"NEW YORK, _Apl. 21, 1870_.
"MY DEAR SIR,--I am obliged by the kind terms of your note of
yesterday, which were also repeated to me by Mr. Frost, who called on
me. But I do not change the feelings with which I regard the nomination
for the chief judge, and have regarded it since it was presented
to my view in December, or weakened the settled preference I have
for freedom and relaxation over even such an honorable distinction.
Notwithstanding such a definitive purpose on my part, I hope that you
will take care to send a good delegate, because you and I will probably
never have another chance of doing so much service to the community in
which we live, or to the profession to which we belong, as in securing
the best possible selection for judge of the judicial court under a
comparatively permanent tenure.
"Very Truly,
"Yours, &c.,
S. J. TILDEN."