SELECT REMAINS OF THE REV. JOHN MASON, M. A RECTOR OF WATER-STRATFORD, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. RECOMMENDED BY DR. WATTS. WITH A PREFACE, BY HIS GRANDSON, THE REV. JOHN MASON, M.A LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, AND SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORY, 56, PATERNOSTER ROW: OTHER BOOKSELLERS. ΤΟ THE REV. JOHN MASON, DORKING, SURREY. REVEREND AND DEAR SIR, I was pleased when you informed me that you had a design to print a new edition of the SELECT REMAINS of your reverend grandfather. It is very agreeable to hear that the spirit and temper which run through that book, are so far maintained among us, that there are sufficient readers to encourage these REMAINS to be republished. I have often thought that this collection of short sentences, under various heads, is very proper to attend christians of the middle rank of life, either in the parlour or the kitchen, in the shop or the workhouse; and for that end I have been a frequent purchaser of them, to distribute in families, among private christians. By spending one minute in reading these sentences now and then, serious persons may find sufficient matter to furnish them with frequent pious meditations in every circumstance of the christian life; and they may be as happily useful in the retirements of the closet. The style and manner appear to me much like that of the late Reverend Mr. Henry, whose practical works have been so universally esteemed. Though there is not any affectation of a train of close reasoning here, or magnificent and new ideas, which would tempt the polite and learned world to peruse them; yet a serious christian of the highest rank can hardly read many of these sayings, without an inward relish and taste of the truth of them. The letters to his friends shew the reader that the writer's heart was always in heaven, and may teach him upon every occasion to bring religion into his converse with his friends, whether by writing or speaking. Upon the whole, I cannot but conceive it to be a useful service to mankind to have these papers spread abroad in the world; that every occasion may be taken to support a sense of serious religion amidst the many temptations of this life. And if you imagine, Sir, that my opinion may be of any advantage, you have my free leave to make this letter as public as you please. I am, Sir, Your affectionate Brother, and humble Servant, Newington, Oct. 24, 1741. I. WATTS. THE Author of these Select Remains was a person of as eminent a character in the religious world as most ages have produced. He was by principle a conformist to the Established Church of England, and died at Water-Stratford, in the county of Bucks, A.D. 1694, having been rector of that place twenty years. It is not my design to present the reader with the history of the life of Mr. Mason. This hath already been attempted some years since, by the Rev. Mr. Maurice, rector of Tyringham, Bucks, and some others. But the most full and impartial account hereof was drawn up by the Reverend Mr. Richard Mayo, vicar of Kimbal, Bucks, whose pious temper, and solid judgment, attended with the advantage of a long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Mason, and of living in the same neighbourhood, rendered him very capable of such an undertaking, and set him beyond all suspicion of partiality. But this account never was published, and I believe never will. As for Mr. Mason's true character, it may best be gathered from those few writings which he hath left behind him; and from these Select Remains, which are faithfully extracted from authentic manuscripts. He was certainly a man of uncommon fervour of spirit in the cause of God and religion. His learning was considerable, his capacity above the common level, and his application extraordinary, For a deep and continual sense of religion upon his spirit, he had not many equals; and for an honest and unaffected zeal in the service of Christ, he had few superiors. His mind was susceptible of the warmest impressions of devotion. Whatever he uttered (especially if it related to his Saviour,) seemed to come from the very bottom of his soul; and the impression it made upon his hearers was owing, in a great measure, to that which they observed it first made upon him. The same is observable in his writings. We are touched not only with the force and beauty of a fine thought, but with the easy and unaffected manner in which it is delivered; which shows that it came directly from the |