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；