_.
4. At the _Rummer and Grape_ Tavern in _Channel-Row,
Westminster_.
They and some other old Brothers met at the said _Apple-Tree_,
and having put into the chair the _oldest Master Mason_ (now
the _Master_ of a _Lodge_) they constituted themselves a Grand
Lodge pro Tempore in _Due Form_, and forthwith revived the
Quarterly _Communication_ of the _Officers_ of Lodges (call'd
the GRAND LODGE) resolv'd to hold the _Annual_ Assembly _and
Feast_, and then to chuse a Grand Master from among
themselves, till they should have the Honor of a Noble Brother
at their Head.
Accordingly, on _St. John's Baptist's_ Day, in the 3d year of
King George I, A.D. 1717, the ASSEMBLY and _Feast_ of the
_Free and Accepted Masons_ was held at the foresaid _Goose_
and _Gridiron_ Ale-house.
Before Dinner, the _oldest Master_ Mason (now the _Master_ of
a _Lodge_) in the Chair, proposed a List of proper Candidates;
and the Brethren by a majority of Hands elected Mr. Anthony
Sayer, _Gentleman_, _Grand Master of Masons_ (Mr. _Jacob
Lamball_, Carpenter, Capt. _Joseph Elliot_, Grand Wardens) who
being forthwith invested with the Badges of Office and Power
by the said _oldest Master_, and install'd, was duly
congratulated by the Assembly who paid him the Homage.
Sayer, _Grand Master_, commanded the _Masters_ and _Wardens_
of Lodges to meet the _Grand_ Officers every _Quarter_ in
_Communication_, at the Place that he should appoint in the
Summons sent by the _Tyler_.
So reads the only record that has come down to us of the founding of
the Grand Lodge of England. Preston and others have had no other
authority than this passage for their descriptions of the scene,
albeit when Preston wrote, such facts as he added may have been
learned from men still living. Who were present, beyond the three
officers named, has so far eluded all research, and the only variation
in the accounts is found in a rare old book called _Multa Paucis_,
which asserts that six Lodges, not four, were represented. Looking at
this record in the light of what we know of the Masonry of that
period, a number of things are suggested:
First, so far from being a revolution, the organization of the Grand
Lodge was a revival of the old quarterly and annual Assembly, born,