which body he was re-elected for several subsequent years. After the Maryland Legislature had relieved him and his colleagues of the restrictions which bound them, he joyfully affixed his name to the Declaration of Independence.

Mr. Stone was a member of the committee appointed by Congress to prepare Articles of Confederation; and the manner in which he discharged the duties devolving upon him in that station, was highly satisfactory. After seeing the Confederation finally agreed upon in Congress, he declined a re-appointment to that body, but became a member of the Legislature of his native State. In 1783, he was again chosen to Congress; and in the session of 1784, acted for some time as President pro tempore. the adjournment of Congress this year, he retired from that body, and engaged actively in the duties of his profession. His practice now became lucrative in Annapolis, whither he had removed; and he soon rose to distinction at the bar. As an advocate, he excelled in strength of argument, and was often employed in cases of great difficulty.

On

Mr. Stone died on the 5th of October, 1787, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and while on the point of embarking for Europe, for the benefit of his health.

GEORGE TAYLOR.

GEORGE TAYLOR was born in Ireland, in the year 1716. At a suitable age he commenced the study of medicine; but his genius not being adapted to his profession, he relinquished his medical studies, and soon after set sail for America. On his arrival he was entirely destitute of money, and was obliged to resort to manual labor to pay the expenses of his voyage. He was first engaged in the iron works of Mr. Savage, at Durham, on the Delaware, and was afterwards taken into his counting-room as a clerk. In this situation he rendered himself very useful, and, at length, upon the death of Mr. Savage, he became connected in marriage with his widow, and consequently the proprietor of the whole establishment. In a few years the fortune of Mr. Taylor was considerably augmented,

I

He now purchased a handsome estate, near the river Lehigh, in the county of Northampton, where he erected a spacious mansion, and took up his permanent abode. In 1764, he was chosen a member of the Provincial Assembly, where he soon became conspicuous. In this body he continued to represent the county of Northampton until 1770; but he afterwards returned to Durham, to repair the losses of fortune, to which the change of his place of business had led.

In October, 1775, he was again chosen to the Provincial Assembly; and the following month, was appointed, in connexion with others, to report a set of instructions to the delegates which the Assembly had just appointed to the Continental Congress. Pennsylvania was for some time opposed to an immediate rupture with the mother country; and it was only by the casting vote of Mr. Mor? ton, that her consent to the measure of Independence was secured. On the 20th of July, 1776, the Pennsylvania Convention proceeded to a new choice of representatives. Mr. Morton, Dr. Franklin, Mr. Morris, and Mr. Wilson, who had voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence, were re-elected. Those who had opposed it were at this time dropped, and the following gentlemen were appointed in their place, viz. Mr. Taylor, Mr. Ross, Mr. Clymer, Dr. Rush, and Mr. Smith.

Mr. Taylor retired from Congress in 1777; and died on the 23d of February, 1781, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.

MATTHEW THORNTON.

MATTHEW THORNTON was born in Ireland, about the year 1714. When he was two or three years old, his father emigrated to America, and after a residence of a few years at Wiscasset, in Maine, he removed to Worcester, in Massachusetts. Here young Thornton received a respectable education, and subsequently commenced the study of medicine. Soon after completing his preparatory course, he removed to Londonderry, in New Hampshire, where he entered upon the practice of his profession, and soon became distinguished, both as a physician and a

surgeon.

In 1745, Dr. Thornton was appointed to accompany the New Hampshire troops, as a surgeon, in the well known expedition, planned by Governor Shirley, against Cape Breton. His professional abilities were here creditably tested; for of the corps of five hundred men, of whom he had charge as a physician, only six died of sickness, previous to the surrender of Louisburg, notwithstanding the hardships to which they were exposed.

Under the Royal Government, Dr. Thornton was invested with the office of Justice of the Peace, and commissioned as Colonel of the militia. But when that government was dissolved, Colonel Thornton abjured the British interest, and adhered to the patriotic cause. He was President of a Provincial Convention, assembled at Exeter, in 1775.

