moments, and it is easy to understand how much Arlington and its inhabitants must have been missed by him who was separated from them.
“Fort Brown, Texas, December, 1856.”… The time is approaching, dear M----, when I trust that many of you will be assembled around the family hearth of dear Arlington to celebrate another Christmas. Though absent, my heart will be in the midst of you. I shall enjoy in imagination and memory all that is going on. May nothing occur to mar or cloud the family fireside, and may each one be able to look with pride and pleasure to their deeds of the past year, and with confidence and hope to that in prospect. I can do nothing but love and pray for you all.”…
“…I am able to give you but little news, as nothing of interest transpires here, and I rarely see any one outside the garrison. My daily walks are alone, up and down the banks of the river, and my pleasure is derived from my own thoughts and from the sight of the flowers and animals I meet with there”…
“We get plenty of papers, but all of old dates. Things seem to be going on an usual in the States. Mr. Buchanan, it appears, is to be our next President. I hope he will be able to extinguish fanaticism North and South, cultivate love for the country and Union, and restore harmony between the different sections.”…
And some time after he resumes, “I hope you all had a
