"P. S.—I shall be happy to meet the other parties on the subject of an arrangement at any time.
"J. G."
TILDEN—CIRCULAR OF THE STATE COMMITTEE
"New York, April 15th, 1870.
"My dear Sir,—The election of a chief judge and six associate judges of the Court of Appeals—which will take place on the 17th of May—and the nomination, at the Democratic State Convention to be held at Rochester on the 27th of April, of our candidates for the chief judge and four of the six associate judges, are events of great interest.
"The Democratic party has never hitherto failed to supply in the court of last resort judges of undoubted moral and official purity and integrity, who have commanded the confidence and reverence of the whole people, and who have, by their abilities and professional learning, illustrated the jurisprudence of our State and country.
"In the present tendency of our times—towards a weakening of the trust of the people in the judiciary—it is more than ever important that we hold our standard of character and qualifications high.
"A degradation of the administration of justice is the last calamity of a republic.
"Distrust or doubt in the public mind as to the administration of justice, even if unfounded, involves half the evils of an actual degradation.