Sotheby's title to the dignity of a poet was earned by the publication in 1798 of his translation of Oberon. His version of the Georgics of Virgil appeared in 1800, two years after which appeared his tragedy of "Orestes," on the model of the ancient Greek drama. With occasional sonnets and small poems he kept up a pleasing intercourse with the world of readers, and in 1807 published a sacred poem in blank verse under the title of "Saul." This was followed three years later by "Constance de Castile," a metrical poem in imitation of Scott. In 1816-17 he travelled with his family about the continent, having suffered much domestic grief in the loss of two of his sons in the prime of manhood. A third son died in 1827, and a touching allusion is made to these calamities in a poem called "Retrospect," published in the volume entitled "Italy," in 1828. In 1827, being in his seventieth year, he began the arduous task of translating Homer, and he finished both the Iliad and the Odyssey by July, 1832. His last composition was a poem in honour of the third meeting of the British Association at Cambridge, in June, 1833. He died on the 30th December following.—(See Memoir prefixed to the poem on the British Association.)—R. H.
SOUBISE, Benjamin de Rohan, Baron of Frontenai, was born in 1589, and served in Holland under Maurice of Nassau. He was a leading partisan of the reformed interest during the religious wars which commenced in 1621, and was intrusted by the assembly of Rochelle with the general command in Bretagne, Anjou, and Poitou. He was besieged by Louis XIII. in Saint Jean d'Angeli; and when the town was forced to surrender, he was pardoned on promising "inviolable fidelity." In the winter of 1622 he raised an army of eight thousand men, seized several places, and threatened Nantes, but he was again defeated and escaped to England. In 1625, by a series of daring undertakings, he made himself master of the islands of Rhe and Oleron and a portion of the royal fleet; thus becoming master of the sea from Nantes to Bordeaux. Attacked by the royalists near Castillon, he regained his ships in some confusion. By an act of treachery he succeeded in firing the ship of the Dutch admiral, acting in conjunction with the royal fleet; and the people of Rochelle, refusing the king's pacific offers, determined on continuing the war. Soubise was beaten both by land and sea, and saving himself by an ignominious flight, escaped a second time to England. Charles I. interposed to procure for the protestants a new edict of pacification. Soubise was created a duke, but he remained in England, and was twice intrusted by the duke of Buckingham with the command of a fleet for the defence of Rochelle. The inhabitants, however, refused his aid, and the murder of the duke of Buckingham delayed the sailing of a third expedition until after the capitulation of Rochelle. Soubise returned to England, and died in 1641.—F. M. W.
SOUBISE, Charles de Rohan, a French general and courtier, and favourite of Louis XV., was born 16th July, 1715. He served as aid-de-camp to Louis in the campaigns of 1744-48, and for his services was raised to the post of field-marshal in 1748. He was afterwards intrusted in 1751 with the government of Flanders and Hainault. He was defeated by the Prussians at Rosbach in 1757, and on his return had to suffer the sneers and epigrams of the court. As the favourite of Madame Pompadour, he was hated by the rest of the courtiers; but the king remained firm in his attachment to him. Determined to blot out the disgrace of Rosbach, in the following year, at the head of a new army, Soubise defeated the combined Hessian, Hanoverian, and English troops, first at Sonderhausen, and afterwards at Sutzelberg, by which the conquest of the landgraviate of Hesse was completed. Madame Dubarry having been taken by the king as a mistress, the courtiers refused to acknowledge her. Soubise, however, induced his own mistress to receive her at her residence. He also consented to the marriage of his own niece with the brother of Madame Dubarry. By these acts he pleased the king, made a friend of the king's mistress, and increased the hate of the courtiers. When Louis XV. died, Soubise alone of all the courtiers was present. He had made a resolution to retire from all state affairs, but Louis XVI., admiring his faithfulness, persuaded him to retain his post as minister. He died in 1787.—W. J. P.
SOUBISE, John de Parthenai, Lord of, one of the chief leaders of the protestants in France during the sixteenth century. He belonged to an illustrious house in Poictou. The court of the duke of Ferrara, where the daughter of Louis XII. of France had introduced protestantism, was the school of his religion. Leaving Ferrara he went to France, whence he was despatched by the prince of Condé to defend Lyons, and compelled the duc de Nemours to raise the siege. He died in 1566 at the age of fifty-four.—W. J. P.
