Mackey – Encyclopedia Of Freemasonry Vol. 1

98 SECRET SOCIETIES489. Freemasonry in Holland and Germany .-In Hollandthe Freemasons opened a lodge in 1731, under the warrantof the Grand Lodge of England ; it was, however, only whatis called a lodge of emergency, having been called to initiatethe Duke of Tuscany, afterwards Francis I., Emperor ofGermany (454). The first regular lodge was established atThe Hague in 1734, which, five years after, took the name of« Mother-lodge ." Numerous lodges were opened throughoutthe country, and also in the Dutch colonies ; and the Freemasonsfounded many schools, with the avowed object ofwithdrawing instruction from clerical influence .In Germany lodges were numerous as early as the middleof last century, so that in the present one we have witnessedthe centenaries of many of them-as, for instance, in 1837,of that of Hamburg ; in 1840, of that of Berlin ; in 1841,of those of Breslau, Baireuth, Leipzig, and many more .490 . Freemasonry in Turkey, Asia, Africa, and Oceania .-The Order also spread into Turkey, where, however, as maybe supposed, for a long time it led but a harassed existence.Lodges were established at Constantinople, Smyrna, andAleppo ; and it may be mentioned, as a fact in favour ofFreemasonry, that the Turkish Freemasons are in a moreadvanced state of civilisation than is usual among Orientalsgenerally. They reject polygamy, and at the masonic banquetsthe women appear unveiled ; so that whatever theirwestern sisters may have to say against Masonry, the womenof the East certainly are gainers by the introduction of theOrder .The most important masonic lodges of Asia are in India ;they are under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodges ofEngland and Scotland .Freemasonry was introduced into Africa by the establishmentof a lodge at Cape Coast Castle in 1735 . There arenow lodges at the Cape of Good Hope ; in the islands ofMauritius, Madagascar, and St . Helena ; and at Algiers,Tunis, Morocco, Cairo, and Alexandria .Lodges have existed since 1828 at Sydney, Melbourne,Parramatta, and other places ; in all, about two hundred .491 . Freemasonry in America .-The first lodge establishedin Canada was at Cape Breton, in the year 1745 . Lodgesexisted from as early a period in the West Indian Islands .On the establishment of the Brazilian empire, a Grand Lodgewas initiated ; and in 1825, Don Pedro I, was elected itsGrand Master. In 1825, the Grand Lodge of Mexico wasinstituted, where the Liberals and Federalists joined the