DEATH OF HON. JEREMIAH MASON. 87 



Exeter, New Hampshire, and Hon. Daniel Webster, vindi- 

 cated the cause of Dartmouth College, and of all similar in- 

 stitutions. I first knew him at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 

 in 1818, (July, I believe,) where he then lived. I was going 

 to Portland and Brunswick, to attend the Commencement 

 of Bowdoin College, when Mr. Ticknor offered me a letter 

 of introduction, which secured me a very kind reception, 

 and I have ever since maintained a very friendly intercourse 

 with Mr. Mason and his family. He was a lineal descend- 

 ant from Captain Mason, who destroyed the Pequot In- 

 dians. He was a noble man, and as Mr. Clay said of him, 

 very truly, a giant in stature and a giant in mind. His 

 height was not less than six feet six inches, and his person 

 large in proportion. His mind took a wide range of obser- 

 vation, and his conversation was, in a high degree, instruc- 

 tive and interesting, with a winning amenity of voice and 

 manner. On my return from Hanover, I was at Mr. Ma- 

 son's for half an hour, Friday evening, September 29, and 

 then had my last interview with him and his lady and 

 daughter. I thought him somewhat more marked by age 

 than when I last saw him, which was, I believe, two years 

 before. I did not view him as near to the close of life, 

 although he lived only fifteen days after that time. I 

 suppose him to have been a religious man. During my 

 Lowell courses, I called there late in the evening to bid 

 him farewell, and found him engaged in his family devo- 

 tions. His family have been favored by his continuance 

 with them to a good old age, fourscore, and I think it a 

 privilege to have known him. 



Those who have followed the course of this Me- 

 moir from the beginning, will be interested in his 

 account of a visit to the home of his childhood. 



December 1, 1848, Friday. At eight o'clock, A. M., my 

 daughters, Mrs. Church, Mrs. Hubbard, and her husband, 



