principleswhichitbehovesthepresentgenerationofeducatorstolookwellto。Theacquisitionofknowledgeisagoodthing，thesharpeningoftheintellectisagoodthing，thecultivationofphilosophyisagoodthing；butthereissomethingofinfinitelymoreimportancethanallthese——itis，therectification，theadjustment，throughthatmysteriousoperationwecallsympathy，oftheunconsciouspersonality，thehiddensoul，whichco-operateswiththeactivepowers，withtheconsciousintellect，and，asthisunconsciouspersonalityisrectifiedorunrectified，determinestheactivepowers，theconsciousintellect，forrighteousnessorunrighteousness。
　　TheattentivereaderofBrowning’spoetrymustsoondiscoverhowremarkablyhomogeneousitisinspirit。Therearemanyauthors，andgreatauthorstoo，thereadingofwhosecollectedworksgivestheimpressionoftheirhaving”triedtheirhand”atmanythings。
　　NosuchimpressionisderivablefromthevoluminouspoetryofBrowning。
　　Wideasisitsrange，onegreatandhomogeneousspiritpervadesandanimatesitall，fromtheearliesttothelatest。
　　NootherlivingpoetgivessodecidedanassuranceofhavingaBURDENtodeliver。Anappropriategeneraltitletohisworkswouldbe，`TheBurdenofRobertBrowningtothe19thCentury’。
　　HisearliestpoemsshowdistinctlyhisATTITUDEtowardthings。
　　Weseeinwhatdirectionthepoethassethisface——
　　whathisphilosophyoflifeis，whatsoul-lifemeanswithhim，whatregenerationmeans，whatedificationmeansinitsdeepestsenseofbuildingupwithinusthespiritualtemple。Andifhehadleftthisworldafterwritingnomorethanthosepoemsofhisyouth，`Pauline’and`Paracelsus’，averyfair`ex-pede-Herculem’estimatemighthavebeenmadeofthepossibilitieswhichhehassincesograndlyrealized。
　　III。Mr。Browning’s”Obscurity”。
　　ItwaslongtheFASHION——andthatfashionhasnotyetpassedaway——withskimmingreadersandperfunctorycriticstochargeMr。Browningwithbeing”wilfullyobscure，unconscientiouslycareless，andperverselyharsh。”
　　Therearereadersandreaders。Oneclass，constituting，perhaps，notmorethanone-tenthofonepercent，orathousandthpartofthewholenumber，”read，mark，learn，andinwardlydigest”；
　　theremainingninety-nineandnine-tenthspercent，throughahabitoflooseandindiscriminatereading，areunequaltothesustainedconcentrationofminddemandedbythehigherpoetry，thelanguageofwhichischaracterizedbyasevereeconomyofexpression——aclosenessoftexture，resultingfromtheellipticalenergyofhighlyimpassionedthought。
　　Readingis，perhaps，moresuperficialatthepresentdaythaniteverwasbefore。Thereisanalmostirresistibletemptationtoreversethe”multumlegendumessenonmulta”ofQuintilian，overwhelmedaswearewithbooks，magazines，andnewspapers，whichnomancannumber，andofwhichthousandsandtensofthousandsofmindsendeavortogobbleupalltheycan；andyet，fromwantofalldigestiveandassimilatingpower，theyarepitiablyfamishedanddeadened。
　　SirJohnLubbockhaslatelybeeninterestedinthepreparationofalistofthebesthundredbooks，andtothatendhassolicitedtheaidofanumberofprominentscholars。Prof。EdwardDowdenremarksthereupon，inanarticleon`TheInterpretationofLiterature’，”Itwouldhavebeenmoreprofitableforushadwebeenadvisedhowtoreadanyoneofthehundred；forwhat，indeed，doesitmatterwhetherwereadthebestbooksortheworst，ifwelackthepowerortheinstinctortheskillbywhichtoreachtheheartofanyofthem?
