Page:My Life in Two Hemispheres, volume 2.djvu/366

 Immediately after I received a letter from my friend J. J. McCarthy:—

The telegram referred to in McCarthy's letter was as follows:

William Dillon was the eldest son of my late well beloved friend John Dillon, and though I was somewhat surprised at his interference with a constituency with which he was unconnected, this was my reply:—

At the same time I wrote to Mr. Dillon:—

,—I answered your telegram this morning, but Foreign Telegraph Offices make such a hash of messages in English that I think it better to enclose you a copy.

I do not seek a seat in Parliament, and I will only accept one, if it comes unsought, as a duty—the sort of duty we all owe to our country. A seat in Parliament to a man who means to use it only for public ends is a heavy burthen and a constant responsibility. I do not believe one man worth sending there has gone from Ireland to the House of Commons as a popular representative in my day, whose life was not shortened by the toils and chagrins of the position. It probably shortened the life of John Martin; I am persuaded it shortened the life of your father; it certainly, killed Frederick Lucas, and perhaps George Henry Moore. That is not a reason for shrinking from it any more than a man would be justified in shrinking from a forlorn hope in a just war; but it is a good reason, I think, for not soliciting a seat as if it were a personal favour or a personal advantage.