Comment le Grand Inspecteur-Inquisiteur Commandeur de Pyron s’est inséré dans le SC de Belgique ?

Je pense qu’il est important que les lecteurs d’hiram.be qui lisent l’anglais qu’il est important se connaître les relations existantes entre le notaire Marchot de Nivelles et Deuchard, figure marquante du templarisme écossais.
Tout est expliqué dans Murray-Lyon. Excusez mon absence de traduction ! C’est trop long !

Murray Lyon (History Mary’s Chapel)
CHAPTER XXXIII.
WE have, in a preceding chapter, referred to the Charter of Cologne. In December 1825 Mr Alexander Deuchar, in the course of his correspondence with Continental Masons, ob- tained from M. De Marchot, an advocate in Nivelles, a copy of this document, and he afterwards presented the Lodge of Edinburgh with a literal translation of it, a transcript of which was, in January 1826, inserted under the attestation of a notary public in the fifth volume of its Records. It is there characterised « as a document of great import- ance to the interests of the Craft in general, and particularly to the Lodge in Edinburgh, inasmuch as it recognises the existence of the Lodge at a
(P. 3l6 HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.)
period thirty years further back than any document already in its possession, and far beyond the date to which any other Lodge in Scotland can trace evidence of its existence as a Lodge. » This is incorrect. The date of the Cologne MS. is sixty-three years earlier (1535) than that of the oldest of the Mary’s Chapel documents, and sixty-four years anterior to that of the Schaw Ordinance of 1599, the oldest authentic MS. extant in which the Lodges of Edinburgh and Kilwinning are mentioned by name. The copy of this deed, as now preserved in the archives of Mary’s Chapel, is as follows: —
We the elect Masters of the Venerable Society, sacred to John, or of the social order of Free Masons, Rulers of the Lodges or Tabernacles, constituted at London, Edin- burgh, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris, Lyons, Frankfort, Hamburg, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Madrid, Venice, Ghent, Konigsburg, Brussels, Dantzic, and Middleburg, Bremen, and in the City of Cologne in Chapter assembled in the said City of Cologne, in the year, month, and day aftermentioned, our Treses being the Master of the Lodge established in this city — a venerable Brother and most learned, prudent, and judicious man, called to preside over these deliberations, by our unanimous vote — do by these letters addressed to all the above-mentioned Lodges, to our Brethren, present and future, declare, that forasmuch as we have been considering the designs which in these calamitous times, embroiled by civil dissensions and discord, have been imputed to our foresaid Society and to all the Brethren belonging to this order of Free Masons, or of John, opinions, machi- nations, secret as well as openly detected, all which are utterly foreign to us, and to the spirit, design, and precepts of the Association, It moreover appears that we the mem- bers of this Order (chiefly because we are bound by those inscrutable secrets of our connection and covenant, which are most secretly kept by us all), in order that we may be more effectually vilified among the uninitiated and profane, and that we may be devoted to public execration, are accused of the crime of reviving the Order of Templars, and commonly designated by that appellation, as if we had combined and conspired for the purpose of recovering, as members of that Order, its property and possessions, and avenging the death of the last Grand Master who presided over that Order, on the posterity of the kings and princes who were guilty of the crime, and who were the authors of the extinction of said order — as if with that view we were exciting schisms in the churches, and disturbance and sedition in the temporal government and dominions — as if we were influenced by hatred and enmity against the Pope, the Chief Pontiff, the Emperor, and all kings — as if obeying no external power, but only the superiors and elected of our own Association which is spread throughout the whole world, we executed their secret mandates and clandestine designs by the private intercourse of correspon- dents and emissaries, — as if in fine we admitted none into our Mysteries but those who, after being scrutinised and tried by bodily tortures, became bound and devoted to our Conclaves. Therefore, having all these considerations in view, it hath seemed to us expedient, and even absolutely necessary, to expose the true state and origin of our Order, and to what it tends as an institute of charity itself, according as these principles are recognised and approved by those who