The public life and diplomatic correspondence of James M. Mason

Front matter

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V

X, c cT- A

Chapter I

Lineage — George Mason of Gunston — Gen. John Mason — Mrs. John Mason — Life of Matron at that Day — Birth of James M. Mason — Incidents During War of 1812— The Chew Family — Early Life in Winchester — The Young Lawyer and His Compeers as Described by Hon. H. A. Wise — Marries Eliza M. Chew — Early Married Life Described in Mrs. Mason's Letters .

Chapter II 20

Elected to Legislature— Political Creed — Different Ideas in Convention of 1787 Regarding Functions of Federal Government — Voted for Resolutions Protesting Against Internal Improvement by Federal Government — Defeated in Next Election Because of This Vote — Card Explaining and Justifying His Position — Re-elected to Legislature — Letter from John Randolph of Roanoke— Speech in Legislature — Letters from Mrs. Mason — Candidate for House of Representatives, Defeated — Extract from Winchester Newspaper — Domestic Life — Appointed Member of Board of Visitors of University of Virginia — No Personal Interest in Contest for Rights of Slaveholders — Elected to House of Representatives — Life and Friends in Washington.

Chapter III 50

Elected to Senate — Chairman of Committee on Claims — Regent of Smithsonian Institute — Excitement Throughout the States Caused by Efforts to Exclude Slavery from Oregon — Speech on Oregon Bill — Speech Opposing Creation of Department of Interior — House of Representatives — Financial Condition of the Country — Separated from Administration — Dropped by Democratic Party in Next Election — Extract from Speech — Extract from President's Message — Letter to a Constituent.

Chapter IV 71

Compromise of 1850 — Mr. Calhoun's Prophecy — Mr. Mason Member of Committee of Thirteen— He Dissents from Report of Committee — The Union Party and the Secessionists. Reply to Invitation to Address Massmeeting at Newmarket. California Admitted into Union — Protest of Southern Senators — Fugitive Slave Law — Extract from Diary — Re-elected to Senate — Chairman of Committee on Foreign Relations — New England Fisheries.

Chapter V 94

Kossuth — Speech on Intervention and Monroe Doctrine — Know-Nothing Party — President Pierce and His Cabinet — Kansas-Nebraska Act — Kansas Aid Society — Senator Sumner's Speech and Mr. Mason's Reply — Mr. Sumner Punished by Mr. Brooks.

Chapter VI 117

Letter to Mr. Davis — Letter Declining Invitation to Dinner Given to Electoral College — Tribute to Memory of Hon. A P. Butler — Extract from Richmond j5"«^«/r^r— Re-elected to Senate — Visit to Bunker Hill and to Boston— "Kansas Letter" — Speech on Admission of Kansas — Speech in Opposition to Pacific Railroad — Protest Against Bill Donating Public Lands to States that Provide Colleges for Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanical Arts — John Brown Raid.

Chapter VII 150

Disintegration of Democratic Party in i860 — Extract from Speech Made in Senate — Mr. Seward's Speech in Boston — Letter to Richmond Enquirer — Conference of States Proposed by Virginia — Extracts from President Buchanan's Message and from Mr. Sickles' Speech — Mr. Mason's Remarks on Mr. Powell's Resolutions — Remarks on Withdrawal of Six Senators — Letter to His Daughter — Letter to the People of Virginia — Remarks on Peace Conference— Letters from Senators Chandler and Bingham — Petitions to Congress from the People of Northern States — Remarks on Resolution to Expel Senator Wigfall, of Texas.

Chapter VIII 191

Secession of Virginia— Winchester a Military Camp — Seizure of Harper's Ferry— Summer of 1861 in Winchester — Appointed Commissioner to England — Letters from Charleston, from the San Jacinto, and from Port Warren — His Own Account of His Capture and Imprisonment — Release from Fort Warren and Arrival in London.

