"WASHINGTON, _D. C._, _Feby. 6_, _1861_.
"DEAR TILDEN,--I got here Tuesday night. I cannot say I have got any
new ideas, except that it is important for such Northern men to be
here as can command the ears of our Southern friends--I mean of the
border States, for the rest either have none at all or they are _very
long ones_, and are attended by the other peculiarities of the animal
whose head they adorn. The bordermen complain of the precipitancy
of the South. They, themselves, take _time to deliberate_, in the
presence of such weighty action, though the _aggrieved party_. How much
more time do the _people_ of the North need to determine what to do,
dumbfounded, as they are, and slow to see precisely where they are,
and what they have done, and how far they may make reparation. It is
about out of the question to expect anything from men elected on the
Chicago platform, unless from the action of their constituents, in some
way. Some bordermen I have seen admit this. Your letter has given you
power to influence these men, and it is a moment when you should make a
sacrifice to exert it, if a sacrifice is necessary. I think you should
come at once.
"I found at Mr. Eames' last evening Mr. Everett, Crosswell, Guthrie, W.
B. Lawrence, Col. Berrit, and Count Garowski.
Yours, &c.,
"G. W. NEWELL."[32]
"_S. J. Tilden, Esqr., New York._
"Mr. E. wishes me to be emphatic."