,,browning ,,as ,a ,,philosophical ,,and
 ,,religious ,,teacher    by    ,,henry 
,,jones    ,professor of ,philosophy in 
the ,university of ,glasgow             
,illustration3 ,,robert ,,browning4     
,,this ,,book ,,is ,,dedicated ,,to     
,,my ,,dear ,,friends    ,,miss         
,,harriet ,,macarthur  ,,and  ,,miss    
,,jane ,,macarthur4          ,,preface  
,the purpose of this book is to deal    
with ,browning1 not simply as a poet1   
but rather as the exponent of a system  
of ideas on moral and religious         
subjects1 which may fairly be called a  
philosophy4 ,i am conscious that  it is 
a wrong to a poet to neglect1 or even to
 subordinate1 the artistic  aspect of   
his work4 ,at least1 it would be a      
wrong1 if our final judgment  on his    
poetry were to be determined on such a  
method4 ,but there is a  place for      
everything2 and1 even in the case of a  
great poet1 there is  sometimes an      
advantage in attempting to estimate the 
value of what he  has said1 apart from  

the form in which he has said it4 ,and  
of all modern  poets1 ,browning is the  
one who most obviously invites and      
justifies such  a method of treatment4  
,for1 in the first place1 he is clearly 
one of  that class of poets who are also
 prophets4 ,he was never merely the idle
  singer of an empty day1 but one for   
whom poetic enthusiasm was  intimately  
bound up with religious faith1 and who  
spoke in numbers1  not merely because   
the numbers came1 but because they were 
for him the  necessary vehicle of an    
inspiring thought4 ,if it is the        
business of  philosophy to analyze and  
interpret all the great intellectual    
forces  that mould the thought of an    
age1 it cannot neglect the works of one 
who  has exercised1 and is exercising so
 powerful an influence on the moral  and
 religious life of the present          
generation4    ,in the second place1 as 
will be seen in the sequel1 ,browning   
has himself  led the way towards such a 
philosophical interpretation of his     

work4  ,for1 even in his earlier poems1 
he not seldom crossed the line that     
divides the poet from the philosopher1  
and all but broke through the  strict   
limits of art in the effort to          
express--and we might even say to       
preach--his own idealistic faith4 ,in   
his later works he did this almost      
without any disguise1 raising           
philosophical problems1 and discussing  
all  the pros and cons of their         
solution1 with no little subtlety and   
dialectical skill4 ,in some of these    
poems we might even seem to be          
receiving a philosophical lesson1 in    
place of a poetic inspiration1 if  it   
were not for those powerful imaginative 
utterances1 those winged  words1 which  
,browning has always in reserve1 to     
close the ranks of his  argument4 ,if   
the question is stated in a prosaic     
form1 the final answer1  as in the      
ancient oracle1 is in the poetic        
language of the gods4    ,from this     
point of view ,i have endeavoured to    

give a connected account  of ,browning's
 ideas1 especially of his ideas on      
religion and morality1  and to estimate 
their value4 ,in order to do so1 it was 
necessary to  discuss the philosophical 
validity of the principles on which his 
doctrine is more or less consciously    
based4 ,the more immediately            
philosophical chapters are the second1  
seventh1 and ninth2 but they will  not  
be found unintelligible by those who    
have reflected on the  difficulties of  
the moral and religious life1 even      
although they may be  unacquainted with 
the methods and language of the schools4
    ,i have received much valuable help 
in preparing this work for the press    
from my colleague1 ,professor ,g4,b4    
,mathews1 and still more from ,professor
  ,edward ,caird4 ,i owe them both a    
deep debt of gratitude4    ,,henry      
,,jones4    #ahia4          ,,contents4 
,,chapter ,i4  ,,introduction           
,,chapter ,,ii4  ,,on ,,the ,,need ,,of 
,a ,,philosophy ,,of ,,life    ,,chapter

