continent, where, his biographer informs us, "he made an honourable collection of the virtues of each nation, without any tincture of theirs, unless it were a little too much of the French air, which was indeed the fault of his complexion, rather than his person." It was about this time, probably in his twentieth year, that he joined the standard of the illustrious Gustavus Adolphus, and was present at three battles and five sieges, besides lesser engagements, within the space of six months.

On his return he employed his time, and expended his fortune, among the wits of his age, to whom he was recommended, not only by generous and social habits, but by a solid sense in argument and conversation far beyond what might be expected from his years, and the apparent lightness of his disposition. Among his principal associates, we find the names of lord Falkland, Davenant, Ben Jonson, Digby, Carew, sir Toby Matthews, and the "ever memorable" Hales of Eton, to whom he addresses a lively invitation to come to town. His plays, "Aglaura," "Brennoralt," "The Goblins," and an unfinished piece entitled "The Sad One," added considerably to his fame, although they have not been able to perpetuate it. The first only was printed in his life-time. All his plays, we are told, were acted with applause, and he spared no expence in costly dresses and decorations.

While thus seemingly devoted to pleasure only, the unfortunate aspect of public affairs roused him to a sense of duty, and induced him to offer his services, and devote his life and fortune, to the cause of royalty. How justly he could contemplate the unfortunate dispute between the court and nation, appears in his letter to Mr. Germaine (afterwards lord Albemarle), a composition almost unrivalled in that age for elegance of style and depth of observation. It was, however, too much the practice with those who made voluntary offers of soldiers, to equip them in an expensive and useless manner. Suckling, who was magnificent in all his expenses, was not to be outdone in an article which he had studied more than became a soldier, and which he might suppose would afford unquestionable proof of his attachment to the royal cause; and, having been permitted to raise a troop of horse, consisting of an hundred, he equipped them so richly, that they are said to have cost him the sum of twelve thousand pounds.

B 2

This exposed him to some degree of ridicule, a weapon which the republicans often wielded with successful dexterity, and which, in this instance, was sharpened by the misconduct of his gaudy soldiers. The particulars of this affair are not recorded; but it appears, that in 1639, the royal army, of which his troop formed a part, was defeated by the Scotch, and that sir John's men behaved remarkably ill. All this is possible, without any imputation on the courage of their commander; but it afforded his enemies an opportunity of turning the expedition into ridicule with an effect that is yet remembered. The lines in Dr. Percy's collection, by sir John Mennis, are not the only specimen of the wit of the times at our author's expense.

This unhappy affair is said by Lloyd to have contributed to shorten his days; but Oldys, in his MS notes on Langbaine, attributes his death to another cause. Lord Oxford informed Oldys, on the authority of dean Chetwood, who said he had it from lord Roscommon, that sir John Suckling, in his way to France, was robbed of a casket of gold and jewels, by his valet, who gave him poison, and besides stuck the blade of a pen-knife into his boot in such a manner, that sir John was disabled from pursuing the villain, and was wounded incurably in the heel. Dr. Warton, in a note to his Essay on Pope, relates the story somewhat differently: "Sir John Suckling was robbed by his valetde-chambre; the moment he discovered it, he clapped on his boots in a passionate hurry, and perceived not a large rusty nail that was concealed at the bottom, which pierced his heel, and brought on a mortification." He died May 7, 1641, in the thirty-second year of his age. That he was on his way to France, when he met with the occasion of his death, seems to be confirmed by a ludicrous poem, lately re-printed in the "Censura Literaria," entitled "A Letter sent by sir John Suckling from France, deploring his sad estate and flight: with a discoverie of the plot and conspiracie, intended by him and his adherents against England. Imprinted at London, 1641." This poem is dated Paris, June 16, 1641, at which time the author probably had not learned that the object of his satire was beyond his reach.

As a poet, he was one of those who wrote for amusement, and was not stimulated by ambition, or anxious for fame. His pieces were sent loose about the world; and not having been collected until after his death, they are

probably less correct than he left them. Many of his verses are as rugged and unharmonious as those of Donne; but his songs and ballads are elegant and graceful. He was particularly happy and original in expressing the feelings of artificial love, disdain, or disappointment. The "Session of the Poets," the "Lines to a Rival," the "Honest Lover," and the "Ballad upon a Wedding," are sufficient to entitle him to the honours of poetry, which the author of the lives published under the name of Cibber, is extremely anxious to wrest from him.

His works have been often reprinted; first in 1646, 8vo, again in 1659, and 1676; very correctly by Tonson in 1719, and elegantly, but incorrectly, by Davies in 1770. The edition of Tonson has been followed in the late edition of the "English Poets," with the omission of such pieces as were thought degrading to his memory, and insulting to public decency *. But whatever opinion is entertained of Suckling as a poet, it may be doubted whether his prosewritings are not calculated to raise a yet higher opinion of his talents. His letters, with a dash of gallantry more free than modern times will admit, are shrewd in observation, and often elegant in style. That addressed to Mr. Germaine has already been noticed, and his "Account of Religion by Reason," is remarkable for soundness of argument, and purity of expression, far exceeding the controversial writings of that age. This piece affords a presumption that he was even now no stranger to those reflections which elevate the human character, and that if his life had been spared, it would have been probably devoted to more honourable objects than those in which he had employed his youthful days.'