are most versant in the Highest Craft, and by Masters enlightened in the genuine sciences of the Institution, and to give forth to the Lodges or Conclaves of our Society, the principles thus expounded, digested, and organised, as an exemplar, authenticated by our signatures, whereby a perpetual record may remain of this our renewed covenant and the unshaken integrity of our purpose ; and also in case, through the daily increasing propensity of the people to animosity, enmity, intolerance, and wars, this, our Society, should hereafter be more and more oppressed, inasmuch as to be unable to maintain its standing and consolidation, and thus be dispersed to some distant regions of the earth, and in case, through lapse of time, the Society itself should become less observant of its integrity, purity, and incor- ruptibility, nevertheless, in better times and more convenient circumstances, there may remain, if not the whole, yet perhaps one or other of the duplicates of these presents, by which standard, the Order, if subverted, may be restored, and if corrupted or estranged from its purpose and designs, may be reformed. For these causes by these our universal letters, compiled according to the context of the most ancient monuments which are extant concerning the objects of the institution, the rites and customs of our most ancient and most secret Order, We, Elect Masters, influenced by the love of the true light, do by the most solemn sanctions, adjure all fellow labourers, to whom these presents now or in time hereafter may come, that they withdraw not themselves from the truth contained in this document.
Moreover, to the enlightened, as well as to the darker world, whose common safety concerns and strongly interests us, we announce and proclaim :
A. That the Society of Free Masons, or Order of Brethren attached to the solemnities of St John, derive not their origin from the Knights Templars, nor from any other order of Knights, ecclesiastic or secular, detached or connected with one or more, neither have any or the least communication with them, directly or through any manner of intermediate tie, that they are more ancient than any order of Knights of this description, and existed in Palestine and Greece, as well as in every part of the Roman Empire, long before the Holy Wars and the times of the expedition of the above mentioned Knights into Pales- tine.
That from various monuments of approved authenticity, the fact is to us quite notor- ious, that this, our Association, took its origin from the time when first, on account of the various sects of the Christian World, a few adepts, distinguished by their life, their moral doctrine, and their sacred interpretation of the Arcanic Truths, withdrew them- selves from the multitude, for the learned and enlightened men who lived in these times (the true Christians who were least infected with the errors of Paganism), when they considered that through a corrupt religion, schisms, and not peace, and neither tolera- tion nor charity, but atrocious wars, were promulgated, bound themselves by a most solemn oath, in order more effectually to preserve uncontaminated the moral principles of this religion which are implanted in the mind of man ; that to these they would devote themselves, that the True Light rising gradually from darkness might proceed to the subduing of superstitions, by the cultivation of every human virtue, and to the establish- ment of peace and comfort among men ; that under these benign auspices, the masters of this community are called Brethren dedicated to John, following the example and imitation of John the Baptist, precursor of the Rising Light, first among the Martyr Stars of the Morning.
That these Doctors and Scribes who were also, according to the customs of those times, called Masters, did from the most experienced and best of the disciples (Apprentices), collect and choose fellow labourers, whence arose the name of Socius (Fellow Craft). When others were elected but not chosen, they were designed after the manner of the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman Philosophers by the appellation of Disciple {recti non vera cooptati) — i.e., Apprentices.
B. That our Association now, as formerly, consists of Three Degrees of Disciple, Fellow, and Master — the last, or Masters, admitting of Elect Masters and Superior Elect Masters (Masters of Lodges, and Provincial Grand Masters or rulers of Districts). But that all Associations or Fraternities so called who admit of more or other denomi- tions or subdivisions, and who ascribe to themselves another origin, and intermeddling with political and ecclesiastical affairs, make promises and protestations, under whatever titles they may assume of Free Masons and Brethren attached to the solemnities of John, or others which belong not to our Order, but are to be expelled and ejected from it as schismatics.
