ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. To the Editor of the "New Zealand Spectator." Wellington, October 22, 1849.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 441, 24 October 1849, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. To the Editor of the "New Zealand Spectator." Wellington, October 22, 1849.

Sir, — I saw in your Journal of last Saturday, a letter signed An Odd Fellow, the contents of which have somewhat surprised me. I hold it as a principle inviolate, that whenever an individual comes before the public, either as an orator or writer, he should invariably adhere to facts ; the want of this, essential, to my poor thinking, ever afterwards, shakes and renders his veracity somewhat questionable. The writer states he is an Odd Fellow, and byimplication, and by implication only, to infer he is a member of the lodge of which I am the humble Secretary ; that he is not an Odd Fellow, as he describes himself to be, is very manifest, it being scarcely within the scope of possibility that any one belonging to the order can be so grossly ignorant as not to be aware that the order is in possession of a code of laws which govern the various lodges in whatever part of the world they may be situated ; — laws of that perspicuous character, so plain, so tangible, that " those who run may read," and consequently we could not depart from them without subjecting ourselves to severe penalties. The writer inhis preceding remarks states that having applied to the Secretary for information he found" that individual as ignorant as himself." The retiring modesty of thewriteris here very happily introduced — the singular coincidence of finding another " equally ignorant as himself," must be certainly highly gratifying to him,as shewing a quantum of sagacity equal to the task of discovering a co-equal. Unfortunately for the writer, I beg to state, and on this point I pin my principle of truth, no application has been made to me by any of the members during the time I have acted as Secretary, but the information given has been of the most complete and ample kind, and which can be borne out by every member that I have had the honour of being in communication with. I shall only remark, that the prospectus issued by the Britannia lodge is sufficiently explicit as to its general and particular purposes. The object of establishing a public school is noble in itself. It does honour to the projectors and nobly and generously has it been responded to by the residents of Port Nicholson. The idea of converting the hall into " a playhouse or toy shop" I make no comment on ; thewould, if it could, be sarcasm falls pointless, and " rather demands our pity than our anger." I beg to apologise for occupying a space of your Journal that might have been more profitably applied for public purposes ; but truth, honour, and justice, would not allow me to pass unnoticed the base, unworthy attempt to check the progress of our humble efforts to establish and carrry out a principle admitted and countenanced by all good men, namely, to leave the world a shade better than we find it. It is this feeling that has urged us on, and despite the carping of weak and mindless men will enable us to complete a building every way worthy the support of all the right thinking inhabitants of Port Nicholson. Once more apologizing for intruding for the first, and I trust the last time, I beg to subscribe myself J. H. Mabbiott, ' Secretary to the Britannia Lodge of Odd Fellows.