Chapter IX. . . . 247

Instruction from State Department — Dispatch from Richmond About the British Vessels "Bruce" and "Napier," and Denying Report the Confederate States Government Had Prohibited Export of Cotton to Neutrals — Letter from Mr. Mason to Mr. Hunter -English Sympathy with South — Views of Members of Parliament on Blockade and Recognition — Interview with Earl Russell — Mr. Lindsay's Interview with the Emperor — Visit of M. Mercier to Richmond a Mystery — Cotton Famine — Educated Classes in England Favor the South — Private Letters.

Chapter X 282

Dispatch from Richmond Tells of Victory at Hampton Roads — Inauguration of Permanent Government Cabinet — Fall of Forts Fisher and Donelson — General Buckner Captured — Reverses at Nashville, Columbus, Roanoke Island — Capture of Newbern and Washington, in North Carolina — Feeling of Southern People — hesolution of Congress Never to Reenter Union— Battle in Arkansas — Generals McCuUoh and Mcintosh Killed — Inefficiency of Blockade — Mr. De Leon's Mission — Recognition Would End the War — Victory at Shiloh— General A. S. Johnston Killed — Fall of Island No. 10 — New Orleans Taken — General B. F. Butler — Visit of M. Mercier to Richmond — Loss of Fort Pillow, Memphis and Western Tennessee -General Bragg— Lieutenant Commander Brown — General Jackson in Valley of Virginia— Battle of Seven Pines — General J. E. Johnston Wounded — General Lee in Command — Battles at Richmond and Manassas— Lee Enters Maryland — Takes Harper's Ferry — Battle at Sharpsburg — General Loring's Success in West Virginia — General Pope's Orders — Letters from Earl Shaftsbury.

Chapter XI 310

Mr. De Leon Arrives in London — Emperor Ready and Anxious for Recognition; Has Pressed It Upon England— Mr. Slidell Makes Formal Demand for Recognition — Mr. Mason Makes Similar Demand of Earl Russell, which is Refused — Russell Declines Interview— Correspondence with Earl Russell— Russell's Position Based on Seward's Report of Disaffection in South--Discourtesy of Earl Russell— Protest Against England's Position on Blockade —Views of President Davis on the Attitude of the British Ministry — British Cabinet Not Considered a Fair Exponent of the Sentiments and Opinions of the British Nation — President Deems it Proper Mr. Mason Should Remain at His Post but Should Refrain from Further Communication with Earl Russell Unless it Should be Invited.

Chapter XII 335

Mr. G. N. Saunders— Commander Sinclair— Suggested that Money Could be Commanded by Use of Obligation for Delivery of Cotton by the Government—Emperor Strong for Recognition— England's Scant Courtesy and French Polished Civility— Private Memoranda Tells of English Sympathy and Interest, and also of Hospitality and Kindness Extended to Him— Acting-Midshipman Andrews, in Command of the Sumter, Killed by Master's-Mate Hester— English Scheme to Raise Money on Cotton — French Proposal for Loan — Line of Steamships Between Europe and Confederacy—Agreement with Erlanger & Co. — Emancipation Proclamation Met with General Contempt and Derision— Cotton Famine Fearful— The Cruiser "Sumter" Sold to a British House— English Property Taken by the "Alabama" and Earl Russell's Position Thereon.

Chapter XIII 359

Brilliant Success of Confederate Loan— England Apprehends Trouble with United States— Correspondence with Earl Russell About Blockade— Department Sends Design of the Confederate Flag — Description of Seal for Confederate States, with Instructions to Have it Made in England— Mr. McCrea has Management of Loan— Extracts from Private Letters — Federal Recruiting in Ireland— Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Lindsay Visit the Emperor — Minutes of Their Conversation.

