Mask, or Notcii-iiead, is the technical term in ec- clesiastical arcliitccture fcir a kind of corbel, the shadow
of whicli bears a close re- Coibel.W est Claudon, Sur- Bemblance to that of the hu- rey.
man face. It is common in some districts in work of the 13th and 14th centuries, and is usually carved under the eaves as a corbel-table. A good example occurs in Ports- mouth Church, where it is mixed with the tooth-orna- ment. It is a favorite ornament in Northamptonshire in the cornices of the broad spire, and under the para- pet of the chancel; but it is by no means confined to any particular district. — Parker, Glossary of Architect- ure, s. V.
Mas'man (Mairjunv v.r. jVfrtacrjUf'd^), a corrupt read- ing (1 Esdr. viii, 43 ; compare 'Eaf.iaiag, ver. 44) for the SiiEJLViAii (q. V.) of the Heb. text (Ezra viii, 16).
Mason (I'^iS, goder', a wall-builder, 2 Kings xii, 12 ; xxii,G; " repairer," Isa.lviii, 12; 3:i£in,c^o^se6',l Chron. xxii, 2; 2 Chron. xxiv, 12; Ezra iii, 7; a " heu-et-" of wood, Isa. X, 15; or a stone-cutter, 2 Kings xii, 13; or of both, 1 Kings v, 15 ; "j^X O jtl, chai-ash' e'ben, 2 Sam. V, 11, a " carrer or worker ofstone,^' as in 1 Chron. xxii, 15; "i"ip TiJ'^n, charash' Idr, 1 Chron. xiv, 1, a icall- wo7-imun'), a stone-mason or artificer in stone. From 2 Sam. v, 1 1 , which states that " Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers to David, and cedar-trees, and carpenters, and masons, and they built David a house," we may infer that the Hebre^^•s were not so skilful in arcliitec- ture as the Tyrians, though they had long sojourned in Egj'pt, where that art attained a high degree of perfec- tion at a very early period. The ruins of immense tem- ples and palaces at the present day fill the traveller in Egypt with wonder and astonishment. The sculptures on the granite, basalt, and hard limestone stiU remain undefaced. Upon the ancient monuments of Egypt the various processes of the building art are very numerous. Masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, brickmakers, etc., may be seen hard at work, and appear to be depicted with minute fidelity, and some of these seem to explain to us a curious circumstance mentioned by the sacred histo- rian in the account of the erection of Solomon's Temjile : "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither ; so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house whilst it was in building" (1 Kings vi, 7). This previous squaring and preparation of the stones is frequently delineated ; they are accurately measured mider the superintendence of a principal archi- tect, the shape marked on the rough block with a dark line, so as to determine the course of the stone-cutter accurately, and a mark or number is fixed to the finish- ed stone so as to point out its place in the building. Masons' and carpenters' tools have frequently been found in the tombs. INIost of the blades have been attached by linen bandages and an adhesive composition. On the blades of the larger, and handles of the smaller tools, is generally inscribed a line of hieroglyphics. Some of them are of remote antiquity, bearing the prienomen of Thothmes III. (See "Wilkinson, yl«ct(rw< J-Jgypfiuns, ii, 305-315.) The peculiar bevelled edges and immense
Masonry of Harain Wall at Hebron. (Prom Photograph 122 of the " Palestine Exploration Fund.")
MASON^
859
MASON
size of the loAver courses of the walls of Jerusalem and other cities of Palestine attest the anticiue art of Solo- mon's day. Similar advancement in the art of stone- cutting is evident from the ruins discovered by Botta and Layard in Assyria. See Handicraft; Sculpture.
Masou, Erskine, D.D., a Presbyterian minister, son of Dr. John M. Mason, was born in New York City April 16, 1805 ; was educated at Dickinson College (class of 1823) ; was ordained in October, 182G ; installed over the Church at Schenectady in May, 1827 ; pastor of Bleecker Street Church, New York, from 1830 to 1851 ; and also jjrofessor of ecclesiastical history in Union The- ological Seminary, New York, from 183G to 18-42. lie died in iNIay, 1851. His memoir, by llev. Wm. Adams, is prefixed to his sermons on practical subjects, entitled A Pastoi-'s Legacy (1853, 8vo). See also Drake, Diet, of Ainer. Biog. s. v.
Mason, Francis (1), B.D., an English divine, was born in the county of Durham in 15tJG; was edu- cated at Jlerton College, Oxford, about 1583, where he was chosen probationer fellow ; became rector of Ox- ford, SufTolk, and chaplain to king James I, and arch- deacon of Norfolk in 1G19. lie died in 1G21. He pub- lished Sermons (Lond. 1G07, 4to; Oxford, 1G34, 4to) : — Vindicice Ecelesice Anrjlicance (1G13, fol. ; published in an English dress, entitled A Vitidicafion of the Church of Enr/laml, and of the Lawful Ministry thereof, etc. ; greatly enlarged by Eev. John Lindsay, with additions, 1728, fol. ; 1778, fol.). This book contains a complete refutatiim of the Nag's Head story: — Two Sermons (lG21,8vo) : — The Lawfulness of the Ordination of Min- isters of the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas (Ox- ford, 1641, 4to). See Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and Amer. Authors, s. v. ; Darling, Cyclop. Bibliog. vol. ii, s. v.