Old London Taverns Identified With Masonry.

OLD LONDON TAVERNS IDENTIFIED WITH MASONRY .

Every student of the history of Freemasonry is familiar Avith the account given , in all the earlier Books of Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England , of the causes that , in 1716 and 1717 , led to the formation of that Body . Previous to 1716 the

, meetings of the Fraternity for the general purposes of the Institution Avere designated General Assemblies . Subsequently to that date , these Assemblies , which Avere of a promiscuous character , Avere superseded by the Grand Lodge , clothed Avith well-defined

and supreme poAvers ; such an organization having become necessary for the better discipline and government of the Craft . This event of the formation of the Grand Lodge cannot be better described than b y copying from the record . I quote ,

therefore , from Entick ' s Constitutions of 5767 , in which , by Appendix , the proceedings of the Grand Lodge are brought doAvn so as to include those of its meetings of 3 rd June , 5776 : " King George I . entered London most magnificently on September 20 , 1714 ; and after the Rebellion , A . D . 1716 , the

feAV Lodges at London , Avanting an active Grand Master , by reason of Sir Christopher Wren ' s Disability , thought fit to cement under a UBAV Grand Master , as the Center of Union , aud Harmony . For this purpose the Lodges , " 1 . At the Goose and Gridironin

, St . Paul ' s Church-yard , " 2 . At the CroAvn , in Parker ' s Lane , near Drury-Lane , " 3 . At the Apple-tree Tavern , in Charles-street , Covent Garden , " 4 . At the RummerandGrapes Tavern

, in Channel-RoAV , Westminster , and some old Brothers , met at the said A pple-tree ; and having put into the chair the oldest Master Mason ( being the Master of a Lodge ) , they constituted themselves a Grand Lodge , pro tempore , in due Form ,

ancl fortliAvith revived the Quarterly Communication of the Officers of Lodges ( called the Grand Lodge ) , resolved to hold the Annual Assembly and Feast , ancl then to chose a Grand Master from among themselves , till they should have the honour of a Noble Brother at their Head .

Accordingly " On St . John Baptist ' s Day , in the 3 rd year of King George , I . A . D . 1717 , the Assembly and Feast of the Free and Accepted Masons was held at the foresaid Goose ancl Gridiron ; IIOAV removed to the Queen ' s Anns Tavern in St . Paul ' s

Churchyard /' This scrap of history is given for the purpose of bringing attention to the places Avhere the four old Lodges of London used to congregate , Avith the vieAV of describing them more particularly than has been done

in any Masonic publication Avhich has met my eye . This can be accomplished from a work UOAV before me , for the perusal of which I am indebted to a learned Masonic Brother . It is entitled " The History of Sign-Boards . From the Earliest Times to the Present Day . B y Jacob Larwood and John Camden Hotlen , & c . London , 1866 . " This interesting book describes more than

thirteen hundred " sign-boards , " most of them having been displayed in London alone during the past three centuries . They denoted places of business , of public resort , ancl especially places of entertainment or taverns . To show the origin

and use of the sign-board , I quote from its preface : In these modern clays the sign-board is a very unimportant object ; it Avas not ahvays so . At a time AA'hen but feAV persons could read ancl Avritehouse-signs

, Avere indispensable in city life . As education spread they Avere less needed ; and Avhen , in the last century , the system of numbering houses Avas introduced , and every thoroughfare had its name painted at the beginning and endthey Avere no

, longer a positive necessity—their original value was gone , and they lingered on , not by reason of their usefulness , but as instances of the decorative humour of our

ancestors , or as advertisements of established reputation and business success . For the names of many of our streets we are indebted to the sign of the old inn or public-house , Avhich frequently was the first building in the street—commonly enough suggesting its erectionor at least

, a few houses by Avay of commencement . The huge "London Directory" contains the names of hundreds of streets in the metropolis which derived their titles from taverns or public-houses in the immediate nei ghbourhood . As material for the