Quotes by William Mason

“An ambitious man strikes a bargain with a demon he believes he can control.””

“Mr. Nash’s travels on the Continent with the painter William Henry Teale, a journey which gave us not only the former’s Travels, but the latter’s grand canvases of sunsets at Vesuvius.””

“It is a pain that will stay with you as long as you live… . All the time I spent with Mason, I felt I never knew him, never could put my hands on him. He was like a gorgeous silver fish in a still pond: make a grab for him, and he has slithered away, and there you are with a handful of water. But maybe that was just the thing about him, you see? He was like mercury. Smoke. Wind. It was as if he was hardly a man at all, but a creature from a different race who had taken on the disguise of a man, an imperfect disguise, so that while you saw that he walked and talked and smelled like a man, you were nonetheless aware that here was a creature so strange, so new”

“Gibbon who worked nonstop and seemed free of the self-doubt and crises of confidence that dog us mere mortals, there is a William James or a Franz Kafka, great minds who wasted time, waited vainly for inspiration to strike, experienced torturous blocks and dry spells, were racked by doubt and insecurity. In reality, most of the people in this book are somewhere in the middle”

“Jackaby did not speak as we left the building. We were three or four blocks away from the station house when Lydia Lee caught up to us, the coach rattling and clinking and the dappled gray horse stamping its hooves impatiently on the cobblestones. Miss Lee managed to convince the Duke to clop to a halt just ahead of us, and my employer climbed into the carriage wordlessly.Miss Lee gave me an inquisitive look, but Jackaby finally broke his silence before I could explain. “Don’t bother with niceties. Take me home, Miss Lee.” He thought for a moment. “I’m going to need you to go to jail for me afterward.”“That is the second time a man’s said those words to me,” she replied gamely. “Although the last time I got flowers and a dance first, if memory serves.”“Bail,” amended Jackaby as Miss Lee hopped back into the driver’s box.“They usually do, in the end,” she said, sighing.“What? Listen, I have a jar of banknotes in my office earmarked for bail. I’ll bring it out to you as soon as we arrive. I need you to bring it to the processing officer at the Mason Street Station. He’ll sort out the paperwork. Just sign where he tells you to. Ask for Alton.”“Allan,” I corrected.“I’m fairly sure it’s Alton,” said Jackaby.“You want me to post bail for somebody?” Miss Lee called down as the carriage began to rattle on down the street. “I guess I can do that.”“Thank you,” Jackaby called back to her.“Who am I bailing out?”“Everyone.”The carriage bumped along the paving stones for a silent stretch. “By everyone, you mean . . . ?”“It is a rather large jar of banknotes,” said Jackaby.“Right,” came Miss Lee’s voice at length. “You’re the boss.””

“remember one day, in the spring of 1848, that two men, Americans, came into the office and inquired for the governor. I asked their business, and one answered that they had just come down from Captain Sutter on special business, and they wanted to see Governor Mason in person. I took them in to the colonel, and left them together. After some time the colonel came to his door and called to me. I went in, and my attention was directed to a series of papers unfolded on his table, in which lay about half an ounce of placer gold. Mason said to me, “What is that?” I touched it and examined one or two of the larger pieces, and asked, “Is it gold?” Mason asked me if I had ever seen native gold. I answered that, in 1844, I was in Upper Georgia, and there saw some native gold, but it was much finer than this, and that it was in phials, or in transparent quills; but I said that, if this were gold, it could be easily tested, first, by its malleability, and next by acids. I took a piece in my teeth, and the metallic lustre was perfect.””

“Life is a mirror.””

“1826 an American Freemason wrote a book revealing Masonic secrets entitled Illustrations of Freemasonry.””

“O, we do not enough dwell upon the infinite love, discriminating grace, and almighty power of the Lord in effectually calling us, poor sinners from sin, death, and hell to righteousness, life, and heaven, in Jesus! What! has the Lord singled you out, and separated you from a world of dead sinners, to hear his mighty voice, and to obey his loving call? Have you heard the sweet, loving, and persuasive voice of the dear Shepherd, saying, "Come unto me!" O remember, this is because you are loved by God. The effectual calling of Christ is the fruit of the everlasting love of God. Sinners being loved by God, and given to Christ in eternity, they must be effectually called they must come to Christ in time. As love infinite, everlasting immutable love, is the cause from which our calling proceeds; so the end of our calling is, to put on, possess, and enjoy Christ Jesus. For we are called to be saints IN him.””