was approved by the Grand Lodge itself.
His account is so brief that it may be given as it stands:

/#[4,66]
King George I enter'd _London_ most magnificently on _20
Sept. 1714_. And after the Rebellion was over A.D. 1716, the
few _Lodges_ at _London_ finding themselves neglected by Sir
_Christopher Wren_, thought fit to cement under a _Grand
Master_ as the Centre of Union and Harmony, _viz._, the
_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,