Chapter III.

Of the Members of a Grand Lodge.



It is an indisputable fact that the "General Assembly" which met at York
in 926 was composed of all the members of the fraternity who chose to
repair to it; and it is equally certain that, at the first Grand Lodge,
held in 1717, after the revival of Masonry, all the craft who were present
exercised the right of membership in voting for Grand Officers,[7] and
must, therefore, have been considered members of the Grand Lodge. The
right does not, however, appear to have been afterwards claimed. At this
very assembly, the Grand Master who had been elected, summoned only the
Master and Wardens of the lodges to meet him in the quarterly
communications; and Preston distinctly states, that soon after, the
Brethren of the four old lodges, which had constituted the Grand Lodge,
considered their attendance on the future communications of the society
unnecessary, and therefore concurred with the lodges which had been
subsequently warranted in delegating the power of representation to their
Masters and Wardens, "resting satisfied that no measure of importance
would be adopted without their approbation."

Any doubts upon the subject were, however, soon put at rest by the
enactment of a positive law. In 1721, thirty-nine articles for the future
government of the craft were approved and confirmed, the twelfth of which
was in the following words:

"The Grand Lodge consists of, and is formed by, the Masters and Wardens of
all the regular particular lodges upon record, with the Grand Master at