"GREYSTONE, _October 3, 1881_.
"MY DEAR SIR,--I have received your letter stating you
intended to call on me and your inability to do so.
"I should have written to you earlier except for an illness, and the
pressure of claims upon my attention during my convalescence.
"It would have been agreeable to me to have seen you, and to have
treated you with that frankness and courtesy you have always
experienced from me.
"In respect to your assurance that you would not be a candidate for
nomination, if your nomination 'would be disagreeable to me and be
discountenanced by me,' I have to say that I cannot assume any such
position. I have neither the right nor the wish to exclude you from
a legitimate and honorable competition for any public trust. My
practice, when I was at the head of the party organization, was not
to become a partisan of any particular candidate, but to confine
myself to such advisory suggestions as might seem fit and useful
during the deliberations of the convention; to defer largely to the
judgment of the best men of the counties, formed at the convention,
in view of immediate action on the complex considerations which
enter into the formation of a collective ticket. I need not say that
I have not undertaken any such function on the present occasion, and
have not possessed myself of the information to make me competent
to such a work. I assume that you have not given credit to the
idle fictions of Republican and other newspapers which ascribe to
me a desire to control the nominations and canvass for the present
year with a view to becoming a candidate for Governor next year.
The truth is, I ran for Governor in 1874 simply for the purpose
of sustaining the reform movement to which I had given the three
preceding years, and I should not have continued in the office for
a second term in any possible event; nor would I now entertain the
idea of returning to it, even if I flattered myself that I would
receive a unanimous vote of the people.
"All I desire for the Democratic party in the coming canvass is,
that it shall make the best possible choice of candidates, and do
everything to advance the principles of administration to which I
have devoted so many efforts and sacrifices.
"With cordial good wishes, very truly yours,
"(Signed) S. J. TILDEN.[26]
"_Hon Wm. Purcell._"
[26] This was in reply to a note of the 9th September, 1881, from
Mr. Purcell, the editor of the Rochester _Union and Advertiser_,
stating that he had been "mentioned" as a candidate for the office
of Secretary of State, and wishing to know if the nomination would
be disagreeable to him and be discountenanced by him: in which case
he would prefer not to be considered a candidate.