"MY DEAR GOVERNOR,--You must release me. The place has been offered, but I have no heart for it. The very thought of it has made me ill for two days. The sacrifice will be too great, and I constantly feel that if I make it, I may as well bid good-by, forever, to comfort and happiness. I am so contented now, and I will always, there, be miserable. Telegraph me, to-morrow, one word--'Released.' "Most sincerely yours, "DANIEL MANNING." SMITH M. WEED TO TILDEN _"Confidential._ "_Feby. 16, 1885._ "MY DEAR GOVERNOR,--I had but a moment to write you from A. (Albany). C. (Cleveland), as you know, had offered the (State Department) to Bayard, and he had become convinced that it was wise to offer a place to Lamar. We relied upon him and upon Manning until we got that fixed with both--that left three places. We all agreed that Frank Jones was our best man in New England, and we got that to a practical point, the only question being, where would he go? I wanted him to have the Navy, but C. seemed disposed to give him the P. O. That left two places open. Scott and Gorman both agreed with me that, on the free-trade question, Vilas was not a good appointment. Cleveland, on the other hand, wants him, and I think, in the end, will select him for War or P. O. Then came McD. (as he would not appoint Dr. Miller, for reasons that I will tell you when I see you, and which are personal to M., and in no way show any indisposition to go back on his backers), and Scott, G. (Gorman), M. (Manning), and myself all urged Converse for a place instead of McD. He almost consented to it. I did it upon the ground that if Vilas went in, he had to put in some one who stood with Randall on the tariff, or the consequences would be bad in this State and New Jersey and Connecticut. When we left him last night, he was apparently of our mind. This A.M. he wanted to know of me if I did not think that Whitney, in McDonald's or Converse's places, would be a good change. I told him that W. was infinitely preferable to McD., but I thought W. and C. were much better than V. and McD., as all the rest were inclined to free trade except Manning. He has an idea that he should not put any M. C. in who has taken strong grounds on tariff either way; but I told him Lamar had, and Vilas was an out and out free-trader, and Bayard was like Lamar. "Gorman, who really wants Jones instead of Lamar, says that there will be no trouble with Lamar; that it is his nature to go with his chief, and he will be loyal. That Bayard is so constituted that he will not try to influence Lamar, and that he will not set up for himself, while Garland will always be true to you and your friends. As I wrote you, Cleveland wants Whitney, and I think it will be a good thing for your friends that he should go in with Manning.