Chapter XIV 393

Dispatch from Richmond Speaks of Future Commerce with Confederate States— Of Correspondence Between France, England, and Russia Regarding an Armistice— Private Letter— Favorable Effect in England of Southern Victories— Politics in the North— Parties in Parliament— Private Letter— Conversation with Lord Donoughmore— Department Refutes Northern Reports Regarding Re-opening the Slave Trade — Cotton Certificates from the Treasury the True Mode of Raising Money— List of U. S. Vessels Destroyedby Confederates— Blockade Raised at Charleston, Galveston, and Sabine Pass— England Determined to Run No Risk of Trouble with United States.

Chapter XV 426

Statue of Stonewall Jackson— Dismissal of Both Consul Moore and Mr. Cridland— State of Alabama Pays Interest to English Creditors— Prisoner Hester- Reverses at Home Affect Loan— Success of Blockade Runners- Suggestion that Government Take Exclusive Control of Export of Cotton — Recall from London — Private Letter from Mr. Benjamin— Note to Earl Russell— Unofficial Letter to Mr. Davis— Earl Russell's Reply to Mr. Mason's Note- Appointment of "Commissioner on the Continent"— Letter to Mrs. Mason.

Vlll

Chapter XVI 460

Makes Short Visit to London in Private Capacity — Southern Independence Association of London — Society for Promoting Cessation of Hostilities in America — Anti-Slavery Sentiment in England — Seizure of Tuscaloosa — Seal to be Made of Silver — Instructions for New Commission — President gives Fuller Discretion as to Residence — Maximilian Visits Emperor — His Policy Towards Confederacy Changed after Reaching Paris — Release of Tuscaloosa — Mr. Seward admits the "Mallory Report" was a Forgery.

Chapter XVII 491

Letter to Mrs. Mason — Case of the " Gerrity " — Additional Forgery by the United States Government — Counsel Provided for Men of the " Gerrity " — Court of Queen's Bench Decide "It was not Piracy" — Men Released — Mr. Lindsay's Motion Looking to Mediation — Mr. Lindsay Proposes Interview with Lord Palmerston— Mr. Mason Declines it Unless Invited by Lord Palmerston — Lord Palmerston Expresses Opinion that South Could not be Subjugated — Mr. M. Visits London as a "Private Gentleman" in Response to the Request of Friends of the Confederacy that He Would Come to Their Aid — Lord Russell Expresses Opinion North Could not Overcome South, and People of North were Getting Alive to that Fact — Mr. D' Israeli says in Case of Success in Battles at Richmond, He Would Bring a Motion of Like Character With Mr. Lindsay's — Popular Sentiment in England Strongly With vSouth — Letters to Mrs. Mason — Seal sent by Lieutenant Chapman — Fight Between the Alabama and the Kearsage — Public Dinner Tendered Captain Semmes in London — All Europe Filled with the Fame of Lee, Beauregard, and Johnston— Interview with Lord Palmerston — Lieutenant Chapman Delivers Seal of Secretary of State, but Boxes Containing Irop-press, Wax, Etc., Lost — Private Letters — Bazaar In Liverpool, to Relieve Wants of Southern Prisoners Confined in the North.

Chapter XVIII 516

Mission of Messrs. Jacques and Gilmore to Richmond— St. Alban's Raid — Letter from Bennet Young — Criticism by "Historicus" of Instructions from Department to Cruisers In Regard to Neutral Property — Morning Post Condemns Position Taken by "Historicus" — " Historicus" Said to be Mr. Vernon Harcourt — Post Said to be Lord Palmerston's Organ — Rumors of Purpose to Increase Southern Army by Arming the Slaves Attracts Favorable Attention in England — Correspondence With Mr. Coolidge, of Boston, Relating to Treatment of Northern Soldiers in Southern Prisons.

