< Page:Imperialdictiona03eadi Brandeis Vol3b.pdf
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

SUE

1084

SUF

is more agreeable to the common sentiment, which loves to see

virtue triumph over vice, than are Sue's previous novels. There can be no doubt that Lord Byron's cynicism had exercised considerable influence over the French novelist's imagination. In his earlier works Sue displays a sympathy with the high life, the scepticism, the splendid vice of the faubourg St. Germain. "Mathilde" marks a change in his opinions, which with characteristic impetuosity he carried to the extreme. The fame he acquired by that novel procured him many advantageous offers from the editors of newspapers, who had begun to avail themselves of the feuilleton as a means for increasing their circulation. Sue wrote for the Journal des Debats his celebrated "Mysteries of Paris," afterwards republished in ten volumes in 1842. This was followed in 1844-45 by "The Wandering Jew." Both works obtained an extraordinary popularity, and were translated into most European languages. The author here gave vent to extreme democratic and socialist opinions, which he illustrated further by several minor works. In 1848 he failed in getting a seat in the constituent assembly, but was elected in 1850 to the chamber, where he took his place on the highest benches of the Mountain. After the coup d'êtat of 1851 he was expelled from France, and took refuge at Annecy in Savoy, where he continued to write novels until his death, which took place on the 3rd of August, 1857.—(See Querard, Hist. Litt. de la France; Revue des deux Mondes.)—R. H. SUETONIUS, Caius Tranquillus, the Latin historian, was born about a.d. 70. His father obtained some distinction as a soldier, and it was doubtless on information obtained from him and his comrades that much of the son's historical work had its foundation. The young Suetonius was educated for the law, and we gather from the letters of his friend, the younger Pliny, that he was successful in his profession. Between him and Pliny a close friendship existed, and several of the latter's epistles are addressed to Suetonius in the terms of cordial intimacy. Under Hadrian, Suetonius held the office of secretary or magister epistolarum, but was subsequently deprived of it by the emperor, who was of a jealous and suspicious temper, for some cause of which we are not clearly informed. He was a voluminous writer, and two of his minor treatises, entitled "De Grammaticis Illustribus," and "De Claris Oratoribus," are still extant. By far the most important, however, of his surviving works is that known as the "Vitæ Cæsarum" (Lives of the Cæsars). It contains the biographies of the twelve first emperors, from Julius to Domitian inclusive. It is biographical rather than historical in its nature, and treats chiefly of the private life and character of the successive emperors. The trustworthiness of Suetonius has been much controverted, and certainly his book contains abundant evidence that he was a licentious and immoral man. This, however, does not prove him to be a dishonest writer, and we know from other sources that the state of the imperial court and of Rome itself at this period was corrupt and wicked to an extreme degree. Nor must we forget that he was contemporary with many of the later events which he describes, and must have been acquainted with many persons who remembered Augustus and Tiberius. Yet, undoubtedly, where his account differs from that of Tacitus, the authority of the latter is preferable. Like Tacitus, Suetonius hated the christians, whom he terms "a kind of people that profess a new and malignant superstition." Dr. Lardner, however, in his work on the credibility of the christian religion, has shown that the narrative of Suetonius confirms in several points that of the gospels. Among the best editions of Suetonius are those of Burmann, Amsterdam, 1736, and Wolff, Leipsic, 1807.—G. SUEUR, Eustache le, the celebrated French painter, the son of a turner, was born at Paris in November, 1617, and studied painting in the school of Vouet. He never visited Italy; but when the Academy of Painting in France was founded in 1648, Le Sueur had already made such progress as to be elected one of the original twelve professors or anciens. After various successes, he was commissioned in 1645 to paint his interesting series of twenty-two pictures illustrative of the life of St. Bruno for the Charter-house of Paris; they were finished in 1648. In 1649 he painted his masterpiece, the so-called May-picture of the cathedral for that year, representing "St. Paul at Ephesus burning the proscribed books." He died in 1655. Though never a good colourist, Le Sueur was in many respects the best of the earlier French painters; and notwithstanding his never having visited Italy, he was a diligent student of Italian prints and pictures. Many of his works show a very successful study of Raphael; in expression and composition he is often very noble. His pictures are numerous, and in many of them he was aided by his three brothers—Pierre, Philippe, and Antoine. The Louvre alone contains fifty-three works by this painter. Thomas Goussé, whose sister Geneviève Le Sueur married in 1644, and by whom he had six children, was also one of his assistants. He seems to have buried his wife and four of his children, a son and a daughter being the only survivors.