WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1823
18
=Joseph Norvell and his brother, Moses Norvell, founded the Nashville Whig in 1812. Joseph Norvell was for several years the treasurer of the city of Nashville. He was also a Past Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge of Tennessee. He died January 7, 1847. See Josephus C. Guild, Old fimes in Tennessee, 485. 3 ln 1818 Governor McMinn appointed Houston Adjutant General of Ten- nessee with rank of colonel. In 1821, field officers of the Southern Division elected him Major General; and in 1823, the Ninth Tennessee District elected him to the United States Congress. See William Carey Crane, The Life a11d Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston, 34. 4 John Henry Eaton (June 18, 1790-November 17, 1856), lawyer, politician, was a great favorite of Andrew Jackson. He became United States Senator from Tennessee (1829-1831), Secretary of War, and Governor of Florida by Jackson's appointment. In the early days of his career, he, Daniel Graham, Secretary of the State of Tennessee, and later Register of the United States Treasury (1847-1849), and Sam Houston, all received political appoint- ment from Joseph McMinn while he was Governor of Tennessee. See James Phelan, History of Te1111essee, 297, 359, 443. For biography of Eaton, Dic- tio11ary of-American Biography, V, 609-610.
To JOSEPH McM1NN 1
Nashville 30th Mar 1823 My dear Governor Yours of the 11th Inst has come to hand by this days mail, and I beg leave to assure you of the heart felt pleasure which I experience from the per~sal of your kind & friendly letters, at all times. You have not received my last letter, but will find it at New Canton on your return home. It is some time since I learned you were at the agency, and it was announced here, that you had been appointed agent: I was happy to hear it, believing as I did that there_was no person in the Union who cou'd more ably discharge the duties of the office. The salary is equal to any office in the gift of this state, and from my idea of the life of an agent- you cou'd meditate with good advantage, that state of being compared to which all things else can be of no avail, as they are finite and temporal, while ·it is infinite, and Eternal. Solitude is the situation in which we can best ascertain our own hearts. There we derive no reflection from others, but are taught to make inquiry of ourselves. There we can examine ourselves in the abstract-and draw conclusions,· unbiased by passion, totally independent of the prejudice of others. We can read the Scriptures, and pursue their preceps. But I cannot pretend to recommend any course to you; you have become a candidate for the senate, and I did anticipate
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