Chapter XIX 540

Expectation of Peace Aroused in England by Reports from North — Dispatch from Department on "Our Foreign Relations " -Are the Western Powers of Europe Determined Never to Recognize Confederate States Until United States Assents? — Vindication of Right to S elf-Government is Sole Object of War — Prisoners in St. Alban's Case Released — Earl Russell's Communication to Commissioners, and their Reply — Would Any Concessions Regarding Slavery Secure Recognition? — Mr. Mason's Interview With Lord Palmerston on this Subject— His Conversation with Lord Donoughmore — Letter to Col. Mann — Dispatch of May ist — Assassination of Lincoln — Stanton's Dispatch to Adams — Mason's Denial of Stanton's Charge of Confederate Complicity — Proclamation of President John-

IX

Chapter XX 568

Anxiety and Trouble About Richmond — " No Fear or Doubt as to Result " — Passage Engaged to Canada — Departure Delayed by Political Considerations — " What is to be the Future of the South?" — Visit to Sir Frederick Pollock — Contributions to Baltimore Bazaar — President Johnson's Policy — Probable Emigration of Young Men from the South — War Struck the Blow Which Must Eventually Sever North and South — Arrival in Montreal—Visits from Mr. Davis and Others — Return to Virginia — Letter from Mr. Hunter Speaks of Condition of South — Letters from Hunter and Davis Relatfe Hampton Roads Conference — Lincoln's Account of It — Failure of Mr. Mason's Health — His Death.

Life of James Murray Mason.

Chapter I

Lineage — George Mason of Gunston — Gen. John Mason — Mrs. John Mason — Life of Matron at that Day — Birth of James M. Mason — Incidents During War of 1812 — The Chew Family — Early Life in Winchester — The Young Lawyer and His Compeers as Described by Hon. H. A. Wise — Marries Eliza M. Chew — Early Married Life Described in Mrs. Mason's Letters.

James Murray Mason, whose life and work this volume is intended to trace, was descended from the Masons of Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England.

The first one of the family who came to America was Colonel George Mason, of Staffordshire, England, who had been a member of Parliament in the reign of Charles I., and who had been sternly opposed to the corrupt and arbitrary practices of the King, although he was a devoted adherent of the Crown as part of the English Government under the Constitution.

After the execution of Charles I., Colonel Mason commanded a regiment of cavalry in the Royal Army at the battle of Worcester, and being forced by that disastrous defeat to seek safety in disguise and concealment, he left England for the Colony of Virginia. In the same year, 1651, he landed at Norfolk, went up the Potomac River and established a plantation at Acohick Creek, near Pasbitancy, then in Westmoreland County, afterwards in Stafford County. In the year 1675, Stafford was carved out of Westmoreland, and was named by Colonel Mason in remembrance of his native shire in England.

Tradition says he had possessed ample fortune in England, but lost everything when he came to Virginia ; be that as it may, * there is abundant evidence of his having obtained, in 1655, ^ patent for a considerable tract of land, and of his having been

*See Miss Rowland's " Life of George Mason."

LIFE OF JAMES MURRAY MASON.

selected to fill many offices of trust and responsibility in his new home ; among them that of a member of the House of Burgesses from Stafford County.

Stafford Court House, with all of its records, was burned by the Federal troops during the War of 1861-65, ^^^ i" numerous other places the records of the courts, as well as large numbers of old family papers, were destroyed or captured by the invading armies. It is, therefore, extremely difficult to fix with accuracy the dates of many events in the early history of Virginia, but Miss Rowland has given, in her " Life of George Mason of Gunston," the results of her thorough search for, and careful examination of, all possible sources of information concerning these old records. She states that Colonel George Mason, the first of his name in Virginia, held the offices of Sheriff of Stafford County, Clerk of the Court, and also that of Lieutenant of Stafford County.

Accounts differ as to whether he married in America, or whether his wife and family followed him from England. It is, however, certain that his eldest son was named George, and that he, the second of the name in Virginia, married Mary Fowke, daughter of Gerard Fowke, of Stafford County, Virginia, and granddaughter of Roger Fowke, of Gunston Hall, Staffordshire, England. It is said that Gerard Fowke came to Virginia about the same time with Colonel Mason, and from the same neighborhood in England; their families thus renewed in this country the intimacies that had united them at home.

