In 1824, with his friend
James Emerson, he volunteered to join the
Greeks in their War of Independence. For Tennent, it was with conviction that having "learned too feelingly the black consequences of slavery by the wretched example of may own country", Ireland, he could not "remain a passive spectator of the conflict". He was soon disillusioned by the Greek insurgents, concluding that, beyond emancipation from the
Turks, they had "no idea of true liberty". In 1832, the two friends contested Belfast's first competitive
parliamentary election. Emerson (who having married an heiress cousin of Tennent's, was now James Emerson Tennent) stood the interest of the town's proprietor,
Lord Donegall, as an Independent Whig (but subsequently took the Tory Whip). In the cause of reform, Tennent stood as a Whig and lost. A Protestant
loyalist mob celebrated his defeat with an attack on the central Catholic district (Hercules Street) and with an attempt to ransack Tennent's house. In 1826 Tennent had been admitted to
Lincoln's Inn. He was called to the Irish Bar In 1833 he was called to the Irish Bar and to the English Bar in 1834. Tennent succeeded in being elected a Whig
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Belfast at the
1847 general election and held the seat until 1852, when he was defeated again by a Tory. == Personal life ==