INTRODUCTION.

IN issuing another edition of the late Dr. Mason's works, we have only yielded to a repeated call for them, and sought to furnish them to the community in a respectable form, and at a reasonable price. The demand for them has not been ephemeral, but steadily uniform, beyond what might have been expected from their miscellaneous character.

Most of the articles in this work arose from the exigencies of the periods in which they were written. They were thrown off currente calamo, under the pressure of varied public engagements and social claims. Essays, published in such associations, can scarcely be preserved from oblivion, or from being overlooked in the quiet enjoyment of results procured through their agency. In a few years, they are to be found, dust covered, only on the shelves of cotemporaneous friendship, of the strictly professional, and of the preservers of "things which were." In rare instances, some force of style, eloquence of thought, or skill in argument, secure a more frequent and lasting notice; but soon new events, new men, and new productions arise, and claim honors of their own. Nearly a generation has passed away since Dr. Mason withdrew from public life; and his pen,

except for a few sermons, was laid aside years previous to his personal retirement. His writings have retained their value with the public. The reasons of the steady call for them are to be found, perhaps, in the wide sphere of Dr. Mason's actions, in the unquestionable results of those actions, and in the soundness of the principles embodied in his writings.

Entering into public life in ecclesiastical connections, not at that time most favorable to extended opportunity and influence, he eventually occupied positions which turned the eyes of the church and the community upon him, imposed burdens he could not decline, and finally laid on him the labor of several men; so that at fifty years of age he was prematurely old, worn out in the service of his fellow men. His mind worked with great vigor and directness; it appears to have moved onward, as new and urgent drafts were made upon its energies, until its strong frame-work, deprived of its due supply of nervous influence, yielded, and forced the willing spirit to cease its efforts for human advancement in the service of its Master. Importunate friendship, and ready compliance did afresh, in his case, as it had done before, regret that the one had been so imperious, and the other so yielding. It was useless to lament. "Space for repentance was not to be found." Yet it is not to be doubted, that had Dr. Mason more considerately refused, the firmness of his attachments and the zeal of his devotion would have been questioned; as it was, this master-spirit for generosity and benevolence, as well as for conception and execution, had his readiness to do good charged upon him as the aspirings of an ambitious spirit. "But wisdom is justified of her children." It is known to us that the spirit of true Christianity, triumphing

over human infirmities, has called forth acknowledgments of misjudgment and consequent censure. These, as they were an honor to those who voluntarily offered them, did no more than justice to the character they affected. The life of Dr. Mason could not, it is evident, be one of leisure, nor would its labors admit of a free use of the pen, could he in any wise dispense with it. Endowed with quick perceptions, the power of rapid and correct analysis, a ready and rich command of language, and forcible and original modes of presenting his views, he felt not the necessity for preparation and composition, which have raised to eminence many gifted and excellent writers. We have always felt that what might have been a great facility to himself, and an important advantage to his cotemporaries, has been a loss to us who came after him. But when we know that his habits of exceeding accuracy, acquired in early life, placed his materials always at command; when we know how materials, drawn from any and every quarter, and oft of the most intractable character, were speedily, under the crucible of his own mental processes, reduced to form, and received the impress of sterling coin, we are not surprised that the labor of the pen was a fetter and drudgery, and wherever it might be, was thrown aside for the more easy communication to his listeners of his breathing thoughts and burning words.

Thus gifted and furnished, we may readily admit that in the exposition of the Scriptures, on the Lord's day; in his lectures before his theological students; and in his elucidations of the classics, with his pupils in Columbia College, he was pre-eminently attractive and instructive. Whatever the previous impressions of his scholars, in a short time every barrier of awful distance seemed to be

broken down, and his own spirit to be infused into their minds, leading, in many cases, to ardent, and permanent friendships.

Whatever such a man might leave, undoubtedly would be gladly hailed and preserved; the printed record of his thoughts would be cherished and studied. Occasional dissent from his reasonings and conclusions would not restrict the circulation of the few remaining memorials of one, so distinguished, so respected, and so beloved; and through the natural operation of the social principle, this circulation would be largely increased. This is not the place, nor are we in the position to enlarge upon the facts now recalled. In a memoir they might be more copiously treated. A personal knowledge is desirable to set them forth in an appropriate manner, and we know not where that knowledge is to be found in connection with the leisure to prepare them for the public eye; for this we hope against hope.

Personal recollections fade. As men, like shadows, flee away, the incidents of life become to succeeding generations, traditionary and inaccurate, and the interests in published writings diminish, and are superseded by more recent movements, and vanish away. The remains of Dr. Mason, however, survive, and not only so, but live. They seem to have acquired a permanent footing, and to have become standard, as is the case with more systematic and carefully prepared writings. In Great Britain, as in the United States, the desire to possess his writings has increased, notwithstanding their ephemeral aspect, and local origin.

The reason for this, unquestionably, is to be found in the results attendant upon Dr. Mason's agency, as concerns our own land, and the importance of the principles

discussed applicable to other lands as well as our own, and whose general soundness the providence of God appears to establish.

In pursuing the train of thought now suggested, we wish to be understood as cordially respecting the persons who still hold the sentiments which Dr. Mason sought to set aside. Some we reckon among our personal friends, and for those we know we have sincere esteem. Humanum est errare, is a principle we apply to ourselves when most decidedly advancing our own opinions, and dissenting from those of others, and we believe no man more fully recognized the fact of human infirmity, or was more ready to make honorable concessions of error in matter or manner than Dr. Mason. In recording the history of his writings, and intimating our personal agreement with their principles, we cannot be suspected of any design to reproach or wonder at dissentients from whom we have learned much, and are ready to learn more. That be far from us. Our own opportunities for observations in God's providence have not been limited, nor our conclusions hasty; and we confess, as the result, that our impressions of Dr. Mason's remarkable intuition, and general correctness of view, have been largely and permanently deepened. He seems to have written with the eyes of a seer, and to have uttered himself with the sure confidence of one who 'testified that which he saw."

The explanation of this is, perhaps, wholly to be found in the paramount authority of the Scriptures over his mind, and in the unfailing supply of celestial wisdom they afforded to his penetrating and appropriating mind. Into their brightness he peered as with eagle eye, and under their inspiration he would soar to heights sublime,