The name "George" was transmitted in a direct line through the eldest son for many generations, and the family home seems to have been inherited with the name.

Miss Rowland's book quotes from several curious old papers to show that both the second and the third George Mason held, in their turn, all the offices that have been spoken of as having been filled by their predecessor, George Mason, the emigrant. The scope of the present volume does not admit of further detail regarding these bygone days, attractive though they may be. It must suffice to say there are original documents, still preserved, and now in the possession of the writer, that seem to confirm Miss Rowland's opinion that the chief positions of trust and responsibility in Stafford County were filled for

LIFE OF JAMES MURRAY MASON.

three successive generations by three George Masons, father, son, and grandson. One of these documents is the Commission given by Alexander Spottswood, " His Majesty's Lieutenant Governor and Vice-Admiral of his Colony of Virginia and Commander-in-Chief of the same Dominion, to ' Colonel George Mason,' appointing him to be Lieutenant of the County of Stafford, and Chief Commander of all His Majesty's Militia, Horse and Foot, in the said County of Stafford." It is dated Williamsburgh, the second day of July, 171 9.

There is also preserved an old letter, which, with the Burgess Ticket that accompanied it, is interesting in itself, apart from the testimony it bears to the estimation in which Mr. Mason was held abroad as well as at home. It is dated Glascow, March 3d, 1720, and reads as follows : " Having received certain Information of the Many Extraordinary Favours You have done to our Merchants or their agents in Virginia, we thought ourselves obliged in the name of our City to acknowledge your goodness, in Testimony thereof we do send You the Compliments of the City, A Burgess Ticket by which You are entitled to all the Rights, Privileges and Immunities of a Burgess or Citizen of Glascow. Hitherto your Favors to our People have flowed from Meer Motives of Hospitality. In time to come you will if Possible Multiply your Goodness towards them, not only as Strangers, but also as Fellow-Citizens with yourself. We wish you all Happiness and Prosperity and do most Earnestly recommend You to the Protection of the Almighty.

in absence of J. A. Peady.

" JOHN BOWMAN, Provost.

" PETER MURDOCK, Baillie.

" JOHN ORR, Baillie.

" STEPHEN CROWFORD, Baillie.

" To Honable. George Mason^ Esqr.

" Collonll. in Stafford County,

" Pottomack River, Virginia."

The George Mason referred to in these papers was the great-grandfather of James Murray Mason. He married a daughter of Stevens Thompson, Esqr., of Middle Temple, an

LIFE OF JAMES MURRAY MASON.

English gentleman who came to Virginia as Attorney-General of the Colony in the reign of Queen Anne. The eldest son of this marriage was the Colonel George Mason who lived during the eventful period of the Revolution, and who took an important share in the labors and responsibilities that devolved upon the men of that day.

The Bill of Rights and the First Constitution of Virginia remain as legacies from him to succeeding generations. He inherited the home estate of " Doeg Neck," the name of which, after building a new mansion, he changed to Gunston Hall, in memory of the seat of his maternal ancestry in Staffordshire, England ; there he lived from his birth to his death, and there he is buried.

The following description of his home and of his mode of life is copied from an unfinished memoir begun by his grandson, James Murray Mason :

" Gunston Hall in ' Doeg Neck ' embraced a tract of 6,000 acres of land on the Potomac River about 20 miles below Alexandria, Virginia. The Potomac, by a majestic curve, forms its boundary on the south and east for some five miles, while on the east and west it is bounded respectively by the Pohick and Occoquan rivers, confluents of the Potomac. It is thus peninsular in form and secluded in position. The mansion is in view from the river, from which it is distant about half a mile, and it may be seen on the highest land about six miles below Mount Vernon.

