What is said about attendance of a Lodge in old books and papers?

Early manuscript charges, such as the fifteenth-century Matthew Cooke and Regius manuscripts, established that every Mason was bound to attend general assemblies and lodge meetings unless hindered by a valid excuse 1. The Old Charges of 1722 similarly framed attendance at lodge communications as a duty, holding that no Master or Fellow could be absent—particularly when warned to appear—without incurring severe censure, unless pure necessity prevented him 1. Where a member was formally cited to appear at a congregation and refused to attend, early regulations allowed the lodge to determine that he forswear or renounce his Masonry 2.

To secure attendance, early lodges required members to be notified by the Tiler, written summonses, or public notices, and enforced presence through fines 1. In early Scottish lodge practice, non-attendance was classified alongside major administrative disorders that risked impoverishing the lodge, leading members to pledge that every brother should duly keep meetings except when prevented by necessary hindrances 3.

Over time, the practice of enforcing routine attendance through financial penalties was discontinued, leaving attendance at ordinary communications to the personal conscience of each member 1. However, failure to respond to a formal summons for an express purpose continues to be treated as an act of contempt subject to disciplinary review 1.