r. That among the Doctors, Masters of this Order cultivating the sciences of mathe- matics, astronomy, and other studies, a mutual interchange of doctrine and light was maintained, which led to the practice of electing out of those who were already Elect Masters. One in particular, who, as excelling the rest, should be venerated as Supreme Elect Master or Patriarch; being known only to the Elect Master, he was regarded both as the Visible and Invisible Head and Chief of our whole Association, so that according to this ordinance the Supreme Master and Patriarch, though known to very few, yet still exists. The premises being compiled from the mass of parchments and charter of the Order itself committed by authority of our Patriarchs, and the sacred documents, in future to the charge of our Preses and his successors, and being therewith diligently compared, We, sanctioned by authority of the same illustrious Patriarch, ordain and command as follows : —
A. The Government of our Society, the mode and rule according to which the Flaming Light may be imparted and diffused among the Illuminated Brethren as well as the profane world, rest entirely with the highest Elect Masters. To them belongs the charge of watching and taking care lest the members (Socii) of whatever rank or order should attempt any thing contrary to the true principles of our Society. Upon the same Chiefs of the Society are incumbent the defence of the Order, the preservation and safe- guard of its welfare, which, should occasion require, they are to protect at the expense of their fortunes and the risk of their lives, against all who attack our Institution — whatsoever and wheresoever this may be done.
E. To us it is by no means clear that this Association of Brethren, prior to the year one thousand four hundred and forty, were known by any other denomination than that of Joannite Brethren ; but at that time we are informed, the Fraternity, especially in Valence in Flanders, began to be called by the name of Free Masons, from which period, in some parts of Hanover, hospitals began to be built by the aid and pecuniary assistance of the Brethren for those who laboured under the sacred fire called St Anthony’s Evil.
Z. Although in works of Benevolence we pay no regard to religion or country, we, however, consider it safe and necessary hithferto to receive none into our Order but those who, in the Society of the profane and unenlightened, are professedly Christians. In conducting the inquisition and trial of those who apply for the initiation of the First Degree, which is that of Disciple (Apprentices), no bodily tortures are employed, but only those trials which tend to develop the nature, inclinations, and dispositions of the candidates.
H. To those duties which are commanded and undertaken by a solemn oath, are added those of fidelity and obedience to the secular rulers lawfully placed over us.
e. The principle on which we act, and all these, our efforts, to whatever purpose and direction they may tend, are expressed in these two precepts —  » Love and regard all men as Brethren and Relations ;  »  » Render to God what is God’s, and to Caesar what is Caesar’s. »
I. The secrets and mysteries which veil our undertakings conduce to this end : that without ostentation we may do good, and without disunion of action prosecute our designs to the uttermost.
K. We celebrate annually the memory of St John, the forerunner of Christ, and Patron of our community.
A. These and the rest of the corresponding ceremonies of the Institution, though conducted in the meetings of the Brethren by signs or speech, or otherwise, do, never- theless, differ totally from the rites of the Churches.
M. He alone is considered a Brother of the Joannite Society, or a Free Mason, who, in a lawful manner, by the help and under the direction of some Elect Master, with the assistance of at least seven Brethren, is initiated into our Mysteries, and who is ready to prove his adoption by the signs and tokens which are used by other Brethren, but in which signs and words are included those which are in use in The Edinburgh Lodge or Tabernacle, and its affiliated Lodges ; as also, in the Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Mid- dleburg Tabernacles, and in that which is found erected at Venice, whose ministrations and labours, though they be ordained after the manner of the Scots, differ not from those which are used by us in so far as they respect the origin, design, and institution.
