March1849，birthofRobertWiedemannBarrettBrowning；
Browningwriteshis“ChristmasEveandEasterDay“；
“CasaGuidiWindows“commenced；1850，theygotoRome；
“TwointheCampagna“；proposaltoconferpoet-laureateshiponMrs。Browning；
returntoLondon；winterinParis；summerinLondon；Kenyon’sfriendship；
returninautumntoCasaGuidi；Browning’sEssayonShelleyforthetwenty-fivespuriousShelleyletters；midsummeratBathsofLucca，where“InaBalcony“wasinpartwritten；winterof1853-4inRome；
recordofwork；“Pen’s“illness；“BenKarshook’sWisdom“；returntoFlorence；
1856“MenandWomen“published；theBrowningsgotoLondon；
insummer“AuroraLeigh“issued；1858，Mrs。Browning’swaninghealth；
1855-64comparativelyunproductiveperiodwithR。Browning；
recordofwork；July1855，theytraveltoNormandy；“LegendofPornic“；
Mrs。Browning’sardentinterestintheItalianstruggleof1859；
winterinRome；“PoemsbeforeCongress“；herlastpoem，“NorthandSouth“；
deathofMrs。BrowningatCasaGuidi，28thJune1861。
Browning’sallusionstodeathofhiswife；MissBrowningresideswithherbrotherfrom1866；1868，collectedworkspublished；
firstpartof“TheRingandtheBook“publishedinNovember1866；
“HerveRiel“written；Browning’sgrowingpopularity；
Tauchnitzeditionsofhispoemsin1872；alsofirstbookofselections；
dedicationtoLordTennyson；1877，hegoestoLaSaisiaz，nearGeneva；
“LaSaisiaz“and“TheTwoPoetsofCroisic“published1878；
Browning’slaterpoems；BrowningSocietyestablished1881；
Browning’sletterthereupontoMr。Yates；tripsabroad；hisLondonresidences；
hislastlettertoTennyson；revisitsAsolo；PalazzoRezzonico；
hisbeliefinimmortality；hisdeath，Thursday，Dec。12th，1889；
funeralinWestminsterAbbey；SonnetbyGeorgeMeredith；newstarinOrion；
R。Browning’splaceinliterature；Summary，etc。
Note。
InallimportantrespectsIleavethisvolumetospeakforitself。
Forobviousreasonsitdoesnotpretendtobemorethana`Memoirepourservir’：inthenatureofthings，thedefinitivebiographycannotappearformanyyearstocome。
NonethelessgratefullymayItakethepresentopportunitytoexpressmyindebtednesstoMr。R。BarrettBrowning，andtootherrelativesandintimatefriendsofRobertBrowning，whohavegivenmeserviceableinformation，andotherwiserenderedkindlyaid。
Forsomeofthehithertounpublisheddetailsmythanksare，inparticular，duetoMrs。FraserCorkranandMissAliceCorkran，andtootheroldfriendsofthepoetandhisfamily，here，inItaly，andinAmerica；thoughinoneortwoinstances，Imayadd，IhadthemfromRobertBrowninghimself。ItiswithpleasurethatIfurtheracknowledgemyindebtednesstoDr。Furnivall，fortheloanoftheadvance-proofsofhisprivately-printedpamphleton“Browning’sAncestors“；andtotheBrowningSociety’sPublications
particularlytoMrs。SutherlandOrr’sandDr。Furnivall’sbiographicalandbibliographicalcontributionsthereto；toMr。Gosse’sbiographicalarticleinthe`CenturyMagazine’for1881；toMr。Ingram’s`LifeofE。B。Browning’；
andtothe`MemoirsofAnnaJameson’，the`ItalianNote-Books’
ofNathanielHawthorne，Mr。G。S。Hillard’s`SixMonthsinItaly’1853，andtheLivesandCorrespondenceofMacready，MissMitford，LeighHunt，andWalterSavageLandor。Iregretthattheimperativeneedofconcisionhaspreventedtheinsertionofmanyoftheletters，anecdotes，andreminiscences，sogenerouslyplacedatmydisposal；
butpossiblyImayhavesucceededineducingfromthemsomeessentialpartofthatlightwhichtheyundoubtedlycastuponthepersonalityandgeniusofthepoet。
Itmust，toadmirersofBrowning’swritings，appearsingularlyappropriatethatsocosmopolitanapoetwasborninLondon。Itwouldseemasthoughsomethingofthatmightycomplexlife，soconfusedlypettytothenarrowvision，sograndioseandevenmajestictothelargerken，hadblentwithhisbeingfromthefirst。Whatfitterbirthplaceforthepoetwhomacomradehascalledthe“SubtlestAssertoroftheSoulinSong“，thepoetwhosewritingsareindeedamirroroftheage？
AmanmaybeinallthingsaLondonerandyetbeaprovincial。
Theaccidentofbirthplacedoesnotnecessarilyinvolveparochialismofthesoul。ItisnotthevillagewhichproducestheHampden，buttheHampdenwhoimmortalisesthevillage。ItisafavouritejestofRusticusthathisurbanbrotherhasthemannerofOmniscienceandtheknowledgeofaparishbeadle。Nevertheless，thoughthestrongestbloodinsurgentinthemetropolitanheartisnotthatwhichisnativetoit，onemightwellbeproudtohavehadone’satom-pulseatunefromthefirstwiththelargerhythmofthenationallifeatitsturbulent，congested，buteverebullientcentre。
CertainlyBrowningwasnotthemantobeashamedofhisbeingaLondoner，muchlesstodenyhisnatalplace。Hewasproudofit：throughgoodsense，nodoubt，butpossiblyalsothroughsomeinstinctiveapprehensionofthefactthatthegreatcitywasindeedthefitmotherofsuchason。
“Ashamedofhavingbeenborninthegreatestcityoftheworld!“
heexclaimedononeoccasion；“whatanextraordinarythingtosay!
