"NEW YORK, _Feb. 21st, 1860_.
"MY DEAR SIR,--My mind has often turned to your letter, which I am
some six weeks in arrears in answering. But I have in that time been
three times called to Philadelphia, and once to Lebanon by the extreme
illness of my mother and sister; and, altogether, have had my hands
full. I am much obliged by the kind expressions of your letter, as well
as the friendly interest you have taken in me.
"In respect to the subject which you incidentally mentioned in your
letter, I do not think that my private business affords the elements
of a desirable combination between John V. B. and myself.[26] It
furnishes few occasions which would give scope to his powers, less,
perhaps, than ought to be availed of even by me; but it and other cares
occupy me too much to leave any room for the ambition of collecting
the materials, or constructing a business of a different character. I
content myself each day with what my hands find to do. I have not been
very fortunate in deputizing such business as I have generally had.
It may be because the things which come to me are usually complex and
difficult, or because I am exacting as to the mode in which my clients
are served."
It is to be regretted that Mr. Tilden's letter to ex-President Van
Buren, assigning his reasons for declining to enter into a partnership
with his son John, is incomplete. A more impracticable union for
business purposes than such a partnership would have yielded can hardly
be conceived. It is probable that the original of this letter to Mr.
Tilden may be found among the collected papers of Mr. Van Buren, which
have recently been presented to the Library of Congress, unless it was
destroyed immediately upon its receipt, which is not unlikely.