ADVERTISEMENT. IN offering to the public this first American edition of the Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Charles Wolfe, the hope is confidently entertained, that it may prove an acceptable service, not only to the cause of refined taste and elegant literature, but of pure and undefiled religion. High as Mr. Wolfe must be ranked as a scholar and a poet, it is as the faithful minister of the Church of Christ that he presents the strongest claims to our affection and admiration, and to that which is far above every other motive, the approbation of God. It was much to produce, in the well known lines on the burial of Sir John Moore,' the most splendid and touching lyric of the age--it was far more, to devote to an obscure country flock talents and accomplishments which would have done honour to the proudest station, and to wear out prematurely in their service a life to which the walks of pleasure and the heights of ambition offered such powerful temptations. Let us hope that, through the blessing of its Divine Head, the example of this zeal and self devotion will not be lost to the Church of Christ. Let us learn from it, that earnestness and enthusiasm in the sacred cause may yet be in entire subjection to truth and soberness, and saved, by the divine guidance, from the dangerous errors of extravagance and fanaticism. Hartford, April 15, 1828, G. W. D. 1* of life come home to the heart when they are associated with the recollection of the amiable qualities, the exalted principles, and the early death of a cherished friend, from whom they have been imbibed. "Amidst the sadness of such a remembrance (says an eloquent writer,)* it will be a consolation that they are not en. tirely lost to us. Wise monitions, when they return on us with this melancholy charm, have more pathetic cogency than when they were first uttered by the voice of a living friend." "It will be an interesting occupation to recount the advantages which we have received from beings who have left the world, and to reinforce our virtues from the dust of those who first taught them." Such have been the feelings of the writer, and such will probably be the feelings of other friends upon the recollections which this little memoir may awaken. But, upon these sentiments it is unnecessary, as it would perhaps be obtrusive, to dilate. I shall therefore pass on to the immediate subject of the memoir. To those who have personally known him whose Remains are presented in this volume to the public, it may be satisfactory to learn some particulars of his life. Charles Wolfe was the youngest son of Theobald Wolfe, Esq. Blackhall, county Kildare. His mother was the daughter of the Rev. Peter Lombard. He was born in Dublin, 14th December, in the year 1791. The family from which he was descended has not been undistinguished. Through the military achievements of the illustrious hero of Quebec, the name stands conIt has spicuous upon the records of British renown. also been signalised at the Irish bar, especially in the person of the much-lamented Lord Kilwarden, one of the same family, who was elevated to the dignity of the judicial bench. At an early age the subject of this memoir lost his father; not long after whose death, the family removed to England, where they resided for some years. Charles was sent to a school in Bath in *Foster's Essays, p. 16. the year 1801; from which, in a few months, he was obliged to return home in consequence of the delicacy of his health, which interrupted his education for twelve months. Upon his recovery, he was placed under the tuition of Dr. Evans, in Salisbury, from which he was removed in the year 1805; and soon after was sent as a boarder to Winchester school, of which Mr. Richards, sen. was then the able master. There he soon distinguished himself by his great proficiency in classical knowledge, and by his early powers of Latin and Greek versification, and displayed the dawnings of a genius which promised to set him amidst that bright constellation of British poets which adorns the literature of the present age. The many high testimonies to his amiable disposition and superior talents, which are supplied by the affectionate letters of his schoolmasters, shew that he was not overvalued by his own family, with every member of which he seems to have been the special favourite. I cannot better describe the manner in which his character as a boy was appreciated at school and at home, and how deservedly it was so prized, than in the following simple language of a very near relative, to whom I am indebted for some of the particulars of his life already mentioned. "The letters I enclose you bear testimony to the amiable character of my dear, dear Charles, such as I ever remember it. Those from Mr. Richards I can better estimate than any one else, from knowing that he was not easily pleased in a pupil, or apt to flatter. He was greatly attracted by superior talents; but you will see that he speaks of qualities of more value. He never received even a slight punishment or reprimand at any school to which he ever went; and in nearly twelve years that he was under my mother's care, I cannot recollect that he ever acted contrary to her wishes, or caused her a moment's pain, except parting with her when he went to school. I do not know whether he ever told you that he had, when a boy, a wish to enter the army, which was acquired by being in the way of military scenes; but, when he found that it would give his mother pain, he totally gave up the idea, which I am sure, all his life, he thanked God that he had done. In 1808 he left Winchester (where he had been three years), owing to our coming to Ireland, as my mother could not think of leaving him behind. His company was her first earthly comfort, and she could not relinquish it; indeed, we used to count the hours when the time drew near that he was expected. We were often told that we would spoil him, but you know whether it was so. When we arrived in Ireland, it was intended that he should go to some other school; but he did not go to any, nor had he any one to read with him, so that he entered college with much less previous instruction than most others. I believe you knew him soon after; and I need not tell you of him since, or what he has been even if I could. I have never heard of a schoolfellow or a college acquaintance who did not respect or love him; but I will not say more to you." The pleasing testimony to his character and abilities contained in this extract is indeed fully borne out by the accounts which some of his schoolfellows have given of him to the writer. They spoke of him with the strongest affection, and represented him as the pride of Winchester school. Some of the poems and Latin verses by which he distinguished himself there, shall appear at the close of this volume. In the year 1809, he entered the University of Dublin, under the tuition of the late Rev. Dr. Davenport, who immediately conceived the highest interest for him, and continued to shew it by special proofs of his favour. In a few months after his entrance, the writer had the happiness of becoming acquainted with him. This casual acquaintance soon became a cordial intimacy, which quickly ripened into a friendship that continued not only uninterrupted, but was cemented more and more by constant intercourse, and by community of pursuits: it was, above all, improved and sweetened by an unreserved interchange of thoughts on those subjects which affect our eternal interests, and open to us the prospects of friendships which death can only suspend, but not destroy. Our author immediately distinguished himself by his high classical attainments, for which he was early rewarded by many academical honours. The first English poem which attracted general notice was written very early in his college course, upon a subject proposed by the heads of the university. It evinces a boldnes of thought, a vigour of expression, and somewhat of a dramatic spirit, which seems to entitle it to a place in this litttle collection; and it shall therefore be presented first in order to the reader. The prison-scene of Jugurtha (which is the subject of the poem) gave the author full scope for a masterly exhibition of the darkest and deadliest passions of human nature in fierce conflict. Disappointed ambition, revenge, despair, remorse, were to be represented as raging by turns in the captive's mind, or dashing, as it were, against each other, and struggling for utterance. The subject was proposed in the following form. “JUGURTHA INCARCERATUS, VITAM INGEMIT Well-is the rack prepared--the pincers heated? Where is the scourge? How-not employ'd in Rome ? We have them in Numidia. Not in Rome? I'm sorry for it; I could enjoy it now; I might have felt them yesterday; but now,— The chariot-wheels of Marius have roll'd o'er me: I have attain'd that terrible consummation My soul could stand aloof, and from on high I challenge Rome to give another pang. Gods! how he smiled, when he beheld me pause |