WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1829
132
friend of that Great and Good man now enjoying the triumph of his virtues in the conscious security of a nations gratitude.- Sam Houston. Genl William Hall/ Speaker of the Senate Tennessee 1 0riginal in the possession of Mrs. Roy Hearne, Houston, Texas. Photostat, The University of Texas Library. Niles Rr.gistr,1·, May 9, 1829. Nashville Re7mblican, April 17, 1829. Texas Ranger, February 9, 1854. Leon Pioneer, February 15, 1854. Marques James, The Raven, 78-79. 2 William Hall was born in Virginia, February 11, 1775, and died in Ten- nessee, October 7, 1856. He served in the Indian wars, and commanded a company of Tennessee riflemen under General Jackson in 1812. For several years he served as Senator in the State Legislature, and in 1829 was President of the Senate. When General Houston resigned the gubernatorial office, April 16, 1829, William Hall succeeded to the Governor's seat by constitutional provision. From 1831 to 1833 he served as Representative from Tennessee to the United States Congress. See Appleton, Cyclovaedia of American Biography. John Trotwood Moore, Tennessee, the Volunteer State, I. A Biogravhical Directory of the American Congress (1928), 1049.
To ANDREW JACKSON 1
Little Rock A. T. 11 th May 1829. Gen 1 Jackson, Tho' an unfortunate, and doubtless, the most unhappy man now living, whose honor, so far as depends upon himself, is not lost, I can not brook the idea of your supposing me capable, of an act that would not adorn; rather than blot the escutheon of human nature! This remark is induced, by the fact, as reported to me, that you have been assured that I medi- tated an interprize calculated to injure, or involve my country, and to compromit the purity of my motives. 2 I do not distinctly understand the extent of the information, or its character, but I Suppose it was intended to complete my ruin, in irremediable devastation of character! To you any suggestions on my part would be idle, and on my part, as man; ridiculous-You Sir, have witnessed my conduct from boyhood thro life-You saw me, draw my first sword from its scabbard-you saw me breast the fore front of Battle, and you saw me incounter successive dangers, with cheeks unblenched, and with nerves which had no ague in them! You have seen my private, & my official acts-to these I refer you-To what woud they all amount, and for what would I live? but for my own honor, and the honor and safety of my country? Nothing! And now that domestic misfortune; of l
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