SUETONIUS (CAIUS SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS), an ancient historian and biographer, was born at Rome about the beginning of the reign of Vespasian, perhaps in the year 70, as may be collected from his own words in the life of Nero. His father Suetonius Lenis was tribune of a legion, in the service of the emperor Otho, against Vitellius. He passed his first years probably at Rome; and when grown up, applied himself to the bar. He appears to have very early acquired the friendship of the younger

* There is a manuscript poem from is of that gross kind which delicacy his pen in the British Museum, re- will not now tolerate.j

plete with humour; but the subject

1 English Poets, 21 vols. Svo, 1810, &c.

Pliny, who procured for him the office of tribune; and afterwards, upon his resignation, transferred it to his kinsman, at Suetonius's request. He obtained also for him the "Jus trium liberorum;" a favour seldom granted, and which Pliny could not have obtained, if, besides his great interest at court, he had not very earnestly solicited the emperor Trajan, in a letter written from Bithynia, of which he was at that time governor. In this letter he describes Suetonius as a man of great integrity, honour, and learning, whose manners and studies were the same with his own; and he adds, "the better I have known him, the more I have loved him. He has been rather unhappy in his marriage; and the privileges of those who have three children are upon several accounts necessary. He begs through me, therefore, that your bounty will supply what his ill fortune has denied him. I know, sir, the high value. of the favour I ask; but I am asking a sovereign whose indulgence to all my wishes I have long experienced. How desirous I am to obtain it, you will easily conolude, from my applying to you at this distance; which I should not have done, if it bad been a matter of indifference to me." Suetonius advanced himself to be afterwards secretary to the emperor Adrian; but he lost that place, for not paying a due respect to the empress. Spartian, speaking of him and others involved in the same blame, uses the words "quod apud Sabinam uxorem, injussu ejus, familiarius set tunc egerant, quam reverentia domus aulica postulabat." On the nature of this disrespect, or "too great familiarity," critics are not agreed. Their offence probably rose only from the capricious temper of the emperor, who, we are told, treated her with great contempt himself for some reason, and permitted others also to do so under certain limitations; which limitations Suetonius and others might ignorantly transgress.

We know nothing more of Suetonius, nor of the time of his death. He wrote many books, none of which are come down to us, except his Lives of the first twelve emperors, and part of his treatise concerning the illustrious grammarians and rhetoricians; for he applied himself much to the study of grammar and rhetoric, and many are of opinion that he was a teacher. Suidas ascribes to him several works of the grammatical kind; and observes, that he wrote a book respecting the Grecian games, two upon the shows of the Romans, two upon the laws and customs of

Rome, one upon the life of Cicero, or upon his books "De Republica," and "A catalogue of the illustrious men of Rome." Many other pieces of his are cited by various authors; and the lives of Terence, Horace, Juvenal, Persius, and Lucan, have usually gone under his name, and been printed at the end of his works, though it is not absolutely certain that they are his. His "History of the Emperors" is a work of great value, as illustrative of the manners of the times, and the particular character of these sovereigns, but is not written strictly either in the historical or biographical form. It consists of a continued series of curious facts, related succinctly, without digressions or reflections. There is in it a character of sincerity, which shews very plainly, that the author feared and hoped for nothing, and that his pen was not directed by hatred or flattery. Suetonius, says Politian, "has given us evident proofs of his diligence, veracity, and freedom. There is no room for any suspicion of partiality in his books; nothing is advanced out of favour, or suppressed out of fear: the facts themselves have engrossed his whole attention, and he has consulted truth in the first place." Politian is also of opinion, that he forbore writing the lives of Nerva, Trajan, and Adrian, the emperors of his time, because he would not be tempted to disregard the love of truth. Some have blamed him for his descriptions of the horrid debaucheries of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Domitian, which Erasmus is willing to excuse on the score of his care and fidelity as an historian; but certainly such descriptions cannot be defended, because they cannot be necessary even to fidelity itself. A good English translation was published in 1796 by Dr. Alexander Thomson, in which he softened or suppressed Suetonius's indelicacies, without any injury to the general effect of the narrative. Suetonius speaks disrespectfully of the Christians, calling them "genus hominum superstitionis novæ & maleficæ, a sort of people of a new and mischievous superstition:" but Lardner has selected from him some important corroborations of the facts of gospel history.

Suetonius was first printed at Rome in 1470, fol. and was often reprinted in that century, with and without dates; since when, the best editions are: those of Stephanus, 1543, 8vo: "Cum notis & numismatibus a Carolo Patin,' Basil, 1675, 4to: "Cum notis integris Isaaci Casauboni, Lævini Torrentii, Joannis Georgii Grævii, & selectis alio