 ,,iii4  ,,browning',s ,,place ,,in     
,,english ,,poetry    ,,chapter ,,iv4   
,,browning',s ,,optimism    ,,chapter   
,v4  ,,optimism ,,and ,,ethics3 ,,their 
,,contradiction    ,,chapter ,,vi4      
,,browning',s ,,treatment ,,of ,,the    
,,principle  ,,of ,,love    ,,chapter   
,,vii4  ,,browning',s ,,idealism1 ,,and 
,,its ,,philosophical  ,,justification  
,,chapter ,,viii4  ,,browning',s        
,,solution ,,of ,,the ,,problem  ,,of   
,,evil    ,,chapter ,,ix4  ,a           
,,criticism ,,of ,,browning',s ,,view   
,,of  ,,the ,,failure ,,of ,,knowledge  
,,chapter ,x4  ,,the ,,heart ,,and ,,the
 ,,head4--,,love ,,and  ,,reason        
,,chapter ,,xi4  ,,conclusion           
,,robert ,,browning4          ,,chapter 
,i4    ,,introduction4        ,grau1    
theurer ,freund1 ist alle ,theorie1     
,und grn des ,lebens goldner ,baum4     
7,faust47    ,there is a saying of      
,hegel's1 frequently quoted1 that a     
great man  condemns the world to the    
task of explaining him4 ,the            

condemnation is a  double one1 and it   
generally falls heaviest on the great   
man himself1  who has to submit to      
explanation2 and1 probably1 the last    
refinement of  this species of cruelty  
is to expound a poet4 ,i therefore begin
 with an  apology in both senses of the 
term4 ,i acknowledge that no commentator
 on  art has a right to be heard1 if he 
is not aware of the subordinate and     
temporary nature of his office4 ,at the 
very best he is only a guide to  the    
beautiful object1 and he must fall back 
in silence so soon as he has  led his   
company into its presence4 ,he may      
perhaps suggest the line of  vision1 or 
fix the point of view1 from which we can
 best hope to do  justice to the        
artist's work1 by appropriating his     
intention and  comprehending his idea2  
but if he seeks to serve the ends of    
art1 he  will not attempt to do anything
 more4    ,in order to do even this     
successfully1 it is essential that every
  judgment passed should be exclusively 

ruled by the principles which  govern   
art4 ,fine art is not real art till it  
is free2 that is1 till  its value is    
recognized as lying wholly within       
itself4 ,and it is not1  unfortunately1 
altogether unnecessary to insist that1  
so far from  enhancing the value of an  
artist's work1 we only degrade it into  
mere  means1 subordinate it to uses     
alien1 and therefore antagonistic to its
  perfection1 if we try to show that it 
gives pleasure1 or refinement1 or  moral
 culture4 ,there is no doubt that great 
poetry has all these uses1  but the     
reader can enjoy them only on condition 
of forgetting them2 for  they are       
effects that follow the sense of its    
beauty4 ,art1 morality1  religion1 is   
each supreme in its own sphere2 the     
beautiful is not more  beautiful because
 it is also moral1 nor is a painting    
great because its  subject is religious4
 ,it is true that their spheres overlap1
 and art is  never at its best except   
when it is a beautiful representation of

 the  good2 nevertheless the points of  
view of the artist and of the ethical   
teacher are quite different1 and        
consequently also the elements within   
which they work and the truth they      
reveal4    ,in attempting1 therefore1 to
 discover ,robert ,browning's philosophy
 of  life1 ,i do not pretend that my    
treatment of him is adequate4 ,browning 
is1 first of all1 a poet2 it is only as 
a poet that he can be finally  judged2  
and the greatness of a poet is to be    
measured by the extent to  which his    
writings are a revelation of what is    
beautiful4    ,i undertake a different  
and a humbler task1 conscious of its    
limitations1 and aware that ,i can      
hardly avoid doing some violence to  the
 artist4 ,what ,i shall seek in the     
poet's writings is not beauty1 but      
truth2 and although truth is beautiful1 
and beauty is truth1 still the  poetic  
and philosophic interpretation of life  
are not to be confused4  ,philosophy    
must separate the matter from the form4 

,its synthesis comes  through analysis1 
and analysis is destructive of beauty1  
as it is of all  life4 ,art1 therefore1 
resists the violence of the critical    
methods of  philosophy1 and the feud    
between them1 of which ,plato speaks1   
will last  through all time4 ,the beauty
 of form and the music of speech which  
criticism destroys1 and to which        
philosophy is1 at the best1             
indifferent1 are essential to poetry4   
,when we leave them out of account  we  
miss the ultimate secret of poetry1 for 
they cling to the meaning and  penetrate
 it with their charm4 ,thought and its  
expression are  inseparable in poetry1  
as they never are in philosophy2 hence1 
in the  former1 the loss of the         
expression is the loss of truth4 ,the   
pure idea  that dwells in a poem is     
suffused in the poetic utterance1 as    
sunshine  breaks into beauty in the     
mist1 as life beats and blushes in the  
flesh1  or as an impassioned thought    
breathes in a thinker's face4    ,but1  

