ment is to diminish the importance of the original events-historical or traditional-on which the Christian religion is based. It is not worth while,' the writer seems to say to Strauss and his followers, to occupy ourselves with discussions about miracles and events which are said to have taken place a long time ago, and can now neither be denied nor proved. What we are concerned with, is, Christianity as it is now: as a religion which the human mind has through many generations developed, purified, spiritualized; and which has reacted upon human nature and made it wiser and nobler. Shall we give up this faith which has been so great a power for good in the world, and which, its whole past history justifies us in concluding, will continue its work of improvement, because our belief in certain events is shaken or destroyed? It would be vain, indeed, thus to build our religion on a foundation so unstable as material evidence. For human sensations are not infallible; they very often deceive us; we think we see objects, which are really the illusions of our own brain; others we see in part only, or distorted; others we fail to perceive at all. Our faith, essential as it is to the well-being of the deepest parts of our nature, must not be dependent on such controlling powers as these."

"He [Browning] was, we may suppose, offended by Strauss's ruthless attack on much that mankind has held sacred for ages. His religious sense was revolted by the assumption that there was nothing in Christianity which could survive the destruction of the miraculous and supernatural elements in its history. He desired to represent Christianity as an entirely spiritual religion, independent of external, material agencies. In order to make his argument as powerful as possible, he chose for his mouth-piece one of the personal followers of Christ, on whom, it might be supposed, the actual human life of his master had made a permanent and lively impression. With the details of Biblical criticism he had nothing to do; his principles were unaffected by discussions about the authenticity of the various parts of Gospels; so, in defiance of Strauss, the disciple he chose was that very John, whose personality, as recognized by long tradition, had been so much discredited. He showed how even in one of the disciples the recollection of wonders and signs could be transcended, and at last obliterated, by a spiritual faith which was sustained by the needs and faculties of the soul. The poem is, in effect, an eloquent protest in defence of 'the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge.'"

་

From Mrs. M. G. Glazebrook's paper on A Death in the Desert, read before the London Browning Society.

A LIST OF CRITICISMS OF BROWNING'S

WORKS.

(Selected from Dr. Frederick J. Furnivall's 'Bibliography of Robert Browning,' contained in 'The Browning Society's Papers,' Part I., with additions in Part II.)

1833. The Monthly Mag., N. S., V. 7, pp. 254–262: Review of Pauline, by W. J. Fox.

1835. The Examiner, Sept. 6, pp. 563-565: on Paracelsus, by John Forster.

1835. Monthly Repository, Nov., pp. 716–727: Review of Paracelsus, by W. J. Fox.

.

1836. New Monthly Mag., March, Vol. 46, pp. 289-308: Evidences of a New Genius for Dramatic Poetry. — No. 1.' On Paracelsus, by John Forster.

1837. Edinburgh Rev., July, Vol. 66, pp. 132-151: Strafford. 1848. N. A. Rev., April, Vol. 66, pp. 357–400: B.'s Plays and Poems, by James Russell Lowell.

1849. Eclectic Rev., London, 4th S. V. 26, pp. 203-214: on 1. the Poems, 2 vols. 1849, and 2. Sordello, 1840. A sympathetic and excellent review.

1850. Massachusetts Quarterly Rev., No. XI. June, Art. IV. 'Browning's Poems.' 1. Poems, 2 vols., Boston, 1850. 2. Christmas

Eve and Easter Day, London, 1850.

1850. Littell's Living Age, Vol. 25, pp. 403-409: on Christmas Eve and Easter Day.

1857. The Christian Remembrancer, N. S., Vol. 39, pp. 361-390. 1861. North British Rev., May, pp. 350-374: on

Plays of R. B.,' by F. H. Evans.

1863. Fraser's Mag., Feb., pp. 240–256.

The Poems and

1863. The Eclectic Rev., No. 23, N. S., May, pp. 436–454.

1863. National Rev., Oct., Vol. 47, pp. 417-446. Poetical Works of R. B., 3 vols., 3d ed., by R. H. Hutton; republ. in Hutton's 'Literary Essays, 1871.'

1864. The Eclectic and Congregational Rev., July, pp. 61-72: on Dramatis Persona, by E. Paxton Hood.

1864. Edinburgh Rev., Oct., pp. 537-565: on Poems, 1863, and Dramatis Personæ, 1864.

1864. National Rev., N. S., Nov., 1864; Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Browning; or Pure, Ornate, and Grotesque Art in English Poetry; republ. in Literary Studies,' by Walter Bagshot.

1865. Quarterly Rev., July, Vol. 118, pp. 77–105: on Dramatis Personæ, 1864, and Poems, 3 vols., 1863.

1867. Contemporary Rev., Jan. and Feb., 1867, Vol. 4, pp. 1–15, 133– 148. Thoughtful and able articles.

1867. Fraser's Mag., Oct., pp. 518-530: Sordello, by Edward Dowden. 1868. Athenæum, Dec. 26, pp. 875, 876: The Ring and the Book, Vol. 1. by Robert Buchanan; revised and publ. in his 'Master Spirits,' 1873.

1868. Eclectic and Congregational Rev., Dec., Art. II. Poetical Works, 6 vols., 1868, by E. Paxton Hood. See under 1864. 1868. Essays on B.'s poetry, by J. T. Nettleship.

1869. Athenæum, March 20, pp. 399, 400: on The Ring and the Book, Vols. 2, 3, and 4.

1869. Fortnightly Rev., March, Vol. 5, N. S., pp. 331-343: on The Ring and the Book, by John Morley. An able and generous

article.