The next year he was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, and signed his name to the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. During the same year, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas; and shortly after was raised to the office of Judge of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, in which office he continued until 1782. Two years previous to this latter date, he had purchased a farm, pleasantly situated on the banks of the Merrimack, near Exeter, where he principally devoted himself to agriculture. He was a member of the General Court for one or two years, and a Senator in the State Legislature, as also a member of the Council in 1785, under President Langdon. Dr. Thornton died while on a visit at Newbury. port, on the 24th of June, 1803, in the eighty-ninth year of his age.

He was a man of strong powers of mind, and was remarkably entertaining and instructive in conversation.

GEORGE WALTON.

GEORGE WALTON was born in the county of Frederick, Virginia, about the year 1740. He was early apprenticed to a carpenter, who, being a man of contracted views, not only kept him hard at work during the day, but refused him the privilege of a candle, by which to read at night.

Young Walton, however, was resolutely bent on the acquisition of knowledge, and contrived to collect, at his leisure moments, pieces of lightwood, which served at night, in place of a candle. His application was intense; and his attainments were rapid and valuable.

At the expiration of his apprenticeship, he removed to the province of Georgia, and entering upon the study of the law, commenced, in 1774, the practice of that profession. At this time the British Government was in the exercise of full power in Georgia. Mr. Walton was one of the most zealous of the few advocates of the patriotic cause. He was a member of the committee which prepared a petition to the King; and in 1776, he was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress. In this station he continued to represent the State of Georgia, until October, 1781. He was extremely useful on many important committees, and always evinced much zeal and intelligence in the discharge of his duties.

In December, 1778, Mr. Walton received a Colonel's commission in the militia, and was present at the surrender of Savannah to the British arms. During the obstinate defence of that place, he was wounded in the thigh, in consequence of which, he fell from his horse, and was made a prisoner by the British troops. A Brigadier General was demanded in exchange for him, but in September, 1779, he was exchanged for a captain in the navy. In the following month, he was chosen Governor of the State; and in the succeeding January, was elected a member of Congress for two years.

The remainder of Mr. Walton's life was filled up in the discharge of the most respectable offices within the gift of the State. He was at six different times chosen a representative to Congress; twice appointed Governor of the State; once a Senator of the United States; and at four different periods, a Judge of the Superior Courts. He was a man of no ordinary talents; and was conspicuous for his uniform devotion to liberty. He died on the 2d of February, 1804.

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WILLIAM WHIPPLE.

WILLIAM WHIPPLE was born at Kittery, Maine, in the year 1730. His education was limited, and on leaving school, he entered on board a merchant vessel, and devoted himself for several years to commercial pursuits. His voyages were chiefly to the West Indies, and proving successful, he acquired a considerable fortune.

In 1759, he relinquished his seafaring occupation, and commenced business at Portsmouth. He entered with spirit into the controversy between Great Britain and the Colonies; and in 1775, represented the town of Portsmouth in the Provincial Congress, which met at Exeter. In 1776, he was appointed a delegate to the General Congress, of which body he continued a member, until September, 1779.

In the year 1777, while Mr. Whipple was a member of Congress, the appointment of Brigadier General was bestowed upon him, and the celebrated John Stark, by the Assembly of New Hampshire. He was present at the desperate battle of Saratoga; and his meritorious conduct on the occasion was rewarded, by his being jointly appointed, with Colonel Wilkinson, as the representative of General Gates, to meet two officers from General Burgoyne, and settle the articles of capitulation. He was also selected as one of the officers, who were appointed to conduct the surrendered army to their destined encampment, on Winter Hill, in the vicinity of Boston. In 1778, General Whipple, with a detachment of New Hampshire militia, was engaged, under General Sullivan, in executing a plan for the re-taking of Rhode Island from the British.

During the remaining years of his life, Mr. Whipple filled many important offices. As a representative to the State Legislature, he was highly popular; and in 1782, he received the appointment of Receiver of Public Monéys for New Hampshire, from Mr. Morris, the superintendent of finance. He relinquished the office in 1784, and continued in the station of Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature. The duties of the latter office he discharged until the 28th of November, 1785, when he expired, in the fifty-fifth year of his age.