"I have but little doubt that Mr. Tilden could carry this State. It would need a good State ticket to ensure it. But if it were known that the old ticket was to run, I think we should get a good local ticket.
"Excuse the length of this letter and, if you can write me, I wish you would.
"The compliments of the season to you and yours.
"Very truly yours,
"M. W. Fuller."
CYRUS H. McCORMICK TO TILDEN
"Chicago, Ill., April 7th, 1884.
"My dear Sir,—I had a meeting of a few friends at dinner at my house last Friday, some mention of which, I trust, may not be entirely without interest to you. The gentlemen present were Senator McDonald, of Indiana; Mr. W. C. Goudy (member of National Democratic Committee); Mr. F. H. Winston; Mr. Henry G. Miller; Mr. Commissioner Mattocks; Mr. Perry H. Smith, Jr., and my son, all of this city. Judge Shepard, Mr. C. C. Copeland, and Mr. Melville Fuller were invited but could not attend.
"My letter of the 27th of March addressed to yourself was read to the gentlemen present and unanimously approved. I had had a call from Senator McDonald the day before, and had shown him a copy of my letter to you and discussed the subject with him to some extent. He seemed to think that 'the old ticket' (Tilden and Hendricks) would take better in this State than Tilden and McDonald, seeming, himself, not inclined to antagonize Hendricks on a ticket headed by yourself; but, at the same time, he stated unhesitatingly that, as a politician, in the ranks of the Democracy, he felt himself subject to the orders of the party.
"There was a striking unanimity of sentiment between the gentlemen present (except Senator McDonald) as to the contents of my letter referred to, while our family physician (a prominent Republican) remarked to me that the ticket mentioned would suit him precisely, and that it would give him pleasure to vote for it. An editorial article in the Chicago Times, in speaking of the prospective Democratic candidates, remarked that 'nobody wanted Mr. Hendricks.'
"Since the date of my letter to you, I have observed in the papers very favorable comments by Horatio Seymour on the subject of your health and ability to stand for a Presidential nomination; and I have also observed sundry reviews, by other parties, of the same character—perhaps in all which it may be said that, while you are disinclined to deprive yourself of your home comforts and enjoyments, you have in no case been found to say positively that, if nominated by the convention, you would not accept.