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236 HISTORY OF MARYLAND
He was a member of the Maryland Senate in 1777, and his services in that body are
thus described by a member who sat with him :
" He was truly a perfect man of business; he would often take the pen, and commit
to paper all the necessary writings of the senate, and this he would do cheerfully, while,
the other members were amusing themselves with desultory conversation. He appeared
to be naturally of an irritable temper, still he was mild and courteous in his general
deportment, fond of society and conversation, and universally a favorite from his great
good humor and intelligence. He thought and wrote much as a professional man and as
a statesman, on the business before him as those characters—he had no leisure for other
subjects—not that he was unequal to the task, for there were few men who could commit
their thoughts to paper with more facility or greater strength of argument. There was a
severe trial of skill between the senate and the house of delegates, on the subject of confiscating British property. The senate for several sessions unanimously rejected bills
passed by the house of delegates for that purpose; many, very long and tart were the
messages from one to the other body on this subject; the whole of which were, on the
part of the senate, the work of Mr. Stone, and his close friend and equal in all respects,
the venerable Charles Carroll, of Carrollton."
In the year 1784, after he had finally relinquished his seat in congress, he removed to
Annapolis, where his practice became very lucrative and his professional reputation rose
to very distinguished eminence. As a speaker, his strength lay in argument, rather than
in manner. When he began, his voice was weak, and his delivery unimpressive, but as
he became warmed with his subject, his manner improved, and his reasoning was clear
and powerful.
He was a man of very strong feelings and affectionate disposition; and the tenderness
of his attachment to his amiable wile, after forming the happiness of a large portion of his
life, became the melancholy cause of its early close. In the year 1776, while he was
attending to his public duties in congress, Mrs. Stone visited Philadelphia with him, and
as the small-pox was then prevalent in that city, it was thought necessary to protect her
from it by inoculation. She was accordingly inoculated, by the mercurial treatment,
and from this time her health gradually declined. She was afflicted with rheumatism for
eleven years, and her skin, which had before been marked with the glow of health,
assumed a paleness which can scarcely be imagined. It was beyond the power of human
aid to give vigor to her shattered condition, and on the 1st of June, 1787, she died in
Annapolis, in her thirty-fourth year. This was a death-blow to Mr. Stone. He declined
all further business, both public and private, and retired to his seat near Port Tobacco, in
Charles County, and sunk into a deep melancholy. Dr. Brown and Dr. Craik, his
physicians, finding little amendment in his spirits after the lapse of some months, advised
him to make a sea voyage. In obedience to their advice, he went to Alexandria to embark
for England. While waiting at that place for the vessel to sail, he expired suddenly, in
his forty-fifth year, on the 5th of October, 1787.
A few days before his death, he wrote the following letter of advice to his only son,
then a boy of twelve years of age, which is the dying counsels of a virtuous parent,
actually in the near prospect of death:
" My Dear Frederick: I am now in a weak state, about to travel, and probably shall
not see you more. Let me intreat you to attend to the following advice, which I leave
you as a legacy; keep and read it, and resort to it.
" In the first place, do your duty to God in spirit and in truth, always considering him
as your best protector, and doing all things to please him; nothing to offend him; and be
assured he is always present and knows all your thoughts and actions, and that you will
prosper and be happy if you please him, and miserable and unhappy if you displease him.
Say your prayers every day, and attend divine worship at church regularly and devoutly,
Object Description
| Title | History of Maryland - 2 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
Description
| Title | 00000265 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 236 HISTORY OF MARYLAND He was a member of the Maryland Senate in 1777, and his services in that body are thus described by a member who sat with him : " He was truly a perfect man of business; he would often take the pen, and commit to paper all the necessary writings of the senate, and this he would do cheerfully, while, the other members were amusing themselves with desultory conversation. He appeared to be naturally of an irritable temper, still he was mild and courteous in his general deportment, fond of society and conversation, and universally a favorite from his great good humor and intelligence. He thought and wrote much as a professional man and as a statesman, on the business before him as those characters—he had no leisure for other subjects—not that he was unequal to the task, for there were few men who could commit their thoughts to paper with more facility or greater strength of argument. There was a severe trial of skill between the senate and the house of delegates, on the subject of confiscating British property. The senate for several sessions unanimously rejected bills passed by the house of delegates for that purpose; many, very long and tart were the messages from one to the other body on this subject; the whole of which were, on the part of the senate, the work of Mr. Stone, and his close friend and equal in all respects, the venerable Charles Carroll, of Carrollton." In the year 1784, after he had finally relinquished his seat in congress, he removed to Annapolis, where his practice became very lucrative and his professional reputation rose to very distinguished eminence. As a speaker, his strength lay in argument, rather than in manner. When he began, his voice was weak, and his delivery unimpressive, but as he became warmed with his subject, his manner improved, and his reasoning was clear and powerful. He was a man of very strong feelings and affectionate disposition; and the tenderness of his attachment to his amiable wile, after forming the happiness of a large portion of his life, became the melancholy cause of its early close. In the year 1776, while he was attending to his public duties in congress, Mrs. Stone visited Philadelphia with him, and as the small-pox was then prevalent in that city, it was thought necessary to protect her from it by inoculation. She was accordingly inoculated, by the mercurial treatment, and from this time her health gradually declined. She was afflicted with rheumatism for eleven years, and her skin, which had before been marked with the glow of health, assumed a paleness which can scarcely be imagined. It was beyond the power of human aid to give vigor to her shattered condition, and on the 1st of June, 1787, she died in Annapolis, in her thirty-fourth year. This was a death-blow to Mr. Stone. He declined all further business, both public and private, and retired to his seat near Port Tobacco, in Charles County, and sunk into a deep melancholy. Dr. Brown and Dr. Craik, his physicians, finding little amendment in his spirits after the lapse of some months, advised him to make a sea voyage. In obedience to their advice, he went to Alexandria to embark for England. While waiting at that place for the vessel to sail, he expired suddenly, in his forty-fifth year, on the 5th of October, 1787. A few days before his death, he wrote the following letter of advice to his only son, then a boy of twelve years of age, which is the dying counsels of a virtuous parent, actually in the near prospect of death: " My Dear Frederick: I am now in a weak state, about to travel, and probably shall not see you more. Let me intreat you to attend to the following advice, which I leave you as a legacy; keep and read it, and resort to it. " In the first place, do your duty to God in spirit and in truth, always considering him as your best protector, and doing all things to please him; nothing to offend him; and be assured he is always present and knows all your thoughts and actions, and that you will prosper and be happy if you please him, and miserable and unhappy if you displease him. Say your prayers every day, and attend divine worship at church regularly and devoutly, |
