MASON. 142 MASON. a second edition of whieli appeared under the title liiirma : Its People and yatiircil Produc- tions (18(i0). He also published a grammar, chrestoniathy, and vocabulary of Pali, besides translations from the Burman, Pali, and San- skrit; Life of Ko-Thah-Byu, the Karen Apostle: .4 Memoir of Mrs. Helen .1/. Mason (1847); a Minutir of iSau Quala (1850) ; The tStory of a M'orl.ingman's Life, tcith Sketches of Travel (I87n). MASON, George (172502). An American political leader of the Revolutionary jieriod, born in Stafl'ord (now Fairfax) County, Va. He was an intimate friend and nei^hlxir of Washington, was a memlicr of the Ohio ()mpany, and as early as 1759 was a member of the Virginia Assembly. He was a leader of the opposition in Virginia to the Stamp Act, and in 1700 drafted the non-im- portation resohitions. which were presented by Washington and adopted by the Assembly. At a popular meeting of the citizens, held July 18, 1774, he offered twenty-four rcsoluti<ms on the issues between Oreat Britain and the Colonies, in which were outlined liotli the non-intercourse policy with Great Britain and the scheme of a general inter-colonial Congress. These resolu- tions were sanctioned by the Virginia Convention in August, and were reaffirmed by the Continental Congress in October of the same year. Mason served on the Virginia Counnittee of Safety, and occupied a seat in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1776. in the Inlter capacity he earned distinction as the author of the well- known Bill of Bights which constitutes so notable a ])art of the Virginia Constitution of 1770, and which was probably the most complete as well as the most advanced statement of the rights of man that had then appeared. In 1777 the Legislature, of which he was still a member, elected him to the Continental Congress; but he declined to serve and remained an active and inlluential member of the Legislature for many years. In 1787 he became a member of the Constitutional Convention at Pliiladel|iliia, and took an active part in the ddiatcs on the Constitution. He spoke against the provision for the contiiniance of the slave trade and disapproved of the instrument as a whole. He refused to sign it. and. with Pat- rick Henry in the Virginia Ratification Conven- tion, thrfw his inlluence against ratification and proposed twenty alterations, some of which were afterwards adopted. He was chosen as one of the first I'nited States Senators from 'irginia, but declined to serve. His death occurred Octo- ber 7, 1702. at 'Gunston Hall.' and his statue, with those of other distinguished Virginians, stands in front of the State Capitol at Richmond. Consult Rowland. Life of George Mason (New York, 1S!I2|. MASON, George IIeming (1818-72). An English painter, born in Stralfordshire. Mason first .studied medicine, but afterwards went to Rome, where he earned a living painting por- traits. He returned to England in 1858. The remainder of his life was spent between Straf- ford^iiire ami London. Mason's pictures repre- sent English or Roman subjects: Ihr best of them are: "Ploughing in the Camiiagna" (18.57). "Dancing Girls" (1868), and "Harvest Moon" (18721. Mis color is notably rich and pleasing. MASON, .Tames Mi'rray (17081871). An American lawyer and legislator, best known as one of the representatives of the Confederate Government in Europe during the Civil War. He was born on ^Mason's Island, Fairfax County, Va. ; graduated at the University of I'ennsy'l- vania in 1818, and practiced law for some time at Winchester, Va. He soon became prominent in politics, and was a member of the irginia House of Delegates from 1826 to 1832, of the Vir- ginia Constitutional Convention of 1820, of the national House of Keprcsentatives from 18.'!7 to 18.30, and of tlie United States Senate from 1847 to 1801, when he resigned to take part in the secession movement. In Congress he was con- spicuous as an upholder of slavery and as an ardent advocate of llic principle oi .-^rates' rights,' and in 1850 he drafted and introduced the famous Fugitive Slave Law, which formed part of the compromise measures of that year. For ten years he was chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Late in ISO! lie was ap- pointed commissioner of the Confederate Gov- ernment to England, and on October 12 started from Charleston. S. C, with .John Slidell. the Confederate commissioner to France; but after touching at Havana he and Slidell were seized on board the British steamer Trent, by Captain Wilkes of the I'nited States ship /Son Jacinto, and were confined at Fort Warren. Boston, until January 2. 1862, when the United States Gov- ernment, yielding to the demand of England, ordered their release. Their seizure caused great excitement on both sides of the At- lantic and threatened to bring on a war between the United .States and Great Britain. (See Trent -ff.vir. The.) After his release Mason proceeded to London, where he endeavored to win over the British Government, and the British people as well, to the side of the Confederacy, but he was never received olhcially by the min- isters, and in September, lS(i:), his commission was withdrawn. He. however, remained ill Eu- rope, spending his time principally in Paris and London and vainly attempting to induce France and England to intervene a<'tively on the side of the Confederacy. Immediately after the war he returned to .America. Fearing arrest at the hands of the Federal Government, he lived in Canada until 1808. when he removed to Virginia and thereafter until his death lived near Win- chester. MASON, Ji-,ni:.ii.ii (1708-1848). An Ameri- can lawyer and legislator. lie was born in Lebanon. Conn., graduated at Vale in 1788, was admitted to the bar in 1791. and began the prac- tice of his profession at Wcstmnreland, X. H. He removed to Walpole, X. H., in 1794. and in 1707 to Portsmouth, which was his home fcu' the next thirty-five years. He was soon recognized as the head of his profession, in a State whose biir was unequaled in this countrj', and which could number among its members Ezekiel and Daniel Webster, and .Jeremiah Smith. He was appointed .ttorney-General of the State in 1802, and was elected to the Ignited States Senate in 181;!. He became one of the foremost debaters in that body, his speech delivered in 1814. on the Embargo, being especially powerful: but in 1817 he resigned his seat to cnntinue the |)rac- tice of his profession. He afterwards served for a number of terms in the New Hampshire Legis- lature, where his ser'ice had little connection . with politics, but was given largely to revising
