points to a contrary
conclusion. M. Matter, who, as we have seen, disbelieves the story of
the _Ordre du Temple_ and the authenticity of the Charter of Larmenius
in so far as it professes to be a genuine fourteenth-century document,
nevertheless asserts that the _savants_ who have examined it declare it
to date from the early part of the eighteenth century, at which period
Matter believes the Gospel of St. John used by the Order to have been
arranged so as "to accompany the ceremonies of some masonic or secret
society." Now, it was about 1740 that a revival of Templarism took place
in France and Germany; we cannot therefore doubt that if Matter is right
in this hypothesis, the secret society in question was that of the
Templars, whether they existed as lineal descendants of the
twelfth-century Order or merely as a revival of that Order. The
existence of the German Templars at this date under the name of the
_Stricte Observance_ (which we shall deal with in a further chapter) is
indeed a fact disputed by no one; but that there was also an _Ordre du
Temple_ in France at the very beginning of the eighteenth century must
be regarded as highly probable. Dr. Mackey, John Yarker, and Lecouteulx
de Canteleu (who, owing to his possession of Templar documents, had
exclusive sources of information) all declare this to have been the case
and accept the Charter of Larmenius as authentic. "It is quite certain,"
says Yarker, "that there was at this period in France an _Ordre du
Temple_, with a charter from John Mark Larmenius, who claimed
appointment from Jacques du Molay. Philippe of Orleans accepted the
Grand Mastership in 1705 and signed the Statutes."[364]

Without, however, necessarily accepting the Charter of Larmenius as
authentic let us examine the probability of this assertion with regard
to the Duc d'Orleans.

Amongst the Jacobites supporting Lord Derwentwater at the Grand Lodge of
Paris was a certain Andrew Michael Ramsay, known as Chevalier Ramsay,
who was born at Ayr near the famous Lodge of Kilwinning, where the
Templars are said to have formed their alliance with the masons in 1314.
In 1710 Ramsay was converted to the Roman Catholic faith by Fenelon and
in 1724 became tutor to the sons of the Pretender at Rome. Mr. Gould has
related that during his stay in France, Ramsay had formed a friendship
with the Regent, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, who was Grand Master of the
_Ordre de Saint-Lazare_, instituted during the Crusades