9 May 1792
On the 25th of March, in the town of Dumfries, in Virignia, departed this life, in the 76th year of his age, the Rev. Thomas Thornton, late Rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg.
In his sermons he was accurate and persuasive, more attentive to sense than sound; to elevation of sentiment than loftiness of, stile; expatiating on the evidences of Christianity, and strongly urging the practice of Christian virtues. He possessed a steady faith, benevolence, and unaffected piety. With the dignity of the minister, he associated the familiarity of the man; with the sentiment and manners of the gentleman, he united the mildness of the Christian; and was truly an ornament to human nature; his amiable qualities secured him universal respect, and his death is now the theme of general lamentation.
"At church with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorned the venerable place;
Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway,
And fools who came to scoff remain'd to pray."
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