Memoir of the Chisholm

RE-ELECTION. 203
freely and generously taken upon himself, —
it might well have been a matter of grave con-
sideration for himself, to determine how far he
was justified in retaining a position which
might probably increase them. He had no
taste moreover for the ordinary pursuits of a
London life, or for the excitements of political
debate, — his heart was with his people in the
Highlands; and to break loose from every
other trammel, that he might return to them,
was his greatest earthly solace. It was not
for him however to sacrifice to the love of ease
the requirements of duty ; — and, if it had been
merely a question which concerned his own
personal feelings and inclinations, it is the
firm conviction of the writer that he would
never have allowed a regard for them to have
interfered, for a single moment, with the obli-
gations of the solemn trust committed to his
hands. The causes, which led him eventually
to resign it, were of a far more constraining
character. Evidences will have appeared, in
the letters contained in the preceding chapter,
of his growing conviction that such a step was
absolutely necessary; and the following letters
may serve to exhibit it more clearly.