MAS 
M A S 
may lie read with pleafure, among which are two dramatic 
pieces, it fcarcely made any addition to the poetical repu¬ 
tation of the writer. 
Mr. Mafon died in April 1797, at the age of feventy- 
two, in confequence of a mortification occafioned by a hurt 
in his leg. He had married an amiable lady, who died of 
a confumption in 1,767, and was buried at Briltol cathedral, 
under a monument on which are infcribed fome very ten¬ 
der and beautiful lines by her hufband. His character in 
private life was exemplary for worth and active benevo¬ 
lence, though not without a degree of ftatelinefs, and af- 
fumed fuperiority in his manner, probably fodered by his 
provincial refidence. A tablet has been placed to his me¬ 
mory in Poet’s Corner, Wedminder Abbey. Betides his 
avowed writings, there have been popularly attributed to 
him, a fatirical poem of much temporary diltinCtion, en¬ 
titled “ An Heroic Epidle to Sir William Chambers,” to¬ 
gether with fome other pieces of political fatire which ap¬ 
peared about the fame time. The ttrength of language, 
and the f'arcaftic humour, of thefe performances, give 
them a calf fo different from his ulual dyle of compofition, 
that the internal evidence is fuppofed to decide againd his 
title to them ; yet it is certain that he could occafionally 
write with energy and (implicity ; and the objeCls of fatire 
in thefe pieces are fuch as he was likely to have fixed upon. 
Cent. Mag. and MontJily Rev. 
MASSON (George), the eldeff fon of a diftiller at Dept¬ 
ford, was born in the year 1736. After his father’s death, 
his mother married Dr. Jubb, late Hebrew profetTor at Ox¬ 
ford. We have no particulars of Mr. Mafon’s life. He 
died of an apoplexy, at his feat at Aldenham Herts, on 
the 4th of November, 1806, aged 71. He wrote, 1. An 
Eifay on Defign in Gardening, firft publifhed in 1768, 
without his name. a. Appendix to the fame. 3. A 
Britilh Freeholder’s Anfwer to T. Paine. 4. Poems, by 
Thomas Hoccleve, with a Preface, Notes, and Gloffary, 
1796, 4to. 5. A Supplement to Johnfon's Englifh Dic¬ 
tionary, 4to. 1801. In t-he preface to this work and in 
feveral of the articles, as alfo in the Gloffary to Hoccleve, 
Dr. Johnfon is treated in the mod contemptuous man¬ 
ner. 6. Life of Richard earl Howe, 1803, 8vo. 
MASON’s I'SLAND, a fmall ifland in the Potomack. 
Lat. 39. N. Ion. 77. 13. W. 
MA'SONRY, f. A branch of architecture, confiding 
in the art of hewing or fquaring dones, and cutting them 
level or perpendicular, for the ufes of building ; but, in a 
more limited fenfe, tnafonry is the art of alfernbling and 
joining dones together with mortar. 
MA'SONRY, or Free Masonry, an ancient and mo¬ 
ral order, “ indituted (as Arnold, in his Dutch Dictionary, 
tells us) by virtuous men, with the praifeworthy defign of 
recalling to our remembrance the mod fublime truths, in 
the mid d of the. molt innocent and focial pleafures; founded 
on charity, liberality, and brotherly love.” 
Mr. Preiton, a pad matter of the Lodge of Antiquity, 
and one of fhe mod dittinguifhed writers on this art, lays, 
in his Illuftrations’of Mafonry, “From the commence¬ 
ment of the world, we may trace the foundation of Ma¬ 
fonry. Ever fince fymmetry began, and harmony dif- 
played her charms, our order has had a being. During 
many ages, and in many different countries, it has flou- 
rifhtd. No art, no fcience, preceded it. In the dark pe¬ 
riods of antiquity, when literature was in a low date, and 
the rude manners of our forefathers withheld from them 
that knowledge we now fo amply (hare, Mafonry diffufed 
its influence. This fcience unveiled, arts arofe, civiliza¬ 
tion took place, and the progrefs of knowledge and phi- 
lofopby gradually difpelled the gloom of ignorance and 
barbarifm. Government being fettled, authority was 
given to laws, and the affemblies of the fraternity acquired 
the patronage of the great and the good, while the tenets 
of the profefiion diffufed unbounded philanthropy. 
