"MY DEAR MR. TILDEN,--On the day after my return to New York from Greystone, I had a conversation with Mr. Jones as to the fusing of himself and his political associates, in regard to the appointment of Mr. Manning as Secretary of the Treasury. "Mr. Jones spoke, very decidedly, for himself and Mr. Horace White, in favor of the appointment, and was of opinion that it would meet the approval of all the leading independents, especially in view of the fact that such an appointment was, probably, the only means by which the danger--as he characterized it--of Mr. Whitney's accession to that office could be avoided. He represented that he and his friends were opposed to the appointment of the last-named gentleman to any place in Cleveland's cabinet. "He requested me to say to you that, in his interview with Mr. Cleveland on Sunday last, he stated to him that, but for your course, in reference to him, he certainly would never have been nominated--and that he impressed upon him the extent of his obligations to you. "In all that he said--as far as I am informed--on this subject he was right, and would have been right had he gone further and given the President-elect a broader view of the situation. "_But for you_, and the wonderful power and wisdom with which you conducted the Democratic party up to and through the campaign of '76, the rule of the Republican party would have remained unbroken for another quarter of a century. "You _regained_, _preserved_, and have _transmitted_ a political estate to Mr. Cleveland, and from what I know of his intellectual and moral character, cannot believe that he will fail to appreciate this condition and history. I cannot believe that he will--in the great emergency which is upon him--fail to avail himself of your wise counsel and advice; or that he will, in looking back upon the events of '76 and those which followed, allow those of your friends who were with you in your triumph, and then led the forlorn hope in the desperate fight of that hour of darkness and treachery, to be pushed aside now by the unscarred sycophants around him. "The impression seems to prevail here that, since the election of Evarts, it would be very unwise to withdraw either Bayard or Garland from the Senate. "We will, certainly, be overmatched in debate in that body, whether the gentlemen referred to remain or not. "Believe me, my dear Mr. Tilden, with great respect, always Sincerely yours, "R. T. MERRICK." THEODORE F. SHUEY TO S. J. TILDEN "OFFICIAL REPORTER'S OFFICE, UNITED STATES SENATE, "WASHINGTON, D. C., _Feb'y 1, 1885_.