1869. Quarterly Rev., April, pp. 328-359: on Mod. Eng. Poets; a few pages are on B.'s poems and The Ring and the Book.

1869. Edinburgh Rev., July, Vol. 130, pp. 164-186: on The Ring and the Book.

1869. London Quarterly Rev., July, on B.'s Poetry-all then published. 1869. N. Brit. Rev., Oct., pp. 97-128: B.'s Latest Poetry (The Ring

and the Book).

1871. Saint Paul's Mag., Dec., 1870, and Jan., 1871, Vol. 7, pp. 257276, 377-397: Poems and The Ring and the Book, by E. J. Hasell.

1871. Athenæum, Aug. 12, pp. 199, 200: on Balaustion's Adventure. 1871. Contemporary Rev., Sept., pp. 284–296, on Balaustion's Adventure, by Matthew Browne (pseudonym).

1871. The Times, Oct. 6: a long review of Balaustion's Adventure. 1871. 'Our Living Poets: an Essay in Criticism.' By H. Buxton

Forman. 4th chap. on B., pp. 103–152.

1871. Fortnightly Rev., Oct., Vol. 10, N. S., pp. 478-490: on Balaustion's Adventure, by Sidney Colvin.

1871. The Dark Blue Mag., Oct. and Nov., Vol. 2, pp. 171–184, 305319: 'Browning as a Preacher,' by Miss E. Dickinson West. An admirable essay.

1872. Edinburgh Rev., Jan., Vol. 135, pp. 221-249: on Balaustion's Adventure.

1872. Academy, Jan. 15: on Hohenstiel-Schwangau.

1872. Academy, July 1: on Fifine at the Fair, by F. Wedmore.

1873. Athenæum, May 10: on Red Cotton Night-Cap Country.

1873. Academy, June 2: on Red Cotton Night-Cap Country, by G. A. Simcox.

1873.

'Master Spirits,' by Robert Buchanan; contains, pp. 89–109, a revised reprint of the Athenæum reviews of The Ring and the Book, Dec., 1869, and March, 1870.

1875. Academy, April 17: on Aristophanes' Apology, by J. A. Symonds.

1875. Athenæum, April 17, pp. 513, 514: on Aristophanes' Apology. 1875. Athenæum, Nov. 27, pp. 701, 702: on The Inn Album. 1876. Academy, July 29: on Pacchiarotto, by Edward Dowden. 1876. Macmillan's Mag., Feb., Vol. 33, pp. 347-354: on Inn Album, by A. C. Bradley.

1876. 'Victorian Poets. By Edmund Clarence Stedman.' Boston: 1876. Chap. IX., pp. 292–341, devoted to Browning. 1877. Academy, Nov. 3: on The Agamemnon of Æschylus, by J. A. Symonds.

1878. Church Quarterly Rev., Oct., pp. 65-92: on B.'s Poems, by the Hon. and Rev. Arthur Lyttleton. An article to be read by all students of Browning.

1878. Academy, June 1: on La Saisiaz, and The Two Poets of Croisic, by G. A. Simcox.

1878. Athenæum, May 25, pp. 661-664: on La Saisiaz, by W. Theodore Watts.

1879. 'Studies in Literature, 1789-1877. By Edward Dowden, LL.D.' London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., pp. 191-239: Mr. Tennyson and Mr. Browning. A comparative study.' Ranks with the very best of Browning criticisms.

1879. Athenæum, May 10: on Dramatic Idyls, I., by Walter Theodore Watts.

1879. Academy, May 10: on Dramatic Idyls, I., by F. Wedmore.

1880. Athenæum, July 10, pp. 39–41 : on Dramatic Idyls, 2d S., by W. Th. Watts.

1881. Gentleman's Mag., Dec., pp. 682–695 : on The Ring and the Book, by James Thomson.

1881. Scribner's Century Mag., Dec. 1, pp. 189-200: on The Early Writings of R. B.,' by E. W. Gosse.

1881. The Cambridge Review, Dec. 7, Vol. 3, pp. 146, 147: a review of Rabbi ben Ezra and Abt Vogler, by A. W.

Some of the most valuable criticism of Browning's Poetry has been produced and published by The Browning Society of London, founded in 1881 by Dr. F. J. Furnivall, and still in active operation. Dr. Furnivall's 'Bibliography of Robert Browning,' occupying Part I. of 'The Browning Society's Papers,' and continued in Part II., is a storehouse of valuable information, of all kinds, pertaining to Browning's Poetry, and to Browning the man. Every Browning student should possess a copy of it. The following papers, among others, have been published by the Society :

Introductory Address to the Browning Society. By the Rev. J. Kirkman, M.A., Queen's Coll., Cambridge, Oct. 28, 1881.

On Pietro of Abano' and the leading ideas of Dramatic Idyls,' second series, 1880. By the Rev. J. Sharpe, M.A. Read Nov. 25, 1881.

On Browning's Fifine at the Fair.' By J. T. Nettleship, Esq. Read Feb. 24, 1882.

Notes on the Genius of Robert Browning. By James Thomson. Read Jan. 27, 1882.

Browning's Philosophy. By John Bury, Trin. Coll., Dublin. Read April 28, 1882.

On Bishop Blougram's Apology.' By the Rev. Prof. E. Johnson, M.A. Read May 26, 1882.

The Idea of Personality, as embodied in Robert Browning's Poetry. By Prof. Hiram Corson, LL.D., Cornell University. Read June 23, 1882. (Contained in this volume.)

The Religious Teaching of Browning. By Dorothea Beale. Read Oct. 27, 1882.