Itsuggestsawaveletinamuddyshallowgrimilycontortingitselfbecauseithaditsbirthoutinthegreatocean。“
Onthedayofthepoet’sfuneralinWestminsterAbbey，oneofthemosteminentofhispeersremarkedtomethatBrowningcametousasonecomingintohisown。Thisisprofoundlytrue。
Therewasingoodsoothamansionpreparedagainsthisadvent。
Longago，weshouldhavesurrenderedastoaconqueror：now，however，weknowthatprincesofthemind，thoughtheymustbevalorousandpotentasofyore，canenteruponnoheritancesavethatwhichnaturallyawaitsthem，andhasbeenmadetheirsbylongandintricateprocesses。
ThelustrumwhichsawthebirthofRobertBrowning，thatisthethirdinthenineteenthcentury，wasaremarkableoneindeed。
Thackeraycameintotheworldsomemonthsearlierthanthegreatpoet，CharlesDickenswithinthesametwelvemonth，andTennysonthreeyearssooner，whenalsoElizabethBarrettwasborn，andtheforemostnaturalistofmoderntimesfirstsawthelight。Itisamatterofsignificancethatthegreatwaveofscientificthoughtwhichultimatelyboreforwardonitscrestsomanyfamousmen，fromBrewsterandFaradaytoCharlesDarwin，hadjustbeguntorisewithirresistibleimpulsion。Lepsius’sbirthwasin1813，andthatofthegreatFlemishnovelist，HenriConscience，in1812：aboutthesameperiodwerethebirthsofFreiligrath，Gutzkow，andAuerbach，respectivelyoneofthemostlyricalpoets，themostpotentdramatist，themostcharmingromancerofGermany：
and，also，inFrance，ofTheophileGautierandAlfreddeMusset。
AmongrepresentativesoftheotherartswithtwoofwhichBrowningmusteverbecloselyassociatedMendelssohnandChopinwerebornin1809，andSchumann，Liszt，andWagnerwithinthefoursucceedingyears：
withinwhichspacealsocameDiazandMeissonierandthegreatMillet。
Otherhighnamesthereareuponthefrontofthecentury。
Macaulay，CardinalNewman，JohnStuartMilloneoftheearliest，bytheway，torecognisethegeniusofBrowning，AlexandreDumas，GeorgeSand，VictorHugo，Ampere，Quinet，ProsperMerimee，Sainte-Beuve，Strauss，Montalambert，areamongthelaurel-bearerswhocameintoexistencebetwixt1800and1812。
WhenRobertBrowningwasborninLondonin1812，Sheridanhadstillfouryearstolive；JeremyBenthamwasattheheightofhiscontemporaryreputation，andGodwinwaswritinggliblyofthevirtuesofhumanityandpractisingtheoppositequalities，whileCrabbewaslookeduponasoneoftheforemostoflivingpoets。
Wordsworthwasthenforty，SirWalterScottforty-one，Coleridgeforty-two，WalterSavageLandorandCharlesLambeachinhisforty-fifthyear。
Byronwasfour-and-twenty，Shelleynotyetquiteofage，tworadicallydifferentmen，KeatsandCarlyle，bothyouthsofseventeen。
Abroad，Laplacewasinhismaturity，withfifteenyearsmoreyettolive；
Joubertwithtwelve；Goethe，withtwenty；Lamarck，theSchlegels，Cuvier，Chateaubriand，Hegel，Niebuehrtospecifysomeleadingnamesonly，hadmanyyearsofworkbeforethem。Schopenhauerwasonlyfour-and-twenty，whileBerangerwasthirty-two。ThePolishpoetMickiewiczwasaboyoffourteen，andPoushkinwasbutatwelvemontholder；