rolic and merry-making, and died when
scarcely more than thirty years of age; the author of three or four
dramas of no more than ordinary merit, and of a few snatches of poetry,
chiefly love-songs, betraying talent sufficient to have rendered his
name of no inconsiderable interest down to the present day. It is an
interest, however, growing not out of a familiarity with the
circumstances of his life and character, but from a curiosity to know a
little more concerning one of whom, as yet, we know almost nothing at
all, albeit his name is of the most familiar.

Materials for his biography are scanty enough, made up for the most part
of gossip from such antiquarians as Aubrey, who imitates Herodotus, in a
fondness for the marvelous and romantic, to a degree that weakens our
faith in him as a trustworthy historian. Not until the middle of the
present century were we in possession of a memoir claiming to be in any
respect complete. In 1838, there appeared in London an edition of his
writings, with a prefatory sketch of his life, by the Rev. Alfred
Suckling, LL.B. The editor had access to a few private MSS., which, in
our judgment, have not served to modify the previous accounts of Sir
John's character, in spite of the labored efforts of his namesake--and,
it may be, descendant--to that effect. The memoir and critical remarks
appended are well written, though partial; and the work is the more
valuable for the reason that only a few hundred copies of it were
printed.

All accounts agree in ascribing to Suckling, as an individual and as to
his _personnel_, the same careless and unstudied manner so conspicuous
in his literary efforts. He must have expended at least a moderate
degree of labor on his dramas; all dramas require it. On the other hand,
there is hardly a doubt that he threw off his poems in the mere fancy of
an idle moment, with no care for their subsequent revision; indeed, a
collected publication was not made until the lapse of four or five years
after his death. A certain vivacity and sprightliness is the secret of
their popularity, which, from their first appearance to the present day,
has never been totally lost, though at no period could they be said to
have commanded an extensive range of readers. Previous to the collection
of 1838, four or five editions of his poems, dramas, and letters had
been published at London, at wide intervals during the last two
centuries.

Whether Sir John Suckling was ushered into