ORIGIN OF ODDFELLOWS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 111, 24 March 1870, Page 7

ORIGIN OF ODDFELLOWS.

We take the following from an Auckland paper ; but, as the writer does not give his authority, we cannot vouch for the accuracy of the statement, considering it rather apocryphal: — " The origin of the Order of OddFellows is of an ancient date : it was established by the Roman soldiers in camp after the Order of Israelites, during the reign of Nero, the Roman Emperor, who commenced his reign A. D. 55, at which time they were called Fellow-Citizens. The name of Odd-Fellows was given in this order of men (a. d. 79) by Titus Caesar, Emperor of Rome, from the singularity of nations, and from them knowing each other by night as well as day, and from their fidelity to him and their country. He not only gave thorn the name of Odd-Fellows, but at the same time, as a pledge of friendship, presented them with a Dispensation engraved on the Ark of Titus Caesar, the Ark of the Covenant, the Golden Candlesticks, the Golden Table (weighing one great talent), the Sun for N.G., the Moon and Star for V.G., a Lamp for Secretary, the Lion for the Guardian, the Dove for Warden, and the Emblems of Mortality for the G.M. It is very probable that the first Odd- Fellows made their appearance in North Wales about that time, as an invasion was made by one of Titus Caesar's generals (Agricola) on North Wales, and shortly afterwards on the island of Mona, now called An^lesea. The first account we have of the Order spreading into otlier countries is in the fifth century, when it; was established in the Spanish dominions, under the Roman dispensation ; and in the sixth century, by King Henry in Portugal ; and in the twelfth century it was established in France, and afterwards in England by John De Neville. attended by five knights from France, who formed a Loyal Grand Lodge of Honour in London, which order remained until the reign of George 111., when a party of them began to form themselves into a Union, and a portion of them remained to this day. On this account, the lodges which re_rain, and are very numerous throughout the world, call themselves Loyal Ancient Independent OddFellows, being a portion of the original body."