n the treasury department under President Garfield and
becoming a candidate for the Senate. Among the letters received
by me was one from Mr. Thorpe, a member from Ashtabula county,
Ohio, and a personal friend. I thought it right to tell him frankly
the dilemma in which I was placed by the discussion in the papers.
This letter expressed my feelings in regard to the matter and I
therefore insert it:

"Washington, D. C., November 15, 1880.
"My Dear Sir:--Your letter of the 11th relieves me from some
embarrassment. I am very thankful to you for the tender of your
services and continued hearty friendship. I will avail myself of
it to tell you confidentially the difficulty under which I labor.

"The letter to Dalzell was not intended for publication, but was
simply a hurried reply to one of two or three long letters received
from him. Still the letter stated in substance my feeling, and he
probably intended no wrong but rather thought he would benefit me.
Both before and since, I have been overwhelmed with letters
remonstrating against my leaving my present position, as if I had
any choice.

"As a matter of course, General Garfield must decide this without
haste and free from all embarrassment, but in the meantime I am at
a loss what to do. I cannot properly say to my correspondents that
I would stay in the treasury if invited to do so, nor can I ask
gentlemen to commit themselves until they know definitely what I
wish. I cannot afford to be a candidate unless I expect to succeed.
I believe, from information already received, that I can succeed,
but only after a struggle that is distasteful to me, and which I
cannot well afford. I can only act upon the assumption that General
Garfield will desire to make an entire change in his cabinet, and
upon that basis I would gladly return to the Senate as the only
position I could hold, or, if there was any doubt about election,
I would cheerfully and without discontent retire from public life.
I have now at least a dozen unanswered letters on my table from
members of the legislature, tendering their services, and stating
that I ought to explicitly inform them my wishes, most of them
assuming that I have a choice. I intend to answer them generally
that, if elected, I would consider it the highest honor and I would
then accept and serve. So I say to you: If I enter the canvass
I must depend upon my friends without being able to aid them
actively, and with every advanta