Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1842-02-10

10 resign my seat IN the Senate oil Nirgi-
MIA, ct the close OF the present session Of.
the General Assembly OF the State, | deem
il due to o. TO announce that determine.
ton without delay, with a view 10 afford
you the amplest time and opportunity Of
filing the vacancy by the selection oil
some person acceptable TO you. 10 adopt
ing this determination, my fellow-citizens,
take occasion TO say that | have no,
done so lightly or inconsiderately but
after the maturest deliberation upon all
the circumstances prompting me 10 II,
and after an anxious effor, to reconcile
the surrender Of private duties, urgent and
imperative ss they are, with the further
continuance Of my public engagements.
1t is known, indeed, to many OF my friends,
that | was nominated Tor reelection last
Spring, by the Winchester Convention,
in direct opposition to my most earnest
wishes and in consenting, as then most
reluctantly did, 10 be a candidate for re.
election, ! knew | was ~cncountering a sac.
rIice Of personal considerations far more
than commensurate with any public SER
vice that | could render. Honored, how.
ever, as | had been by the bestowal OF the
trust, a; a period when Its acceptance was
agreeable to me, | did not feel at liberty
to oppose myself too pertinaciously to the
wishes of my friends, however repugnant
tho service then was TO my private wishes
and interests. Since the Spring election,
events have occurred, accommodating new
and far more serious impediments to my
present continuance in public life, and |
feel, therefore, constrained to throw my
self upon hat indulgent kindness which
has so far sustained me in every act OF
my public life, in a manner SO gratifying
10 my feelings.
cannot, my fellow. citizens, dissolve
the relations which, for the last five years,
have subsisted between us, without the
expression of my warm and sincere graft.
tude to you for the confidence which you
have so kindly reposed in me. In 1887,
although then personally unknown to the
largest portion of the District, you con-
ferred this responsible appointment upon
me, almost without distinction Of party,
and by a vote which | shall ever regard
as amongst the proudest incidents of my
life. In ls4l, Notwithstanding the whole
machinery Of party was invoked to ope-
rate upon the election, you gave me a re.
newal of that trust by a support, under
all the circumstances, scarcely less grati-
flying and decisive. Not to feel grateful
for such repeated evidence Of your appro.
baton of my public course, would argue
an insensibility of feeling which hope
can never, with justice, be laid to my
charge. Coinciding in general sentiment
and opinion with you upon most questions
of n general character; receiving an in.
dulgent construction to my motives when
it has been my fortune to differ with you,
| may truly say, that your service" has
been to me a condition Of (" perfect free.
dom," unalloyed by a single circumstance
calculated to leave an unpleasant reminis
cence behind.
If public life possesses any charm to
compensate for its feverish anxieties and
numerous priva,ions. it is the opportunity
which il affords, in this young and grow.
ing republic, TO statesmen of every grade,
" whether Of high or low degree" to o
tribute their humble agency to advance
the great cause Of HUMAN lMPRovEMEST:
10 give a sound and wholesome direction
to public sentiment, and to place upon re-.
cord their firm and inflexibls adherence
to those lofty principles Of lloNoR and
Coop FAITH, withou, the observance of
which, nations are but banded robbers and
privileged plunierers. For nearly five
years a member Of that branch Of the le-
gislative power, whose constitutional ac-
ton is confioed to a revision Of the pro.
ceedings of the more numerous body
whose sphere of usefulness is most alb
surdly restricted by this %antiquated rem.
naut of a former system land whose pro-
cee1ipgs are almost a "sealed volume"
to the constituent body, | can indicate no
important measure Of public policy which
| have originated, and non for whose
adoption | can claim any further credit
than my individual vote. Yet | can ap.
peal, with an ~unshrinking and abiding
confidence to the record, and TO the evil
dence of my brother Senators, to bear me
out in the declaration when ! assert, that
during my entire service in tho public
councils Of the State, | have expressed no
opinion, and recorded no vote, the effect
Of which has not been in consonance with
the sentiment above expressed
To preserve inviolate, the honor, the
reputation, and the good faith ofmy native
State -
To extend an equality Of political rights
to every class of her citizens:-
To enlarge the bounds Of human en-
|joyment. so far us such subjects are with.
in the province Of legislation -
To sustain those principles OF funda-
mental law and public policy, with which,
all Of character that | possess, US public
man, is identified, and which | believe are
essential to the preservation Of the Liber-
ty and Union ofthls great Confederacy =
To stimulate and cherish the prosperity
Of the State in every department of human
industry, swayed by no selfish or section.
al feelings, and cramped by no narrow and
contracted views OF State policy -
To encourage Agriculture to estab-
lish Internal communication ; to vivify
commerce and the mechanic arts to anne.
liorate the condition of the deaf, the dumb,
the blind and insane /; to promote far and
wide the cause Of popular education, and
to develop and bring into active value the
numerous and boundless mineral resources