— (Mémoires Inédites des Membres de l'Academie Royale, &c.)—R. N. W. SUEUR or SOEUR, Hubert le, a French or Flemish sculptor and founder, who settled in this country about 1630, when he was about fifty years of age. He is said to have studied under the Fleming, John of Bologna, in Italy. Le Sueur made the statue of William earl of Pembroke in the picture gallery at Oxford; and in 1633 he cast the equestrian statue of Charles I., now at Charing Cross, London, preserved by John Rivet the brazier—who bought it as old metal during the Commonwealth—by burying it until the Restoration, when it was set up in its present place by the earl of Danby, afterwards duke of Leeds. The statue was made for and at the expense of the Howard-Arundel family; but Le Sueur must have been dead some years when the statue was finally placed. The pedestal was made by Grinling Gibbons. The figure is good, but the horse is very inferior.—R. N. W. SUFFOLK, Charles Brandon, Duke of, was the son of Sir William Brandon, who carried the standard of the earl of Richmond (afterwards Henry VII.) at the battle of Bosworth, and was slain by Richard III. himself. Young Brandon became a ward of the crown, grew up with the king's children, and was the playmate of his future sovereign and bride. Henry, as he advanced in years, seems to have grown in attachment to his friend, and on ascending the throne appointed him one of his esquires, and chamberlain of the principality of Wales. In 1513 he took part in a desperate conflict with a French squadron off Brest, and on his return was created a peer by the title of Viscount Lisle. Shortly after, he accompanied the king in the invasion of France, and was present at the capture of Therrouenne and the battle of Spires, in which he commanded the vanguard of the English army. He was next created Duke of Suffolk. Meanwhile the Princess Mary had been married to the old French king, Louis XII., who witnessed from a couch the gallant exploits of Brandon at the tournaments. Louis died in less than three months (1st January, 1515), and his young and beautiful widow resolved to reward herself for her former sacrifice, and in less than two months privately married her old playmate and first love. Henry at first made a show of resentment; but he soon forgave his sister and friend, and they were publicly wedded at Greenwich, the duke receiving at the same time from the king a grant of the great estates which had formerly belonged to Edmund de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, and an immense dowry with his wife. Brandon was present at the famous interview between Henry and Francis I. in 1520. Three years later he invaded France at the head of twelve thousand men, and penetrated within eleven leagues of Paris, but was obliged to make a hasty retreat, owing to the want of provisions The duke readily gave his support to all the measures which led to the Reformation, and was rewarded with large grants of abbey lands. In 1536 he commanded the troops sent against the insurgents of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire; and in 1544 once more accompanied the king to France, and besieged and reduced Boulogne. He died shortly after, aged about sixty, and was interred with great magnificence in St. George's chapel, Windsor. Charles Brandon was brave, handsome, and accomplished; and though an honest and upright man, he retained the favour of his imperious sovereign to the last.—J. T. SUFFREN ST. TROPEZ, Peter Andrew de, a distinguished French naval officer, born at the chateau de St. Cannat in Provence on the 13th of July, 1726. His family, who held a high rank in the district, educated him for the navy, which he entered in 1743. Shortly after joining he took part in two engagements, in which his coolness and courage were apparent. At the battle of Belleisle he was taken prisoner by the English, and at the conclusion of the peace went to Malta, where he became one of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. In 1755 hostilities having been renewed, Suffren embarked in the fleet which was sent out for the purpose of protecting Canada. During the passage his vessel chanced to get separated from the rest

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.