N. This, our Society, being superintended by One General Prince, while the different Governments of which it consists are ruled by various Superior Masters, adapted to various regions and kingdoms as requires, nothing is more necessary than a certain conformity among all those who are dispersed throughout the whole world, as members of one aggregate body ; and likewise an intercourse of missionaries and corres- pondence harmonising with them and with their doctrines in all places. Wherefore these present letters, testifying the nature and spirit of our Society, shall be sent to all [and] sundry Colleges of the Order, as yet existing. For these reasons above mentioned, nineteen uniform duplicates of letters, composed in this form, exactly of the same tenor, confirmed and corroborated by our subscriptions and signatures, are given at Cologne on the Rhine in the year One thousand five hundred and thirty-five, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of June, according to the Era designated Christian.
Harmanusf. Carlton. Jo. Bruce. Fr. Von Upna. Cornells Banning. De Colligne. Virieux. Johani Schroder. Hofman, 1535 Jacobus Praepositus. A. Nobel. Ignatius de la Terre. Doira. Jacob Uttenhove. Falck Nicolaes Va. Noot. Phillippus Melanthon. Hugssen. Wormer Abel.
Certified in form to the printed exemplar deposited into the Archives of the Gr. and Sublime Chap, of the Temples Interior Sitting in the East of Namur.
The Gr. Chancellor of that Chief Chap.,
t De Marchot.
The Charter of Cologne is described as being written in medieval Latin, abounding in grammatical solecisms and errors of orthography. Its history, as given by Br. J. G. Findel of Leipzig, the famous historian of Free- masonry, is as follows : —  » In 1816, Prince Frederick [Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands] received a packet of papers, and amongst hem a letter written in a woman’s hand and signed C. nee von T., in which it was announced that the enclosed papers had been found amongst the manuscripts left by her father on his demise, and which had been always most carefully preserved by him : she believed he had received them from Mr Van Boetzelaar. Another tradition maintains that these papers had been long in the possession of the family von Wassenaar. In the packet there were, together with some few unimportant writings, the following : i. The so-called charter of Cologne, i.e., a document signed by nineteen Master-Masons in Cologne, June 24, 1535, in cipher, on parch- ment. 2. The minutes of a Lodge supposed to have existed in the Hague from 1519 — 1638, het Vrededall or Frederick’s Vredendall, and written in Dutch. . . . The Grand Master of the Netherlands had copies of these documents made, sent the Latin text [of the charter] with a Dutch trans- lation to all the Netherlandic Lodges in 1818, and had likewise the docu- ments closely investigated by competent judges, who immediately raised doubts as to their genuineness. Notwithstanding this, some of the Lodges in the Netherlands believed in them.* The first German translation appeared in Br. Heldmann’s ‘The Three Most Ancient Memorials of the German Freemason Fraternity’ (Aarau, 1819). In Germany, Stieglitz, Prof. Heeren at Gottingen, Krause, and Mossdorf (Lenning’s Encycl.) im- mediately pronounced against them, which was confirmed by more recent investigation. . . . Writing in 1840, Br. Bobrik brings the following remarks to bear upon the genuineness of the deed : i. The motive for the supposed meeting does not exist. 2. The purpose of the document and the form in which it is carried out do not agree together ; for, in order to refute a thing publicly, writing in cipher is resorted to, and to conceal a matter the signatures are written in common italics. Neither can we conceive any document legal without a seal. 3. The signatures are suspicious in the highest degree. 4. The assembly of the nineteen individuals cited is ex- tremely doubtful ; for Herman would have preferred the town of Bonn to that of Cologne, where he had many enemies. 5. Melancthon’s participa- tion is especially problematical, as well as that of the other subscribers. 6. The records of 1637, which are cited, cannot suffice as proofs, as there is nothing to show that there existed a Lodge Vredendall at the period. Br. Bobrik is of opinion that ‘ Patriarch ‘ is a hint at the General of the Jesuits, especially if we transfer the forgery to the year 18 16, when the Jesuits, after their restoration in 18 14, began to exert their influence anew, which in Holland could only be by indirect means. The title- and the expressions ‘ congregati institutum,’ &c., he considers as evidences of its having had a
* The three hundredth anniversary of the alleged original promulgation of the Charter was cele- brated by a Lodge at Amsterdam in 1835.

