an encounter, not a battle, as neither side would fight, and that although the Royalists could not be said to have totally routed the enemy they remained a long time masters of the field and of their cannon, not one of which would have been lost if the drivers had not left their carriages and run off with the horses. As it was they left Falkirk and part of their camp because the ammunition of the army was wet and spoiled, but their retreat was in no way molested as affecting their superiority. He thought that with favourable weather the rebellion could be ended in a short time. Marshal Wade had been succeeded in command by "hangman Hawley," who retreated to Edinburgh while the insurgents took possession of the town of Falkirk.

The Duke of Cumberland was soon appointed commander-in-chief and the army was reinforced. The cruel severity of the Duke and of Hawley are well known, but an incident occurred in Aberdeen, where they soon went and remained to rest the army, which calls for special notice because of the fact that Wolfe's name is somewhat unpleasantly connected with it.

General Hawley occupied the house of a Mrs. Gordon. She complained that one Major Wolfe came to her and said that by the orders of the Duke of Cumberland and General Hawley she was to be deprived of everything she had except the clothes on her back. After giving this message he said that the General had, upon enquiry, found that she had nothing to do with the rebellion and in consequence, he, the General, would make interest with the Duke that she might have any particular thing she wished, that she

could say was her own. However, when she designated anything in particular there were some reasons why she should not have it. Her account is given in the Jacobite Memoirs of Bishop Forbes, edited by Robert Chambers, and if taken without any discount it shows that she was very badly treated. It is not necessary, as some admirers of Wolfe have done, to argue that this cannot be the same man as the considerate and gentlemanly hero of Quebec because, indeed, his actions seem in this case to be inconsistent with his known character. Such fallacious reasoning does not impose on many people and possibly does not deceive the amiable souls who use it. As stated by Mrs. Gordon herself, Major Wolfe was carrying out the orders of his superior officers. The consequences of his refusal to do so in such a case are obvious to all who can realize military discipline. The full account shows that the complaining lady was suspected, with some degree of justice, of concealing the property of her rebel friends, and shows further that Major Wolfe performed his duty with as great regard for her feelings as was possible in so disagreeable a task.

The army soon left Aberdeen and marched along the coast towards Inverness, accompanied by victualling transports, to attack Prince Charles whose forces had united at the latter place after the battle of Falkirk.

The armies met on Culloden Moor, and after a brief but furious battle the Royalists were victorious. Wolfe wrote a detailed description of the affair on the following day to William Lotheron, in which he makes no mention of his own connection with the events of the day. It is

singular that Wolfe should have written so many letters to intimate friends and relatives with so little of reference to himself, or rather to his own actions. As will appear by further references to his correspondence, his mind was of a distinctly subjective type. He discussed his peculiarities of temper and disposition, his likes and dislikes, he gave his views upon such widely divergent topics as military ethics and matrimony, he philosophized upon life and the hereafter, he drew up admirable rules of conduct, he showed himself ambitious and impatient of disregard, but he always avoided the appearance of boasting.

An anecdote which is familiar to many readers falls chronologically into this place and may be given for what it is worth. It is said that the Duke of Cumberland was riding with his staff over the field of battle after the day was lost and won, when he saw a wounded Highlander upon the ground gazing at him with a look of defiance and hate. Turning to Major Wolfe he ordered him to shoot the "Highlander scoundrel" who dared to look upon the Duke with such contempt and insolence. "My commission," replied Wolfe, "is at your Royal Highness's disposal, but I can never consent to become an executioner." This story is told with variations by different writers, but it lacks authentication, and as a consequence is generally accepted with reserve, if at all. If Wolfe at nineteen years of age is to be credited with so spirited and ready a reply, the Duke of Cumberland is to be held in execration for his atrocity. Certain it is that the sufferings of the rebel peasants were intense, and that the belief that Prince Charles had ordered before Culloden that no quarter should

be given increased, though it did not justify, the barbarities to which the vanquished were subject on the field of battle or the severity with which they were treated afterwards.

What part Wolfe took in the harrying of the rebels, in the destruction and confiscation of their property, or how he viewed it all, we do not learn from his pen at this time. In March 1755, he writes to his friend Rickson: "Such a succession of errors, and such a train of ill-behaviour as the last Scotch war did produce, can hardly, I believe, be matched in history."

That it was distasteful to him we may safely assume, but we may quite as safely say that he regarded it as the natural and necessary course to take with a rebellious poeple that was looked upon by the soldiery as beyond the pale of civilization.

We know that after the siege and reduction of Louisburg in 1758, he wrote to his father saying ironically "Sir Charles Hardy and I are preparing to rob the fishermen of their nets and to burn their huts. When that great exploit is at an end-I return to Louisburg. " In his report to Amherst a little later he refers to the great exploit in these terms: "We have done a great deal of mischief—spread the terror of his Majesty's arms through the whole gulf; but have added nothing to the reputation of them." Still later, at Quebec, when the responsibility was all his own, the country was laid desolate, crops were destroyed, houses and barns were burned. However opinions may differ as to the justification of such methods, he undoubtedly believed in them, as did his contemporaries who were not hurt

thereby, as necessary accompaniments of warfare. These statements are not written specially to condemn Wolfe, but rather to show that it is not safe to assume from a man's general reputation for justice and mercy that any particular act of his must be above reproach or beyond question. The Gordon affair already mentioned is an illus

tration.

The Duke of Cumberland departed from Scotland in July leaving desolation behind him and finding a grateful welcome awaiting him in England. The forces were dispersed, with the exception of a few regiments that were retained to garrison the outposts.

Wolfe himself left the land of heather before winter set in and remained in London till the following spring when his regiment was to proceed to the continent for service.