MAJOR-GENERAL JAMES, was born at Welterham in the county of Kent, about the beginning of the year 1726. His father was Lieutenant-general Edward Wolfe. He went into the army when very young; and applying himself with unwearied assiduity to the study of his profession, soon became remarkable for his knowledge and his genius. He distinguished himself at the battle of Lafelt when little more than 20, and received the highest encomiums from the commander in chief. After the peace he still continued to cultivate the art of war. He contrived to introduce the greatest regularity and the exactest discipline into his corps, and at the same time to preserve the affection of every soldier. In 1758 he was present as a brigadier-general at the siege of Louisbourg. He landed first on the island at the head of division; and in spite of the violence of the surf, and the force and well directed fire of the enemy, drove them from their post with great precipitation. The surrender of the town, which happened soon after, was in a great measure owing to his activity, bravery, and skill. The fame which he acquired during this siege pointed him out to Mr Pitt, who was then minister, as the properest person to command the army destined to attack Quebec. This was the most difficult and the most arduous undertaking of the whole war. Quebec was the capital of the French dominions in North America; it was well fortified, situated in the midst of a hostile country, and defended by an army of 20,000 men, regulars and militia, besides a considerable number of Indian allies. The troops destined for this expedition consisted of ten battalions, making up altogether about 7000 men. Such was the army destined to oppose three times their own number, defended by fortifications, in a country altogether unknown, and in a late season in that climate for military operations. But this little army, says an officer who was present at that expedition, and who has been so obliging as to communicate all the information we desired, was always languine of success; for they were commanded by General Wolfe, who, by a very uncommon magnanimity and nobleness of behaviour, had attached the troops so much to his person, and inspired them with such resolution and readiness in the execution of their duty, that nothing seemed too difficult for them to accomplish. The admirable skill with which his measures were planned, and the prudence and vigour with which they were executed, are well known. He landed his army on the northern shore of the river St Lawrence in spite of the enemy, and forced them to a battle, in which they were completely defeated. The consequence of this battle was the reduction of Quebec, and the conquest of Canada. In the beginning of the battle General Wolfe was wounded in the wrist by a musket-ball: he wrapt his handkerchief round it, continued to give his orders with his usual calmness and perspicuity, and informed the soldiers that the advanced parties on the front had his orders to retire, and that they need not be surprised when it happened. Towards the end of the battle he received a new wound in the breast; he immediately retired behind the rear-rank supported by a grenadier, and laid himself down on the ground. Soon after a shout was heard; and one of the officers who stood by him exclaimed, "See how they run!" The dying hero asked with some emotion, "Who run?" "The enemy (replied the officer); they give way every where." The general then said, "Pray, do one of you run to Colonel Burton, and tell him to march Webb's regiment with all speed down to Charles river, to cut off the retreat of the fugitives from the bridge. Now, God be praised, I shall die happy!" He then turned on his side, closed his eyes, and expired.

The death of General Wolfe was a national loss universally lamented. He inherited from nature an animating fervour of sentiment, an intuitive perception, an extensive capacity, and a passion for glory, which stimulated him to acquire every species of military knowledge that study could comprehend, that actual service could illustrate and confirm. This noble warmth of disposition seldom fails to call forth and unfold all the liberal virtues of the soul. Brave above all estimation of danger; generous, gentle, complacent, and humane; the pattern of the officer, the darling of the soldier. There was a sublimity in his genius which soared above the pitch of ordinary minds; and had his faculties been exercised to their full extent by opportunity and action, had his judgment been fully matured by age and experience, he would, without doubt, have rivalled in reputation the most celebrated captains of antiquity. His body was brought to England, and buried with military honours in Westminster abbey, where a magnificent monument is erected to his memory.

Christian, a celebrated German philosopher, was born at Breffau in 1679. After having been well instructed in the rudiments of learning and science in his own country, Wolfe prosecuted his studies successively in the universities of Jena, Hamburg, and Leipzig. At the age of 26 he had acquired so much distinction, that he was appointed professor of mathematics, and soon afterwards of philosophy in general, in the university of Hall. After Leibnitz had published his Theodicea, Wolfe, struck with the novelty of the edifice which that philosopher had raised, assiduously laboured in the investigation of new metaphysical truths. He also digested the Elements of Mathematics in a new method, and attempted an improvement of the art of reasoning, in a treatise On the Powers of the Human Understanding. Upon the foundation of Leibnitz's doctrine of Monads, he formed a new system of Cosmology and Pneumatology, digested and demonstrated in a mathematical method. This work, entitled Thoughts on God, the World, and the Human Soul, was published in the year 1719; to which were added, in a subsequent edition, Heads of Ethics and Policy.

Wolfe was now rising towards the summit of philosophical reputation, when the opinion which he entertained on the doctrine of necessity being deemed by his colleagues inimical to religion, and an oration which he delivered in praise of the morality of the Chinese having given much offence, an accusation of heresy was publicly brought against him; and, though he attempted to justify himself in a treatise which he wrote on the subject of fatality, a royal mandate was issued in November 1723, requiring him to leave the Prussian dominions. Having been formerly invited by the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel to fill a professor's chair in the university of Cassel, Wolfe now put himself under the patronage of that prince, who had the liberality to afford him a secure asylum, and appointed him professor of mathematics and philosophy. The question concerning the grounds of the censure which had been passed upon Wolfe was now every where freely canvassed; almost every German university was inflamed with disputes on the subject of liberty and necessity; and the names of Wolfians and Anti-Wolfians were every where heard. After an interval of nine years, the king of Prussia reversed his sentence of exile, and appointed him vice-chancellor of the university of Hall; where his return was welcomed with every expression of triumph. From this time he was employed in completing his Institutes of Philosophy, which he lived to accomplish in every branch except poetry. In 1745 he was created a baron by the elector of Bavaria, and succeeded Ludog in the office of chancellor of the university. He continued to enjoy these honours till the year 1754, when he expired. He possessed a clear and methodical understanding; which, by long exercise in mathematical investigations, was particularly fitted for the employment of digesting the several branches of knowledge into regular systems; and his fertile powers of invention enabled him to enrich almost every field of science in which he laboured, with some valuable additions. The lucid order which appears in all his writings enables his reader to follow his conceptions with ease and certainty, through the longest trains of reasoning.