(CHARTER OF COLOGNE. 321)
Jesuit for its author. » Br. Dr Gustav Schwetschke remarks, « that after a careful comparison of the signature of Jacobus Praepositus at the end of the document, and the handwriting existing of his and proved to be genuine, the most glaring discrepancy is apparent, as also the signatures of the Arch- bishop Hermann, and that here pointed out as his, are most dissimilar. » Kloss, G. H. M. Delprat, J. P. Vaillant, and other equally eminent con- tinental authorities, also regard the document- as spurious. Herr Findel maintains that it was  » put together  » about the end of the last century.
Of American writers, Bro. Dr A. G. Mackey betrays a strong leaning towards a belief in its authenticity. He professes to discover in the reference that is made in the Charter to the Masonic patronage of St John the Baptist  »one of the evidences of its antiquity. »* It seems to us that this evidence is even more fabulous than the story it is adduced to support. The same writer also remarks,  » The assertion of the Charter that the Brethren of the Joannite Society adopted the Scots ritual practised in the Edinburgh Lodge has led Rhigellini very appropriately to remark that they should then have recognised the Templar Order and the Degrees of Chivalry, since these were, at that time, practised by the Scotch Lodges. » Statements of this kind, as to the Mason Craft having three centuries ago been the conservators of chivalric rites, are not now received as historical facts, except by the more superstitious of the Brotherhood. Of British Masonic writers, while Dr Oliver quotes the Cologne Charter as a historical document worthy of credence, Dr James Burnes, in his ‘ Sketch of the History of the Knights Templars,’ unhesitatingly and in the most unqualified terms condemns it as an imposture.
It is well known that neither the written history nor the most generally- received traditions of the Scottish Craft assign to Freemasonry an origin and design such as that which is claimed for it by the authors of the so- called Charter of Cologne. Nor do the records of the Lodge of Edinburgh of the sixteenth century, or the contemporaneous official MSS. of the then legally-constituted Head of the Lodges in Scotland, afford the slightest ground for supposing that Masons were ever associated together in Lodges for other than trade purposes. Their bond of union was not of a cosmo- politan character ; neither was the maintenance and propagation of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity the object of their incorporation or of their secret ceremonial. As to the alleged annual celebration by Lodges of the memory of St John the Baptist, Mary’s Chapel had not at the date of its oldest minutes (1599) made any pretensions to special admiration of  » the Forerunner of Christ, » either by dedicating itself to him, or by any formal commemoration of his nativity. In another part of this work we have shown that the festival of John the Baptist was not observed in any respect by Mary’s Chapel, any more than by the Lodge of Kilwinning, until about the time the Grand Lodge of Scotland was instituted.
Had the Lodge of Edinburgh ever formed a part of an Institution such as that from which the Charter of Cologne professes to have emanated — a mystical, semi-religious, semi-philosophical society — some traces of its distinguishing features would have been discernible in the laws, customs, and ceremonies that are known to have obtained in it, in common with the other Scotch Lodges, at the close of the sixteenth century. The Schaw Statutes, issued in 1598, were not newly invented ordinances, but professed to be based on laws and customs of the Craft which had existed previously ; and yet they contain not a single trace of the peculiar principles or organisation delineated in the Cologne Charter. Is it possible to believe that in the interval of sixty-three years from the date of that charter to the date of the Schaw Statutes, the distinguishing features that so strongly mark the constitution shadowed forth in the Cologne MS. should have entirely disappeared .’ We hold it is not possible ; and therefore, on the grounds we have stated relating to its reference to the Lodge of Edinburgh, we reject the Charter as a genuine Masonic document.