" Of the early education of George Mason we are uninformed. The condition in life, however, of his parents will warrant, what his subsequent career fully proves, that he was thoroughly educated and trained to habits of study and intellectual pursuits. The distinguishing trait of his mind, as always ascribed to him by those associated with him in the trying scenes of the Revolution, was sagacity, attended by that solidity of thought and soundness of judgment which make up human wisdom. In the conduct of affairs he was looked to and relied upon as a wise man. Perhaps no condition in life was better fitted to strengthen and mature the mind in all the attributes of most value in times of trial, wisdom, self-reliance and resolution.

" A tobacco planter whose crops were exported direct to Europe and his supplies imported direct from thence, ships out-

LIFE OF JAMES MURRAY MASON.

ward and homeward bound stopping for the purpose at the Gunston landing, he dwelt in seclusion, the lord of all he surveyed; with a large retinue of laborers obedient to his will, his estates, productive under his care, and yielding the most ample returns, gave him every resource that wealth could command. He knew none of the narrow and corroding cares of the workingday world ; and an ample library enabled him to draw at pleasure upon the treasures of past ages.

" He married Anne Eilbeck, daughter of William Eilbeck, of Charles County, Maryland, and lived in quiet retirement, taking no part in public affairs, except in his own county, so far as there is any record, prior to the proceedings in Virginia and the other colonies to which the Stamp Act gave rise. After the right was asserted to legislate for the colonies in ' all cases whatsoever,' George Mason wrote, in 1773, a tract with the modest title : ' Extracts from the Virginia Charters, with some remarks on them.' This paper seems to have been intended as an exponent of Colonial Rights under the Charters, and it served as a rich mine of authority in the controversy then ■ arising between the Crown and its colonial subjects.

"As early as 1774 a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of the county of Fairfax, Virginia, was held in the town of Alexandria for the purpose of taking into consideration the state of the Colony, etc. The resolutions there adopted were drawn up by George Mason. They laid broadly the foundations on which the controversies rested between the colonies and the mother country, and indicated, in their recommendations, the course best to be pursued to vindicate the rights of the colonies. It will be seen that the author of these resolutions recommended that a congress should be appointed to consist of deputies from all the colonies ; the beginning of that congress which brought the colonies together, and which carried them successfully through all the storms and trials of the Revolution. The resolutions adopted at this meeting were presented to the Virginia Convention, which, a few weeks later, assembled at Williamsburgh, and their recommendations were adopted; deputies were appointed to the Continental Congress to be held at Philadelphia, and an association was formed to carry into effect throughout the State the resolutions of the Fairfax Meeting

LIFE OF JAMES MURRAY MASON.

relating to non-importation from Great Britain. Thus, from the determined and energetic councils of George Mason, a private citizen, and in the shades of private life, sprung the concerted organization in all the colonies, which, developing their strength and fully committing them to final resistance, paved the way to independence.

" George Washington having been selected by the Virginia Convention as deputy to the Continental Congress, Colonel ~ Mason was chosen by the people of Fairfax to take his place in. the Virginia Convention, and this is the first time, so far as can be ascertained at this day, that he engaged in the public service, although he had frequently declined such service ; he continued, however, a member of the Convention at Williamsburgh, and of the subsequent General Assembly until the close of the war. As a member of the Convention at Williamsburgh he wrote the ' Bill of Rights,' and the ' First Constitution of Virginia.' The original draft of the 'Bill of Rights ' is still preserved in the State Library at the Capitol in Richmond. On the margin of that draft is written, and also in the handwriting of its author: ' This declaration of rights was the first written in America ; it received few alterations or additions in the convention (some of them not for the better), and was afterwards closely imitated by the other States.'

" As a member of the Convention of 1787, in Philadelphia, )> Colonel Mason voted against the Federal Constitution as it was there framed, and refused to sign it on the ground that the powers of the Federal Government were not sufficiently restricted, nor the reserved rights of the respective States sufficiently guarded, and on his return home he bent his whole strength to prevent its ratification by Virginia.