SOUHAM, Joseph, Count, a distinguished French general, was born in 1760. He entered the army in 1782, and served until 1787 as a private in the regiment of royal cavalry. After this date he rose so rapidly in the service, that in 1794 he was appointed to the command of a division under Pichegru, and took an active part in the campaign in Flanders. In 1796 he served in the army of the Danube under Jourdan, and commanded the second division at the battle of Stockach. In 1800 he was employed on the Rhine under Moreau, and was so far compromised in the plots of that general, that in 1804 he was for some time imprisoned in the Temple. He, was not again employed until 1808, when he was sent to Spain to join the army under General St. Cyr in Catalonia. He fought at Lutzen in 1813, and the desperate courage of his division, which lost half its numbers in the struggle, mainly contributed to gain that battle. He was rewarded with the rank of grand officer of the legion of honour, and elevated to the rank of general. He commanded the third division at the battle of Katzbach, and was partly to blame for its disastrous result. He was wounded at Leipsic, and on his recovery in 1814 was appointed to the command of a division of the national guards, which was to operate on the Seine. Souham, who fell away from Napoleon in the day of his adversity, held several military appointments under the Bourbons, and died in 1837.—J. T.
SOULAVIE, Jean Louis Giraud, a French writer, was born in 1751 or 1752. When the Revolution broke out he was in holy orders, but he renounced his faith, married a wife, and became a political and miscellaneous writer. In 1793 he was appointed agent of the French republic at Geneva; but having been denounced as one of the partisans of Robespierre, he was recalled and thrown into prison, where he was detained until the amnesty of 1796. Three years later the interference of Bonaparte saved him from banishment, to which he had been destined by Sieyes and Roger-Ducos, the colleagues of the first consul, and Soulavie was allowed to prosecute his literary labours in peace until his death in 1813. His most important works are—a "History of Southern France: Part 1st—Its Minerals; Part 2nd—Its Plants;" "Elements of Natural History;" "The Influence of Manners on the prosperity or decline of States;" "Memoirs of Marshal Richelieu;" "Historical and Political Memoirs of the Reign of Louis XVI.;" "History of the Downfall of the French Monarchy," &c. Soulavie also edited the complete works of the Duke de St. Simon, the Memoirs of Maurepas, and various other works of a similar kind.—J. T.
SOULIÉ, Melchior Frédéric, one of the most prolific writers of the French romantic school. He was born at Foix, in the department of Ariège, on the 23rd December, 1800. His studies being completed at Poictiers, Paris, and Rennes, he first went into a government office at Laval, and afterwards studied for the bar. He was admitted an advocate, but his inclinations were towards literature. His letters were characterized by an elegant style, and he wrote some pretty verses. About 1825 he returned with his father to Paris, and there published a small volume of poems called "Amours Françaises," which was not successful. Finding that he could not depend upon literature for his support, Soulié took a situation as foreman to an upholsterer, where he worked ten hours per day. His leisure time he gave to literature, and soon produced his first drama, "Romeo et Juliette." It proved successful, and from that time Soulié took his place in the literary world. In the next year he produced "Christine à Fontainebleau," which failed. At the same time he began to write articles for several French periodicals. In 1821, his "Lusigny" appeared with success, and in 1832 his chef d'œuvre "Clothilde," which established his fame. After this time Soulié commenced a series of romances, which appeared in the newspapers as feuilletons. Among these may be mentioned, the "Deux Cadavres;" the "Comte de Toulouse;" the "Deux Séjours," and "Un Eté à Meudon;" and the "L'homme de lettres." The most popular of all was the "Mémoires du Diable," which had an enormous sale. Soulié died on the 22nd September, 1847, at an estate which he had bought at Bièvre.—W. J. P.
SOULOUQUE FAUSTEN I., Emperor of Hayti; born a slave, he was set at liberty by the decree of 1790, and enlisted in the army of General Dessalines at the period of the evacua-
