Whitelaw Reid to S. J. Tilden "23 PARK AVE., _April 4, 1878_. "DEAR GOVERNOR,--I want you to advise me in a matter which interests you, since you have promised to come to my dinner to Bayard Taylor at the Union League Club on the evening of the 10th inst. I invited Mr. O'Conor, and am sure, from the tone of his reply, that he would like to come. He declines, however, basing the refusal on the belief that I cannot, and ought not, keep the entertainment private, and that he is anxious for the remainder of his days to avoid any agency in public displays. "You know him so well that you can tell me in a word whether it would be discreet for me to write again endeavoring to remove his objection. The dinner is to be limited to about twenty (the table will only seat twenty-five), and I am not going, under any circumstances, to admit any reporter. It will be absolutely as private as it is ever possible to have anything of this sort. "Mr. O'Conor's letter is so evidently sincere in tone, and I have been so desirous, anyway, to have him present, that I venture to ask your advice as to whether I should try again. "Forgive the bother, and believe me "Very truly yours, "WHITELAW REID." TILDEN TO HON. CHARLES CAREY "NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY MORNING, _June 5th, 1878_. "DEAR MR. CAREY,--I received your telegram late last evening, and answer by mail because the telegraph is leaky. "My appreciation of Mr. Henderson has been so manifest that I need not say how competent I deem him, or that he may fairly be classed among those from whom a choice is to be made. "But I am totally uninformed of the views of Governor Robinson. He may, for aught I know, have a purpose already formed; and he is always independent and persistent. I think it would be advisable for you to learn the situation as fully as possible before making our friend a candidate, whom you do not wish to expose to a failure. Perhaps you had better go down to Albany quietly and get what information you can. The attempts of the Republican press, when Governor Robinson first came in, to create an impression (utterly unfounded in fact, as everybody who knows his independent, self-poised, and firm nature must see) that he occupied to me a relation of dependence, was intended to wound him and his friends, as well as to misrepresent me; and induced me to adopt the rule of not recommending anybody, or anything to him, of my own motion, or unless he had occasion to consult me, which he seldom, if ever, has any need to do. Under that rule of delicacy and respect, I am less advised of his ideas than might be supposed. "Very truly yours, S. J. TILDEN." S. S. COX TO TILDEN "HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, "WASHINGTON, D. C., _June 17th, 1878_.