A Point Of Masonic History.

And we are told , that , " accordingly on St . John the Baptist ' s day , in the third year of King George , A . D . 1717 , the assembly and feast of the Free and Accepted Masons were held at the " Goose and Gridiron" and Mr . Anthony

Sayer was elected by a majority of hands , Grand Master of Masons . Such was in 1738 Anderson ' s history of the Revival which is repeated in Gutick ' s Edition of the Constitutions 1767 , and in Northouek ' s Edition of the Constitution of 1784 ,

Preston ' s first edition of the " Illustrations of Masonry , " appeared in 1772 , in which , however , he does not give us any historical detail whatever of the Revival . His second edition appeared in 1775 , and in that edition , he then

records the Revival . I give his words in extenso partly on account of their somewhat peculiar vagueness , and partly for the purpose of comparison with Anderson's statement on which they are evidently based as he admits himself , in the ninth edition 1796 , page 239 .

"On the accession of George the First , " ( that was as we know in 1714 , as he entered London , September 20 th , 1774 ) , " the lodges resolved to cement under a new Grand Master , to be annually elected as in former times , to

revive the communications and festival of the Society , to regulate the ancient usages and customs of the Fraternity , and to such modes only as might correspond with the practice of the Members of which the lodges Avere now

prmciply composed . " This \ statement of Preston is in itself . ' somewhat vague , and might be prima facie understood to be a meeting of the -Order in 1714 , or 1715 , in anything which appears to the contrary . Indeed the opening clause

of the sentence seems to allude to the contemporary date of 1714 . But then Preston goes on to say "Accordingly on on the festival of St . John the Baptist , in 1717 , a General Assembly of the Fraternity was convened . Four lodges attended in form and a Grand Lodge was constituted , the oldest Mason

present being in the chair , the brethren proceeded to elect a Grand Master for . the ensuing year , when the choice fell upon Anthony Sayer , Gent ., who was declared duly elected . " So far the accounts of Anderson and

Preston seem mainly to agree , but in his eighth edition which is the next I have seen , though probably also in one or more of the immediate editions , Preston varies considerably his original account , and gives us that fuller record which is to be found in all the subsequent editions of his valuable work .

For he there talks of a preliminary meeting at the Apple Tree , in February 1717 , as precedent in the same year , to the election of Anthony Sayer as G . M ., St John ' s Day , 1717 . Thus he apparently gives up Anderson ' s

statement of the meeting in 1716 , and limits the Revival to 1717 . The author of " Multa Faucis , " whose work alike anonymous and undated , form internal evidence , was published not later than 1767 , tells us a completely different story . Let us hear his words :

" The Masters and Wardens of six lodges assembled at the Apple Tree on St . John ' s Day , 1716 ( and after the oldest Master Mason , who was also the Master of a Lodge , had taken the chair ) , they constituted themselves a Grand Lodge " pro tempore " and revived their Quarterly Communication , and their Annual Feast . "

The author of " Multa Faucis " then goes on to record in almost "Upsissimis verMs" with Anderson and Preston , the meeting in 1717 at the Goose and Gridiron , and the election of Anthony Sayer as Grand Master . Thus we see , that

while he agrees with Anderson as to 1716 , being the date of the preliminary meeting and concurs with both Anderson and Preston as to the election of Anthony Sayer in 1717 , he entirely disagrees with them both as to the

number of lodges represented , which he asserts to be sice instead ot four . Now the question is , which of these accounts is a correct one ? In what