the exercise of an act of courtesy in declining to preside, divest himself
of his prerogative, which, moreover, he may at any time during the evening
assume, and demand the gavel. The Grand Master of Masons can, under no
circumstances, become subject to the decrees and orders of the Master of a
particular lodge.

IV. Another prerogative of the Grand Master is that of appointment; which,
however, in this country, has been much diminished. According to the old
regulations, and the custom is still continued in the Constitutions of the
Grand Lodge of England, the Grand Master has the right of appointing his
Deputy and Wardens. In the United States, the office has been shorn of
this high prerogative, and these Officers are elected by the Grand Lodge.
The Deputy, however, is still appointed by the Grand Master, in some of
the States, as Massachusetts, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Texas. The
appointment of the principal subordinate officers, is also given to the
Grand Master by the American Grand Lodges.

V. The last and most extraordinary power of the Grand Master, is that of
_making Masons at sight_.

The power to "make Masons at sight" is a technical term, which may be
defined to be the power to initiate, pass, and raise candidates by the
Grand Master, in a lodge of emergency, or as it is called in the Book of
Constitutions, "an occasional lodge," especially convened by him, and
consisting of such Master Masons as he may call together for that purpose
only--the lodge ceasing to exist as soon as the initiation, passing, or
raising, has been accomplished and the Brethren have been dismissed by the
Grand Master.

Whether such a power is vested in the Grand Master, is a question that,