A man who has a just sense of the responsibilities of a high public office, will seldom seek one, unless impelled by impending dangers that threaten to injure or destroy the best interests of his country. The more clearly a modest unassuming man perceives the magnitude of a public trust, the more he distrusts his own capacity to discharge its duties, yet such a man is the very one to be safely trusted. It was with great diffidence that Washington undertook the command of the American armies, yet no one can be pointed out who possessed as fully all the requisites to meet “the times that tried men’s souls.” John Hancock quailed under his appointment as president of the Continental Congress, yet no one could have manifested more firmness in the cause of liberty, or have presided with more dignity.

It is only in times of danger that men of the greatest worth become most conspicuous. They are then sought out by the virtuous part of the community, and sometimes become prominent by throwing themselves in the breach of danger. In times of peace and prosperity, the same men may be called to the councils of a nation without exciting astonishment or unusual applause, and the names of noisy political partisans may become more extensively known and be wider spread upon the wings of venal party newspapers than theirs. It is in such times that men of the greatest merit shrink from the public gaze, and it is in such times that the canker worm of political intrigue carries on the work of destruction in the body politic. It is in times of peril that men of deep thought, cool deliberation and sterling honesty, become most prominent and receive the full reward of merit. This fact was fully demonstrated during the American revolution. Many were then called to deliberate in the solemn assemblies of that eventful era who had not been previously known as public men, and who retired as soon as the mighty work of independence was completed. They were selected in consequence of their strict integrity and sound discretion.

Of this class was Thomas Stone, a descendant of William Stone, who was governor of Maryland during the reign of Cromwell. He was born at Pointon Manor, Charles county, Maryland, in 1743. He was well educated under the liberal and classical instruction of a Scotch clergyman, and studied the profession of law with Thomas Johnson of Annapolis. He commenced a successful practice at that place, and was held in high estimation by the community in which he lived. Modest, retiring and unassuming in his manners, an industrious man of business, a close student, a safe and judicious counsellor, he was beloved and admired for his substantial worth and sterling merit. He possessed a clear head, a sound judgment, and a good heart. His mind was vigorous, analyzing, investigating, and patriotic. He was a friend to equal rights, and delighted in seeing every person happy. He detested oppression in all its varied shades. He was kind, noble and benevolent. With feelings like these he was not a careless observer of the infringements of the Grenville administration upon the constitutional and chartered rights of his fellow citizens. When the stamp act was promulged, he was a youth in politics, but the discussions upon its odiousness deeply interested him. He was an attentive listener and a thorough investigator. His opposition to it became firm; a holy indignation pervaded his bosom and prepared him for future action. Still he avoided the public gaze. With his friends in the private circle he conversed freely, lucidly and understandingly upon the subject of American rights and British wrongs, but could not be induced to mount the rostrum of the forum and display his forensic powers until a short time before he was called by his country to deliberate in her national council.

When the Boston port bill was proclaimed, Mr. Stone surmounted the barriers of diffidence and rushed promptly to the rescue. His example had a salutary influence upon those around him. All knew that something must be radically wrong, that some portentous danger hung over the colonies when Thomas Stone was roused to public action. The influence of such men as him, in times of peril, is of the highest value. The man who is always or often a declaimer in popular meetings, must possess Demosthenean or Ciceronian powers to command attention for a long time. The cool, the reflecting, the calculating, the timid and the wavering, are operated upon as by magic, where they see such a man as was Mr. Stone go boldly forward and advocate, what to them seems a cause of doubtful expediency.

On the 8th of December, 1774, he was elected a member of the Continental Congress, and took his seat in that body on the 15th of the ensuing May. The meeting of that convention of sages had been deeply solemn and imposing the preceding year, but at that time an increased responsibility rested upon the members. The cry of blood from the heights of Lexington was ringing in their ears; the fury of the revolutionary storm was increasing; the clash of arms and mortal combat had already commenced; the vials of British wrath were unsealed, and the fabric of civil government was falling before a foreign military force. To meet such a crisis, it required the wisdom of Solomon, the patriotism of Cincinnatus, the acuteness of Locke, the eloquence of Cicero, the caution of Tacitus, the learning of Atticus and the energy of Virginius. All these qualities were combined in the Continental Congress to a degree before unknown. Mr. Stone commenced his duties with vigour and prosecuted them with zeal. He was at first trammelled by the instructions of the provincial assembly of Maryland, that body being extremely anxious that peace should be restored without recourse to arms. But the increasing oppressions of the crown eventually removed this injunction and enabled him and his colleagues to join cheerfully in all measures calculated to promote the cause of independence. He was continued in Congress until 1777, when he declined a re-election. He had been a faithful labourer in the committee rooms, and an influential member in the house. He had bestowed much thought and time upon the articles of confederation, and felt bound to remain in the public service until they were fully formed and adopted. That important work completed, he retired from the halls of Congress, carrying with him the esteem and respect of that body, the approbation of a good conscience, and the unlimited gratitude of his constituents.

In 1778, he was elected a delegate of the Maryland legislature, where he became an important and influential member. During that session, the articles of confederation that he had aided in framing the preceding term in Congress, were submitted for consideration. They met with violent opposition at first, and were the subject of warm discussion. Having been present at their formation, Mr. Stone was prepared to answer the objections raised against them by lucid, clear, logical and convincing arguments. He contributed largely in gaining for them a majority of votes in the legislature of his state.

In 1783, he again took his seat in Congress and became a highly esteemed member. Devoted to the best interests of his country, free from political ambition, honest, frank, republican and sincere in his principles, he was safely entrusted with the responsibilities of every station he was called to fill. He was present when Washington resigned his commission and retired from the field of civic glory to the peaceful shades of Mount Vernon, amidst the loud plaudits of admiring millions, and the mingled tears of joy and gratitude that stood, like pearly dew drops, on the cheeks of his countrymen and compatriots in arms.

The ensuing year closed the labours of Mr. Stone in Congress, and completed his public career. During the last session in which he served, he presided, previous to its close, as president pro tempore, and, had he consented to a re-election, would, as a matter of course, been chosen the next president of the national legislature. As a further mark of public esteem, he was elected a delegate to the convention of 1787 that framed the federal constitution, but having commenced a lucrative practice of law at Port Tobacco he declined the honour of serving. On the 5th of October of the same year, he was prematurely and suddenly called to the bar of God to render an account of his stewardship, and closed his eyes in death, deeply lamented by numerous friends, a grateful country, and millions of freemen. He was cut off in the prime of life, in the midst of usefulness, whilst the prospects of future honours were opening brightly before him. But he had already earned a rich and honourable fame, imperishable as the pages of history, lasting as human intelligence. From the time he was first known as a public man to the present, neither the tongue of slander nor the breath of detraction have attempted to cast a stain upon his reputation as a patriot, a statesman, a lawyer, or a private citizen. He was a rare specimen of discretion, propriety and usefulness—a true specimen of the very salt of the body politic, rendering efficient services to his country without pomp or show, and without the towering talents of a Cicero or a Demosthenes. Such men are always valuable, and may be relied upon in the hour of danger as safe sentinels to guard the best interests of our nation.