Abltracl ing from the pure pleafures which arife from 
friendfhi.p fo wifely condituted as that which fubfiffs among 
nw.fons, and which it is fcarcely poflible that any circum- , 
Itance or occurrence can erafe, Mafonry is a fcience cort- 
Vql. XIV. No.^8.8. 
477 
fined to no particular country, but extends over the fvhole 
terredrial globe. Wherever arts flourilh^ there it flourifhes 
too. Add to this, that by fecret and inviolable figns, care¬ 
fully preferved among the fraternity, it becomes an uni- 
verfal language. Hence many ad vantages are gained : the 
didant Chinefe, the wild Arab, and the American favage, 
will embrace a brother Briton, and know, that, belide the 
common ties of humanity, there is dill a dronger obliga¬ 
tion to induce him to kind and friendly offices. Tbefpi- 
rit of the fulminating pried will be tamed ; and a moral 
brother, though of a different perfuafion, engage his edeem s 
for mutual toleration in religious opinions is one of the 
mod didinguifliing and valuable charaCteridics of the craft. 
As all religions teach morality, if a brother be found toad 
the part of a truly honed man, his private fpeculative opi¬ 
nions are left to God and himfelf.. Thus, through the 
influence of Mafonry, which is reconcilable to the bed 
policy, all thofe difputes which embitter life, and four the 
tempers of men, are avoided ; while the common good, 
the general objeCt, is zealoufly purfued. 
“ From this view of our fyftem, its utility mud be fuffi- 
ciently obvious. The univerfal principles of the art unite, 
in one indiffoluble bond of affeffion, men of the mod op- 
pofite tenets, of the mod didant countries, and of the mod 
contradictory opinions 5 fo that in every nation a mafon 
may find a friend, and in every climate a home. 
“ Mafonry paffes under two denominations, operative 
and fpeculative. By the former, w'e allude to a proper 
application of the ufeful rules of architecture, whence a 
ftruclure derives figure, drength, and beauty ; and whence 
refult a due proportion and a jud correfpondence in all 
its parts. By the latter, we learn to govern the paffions, 
act upon the fquare, keep a tongue ol good report, main¬ 
tain fecrecy, and praftift charity. 
“ Speculative Mafonry is fo far interwoven with religion, 
as to lay us under the dronged obligations to pay that ra¬ 
tional homage to the Deity, which at once conditutes our 
duty and our happinefs. It leads the contemplative to 
view with reverence and admiration the glorious works 
of creation, and infpires them with the molt exalted ideas 
of the perfections of the liivine Creator. Operative Mafonry 
furniffies us with dwellings, and convenient Ihelter from 
the inclemencies of feafons; and, while it difplays the ef¬ 
fects of human wifdom, as well in the choice as in the ar¬ 
rangement of the materials of which an edifice is com r 
pofed, it demondrates that a fund of fcience and indudry 
is implanted in man, for the bed, mod falutary, and molt 
beneficent, purpofes. 
“ The lapfe of time, the ruthlefs hand of ignorance, and 
the devaftations of war, have laid wade and dedroyed many 
valuable monuments of antiquity, on which the utinolt ex¬ 
ertions of human genius have been employed. Even the 
Temple of Solomon, fo fpacious and magnificent, and 
condruCted by fo many celebrated artids, eicaped not the 
unfparing ravages of barbarous force. Free Mafonry, not«- 
withdanding, has dill furvived. The attentive ear re¬ 
ceives the found from the indructive tongue, and the fa- 
cred myderies are fafely lodged in the repofitory of faith¬ 
ful breads. Tools and implements of architecture (lym- 
bols the mod expreffive!) are feleCled by the fraternity, 
to imprint on the memory lerious truths; and thus the 
excellent tenets of the inftitution are tranfmitted, unim¬ 
paired, undercircum dances precarious and ad vej;fe, through 
a fuccellion of ages.” 
Thus much for the principles of this inditution, the 
members of which are called Free and Accepted Mafohs, 
Mr. Predon, as will be feen above, deduces their origin 
from the creation of the world ; and, indeed, a very an¬ 
cient manulcript, which, it is probable, he had never feen, 
but which was printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 
June 1815, ferves in fome degree to corroborate his pol- 
tulatum. It is contained in a very long roll of parchment, 
and bears internal tedimony of having been written at 
lead 300 years fince; and the “ Conditutions,” by which 
the fraternity is dill authoritatively governed, (printed, 
under the fauCtion of the Grand Malter, 410. 2784.) cer- 
6 F taijiiy 
