He said that he was very glad to see me, because he would like to hear, from one who had an opportunity of seeing more of the press than he saw, what was the exact state of public opinion, in regard to the controversy.
"'As far as I am capable of judging, Mr.President,' I replied, 'the people appear to be unanimous in the opinion that there is a misunderstanding, a misapprehension, between you and Mr.Adams; for no one imagines, for a moment, that either of you would misrepresent facts! Mr.
Adams is a man of infinite method; he is generally accurate, and, in this instance, it appears that he is sustained by his diary.' "'His diary! don't tell' me anything more about his diary! Sir, that diary comes up on all occasions--one would think that its pages were as immutable as the laws of the Medes and Persians! Sir, that diary will be the death of me! I wonder if James Monroe kept a diary! If he did, it is to be hoped that it will be looked to, to see if it contains anything about this Adams and Dan Onis treaty.

Sir, I did not see it; I was not consulted about it.' "The old hero was exceedingly vehement, and was proceeding to descant with especial violence, when he was interrupted by the entrance of Mr.
Secretary Woodbury, and I never heard another word about the matter.

A question of veracity between the parties was raised, and was never adjudicated.

Both went down to the grave before any definite light was cast on the subject; but the world had decided that General Jackson was in error." [Footnote: Reminiscences of the late John Quincy Adams, by an Old Colony Man.].