as easy, and as indifferent as the civilians are supposed to be. Nobody seemed to think that the French had either will or power to resent the affronts put upon them, and some even doubted whether they were out of humour at all or not.

In the year 1756, Wolfe's letters show that he was quite convinced that war between France and England was inevitable and near. He believed that France would first make an attempt with her fleet and should it prove superior to that of England, a formidable attack would be made. "The confidence, or rather stupidity of the people of this country surpasses belief. Secure in their ignorance and presumption, they set the whole force of France at defiance." This language, a hundred and fifty years old, has been applicable to British army methods and has been applied with varying phrases and severity on many occasions, even up to the present time. And yet England was girding up her loins for a struggle that was to establish her power in far away India and in Canada, and that was to terminate more gloriously for her than had any contest into which she had ever entered. The student of history will recognize, however, that her triumphs did not rest upon the genius of her commanders but rather upon the unbounded confidence inspired in the English people by the great commoner who was at this time coming into prominence, and by the material resources which enabled her to strengthen her navy, to maintain her armies through defeat and victory, and to emerge with her strength unimpaired and her confidence justified.

Wolfe had an occasional word of praise for his fellow

officers. Nobody, he declared, deserved the King's favour more than Amherst, under whom he was destined to serve in America a few years later. His regiment was marched from Canterbury to Devizes in the month of May, but he was disappointed in his intended visit to his mother on the way. The Island of Minorca, at this time in possession of the French, caused Wolfe great anxiety, and the disgrace into which Admiral Byng fell through his failure to engage the enemy when he had an excellent chance to do so, infuriated the impetuous Wolfe, whose whole career showed that he understood that war was undertaken chiefly in order to fight the enemy, and when Byng's life was about to pay the penalty of his timidity, Wolfe's heart did not soften, as did many others. To him failure to engage an enemy could mean only cowardice or treachery, both military crimes deserving death.

On the 18th of July he wrote a notable letter to Mr. Townshend, afterwards Lord Sidney, who had sought his advice concerning a younger brother who was an officer in the army. After assuming that the young officer knew Latin and French and had some knowledge of mathematics, without which last subject one could not expect to become acquainted with the construction of fortifications and the attack and defence of places, he advises that if it had not already been done he should, while yet young, give up a year or two to the study of mathematics. He proceeds :— "As to the books that are fittest for his purpose, he may begin with the 'King of Prussia's Regulations for his Horse and Foot,' where the economy and good order of an army in the lower branches are extremely well established.

Then there are the Memoirs of the Marquis de Santa Cruz, Fouquières, and Montecucculi; Folard's 'Commentaries upon Polybius'; the 'Projet de Tactique'; 'L'Attaque et la Défense des Places,' par le Maréchal de Vauban; 'Les Mémoires de Goulon;' 'L'Ingenieur de Campagne.' Le Sieur Renie for all that concerns artillery. Of the ancients, Vegetius, Cæsar, Thucydides, Xenophon's 'Life of Cyrus' and 'Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks.' I do not mention Polybius, because the Commentaries and the History naturally go together. Of later days, Davila, Guicciardini, Strada, and the 'Memoirs of the Duc de Sully.' There is an abundance of military knowledge to be picked out of the lives of Gustavus Aldophus, and Charles XII, King of Sweden, and of Zisca the Bohemian, and if a tolerable account could be got of the exploits of Scanderberg, it would be inestimable; for he excels all the officers, ancient and modern, in the conduct of a small defensive army. I met with him in the Turkish History, but nowhere else. The 'Life of Suetonius,' too, contains many fine things in this way. There is a book lately published that I have heard commended, L'Art de la Guerre Pratique.'-"I suppose it is collected from all the best authors that treat of war; and there is a little volume, entitled 'Traité de la Petite Guerre,' that your brother should take in his pocket when he goes upon out-duty and detachments. The Maréchal de Puységur's book, too, is in esteem.

"I believe Mr. Townshend will think this catalogue long enough; and if he has patience to read, and desire to apply (as I am persuaded he has), the knowledge contained

in them, there is also wherewithal to make him a considerable person in his profession, and of course very useful and serviceable to his country. In general, the lives of all great commanders, and all good histories of warlike nations, will be instructive, and lead him naturally to endeavour to imitate what he must necessarily approve of.

"In these days of scarcity, and in these unlucky times, it is much to be wished that all our young soldiers of birth and education would follow your brother's steps, and, as they will have their turn to command, that they would try to make themselves fit for that important trust; without it we must sink under the superior abilities and indefatigable industry of our restless neighbours. You have drawn a longer letter upon yourself than perhaps you expected; but I could hardly make it shorter, without doing wrong to a good author. In what a strange manner have we conducted our affairs in the Mediterranean! Quelle belle occasion manquée !"

Were it consistent with the plan of this book, it would be interesting to reproduce the letters in whole or in substance written by Wolfe during the autumn of 1756, but although his remarks upon current events were instructive, they throw no new light upon his character as a soldier or as a man. Perhaps his sensitiveness, and his confidence in himself, happily justified by his actions, are emphasized by an extract from a letter to his mother. (Dec. 6, 1756.)

"I persuade myself they will put no inferior officer (unless a peer) over my head, in which case I can't complain, not being able to say that I have ever done more than my duty, and happy if I came up to that. If any

soldier is preferred when my turn comes, I shall acquaint the Secretary at War that I am sensible of the injury that is done me, and will take the earliest opportunity to put it out of his or any man's power to repeat it. Not while the war lasts; for if 500 younger officers, one after another were to rise before me, I should continue to serve with the utmost diligence, to acquit myself to the country, and to show the Ministers that they had acted unjustly. But I flatter myself that I shall never be forced to these disagreeable measures."

Wolfe was recommended shortly after this letter to the favorable notice of the King by Sir John Mordaunt, who acted without the previous knowledge of his friend. Although his kindly intentions bore no fruit, the office of Barrackmaster-General and that of Quartermaster-General were soon offered by the Duke of Bedford, who was then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Wolfe understood that the rank of Colonel would be conferred upon him and informed his father that he would soon resign and return to his battalion if this rank were omitted. However, the King, guided by the Duke of Cumberland, refused the promotion, on the ground that Wolfe was so young a lieutenantcolonel that it could not be made at once. The Duke of Bedford fulfilled his promise to his Quarter-Master by insisting as long as possible, although without success.

On the 19th of February, he wrote to the Duke a modest letter of acceptance before the question of rank was settled, and four days later he wrote to his mother a letter which showed his patriotism in a practical light. He did not offer, like a modern American humorist, to sacrifice all his