"Believe me to be, dear Governor.
"Very sincerely yours,
"H. F. Tylden."
(Enclosure.)
"Kentish Tyldens like to ratts
Have crossed water fleeing Catts
Lo, every ratt that said Good-bye
Has turned a tail into an eye.
"J. Fogge,
1713."
"Halden.
GENERAL WILLIAM PRESTON TO S. J. TILDEN
"Lexington, Ky., 30 March, 1878.
"My dear Governor,—The kindness and interest you have shown towards my son in New York are very deeply felt by me, apart from the great aid you gave him in commencing his life in an untried field. Through your influence he has commenced his career under excellent auspices, but I can readily discern from our correspondence that the social and fashionable attractions of the city can have left him but little time for reading and work. This he tells me very frankly in his letters, but I have indulged in no long admonitions or remonstrances, because you must give a young horse head sometimes to keep him to the course. As I know you have equestrian tastes, you must pardon my illustration. But whilst I observe this plan, I do not wish my son to run with a loose rein nor swerve from the course. I know he has honor, truth, and courage, and I hope he will be a true gentleman and useful citizen in after life. Although wealth and distinction in the intellectual world are desirable, they are not, to my mind, paramount objects. I was brought up with old-fashioned ideas that honest military renown and oratorical distinction were first, and rather inclined to the thought 'Ratio ab oratio sunt arma hominis acutiora ferro,' but it seems that taste is not hereditary; or, at least, I fear it is not. The course he is pursuing is rather in obedience to my own advice than his inclinations.