Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/642

 618 S U C S U D reputation for extraordinary precocity in school learning. Mr Alfred Suckling, who edited his works in 1836, cor- rected this error, ascertaining that he was born at Whitton in Middlesex and baptized on 10th February 1609. He was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1623, at what was then the usual age, and thereafter travelled on the Continent, as was also the custom for youths of his birth. Returning to London, he did not long remain inactive at court, but sought experience as a soldier, volunteering into the force raised by the marquis of Hamilton for the support of Gustavus Adolphus in the Palatinate. He reached Germany in July 1631 and was back at Whitehall in May 1632; but during this time he saw a good deal of hard service, being present at the battle of Leipsic and the sieges of Crossen, Guben, Glogau, and Magdeburg. Reappearing at court, he at once became a prominent figure. "He had the peculiar happiness of making everything that he did become him." He was ready of wit, handsome of person, wealthy and generous, a leader in all pastimes, the best bowler and the best card-player at court. His happy skill in verse was only one of the distinctions of a man who excelled in every- thing ; but, as it happened, both the king and the queen had literary tastes, and he aimed at distinction in poetry with the ardent thoroughness which seems to have been part of his character. He became eminent at court just at the time when masques, after being the rage for a few years, had reached the height of their splendour and were beginning to pall ; and it occurred to him to apply to the ordinary drama the improved scenery which the taste for masques had developed. We can trace in his plays both the taste for spectacular effect and the admiration for the wit of Shakespeare which he shared with his royal master. Aylaura was the first of them, and is said to have been the first play produced with elaborate stage scenery. It was produced first at Christmas in 1637 with a tragic ending, then reproduced at the following Easter with ingenious changes in the fifth act which made it end happily. With all its clever play on words and images, and its natural felicity of diction, it is not an interesting drama to read ; the characters have no body or vitality. But it is full of incident, as if the dramatist were revelling in the newly discovered power of shifting the scenes, and making the most of his advantage in having the co-opera- tion of Inigo Jones. His comedy the Goblins is much happier, and there the frequent changes of scene are used with great skill to maintain the liveliness of the action. Suckling produced another tragedy in 1639, Brennoralt; it has more body than its predecessor, but shows no mas- tery of passion or tragic character. He began still another tragedy, the Sad One, but was abruptly stopped in his literary career by the beginning of a tragedy in real life, the quarrel between Charles and his subjects. Suckling took a prominent part for a time on the Royalist side. When war was levied on the Scottish Covenanters in 1639 Suckling raised a troop of a hundred horse at his own expense and accompanied them on the bloodless expedi- tion to the Border. He was elected member for Bramber to the Long Parliament which met in November 1640 ; but in May of the following year he got into trouble in con- nexion with a plot for the escape of Strafford from the Tower and a project for calling in French aid, was charged with high treason, and fled beyond sea. The circumstances of his short life in exile are obscure. He continued to attract attention, and many pamphlets about him were circulated, one in particular describing how he eloped with a lady to Spain and fell into the clutches of the Inquisition. The tradition is that he committed suicide in Paris some time before the end of 1642. Suckling's reputation as a poet rests not upon his plays but upon his minor pieces. They have wit and fancy and at times exquisite felicity of diction. The happiest as a whole is the Ballad upon a Wedding. " Prithee, why so pale, fond lover 1 " is an occasional song in Aglaura. A collection of Suckling's poems was first published in 1646 with the title Fragmenta Aurea. The so-called Selections published by Mr Alfred Suckling in 1836 is really a full edition of his poems, letters, and plays, which was re-edited, with slight additions, by Mr W. C. Hazlitt in 1874. SUCRE, the capital of Bolivia, formerly known as Chuquisaca, but renamed in honour of General Sucre, the first president of the republic. Lying in 19 2' 45" S. lat. and 65 17' W. long., at a height of 9183 feet above the sea, in a valley which drains southwards to the Pilcomayo (see PLATE RIVER), it enjoys an agreeable climate and has its markets well supplied with fruits and vegetables. The city is the seat of the archbishopric of La Plata and Char- cas, founded in 1609, and contains a magnificent cathedral and several imposing churches and convents. For a long time the university and colleges of Chuquisaca were among; the most frequented in South America, and they are still of some note. The inhabitants, who are mainly of Indian origin, are variously stated to number 24,000 (Ondarza) and 12,000 (Almanac, de Gotha). The Spanish city of Chuquisaca was founded in 1539 on the site of a Peruvian town, whose original name survived the Spanish designation of Ciudad la Plata. It became in 1609 the seat of the- supreme court of justice for the South American colonies "Real Audiencia de la Plata y Charcas" Charcas being the name of a native tribe often given to the Chuquisaca district, and eveu to the city (Maria de las Charcas). SUDAN. See SOUDAX. SUDBURY, an ancient borough and market town of England, chiefly in Suffolk, but partly in Essex, is situated on the river Stour, forming the boundary between the two- counties, and on a branch of the Great Eastern Railway, 19 miles south of Bury St Edmunds and 58 north-east of London. It is well built and well paved and contains a. number of good houses. It is .chiefly interesting from its three parish churches of All Saints, St Peter's, and St Gregory's. All Saints, dating from 1150 and consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, and tower, is chiefly Perpendicu- lar, the chancel, however, being Decorated. It possesses a fine oaken pulpit of 1490. The church was restored in 1882. St Peter's is Perpendicular, with a unique coved nave roof. St Gregory's, once collegiate, in the Perpen- dicular style, was partly built by Simon Tybald, archbishop of Canterbury, who was beheaded by Wat Tyler's mob. He established also a college for secular priests, of which a gateway still remains. The grammar-school was founded by William Wood in 1491. The principal modern build- ings are the town-hall, the corn exchange, the literary and mechanics' institute, and St Leonard's hospital. The town owed its early importance to the introduction of woollen manufactures by the Flemings at the instance of Edward III., but this was afterwards replaced by silk crape, jacquard satin, &c.; the manufacture has now greatly de- clined. Cocoa-nut matting is an important manufacture, and there are also flour-mills, malt-kilns, lime-works, and brick and tile yards. A declining trade is carried on by the river, which is navigable up to the town. The area of the municipal borough is 1459 acres, and includes, besides the parishes of All Saints, St Gregory, and St Peter, Balling- don cum Brundon in Essex and St Bartholomew. The population in 1871 was 6908, and 6584 in 1881. Sudbury is supposed to have been in early times the chief town in Suffolk, and to have received its name in contradistinction to> Norwich in Norfolk. By the Conqueror it was given to Richard de Clare, and from the earls of that name it obtained important privileges. It is a borough by prescription, but obtained its first charter from Mary in 1554. It obtained others from Cromwell and James II., and its governing charter is that of Charles II. From the reign of Elizabeth it sent one member to parliament until it was disfranchised in 1S44.