　　Booksformostreadersare，asMontaignesays，`alanguidpleasure’；
　　andsotheymustbe，unlesstheybecomelivingpowers，withasummonsorachallengeforourspirit，unlessweembracethemorwrestlewiththem。”
　　ToreturnfromthisdigressiontothechargeagainstBrowningofobscurity。And，first，itshouldbesaidthatBrowninghassomuchmaterial，suchalargethoughtandpassioncapital，thatweneverfindhimmakingalittlegoagreatway，bymeansofEXPRESSION，orratherconcealingthelittlebymeansofrhetoricaltinsel。WecanneverjustlydemandofhimwhattheQueenin`Hamlet’demandsofPolonius，”morematterwithlessart”。
　　Histhoughtiswide-reachinganddiscursive，andthemotionsofhismindrapidandleaping。Theconnectinglinksofhisthoughthaveoftentobesuppliedbyananalyticreaderwhosemindisnotuptotherequiredtensiontospringoverthechasm。
　　Heshowsgreatfaithinhisreaderand”leavesthemererudeexplicitdetails”，asifhethought，”’tisbutbrother’sspeechWeneed，speechwhereanaccent’schangegiveseachTheother’ssoul。”*
　　Sordello’。
　　AtrulyoriginalwriterlikeBrowning，original，Imean，inhisspiritualattitudes，isalwaysmoreoflessdifficulttotheuninitiated，forthereasonthathedemandsofhisreadernewstandpoints，newhabitsofthoughtandfeeling；says，virtually，tohisreader，Metanoei^te；anduntilthesenewstandpointsaretaken，thesenewhabitsofthoughtandfeelinginduced，thedifficulty，whileappearingtothereaderattheoutset，tobealtogetherobjective，willreallybe，toagreatextent，subjective，thatis，willbeinhimself。
　　Goethe，inhis`WahrheitundDichtung’，says：——”WereinemAutorDunkelheitvorwerfenwill，sollteerstseineigenesInnerebesuchen，obesdenndaauchrechthellist。InderDaemmerungwirdeinesehrdeutlicheSchriftunlesbar。”*——
　　*Hewhowouldchargeanauthorwithobscurity，shouldfirstlookintohisownmind，toknowwhetheritisquiteclearthere。
　　Intheduskaverydistincthandwritingbecomesillegible——
　　AndGeorgeHenryLewes，inhis`LifeofGoethe’，wellsays：——”Amasterpieceexcitesnosuddenenthusiasm；itmustbestudiedmuchandlong，beforeitisfullycomprehended；wemustgrowuptoit，foritwillnotdescendtous。Itsemphasisgrowswithfamiliarity。
　　Weneverbecomedisenchanted；wegrowmoreandmoreawe-struckatitsinfinitewealth。Wediscovernotrick，forthereisnonetodiscover。Homer，Shakespeare，Raphael，Beethoven，Mozart，neverstormthejudgment；butoncefairlyinpossession，theyretainitwithunceasinginfluence。”
　　AndProfessorDowden，inthearticlefromwhichIhavejustquoted，says：——”Approachingagreatwriterinthisspiritofcourageousandaffectionatefraternity，weneedallourforcesandallourcraftforthefriendlyencounter。Ifweloveeaseandlethargy，letusturningoodtimeandfly。Theinterpretationofliterature，liketheinterpretationofNature，isnomererecordoffacts；
　　itisnocatalogueoftheitemswhichmakeupabook——
　　suchcataloguesandanalysesofcontentsencumberourhistoriesofliteraturewithsomeoftheirdreariestpages。Theinterpretationofliteratureexhibitsnoseriesofdeaditems，butratherthelifeandpowerofonemindatplayuponanotherminddulyqualifiedtoreceiveandmanifestthese。Hence，onewhowouldinterprettheworkofamastermustsummonupallhispowers，andmustbealiveatasmanypointsaspossible。Hewhoapproacheshisauthorasawhole，bearinguponlifeasawhole，ishimselfaliveatthegreatestpossiblenumberofpoints，willbethebestandtruestinterpreter。Forhewillgraspwhatiscentral，andatthesametimewillbesensitivetothevalueofalldetails，whichdetailshewillperceivenotisolated，butinconnectionwithoneanother，andwiththecentrallifetowhichtheybelongandfromwhichtheyproceed。”
　　Inhispoementitled`Pacchiarotto，andhowheworkedindistemper’，Mr。Browningturnsuponhiscritics，whomhecharacterizesas”theprivilegedfellows，inthedrabs，blues，andyellows”
　　alludingtothecoversoftheleadingBritishReviews，andespeciallyuponAlfredAustin，theauthorofthatworkofwholesalecondemnation，`ThePoetryofthePeriod’，andgivesthemasoundandwell-deserveddrubbing。Atthecloseoftheonsethesays：——”Wasit`grammar’whereinyouwould`coach’me——
　　You，——pacingineventhatpaddockOflanguageallottedyouadhoc，Withaclogatyourfetlocks，——you——scornersOfmefreefromallitsfourcorners?
　　Wasit`clearnessofwordswhichconveythought?’
　　Ay，ifwordsneverneededenswatheaughtButignorance，impudence，envyAndmalice——whatword-swathewouldthenvieWithyoursforaclearnesscrystalline?
