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world; but who, throughout the circle in which he moved, excited an interest which cannot easily be forgotten, and diffused blessings with which his name and his memory will long be held in grateful association.

Amidst the pensive recollections awakened by an attempt to record the life of a departed friend, there may be much to afford comfort and instruction to one's self, which it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to convey to an uninterested reader. It can easily be conceived in general, with what a tender and prevailing influence the instructions received at former periods 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

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(says an eloquent writer),* it will be a con"solation that they are not entirely lost to us. "Wise monitions, when they return on us "with this melancholy charm, have more pa"thetic cogency than when they were first ut"tered by the voice of a living friend."

* Foster's Essays, p. 16.

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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. of 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 conspicuous upon the records of British renown. It has 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 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 sup

plied 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

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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

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"of more value. He never received even a "slight punishment or reprimand at any school "to which he ever went; and in nearly twelve 66 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

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"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 it would give his mother pain, he totally gave up the idea, which I am sure, all his

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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, 66 as my mother could not think of leaving him "behind. His company was her first earthly comfort, and she could not relinquish it;

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indeed, we used to count the hours when the "time drew near that he was expected. We "were often told that we should spoil him, but 66 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

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any, nor had he any one to read with him, so "that he entered college with much less pre"vious instruction than most others. I believe

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you knew him soon after; and I need not tell 66 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."

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The pleasing testimony to his character and

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