although art and philosophy are supreme1
 each in its own realm1 and  neither can
 be subordinated to the uses of the     
other1 they may help each  other4 ,they 
are independent1 but not rival powers of
 the world of mind4  ,not only is the   
interchange of truth possible between   
them2 but each may  show and give to the
 other all its treasures1 and be none   
the poorer  itself4 ,it is in works of  
art that some nations have deposited the
  profoundest intuitions and ideas of   
their hearts4 ,job and ,isaiah1  schylus
 and ,sophocles1 ,shakespeare and       
,goethe1 were first of all poets4       
,mankind is indebted to them in the     
first place for revealing beauty2 but   
it also owes to them much insight into  
the facts and principles of the  moral  
world4 ,it would be an unutterable loss 
to the ethical thinker and  the         
philosopher1 if this region were closed 
against them1 so that they  could no    
longer seek in the poets the inspiration
 and light that lead to  goodness and   

truth4 ,in our own day1 almost above all
 others1 we need the  poets for these   
ethical and religious purposes4 ,for the
 utterances of  the dogmatic teacher of 
religion have been divested of much of  
their  ancient authority2 and the moral 
philosopher is often regarded either as 
a vendor of commonplaces or as the      
votary of a discredited science1  whose 
primary principles are matter of doubt  
and debate4 ,there are not a  few       
educated ,englishmen who find in the    
poets1 and in the poets alone1  the     
expression of their deepest convictions 
concerning the profoundest  interests of
 life4 ,they read the poets for fresh   
inspiration1 partly1 no  doubt1 because 
the passion and rapture of poetry lull  
criticism and  soothe the questioning   
spirit into acquiescence4      ,but     
there are further reasons2 for the poets
 of ,england are greater than  its moral
 philosophers2 and it is of the nature  
of the poetic art that1  while eschewing
 system1 it presents the strife between 

right and wrong  in concrete character1 
and therefore with a fulness and truth  
impossible  to the abstract thought of  
science4                    ,a poet     
never dreams3    ,we prose folk do3 we  
miss the proper duct    ,for thoughts on
 things unseen4,a    ,footnote ,a3      
,fifine at the ,fair1 lxxxviii4    ,it  
is true that philosophy endeavours to   
correct this fragmentariness by         
starting from the unity of the whole4   
,but it can never quite get rid of  an  
element of abstraction and reach down to
 the concrete individual4    ,the making
 of character is so complex a process   
that the poetic  representation of it1  
with its subtle suggestiveness1 is      
always more  complete and realistic than
 any possible philosophic analysis4     
,science  can deal only with aspects and
 abstractions1 and its method becomes   
more  and more inadequate as its matter 
grows more concrete1 unless it  proceeds
 from the unity in which all the aspects
 are held together4 ,in  the case of    

life1 and still more so in that of human
 conduct1 the whole  must precede the   
part1 and the moral science must1       
therefore1 more than  any other1 partake
 of the nature of poetry2 for it must   
start from  living spirit1 go from the  
heart outwards1 in order to detect the  
meaning of the actions of man4    ,on   
this account1 poetry is peculiarly      
helpful to the ethical  investigator1   
because it always treats the particular 
thing as a  microcosm4 ,it is the great 
corrective of the onesidedness of       
science  with its harsh method of       
analysis and distinction4 ,it is a      
witness to  the unity of man and the    
world4 ,every object which art touches  
into  beauty1 becomes in the very act a 
whole4 ,the thing that is beautiful is  
always complete1 the embodiment of      
something absolutely valuable1 the      
product and the source of love2 and the 
beloved object is all the world  for the
 lover--beyond all praise1 because it is
 above all comparison4      ,then why   

not witness1 calmly gazing1    ,if earth
 holds aught--speak truth--above her8   
,above this tress1 and this1 ,i touch   
,but cannot praise1 ,i love so much6,a  
,footnote ,a3 ,song 7,dramatic ,lyrics74
    ,this characteristic of the work of 
art brings with it an important         
practical consequence1 because being    
complete1 it appeals to the whole  man4 
,poetry1 it has been well said1 is the  
idealized and monumental  utterance of  
the deepest feelings4 ,and poetic       
feelings1 it must not be  forgotten1 are
 deepest2 that is1 they are the         
afterglow of the  fullest activity of a 
complete soul1 and not shallow          
titillations1 or  surface pleasures1    
such as the palate knows4 ,led by       
poetry1 the  intellect so sees truth    
that it glows with it1 and the will is  
stirred  to deeds of heroism4 ,for there
 is hardly any fact so mean1 but that   
when  intensified by emotion1 it grows  
poetic2 as there is hardly any man so   
unimaginative1 but that when struck with

