The chiefs of Grant - Electric Scotland

174 7.] RELATIONS Willi 'lUE Ah.M).\l.STl;ATiO.\. viS3
seriously to bliii alxmt it, fur I would not -wish tliat at my des}')- ])G sent
his servant, and that tlie cattle wore disposed oi'lx't'or lie went."
In a later letter, Sir James ayain refers to this suhject : "As 1 wrote
last, INIr. Hoi-on Is to send a servant to Iniy tlie cattle of tli" conntrey, and
as 1:0 will give readie money or p,:yiiient ^\i^hout dedvictii'':. I tlouk they
slK'i.ld encourage hiui, and not asl; extravagant prices, \\iiich now cattle
don't give."^
From London Sir James occasionally, and especially at election times,
endeavoured to influence his friends l)y letter, liut, on the whole, he
seems to have led a ccjmjiarativelv cpiiet life, taking little active part
in politics. To this may jierhaps he attrihuted the fict that though a
Memher of Parliament under Sir htobei't Walpolc's administration, Sir
James Grant never I'eceived any pulJic office or place for himself or
members of his funily. It Avould appear, however, that on one or two
occasions he deemed himself entitled to consideration in such matters,
but he did not press his claims upon the administration.
This reserve, or apathy as it was deemed by some, was by no means
agreeable to Sir James's energetic brother-in-law, Lord Lovat, who wrote
so persistently about himself, his estate, his aft'ection for and devotion to
the family of Grant, his admii'atinn of and sulimission to the Earl of
Islay, that it is diihcult to mention anything in which Sir James Grant
took interest tliat was not in some way interfered with by Lovat. He
also constantly besieged Sir James to do something on his behalf, a circum-
stance which evoked such sarcastic eonnnents as the one quoted above,
that the "Erasers' friendship had not been for nothing."
From 1740 to 174."), Lovat's correspondence with Sir James Grant
and his son declined, and latterly appears to have ceased. But though
Lord Lovat did not write so much, he did not hesitate to use other means
to gain his ends. An election contest was ])roceeding in May 1741, and
the following extracts from two letters then written show how diU'erently
Sir James and Lord Lovat acted vmder somewhat similar circumstances.
Writing to his si;>n-in-law. Lord Braco, Sir James Grant says, " It gives
me not a little trouble to heare that you design pei'sonally to a])])eai-
^ Letter at Castle Graut.