hat he could die happy if he had once taken
his seat in Parliament,--if he had received one letter with those
grand initials written after his name on the address. Young men in
battle are called upon to lead forlorn hopes. Three fall, perhaps,
to one who gets through; but the one who gets through will have
the Victoria Cross to carry for the rest of his life. This was his
forlorn hope; and as he had been invited to undertake the work, he
would not turn from the danger. On the following morning he again saw
Barrington Erle by appointment, and then wrote the following letter
to his father:--

Reform Club, Feb., 186--.

MY DEAR FATHER,

I am afraid that the purport of this letter will startle
you, but I hope that when you have finished it you will
think that I am right in my decision as to what I am going
to do. You are no doubt aware that the dissolution of
Parliament will take place at once, and that we shall be
in all the turmoil of a general election by the middle of
March. I have been invited to stand for Loughshane, and
have consented. The proposition has been made to me by my
friend Barrington Erle, Mr. Mildmay's private secretary,
and has been made on behalf of the Political Committee of
the Reform Club. I need hardly say that I should not have
thought of such a thing with a less thorough promise of
support than this gives me, nor should I think of it now
had I not been assured that none of the expense of the
election would fall upon me. Of course I could not have
asked you to pay for it.

But to such a proposition, so made, I have felt that it
would be cowardly to give a refusal. I cannot but regard
such a selection as a great honour. I own that I am fond
of politics, and have taken great delight in their study
--("Stupid young fool!" his father said to himself as he
read this)--and it has been my dream for years past to
have a seat in Parliament at some future time. ("Dream!
yes; I wonder whether he has ever dreamed what he is to
live upon.") The chance has now come to me much earlier
than I have looked for it, but I do not think that it
should on that account be thrown away. Looking to my
profession, I find that many things are open to a
barrister with a seat in Parliament, and that the House
need not interfere much with a man's practice. ("Not if
he has got to the top of his tree," said the doctor.)