Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 55.djvu/182

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Sutcliffe
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Sutcliffe

College at Chelsey.' By the same charter the number of members was limited to a provost and nineteen fellows, of whom seventeen were to be in holy orders. The king himself nominated the members. Sutcliffe was the first provost, and Overall, Morton, Field, Abbot, Smith (afterwards bishop of Gloucester), Howson, Fotherbie, Spencer, and Boys, were among the original fellows, while Camden and Heywood were appointed 'faithfully and learnedly to record and publish to " posterity all memorable passages in church or commonwealth.' The building was begun upon a piece of ground called Thame-Shot, and was to have consisted of two quadrangles, with a piazza along the four sides of the smaller court. Scarcely an eighth part was erected, as only one side of the first quadrangle was ever completed; and this range of buildings cost, according to Fuller, above 3,000l. The scheme proved to be a complete failure. In consequence of a letter addressed by the king to Archbishop Abbot, collections in aid of the languishing institution were made in all the dioceses of England, but the amount raised was small, and was nearly swallowed up in the charges and fees due to the collectors. After Sutcliffe's death the college sank into insignificance, and no vestige of the building now remains. A print of the original design is prefixed to 'The Glory of Chelsey College revived,' published in 1662 by John Darley, B.D., who, in a dedication to Charles II, urged that monarch to grant a fixed revenue to the college. Another print is to be found in the second volume of Grose's ' Military Antiquities ' (1788).

Sutcliffe was early interested in the settlement of New England, and Captain John Smith (1580-1631) [q. v.] mentions, in his 'Generall Historie ' (1624), that the dean assisted and encouraged him in his schemes (cf. J. W. Thornton, The Landing at Cape Anne, 1854). On 9 March 1606-7 he became a member of the council for Virginia, and on 3 Nov. 1620 of that for New England. In July 1624 he was one of the commissioners appointed to wind up the affairs of the Virginia Company (Brown, Genesis U.S.A. ii. 1029).

For a long time Sutcliffe was in high favour at court. He had been appointed one of the royal chaplains in the reign of Elizabeth, and is stated to have retained the office under James I. But he fell into disgrace in consequence of his opposition to the Spanish match. Camden, in his 'Annals,' under date of July 1621, says 'The Earl of Oxford is sent into custody for his prattling, so is Sir G. Leeds, with Sutcliffe, dean of Exeter ' (cf. Yonge, Diary, Camden Soc. p. 41).

Sutcliffe died in 1629, before 18 July. His will, dated 1 Nov. 1628, is printed in Mrs. Frances B. Troup's 'Biographical Notes.'

He married Anne, daughter of John Bradley of Louth, Lincolnshire, by Frances, his wife, daughter of John Fairfax of Swarby. They had only one child, a daughter named Anne, who married Richard Hals of Kenedon.

Sutcliffe's works, many of them published under the anonym 'O. E.,' are : 1. 'A Treatise of Ecclesiasticall Discipline,' London, 1591, 4to. 2. 'De Presbyterio, ejusque nova in Ecclesia Christiana Politeia, adversus cujusdam I.B.A.C. de Politeia civili et ecclesiastica . . . Disputationem,' London, 1591, 4to. 3. 'An Answer to a certaine Libel Supplicatorie,' London, 1592, 4to ; this work relates to the alleged wrongful condemnation of John Udall [q. v.] on an indictment for libel. 4. 'De Catholica, Orthodoxa, et vera Christi Ecclesia, libri duo,' London, 1592, 4to. 5. 'The Practise, Proceedings, & Lawes of Armes,' London, 1593, 4to ; dedicated to the Earl of Essex. 6. 'An Answer vnto a certain Calumnious Letter published by Job Throckmorton, entitled " A Defence of J. Throckmorton against the Slanders of M. Sutclife," ' London, 1594, 1595, 4to ; a curious tract containing much information respecting the intrigues of the puritans, and a defence of the government version of the treason of Edward Squire [q. v.] 7. 'The Examination of T. Cartwrights late Apologie, wherein his vaine . . . Challenge concerning certaine supposed Slanders pretended to have been published against him is answered and refuted,' London, 1596, 4to. 8. 'De Pontifice Romano, eiusque iniustissima in Ecclesia dominatione, adversus R. Bellarminum, & universum Jebusitarum sodalitium, libri quinque,' London, 1599, 4to. 9. 'De Turcopapismo, hoc est De Turcarum et Papistarum adversus Christi ecclesiam et fidem Conjuratione, eorumque in religione et moribus consensione et similitudine, Liber unus,' London, 1599 and 1604, 4to. 10. 'Matthaei Sutlivii adversus Roberti Bellarmini de Purgatorio disputationem, Liber unus,' London, 1599, 4to. 11. 'De vera Christi Ecclesia contra Bellarminum,' London, 1600, 4to. 12. 'De Conciliis et eorum Authoritate, adversus Rob. Bellarminum et bellos ejusdem sodales, libri duo,' London, 1600, 4to. 13. 'De Monachis, eorum Institutis et Moribus, adversus Rob. Bellarminum universamque monachorum et mendicantium fratrum colluuiem, dispu-