the Clouds, the Acharnians, and of the first Satire of Horace, being perfect masterpieces.—(See Reminiscences by Hanhart, Basle, 1825; Life by Körte, Wolf's son-in-law, Essen, 1833, 2 vols.; Arnoldt, F. A. Wolf in Seinem Verhältniss zum Schulwesen und zur Pädagogik, 1861, 2 vols.)—K. E.
WOLF, Hieronymus, a German hellenist, was born of a respectable family in the then principality of Öttingen in 1516. He led a wandering life, which was chiefly troubled by his own hypochondriac disposition. He embraced the reformed doctrines; but his faith in Luther did not deliver him from the delusions of judicial astrology. His death occurred at Augsburg in 1581. His numerous Latin translations of Greek authors, his editions, commentaries, and notes, show great erudition and taste, but are not exempt from the blame of too great liberties taken with the Greek texts.—K. E.
WOLF, Johann Christoph, a German philologist, was born at Wernigerode, on 21st February, 1683. Having completed his education at the university of Wittenberg, he travelled in Holland and England, where he diligently searched the Bodleian library at Oxford. In 1712 he was appointed professor of oriental languages, and at the same time pastor of St. Catherine's at Hamburg, where he died, 25th July, 1739. He has left a number of learned works, among which we note the following— "Bibliotheca Hebræa," 4 vols.; "Anecdota Græca, sacra et profana," 4 vols; "Curæ Philologicæ in Novum Testamentum," 4 vols.; "Phædri Fabulæ," &c.—(See Seelen, Wolfii Vita, Scripta et Merita in Rempublicam Literariam, Stade, 1717.)—K. E.
WOLFE, Charles, an Irish clergyman and poet, the youngest son of Thomas Wolfe of Blackball, Kildare, was born at Dublin in 1791. His father having died, his mother removed to England, and her son received his education at various schools in Bath, Salisbury, and Winchester. The family having returned to Ireland, he entered Trinity college in 1819, and obtained a scholarship. He became B.A. in 1814, and having taken orders, he was in 1817 appointed to the curacy of Ballyclog in the north of Ireland, and afterwards to that of Donoughmore in the diocese of Armagh. But his constitution was consumptive, and symptoms of the insidious and fatal disease began to appear. A tour to Scotland in 1821 only augmented the disorder, and a voyage to Bordeaux the autumn following effected little good. He died at the Cove of Cork on the 21st February, 1823. His Remains were published in 1825 by the Rev. John A. Russell, archdeacon of Clogher. He is now chiefly known by his famous ode, "The Burial of Sir John Moore," which he composed in 1817, and which, according to Captain Medwin, Byron pronounced "the most perfect ode in the language." Some of his minor poems are also of great beauty.—J. E.
WOLFE, James, a celebrated military officer, was the only child of Lieutenant-general Edward Wolfe, one of Marlborough's veterans, and was born at Westerham in Kent on 2nd January, 1727. He entered the army when he was only fourteen years of age, and by his unwearied diligence and attention soon became as conspicuous for his professional knowledge as for his military genius. He distinguished himself at the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy; and at Laffeldt in 1747, when he was little more than twenty, he received the highest encomiums from the commander-in-chief. After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, he returned home, and by his zeal and activity greatly improved the discipline of his men, while at the same time he secured their affection by his humanity. In the following year he was intrusted as lieutenant-Colonel with the command of a regiment in the force stationed in Scotland, after the suppression of the rebellion of 1745, and spent at least one year in Glasgow, during which he set himself diligently to amend the faults of his general education. He was subsequently stationed at Inversnaid, near Lochlomond, and at Inverness, and, as his letters show, had formed a very accurate estimate of the gross misconduct of the government, and of the mode in which the rebellion ought to have been prevented, and the peace of the country preserved. In 1757 he took part in the secret expedition despatched to attempt the capture of Rochefort. But owing mainly to dissensions between the commanders, Mordaunt and Hawke, the expedition completely failed in its object, though Wolfe, chafed at the wavering and hesitation of his leader, offered to make himself master of Rochefort if only five hundred men and three ships of war were placed at his disposal. The offer, though rejected at the time, did not escape the observation or the memory of the great minister, who had just undertaken the government. In 1758 he was raised to the rank of brigadier-general, and in conjunction with