Mason, George

(1725-1792), an American Revolutionary leader, was one of the great Virgin i ans of that epoch. He drafted in 1769 the, ‘“‘non-importation ” resolutions in the Virginia A embly, and was one of the chief members of that body. In 1776 he drafted the Bill of Rights and the new State Constitution. He had an active part in the debates of the Federal Convention of 1787, but refused to sign the Constitution, and went home to throw the weight of his great influence on the Anti- Federalist side in the ratifying Convention of 1788.