Disobeying the WM

In early operative and transitional lodge records, disobeying or transgressing against one's Master or superiors carried explicit financial and disciplinary penalties. In the 1670 regulations of the Lodge of Aitchison's Haven, an entered apprentice who transgressed against his Master was, upon the testimony of two witnesses, subject to a fine of ten pounds Scots alongside punishment imposed by the lodge 1.

The 1723 Constitutions established behavioral boundaries regarding the Master's authority, strictly prohibiting brethren from interrupting the Master or holding private conversations without his express leave during lodge communications 2.

Learning to obey is considered a necessary prerequisite to command, as an article on the Grand Lodge of India's website notes, warning that an institution risks chaos and disintegration if men who have not learnt to obey are given the right to command.