from the courts he survived for ten years in seemingly good health and with his intellectual faculties undimmed. He died at Boston on the 14th of October, 1848, at the age of eighty.
The character and abilities of Mr. Mason must be judged of now chiefly from the accounts given of him by his contemporaries and by the estimates which they formed of him. Judged by this standard, his abilities were undoubtedly of the very highest order. His unerring judgment in dealing with questions of law and fact, his profound learning in the common law, his sagacity and unfailing resources in jury trials, and his close and powerful logic were recognized by all who knew him.
Mr. George S. Hillard's remarks on his professional position deserve quoting in full:—
"Mr. Mason was a great lawyer, perhaps the greatest lawyer that ever practised at the bar in New England. But when we call a man a great lawyer, we use language which has a certain degree of vagueness. Chief-Justice Parsons, Judge Story, Mr. Webster, Chief-Justice Shaw, Mr. Choate, were all great lawyers; but no two of them were alike. Each had powers and faculties peculiar to himself. It is with lawyers as with painters. Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Rembrandt were great painters; but they differ widely in their characteristics, and no trained eye would ever mistake a work of one for that of another. For those who did not know Mr. Mason, we must analyze and discriminate. The question to be answered is, Wherein did he differ from the other great lawyers who were his contemporaries, when on the bench or at the bar?
"Mr. Mason's superiority as a lawyer may be thus stated: that of all men who ever practised law in New England, he was the most fully equipped with all the weapons of attack and defence needed in the trial of causes. It is but putting the same thing in another form to say that, of all men who have ever been at the bar in New England, he was the most formidable opponent. And, of all lawyers, he was the most successful; that is, no other man ever tried so many cases and lost so few, in proportion to the whole number tried. There was nothing which a client ever wants a lawyer to do for him, which Mr. Mason could not do as well as any and better than most. No man could argue a legal question before a court with more learning and power. No man could try a cause with more tact, judgment, and skill. Though not eloquent, in the common acceptation of that term, no man could address a jury more persuasively and effectively. No man's opinions as Chamber Counsel, whether oral or written, were more carefully considered or wiser. No man in all the departments of professional life ever made fewer mistakes."
Mr. Webster's well-known estimate of his powers, written while Mr. Mason was still alive, is too striking to be omitted:—
"If there be in the country a stronger intellect; if there be a vision that sees quicker, or sees deeper into whatever is intricate or whatsoever is profound,—I must confess I have not known it."
Of his personal characteristics, many accounts remain. His language was plain to homeliness; and his style, both in speaking and writing, as concise and pointed as it well could be. His wit was keen and trenchant, and his sarcasm very much feared. He was strong in his likes and dislikes; and his criticisms on people he did not like were biting and energetic. Of the numerous anecdotes related of him, many are probably untrue; some, however, are well authenticated. Thus, when a distinguished judge, before whom he was trying a case, put to a witness a question of very doubtful competency, Mr. Mason bluntly exclaimed, "If your Honor puts that question for us, we don't want it; if you put it for the other side, I object that it isn't evidence." On being asked what he thought of a judicial appointment, he replied, "He'll make a slow judge." "Do you mean, Mr. Mason, that his mental processes are slow?" "No, it's not that; but he'll have twice as much to do as most other judges. He'll have first to decide what's right, and then to decide whether he'll do it."
He seems to have been without conceit or