　　ButhadyoutoputinonesmalllineSomethoughtbigandbouncing——asnoddleOfgoose，borntocackleandwaddleAndbiteatman’sheelasgoose-wontis，Neverfeltplagueitspunyosfrontis——
　　You’dknow，asyouhissed，spatandsputtered，Clear`quack-quack’iseasilyuttered！”
　　InaletterwrittentoMr。W。G。Kingsland，in1868，Mr。Browningsays：——”IcanhavelittledoubtthatmywritinghasbeeninthemaintoohardformanyIshouldhavebeenpleasedtocommunicatewith；
　　butIneverdesignedlytriedtopuzzlepeople，assomeofmycriticshavesupposed。Ontheotherhand，Ineverpretendedtooffersuchliteratureasshouldbeasubstituteforacigaroragameatdominoestoanidleman。So，perhaps，onthewholeIgetmydeserts，andsomethingover——notacrowd，butafewIvaluemore。”*——
　　*`BrowningSocietyPapers’，III。，p。344——
　　ItwasnevertruerofanyauthorthanitistrueofBrowning，that`Lestylec’estl’homme’；andBrowning’sstyleisanexpressionofthepanther-restlessnessandpanther-springofhisimpassionedintellect。ThemusingspiritofaWordsworthoraTennysonhepartakesnotof。
　　Mr。RichardHoltHutton’scharacterizationofthepoet’sstyle，asa”crowdednote-bookstyle”，isnotaparticularlyhappyone。
　　Inthepassage，whichhecitesfromSordello，toillustratethe”crowdednote-bookstyle”，occursthefollowingparenthesis：——”Tobebyhimthemselvesmadeact，NotwatchSordelloactingeachofthem。””Whattheparenthesismeans，”hesays，”Ihavenotthemostdistantnotion。Mr。Browningmightaswellhavesaid，`tobebyhimherhimselfherselfthemselvesmadeact’，etc。，foranyvestigeofmeaningIattachtothiscuriousmobofpronounsandverbs。Itisexactlyliketheshortnotesofaspeechintendedtobeinterpretedafterwardsbyonewhohadheardandunderstoodithimself。”*
　　*`EssaysTheologicalandLiterary’。Vol。II。，2ded。，rev。andenl。，p。175。
　　Atfirstglance，thisparenthesisisobscure；buttheobscurityisnotduetoitsbeing”exactlyliketheshortnotesofaspeech”，etc。Itisduetowhatthe”obscurity”ofMr。Browning’slanguage，aslanguage，is，inninecasesoutoften，due，namely，totheCOLLOCATIONofthewords，nottoanexcessiveeconomyofwords。HeoftenexercisesalibertyinthecollocationofhiswordswhichisbeyondwhatanuninflectedlanguageliketheEnglishadmitsof，withoutmoreorlessobscurity。TherearedifficultpassagesinBrowningwhich，iftranslatedintoLatin，wouldpresentnodifficultyatall；forinLatin，therelationsofwordsaremoreindependentoftheircollocation，beingindicatedbytheirinflections。
　　Themeaningoftheparenthesisis，and，independentlyofthecontext，asecondglancetakesitinthewonderis，Mr。Huttondidn’ttakeitin，——”Tobethemselvesmadebyhim[to]act，NoteachofthemwatchSordelloacting。”
　　Therearetwoorthreecharacteristicsofthepoet’sdictionwhichmaybenoticedhere：——
　　1。Thesuppressionoftherelative，bothnominativeandaccusativeordative，isnotuncommon；and，untilthereaderbecomesfamiliarwithit，itoftengives，especiallyifthesuppressionisthatofasubjectrelative，amomentary，butonlyamomentary，checktotheunderstandingofapassage。
　　Thefollowingexamplesarefrom`TheRingandtheBook’：——”Checkingthesongofpraiseinme，hadelseSwelledtothefullforGod’swilldoneonearth。”
　　I。TheRingandtheBook，v。591。
　　i。e。，whichhadwouldhaveelseswelledtothefull，etc。”ThisthatImixedwithtruth，motionsofmineThatquickened，madetheinertnessmalleolableO’thegoldwasnotmine，”——
　　I。TheRingandtheBook，v。703。”HarbouringinthecentreofitssenseAhiddengermoffailure，shybutsure，ShouldneutralizethathonestyandleaveThatfeelfortruthatfault，asthewayistoo。”
　　I。TheRingandtheBook，v。851。”ElaboratedisplayofpipeandwheelFramedtounchoak，pumpupandpourapaceTruthinafloweryfoamshallwashtheworld。”
　　I。TheRingandtheBook，v。1113。”seeinsuchAstarshallclimbapaceandculminate，”
　　III。TheOtherHalfRome，v。846。”Guido，byhisfolly，forcedfromthemTheuntowardavowalofthetricko’thebirth，Wouldotherwisebesafeandsecretnow。”
　　IV。TertiumQuid，v。1599。”soI