"March 9, 1881.
"Hon. S. J. Tilden.
"Dear Sir,—In reading this article in the Herald, I feel with greater force the duty you owe to yourself, and to all, to gather your materials to fix your place in the history of the country. I once spoke to you of this, and you said you would recur to it.
"If you had filled an administration, the records of it would have marked your influence on the progress of the country, but you did not.
"You must gather them, under your own supervision, collect, select, and arrange them, and give the general outline of your positions and purposes yourself.
"It is what the French call, 'Memoirs pour Servir.' There are many passages where autobiographical sketches will be very valuable.
"You run this great risk of the future: that, while in one light your action after the election may be regarded as in the highest sense patriotic, in the other it may be said that your failure to be President was because of something you lacked.
"It depends upon who your biographer may be. He must be well supplied with all materials, on your arrangement, and informed with your ideas.
"The time that you may devote to this, will it not be the best use you can make of it?