L’instruction du degré est brève mais instructive !

Instruction.

D. Comment vous êtes-vous présenté au tribunal des Gr Insp Comm ?
R. J’étois décoré des attributs du dernier degré auquel j’avais été promû.

D. Aviez-vous reçu le 30° degré ?
R. Il m’a été donné par communication, conformément à l’arrêté du Suprême Conseil.

D. Lors de votre entrée dans le Tribunal, étiez-vous libre de tous vos sens ?
R. Non, un voile impénétrable me privoit de la lumiere.

D. Avez vous prêté une obligation ?
R. Oui

D. dans quelle position étiez vous en prêtant votre obligation ,
R. Je tenois de la main gauche, une balance, simbole de l’Equité et de la Justice, ma main droite étoit appuyée sur les statuts de l’ordre.?

D. Avez vous promis de les observer ?
R. Oui et, avec l’aide de Gr ar de l’Un, je serai fidèle à mes promesses.

D. Pourquoi vous a t’on dépouillé de vos bijoux ?
R. Pour les remplacer par celui dont on m’a décoré et qui renferme les hiérogliphes des degrés antécédents auxquels j’avois été reçu.

La réception au 31° degré selon Pyron est très simple;
Le récipiendaire est introduit par le MdC par les coups du 29° degré. l’Inspecteur-couvreur annonce au Président que c’est un Frère grand Ecossais de Saint André agréé par le Sup Cons des Ill et Souv Grands Inspecteurs généraux, 33° et dernier degré du Rit Ecossais ancien et accepté, pour être élevé à la dignité de Grand Insp Commandeur 31° degré.
Le Récipiendaire ayant obtenu l ‘entrée et la porte refermée, le Président lui dit : « Je vous félicite, mon Frere, d’avoir été agréé par le Sup. Con, pour être élevé à la dignité de Grand Insp Commandeur, mais les arrêtés du Suprême Conseil ayant ordonné de ne donner que par communication le degré de chevalier Kadosch, vous allez être conduit vers l’autel, pour recevoir les mots, signes et attouchements du 30° degré. »
Les mots, signes et attouchements du 30° degré ayant été donnés, le récipiendaire subit un examen sur les deux premiers degrés. Après ces deux examens, le Président l’examine lui-même sur plusieurs autres degrés à son choix.
Puis vient le serment, à genoux devant l’autel, la main droite sur les statut et la gauche tenant une balance : « Je promets et m’engage de ne jamais réveler les secrets qui vont m’être communiqués et de point les écrire, imprimer, graver et tracer, sous quelque pretexte que ce soit. Je promets obéissance aux arrêtés du Suprême Conseil des Puiss et Souv Gr Insp généraux 33°et dernier degré du Rit Ecossais ancien et accepté et aux statuts et Reglements généraux de la haute-maçonnerie en ce qui n’y est pas dérogé par les arrêtés du Suprême Conseil.
Que le Grand Architecte de l’Univers me soit en aide, pour l’exécution des engagements que je viens de contracter ».
« Je promets et m’engage de ne jamais réveler les secrets qui vont m’être communiqués et de point les écrire, imprimer, graver et tracer, sous quelque pretexte que ce soit. Je promets obéissance aux arrêtés du Suprême Conseil des Puiss et Souv Gr Insp généraux 33°et dernier degré du Rit Ecossais ancien et accepté et aux statuts et Reglements généraux de la haute-maçonnerie en ce qui n’y est pas dérogé par les arrêtés du Suprême Conseil.
Que le Grand Architecte de l’Univers me soit en aide, pour l’exécution des engagements que je viens de contracter ».
L’Inspecteur maître des cérémonies releve le récipiendaire, lui ôte le bijou dont il étoit decoré et les suspend à une des colonnes.
Le Président dit ensuite au récipiendaire : « On vous a ôté vos bijoux et attributs parce que le degré que vous allez recevoir renferme tous les secrets qui vous ont été conférés. »
« Que cet habit et cette croix vous fassent toujours souvenir des différents degrés auxquels vous avez été promus ; que cette balance que vous voyez suspendue, vous rappelle sans cesse votre devoir de pratiquer la justice et l’équité. »
le Président fait mettre le récipiendaire à genoux, lui pose les mains sur la tête et lui dit :
« En vertu de l’arrêté, et au nom du Suprême Conseil des Puissants et Souverains Grands Inspecteurs généraux 33° degré et dernier du Rit ecossais ancien et accepté, je vous crée et constitue Grand Inspecteur Commandeur, 31° degré du Rit. »
Le Président le fait placer à côté de lui et lui donne les mots signes et attouchemens du grade.