General Amherst was appointed to the command of the force which besieged and captured Louisburg, an exploit which annexed Cape Breton and Prince Edwards island to the British dominions. On the landing of the troops he was the first to spring from the boats into the raging surf, and it was in no small degree owing to his courage and activity that the siege was brought so rapidly to a successful termination. Sickness compelled him to return home after the capture of Cape Breton; but neither ill health nor his fondness for domestic repose could induce him to remain in retirement when his country needed his services, and he lost no time in offering to Pitt to serve in the next American campaign. The great minister who now wielded the destinies of Britain, having determined to attempt the conquest of Canada, disregarded the claims of family influence, or of mere seniority in his choice of a general, and intrusted the execution of his designs to Wolfe, whose military genius had previously attracted his notice. The scheme of Pitt comprised three separate expeditions, which were all ultimately to unite at Quebec. The main army, consisting of twelve thousand men under General Amherst, was to attack Ticonderago, secure the navigation of Lake Champlain, and then descend the river and effect a junction with Wolfe; a second army under General Prideaux was to effect the reduction of Niagara and Montreal; while Wolfe himself, with a force of eight thousand men, was to ascend the St. Lawrence as soon as its navigation should be clear of ice, and lay siege to Quebec, the capital and seat of government. The divisions under Generals Amherst and Prideaux met with considerable success in their operations, though in consequence of unforeseen obstacles, they both failed in reaching Quebec. But these expeditions were cast into the shade by Wolfe's. Embarking on board the fleet of Admiral Saunders, he sailed from Portsmouth in the spring of 1759; but it was not until the 27th of June that the army was landed on the Isle d'Orleans, below Quebec. The Marquis de Montcalm, the French governor in Canada—a man of great courage, experience, and skill—immediately adopted vigorous measures for the expulsion of the enemy, and the defence of the capital. On the very night after the landing of the British troops he sent out seven fire-ships from Quebec to destroy the fleet; but the attempt was frustrated by the prudent precautions of the admiral. Wolfe's little army was inferior in numbers to the enemy; but it was composed of veteran soldiers, and he was well supported by his officers. He lost no time in commencing operations, and having directed Brigadier Monckton, his second in command, to seize Point Lewis, a headland which looks towards Quebec, he caused batteries to be raised both on it and the Isle d'Orleans, and bombarded the town. But though the buildings were seriously injured, no progress was made towards the reduction of the place. He then attempted by various feints to draw the French commander from the strong position which he had taken up, and entrenched on the line called Beauport between the St. Charles and the Montmorency; but Montcalm resolutely maintained his position, with the river and its sandbanks in front, and impenetrable woods in his rear. Wolfe was therefore compelled to attack the enemy in their entrenchments; but the assault which took place on the 31st of July failed, mainly in consequence of the ill-regulated impetuosity of the advanced storming party, who did not wait for their supports, and they were ultimately compelled to retreat, after losing about eight hundred men. Wolfe was deeply mortified at this repulse. His men became dispirited, and worn out with fatigue and anxiety he fell ill of a fever. He took a most gloomy view of his prospects, and wrote to Mr. Pitt in most desponding terms respecting the success of the enterprise. Wolfe was not the man, however, to sit down and fold his hands in despair; and no sooner was his health in some degree restored than he renewed his attempts to draw the French from their inaccessible post, though still without effect. In this extremity, by a happy stroke of genius he conceived the daring project of landing his troops at the foot of the heights of Abraham. Favoured by a dark night and a flowing tide, they embarked about one o'clock in the morning (September 13), and landed unperceived at a place now called Wolfe's cave, about two miles above Quebec. From this spot they ascended the cliffs by a narrow and almost inaccessible path, pulling themselves up by bushes and brambles or the projecting points of rock. The French picquet stationed at this place fled panic-struck, and by sunrise the British army was drawn up in regular order on the table-land called the Plains of Abraham, to the
