He struggled to believe Buchanan was wronged by
General Jackson; but one fact after another was developed--he could
not doubt--all pointing the same way; and finally came this letter of
Beverly's, when he was old, and when his heart was crushed by the loss
of his son Henry at Buena Vista, of which event he had only heard the
day before: he doubted no more. I shall ever remember the expression
of that noble countenance as, turning to me, he said: "Read that!"
Rising from his seat, he went to the garden, where, under a large
live-oak, I found him an hour after, deeply depressed. It was sorrow,
not anger, that weighed upon him. In reply to a remark from me, he
said:
"How few men have I found true under all trials! Who has a friend on
whom he can rely, and who will not, to gratify his own ambition,
sacrifice him? I was deeply attached to Buchanan; I thought him my
friend, and trusted him as such--through long years our intimacy
continued. You see how unwisely this attachment was indulged; I have
misplaced my confidence; I am willing to disbelieve this statement of
Beverly; he is known to you; I believe he is a miserable creature, but
his testimony is but a link in the chain of evidences I have of
Buchanan's being the author of this infamous story.
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