" Like most of his contemporaries, he was careful and minute in the management of his private affairs. His books, all kept in his own hand, show detailed accounts with all who were in his employ, embracing overseers, agents, and others.

" His domestic habits, as described by members of his immediate family, were simple and unostentatious, though attended with all the abundance of large possessions, and supplied with the comforts and luxuries within the reach of an ample fortune. His mornings at Gunston were generally spent in reading or writing in his library ; at midday he mounted his horse, and taking a gun, usually a rifle, and attended by a servant and his dog, visited his plantations, looking minutely and carefully into their operations. From these excursions he generally returned bringing game he had shot. The afternoons and evenings were devoted to his family and to society.

" In the year 1766, then about 40 years of age, he thus speaks of himself in a letter to The Public Ledger in London, published in that paper over the signature of a ' Virginia Planter ' : ' These are the sentiments of a man who spends most of his time in retirement, and who has seldom meddled in public afifairs ; who enjoys a modest but independent fortune, and who, content with the blessings of a private station, equally disregards the smiles and frowns of the great.' "

It would be a pleasant task to give fuller and more detailed accounts of these Virginians of the last century; but it is the purpose of the present volume to tell of more recent times. What has been said of the earlier generations has been told with the same idea with which an artist bestows special care on the background of a picture in order to bring out the portrait in clear and living color; or, with the idea so happily expressed by Doctor Wendell Holmes, who, when asked when the education of a boy should commence, replied : " I think about a hundred years before the child is born."

Colonel George Mason, of Gunston, had three daughters and five sons ; this narrative can, however, refer only to John, the fourth son, who was the father of James Murray Mason. Of the early associations of John Mason and of his birthplace, Gunston, some account has already been given. It must suffice to say that, although he was so unfortunate as to lose his mother at the early age of five years, yet the devotion to the home of his childhood, and the reverential admiration and respect for his father, that frequently found expression during his life, as well as in the manuscripts discovered among his papers after his death, bear testimony to the character of the parent, and the home that exerted so strong an influence upon his own life, and, through him, upon his children.

His education, begun under private tutors at home, and continued at schools in Virginia and in Maryland, was completed in France, where he was sent soon after the close of the Revolution, and where he remained some years, actively engaged in business as a merchant, owning several vessels, and sending large cargoes to other ports, as well as to this country, in exchange for those received.

v^ After his return home, he married Miss Anna Maria Mur-

ray, daughter of Doctor James Murray, of Annapolis, Maryland, and continued for some years actively engaged in mercantile pursuits, holding, at different times, positions of trust and responsibility ; among them, the office of " Superintendent of Indian Trade," to which he was appointed by President Jefferson in the year 1807, and that of " Commissary General of Prisoners," which he held during the War of 1812. This office gave him the title of " General," and he was usually known as General Mason.

A little incident connected with this time is of interest as evincing the kindly nature of the boy, James, who frequently accompanied his father on his visits to look after the welfare of the prisoners. The pale face and attenuated figure of a young British officer attracted the attention and excited the sympathy of young Mason, who reported to his mother the story of the sick prisoner and begged she would have some delicacies prepared, such as might tempt the appeti^*^ of an invalid. The request was granted, and the British officer was kept well supplied with tempting food and attractive books that were carried to him by the American schoolboy. Nearly fifty years afterwards, when Mr. Mason was in London as the representative of the Confederate States, his acquaintance was sought by an EngHshman of high position, who identified himself as having been visited, fed and comforted by him when he had been sick and in prison in America, and told the story to the guests assembled at the house of one of the nobility, where they had been invited to meet the Commissioner from the Confederate States.

General John Mason inherited from his father a handsome estate in Fairfax County, Virginia, lying on the Potomac River, and including an island in the river, opposite Washing-

- ton, known as Analostan Island, where he made his residence during a portion of every year, spending the summers on the