Constitutional Whig

A little mysterious. The Nashville Republican of April 17th, contains the following letter of Gov. Houston of Tennessee, resigning the station of Governor. We have no clue to discover the "sudden calamities" by which Gen. Houston says he is "overwhelmed," and which have caused his resignation. His letter we recommend to the reader, as a model of genuine feeling and epistolary elegance. His misfortunes whatever they are, have imparted eloquence to his pen.

From the Nashville Republican of April 17.

It will be seen from the following letter, that Governor Houston has resigned the Executive Chair of this State. By the provisions of the Constitution of Tennessee, in case of the death or resignation of the Governor, the Speaker of the Senate succeeds him. Accordingly, on yesterday, Gen. Hall of Sumner county, late Speaker of the Senate, took the oath of office, and is now Governor of the State of Tennessee.

Executive Office, Nashville, April 16th, 1829.

Sir: It has become my duty to resign the office of chief magistrate of the State, and to place in your hands the authority and responsibility which, on such an event, devolves on you by the provisions of the Constitution.

In dissolving the political connexion which has so long, and in such a variety of form, existed between the people of Tennessee and myself, no private afflictions, however deep or incurable, can forbid an expression of the grateful recollections so eminently due to the kind partialities of an indulgent public.

From my earliest youth, whatever of talent was committed to my care, has been honestly cultivated and expended for the common good; and at no period of a life, which has certainly been marked by a full portion of interesting events, have any views of private interest or private ambition been permitted to mingle in the higher duties of public trust. In reviewing the past, I can only regret that my capacity for being useful was so unequal to the devotion of my heart; and it is one of the few remaining consolations of my life, that even had I been blessed with ability equal to my zeal, my country's generous support in every vicissitude of life, has been more than equal to them both.

That veneration for public opinion, by which I have measured every act of my official life, has taught me to hold no delegated power which would not be daily renewed by my constituents, could the choice be daily submitted to a sensible expression of their will. And although shielded by a perfect consciousness of undiminished claim to the confidence and support of my fellow citizens, yet delicately circumstanced as I am, and by my own misfortunes, more than by the fault or contrivance of any one, overwhelmed by sudden calamities, it is certainly due to myself, and more respectful to the world, that I should retire from a position, which, in the public judgment, I might seem to occupy by questionable authority.

It yields me no small share of comfort, so far as I am capable of taking comfort from any circumstance, that in resigning my Executive charge, I am placing it in the hands of one whose integrity and worth have been long tried; who understands and will pursue the true interests of the State; and who, in the hour of success and in the trials of adversity has been the consistent and valued friend of that great and good man, now enjoying the triumph of his virtues in the conscious security of a nation's gratitude.

SAM. HOUSTON.

Gen. WILLIAM HALL,

Speaker of the Senate, Tenn.