Evening star., 1925-10-18

| George Washington presided. They
were presented to the Virginia Con
vention in August, which gave them
| its sanction, and in the following
| October the Continental Congress sub
stantially adopted them.
George Mason was q member of the
| Virginia Convention during the years
1875 and 1776. He was elected a dele
gate to the Continental Congress in
177o and again in II. but he declined
TO serve, for his beloved Anne had
died in '73, only thirty-nine years of
age, and he felt he owed his first
allegiance to his motherless brood.
Yet in all probability the services
he rendered the cause of liberty in
his own state surpassed in importance
anything he could have done in the
Continental Congress.
He was a member of the Virginia
Committee of Safety from August to
December, 1775. The government of
safety" in those days was what we
now mean by preparedness" Com
mittees of safety were organized In
every colony, and usually in each
important county of a colony. The
county committee members were elect
| ed by peoples conventions, and CO.
operated with the state committee of
safety. These organizations, through
out the colonies, made ultimate VIC
tory possible. for they were small
enough to be unified and so co-ordinat.
ed the various parts of the Continental
Army; and the Fairfax County Com
mittee of Safety contributed more to
the cause than that of any other
county throughout the colonies. Yet
the men who composed these remark
able committees were seldom recon-.
pensed for their work, and were ac.
corded scant recognition, although
they gave without stint of their time
and energy, and, in the event of de-
feat, would have been among the first
punished. Those of Fairfax County,
at the head Of the naviga BILE Potomac,
were especially prominent and easy
prey.
George Mason was also a. member
during November, rs of the still
smaller committee of correspondence
within the committee Of safety, com.
posed OF about six men, to expedite
EARLY in 177e. in Virginia's last CO.
lonial assembly before the Revo-
luton, George Mason drafted the Bill
OF Rights, his greatest work. and also
the first constitution of Virginia, both
adopted unanimously by tho conven-
ton. The Bill Of Rights was substan-
TALLY the inspiration Of the Declare.
tion of Independence, for Jefferson
was an intimate friend and enthusi
astic admirer Of George Mason, his
senior by Is years, and often visited
Gunston Hall, where there Is now q
Jefferson" room in which tho Great
Democrat wrote an outline Of the
Declaration.
Mason represented Fairfax County
In the Virginia Assembly continuous.
ly until 178S.
Although a frequent sufferer from
the gout. which caused his temporary
retirement from public life in l7sO
and 81. he was ever keenly sensitive
to the colonies critical situation and
did not cease to give the matter con.
stant attention. He was greatly dis.
turbed. for instance, over the Brit.
ish depredations on non-combatant nts,
whose property they plundered or
burned; and he addressed q letter to
the Virginia delegates in Congress
at Philadelphia in 81, wherein was
embodied an. excellent solution; that
the States should all be urged to pass
laws declaring that all private prop
erty SO plundered or destroyed should
be made good to the sufferers or their
heirs after the wars end by duties
to be imposed upon all imports from
Great Britain into the respective
States until full reparation should be
made. And this effort was purely
altruistio on Mason's part, for. the
fortunes OF war left his extensive
holdings intact.
In addition to possessing these social
instincts. George Mason was q mill.
tant individualist. His sense Of Jus
tice was so inordinately keen and
rare, so attuned to the rights Of the
"other fellow" as we'll as his own,
that one regrets the term Justice"
has been cheapened by careless appli.
cation to lesser men. At the very
time that his heart and mind were
united to the Continental Army,
wherein three Of his sons were fight
ing under George Washington for the
cause to which their father had con-
tribvted much Of his wealth, he was