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Story
December 21, 1836
Martinsburg Gazette
Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia
What is this article about?
U.S. Senator B. W. Leigh of Virginia resigns his seat on December 5, 1836, citing the need to attend to private affairs and family duties. He clarifies that his decision is not influenced by state instructions to obey or resign, which he views as unconstitutional threats to federal balance.
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OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
MR. LEIGH'S RESIGNATION.
Richmond, December 5th, 1836.
"Sir—In the letter I addressed to the Speakers of the two houses of the General Assembly, under date of the 2nd March last, I announced my purpose to resign my office of Senator of the U. States at the commencement of the present session; and I now hereby resign the office.
"I should have confined this letter to the single purpose of making this resignation, if the obligations of truth and candor, the care I owe to my own reputation, and, in my sense of things, my duty to my country and its institutions, did not impose upon me the necessity of correcting some misapprehensions, which I have discovered to exist, as to my motives for resigning.
"I shall, therefore, avail myself of this opportunity to declare, in the most explicit and solemn manner, what I thought I had intimated very distinctly in my letter of the 2nd March, above referred to, that my sole reason and motive for resigning my seat in the Senate, consists in the imperious necessity I am under of giving my whole attention to my private affairs, or rather in my sense of the duty which I owe to my family, and to all my personal relations in society. I could not retain my seat in the Senate, if I would; and I must ask leave to say further, that so far from being in the slightest degree influenced to resign by the instructions which the General Assembly gave me at its last session, and the resolution it thought proper to adopt, that I was bound to obey those instructions or resign—so far, too, from being moved by any apprehension of the censure of the General Assembly, or even of any public odium I might incur by retaining my office, I placed my whole hope of the lasting approbation of my country upon my resistance to the principles and doctrines, as novel in my opinion, as they are erroneous and dangerous, tending to an entire subversion of the Constitution of the Senate, to an alteration of the whole frame of the Federal Government, and to the destruction of all the balances wisely provided by the Constitution, as well in respect to the relations of the several departments of the Government towards each other, as the relation of the whole towards the State Governments.
"I request you to communicate this letter to the General Assembly.
I have the honor to be, Sir, with all respect,
Your obedient servant,
B. W. LEIGH
To the Hon. Wyndham Robertson,
Lieut. Governor of Virginia."
Richmond, December 5th, 1836.
"Sir—In the letter I addressed to the Speakers of the two houses of the General Assembly, under date of the 2nd March last, I announced my purpose to resign my office of Senator of the U. States at the commencement of the present session; and I now hereby resign the office.
"I should have confined this letter to the single purpose of making this resignation, if the obligations of truth and candor, the care I owe to my own reputation, and, in my sense of things, my duty to my country and its institutions, did not impose upon me the necessity of correcting some misapprehensions, which I have discovered to exist, as to my motives for resigning.
"I shall, therefore, avail myself of this opportunity to declare, in the most explicit and solemn manner, what I thought I had intimated very distinctly in my letter of the 2nd March, above referred to, that my sole reason and motive for resigning my seat in the Senate, consists in the imperious necessity I am under of giving my whole attention to my private affairs, or rather in my sense of the duty which I owe to my family, and to all my personal relations in society. I could not retain my seat in the Senate, if I would; and I must ask leave to say further, that so far from being in the slightest degree influenced to resign by the instructions which the General Assembly gave me at its last session, and the resolution it thought proper to adopt, that I was bound to obey those instructions or resign—so far, too, from being moved by any apprehension of the censure of the General Assembly, or even of any public odium I might incur by retaining my office, I placed my whole hope of the lasting approbation of my country upon my resistance to the principles and doctrines, as novel in my opinion, as they are erroneous and dangerous, tending to an entire subversion of the Constitution of the Senate, to an alteration of the whole frame of the Federal Government, and to the destruction of all the balances wisely provided by the Constitution, as well in respect to the relations of the several departments of the Government towards each other, as the relation of the whole towards the State Governments.
"I request you to communicate this letter to the General Assembly.
I have the honor to be, Sir, with all respect,
Your obedient servant,
B. W. LEIGH
To the Hon. Wyndham Robertson,
Lieut. Governor of Virginia."
What sub-type of article is it?
Historical Event
Biography
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Justice
What keywords are associated?
Senator Resignation
Virginia Politics
Constitutional Principles
Family Duty
Federal Government
What entities or persons were involved?
B. W. Leigh
Wyndham Robertson
Where did it happen?
Richmond, Virginia
Story Details
Key Persons
B. W. Leigh
Wyndham Robertson
Location
Richmond, Virginia
Event Date
December 5th, 1836
Story Details
Senator B. W. Leigh formally resigns his U.S. Senate seat, explaining his motives as duty to family and private affairs, while rejecting any influence from state instructions he deems unconstitutional, and affirming his resistance to protect federal institutions.