 a great sorrow1 or moved by a  great   
passion1 he is endowed for a moment with
 the poet's speech4 ,a  poetic fact1 one
 may almost say1 is just any fact at its
 best4 ,art1 it  is true1 looks at its  
object through a medium1 but it always  
seems its  inmost meaning4 ,in ,lear1   
,othello1 ,hamlet1 in ,falstaff and     
,touchstone1  there is a revelation of  
the inner truth of human life beyond the
 power  of moral science to bestow4 ,we 
do well to seek philosophy in the poets1
  for though they teach only by hints   
and parables1 they nevertheless  reflect
 the concrete truth of life1 as it is   
half revealed and half  concealed in    
facts4 ,on the other hand1 the          
reflective process of  philosophy may   
help poetry2 for1 as we shall show1     
there is a near  kinship between them4  
,even the critical analyst1 while       
severing element  from element1 may help
 art and serve the poet's ends1 provided
 he does  not in his analysis of parts  
forget the whole4 ,his function1 though 

humble and merely preliminary to full   
poetic enjoyment1 is not  unimportant4  
,to appreciate the grandeur of the unity
 of the work of art1  there must be     
knowledge of the parts combined4 ,it is 
quite true that the  guide in the       
gallery is prone to be too talkative1   
and there are many  who can afford to   
turn the commentator out of doors1      
especially if he  moralizes4 ,but1 after
 all1 man is not pure sensibility1 any  
more than he  is pure reason4 ,and the  
aesthete will not lose if he            
occasionally allows  those whom he may  
think less sensitive than himself to the
 charm of  rhythmic phrase1 to direct   
sober attention to the principles which 
lie  embedded in all great poetry4 ,at  
the worst1 to seek for truth in poetry  
is a protest against the constant       
tendency to read it for the sake of  the
 emotions which it stirs1 the tendency  
to make it a refined amusement  and     
nothing more4 ,that is a deeper wrong to
 art than any which the  theoretical    

moralist can inflict4 ,of the two1 it is
 better to read  poetry for ethical     
doctrines than for fine sensations2 for 
poetry  purifies the passions only when 
it lifts the reader into the sphere of  
truths that are universal4    ,the task 
of interpreting a poet may be undertaken
 in different ways4 ,one  of these1 with
 which we have been made familiar by    
critics of  ,shakespeare and of         
,browning himself1 is to analyze each   
poem by itself  and regard it as the    
artistic embodiment of some central     
idea2 the other  is to attempt1 without 
dealing separately with each poem1 to   
reach the  poet's own point of view1 and
 to reveal the sovereign truths which   
rule  his mind4 ,it is this latter way  
that ,i shall try to follow4    ,such   
dominant or even despotic thoughts it is
 possible to discover in  all our great 
poets1 except perhaps ,shakespeare1     
whose universality  baffles every       
classifier4 ,as a rule1 the ,english    
poets have been caught  up1 and         

inspired1 by the exceeding grandeur of  
some single idea1 in  whose service they
 spend themselves with that prodigal    
thrift which  finds life in giving it4  
,such an idea gives them a fresh way of 
looking  at the world1 so that the world
 grows young again with their new       
interpretation4 ,in the highest         
instances1 poets may become makers of   
epochs2 they reform as well as reveal2  
for ideas are never dead things1  but   
grow in the hand that grasps them4 ,in  
them lies the energy of a  nation's     
life1 and we comprehend that life only  
when we make clear to  ourselves the    
thoughts which inspire it4 ,it is thus  
true1 in the deepest  sense1 that those 
who make the songs of a people make its 
history4 ,in  all true poets there are  
hints for a larger philosophy of life4  
,but1 in  order to discover it1 we must 
know the truths which dominate them1 and
  break into music in their poems4      
,whether it is always possible1 and     
whether it is at any time fair to a     

poet to define the idea which inspires  
him1 ,i shall not inquire at  present4  
,no doubt1 the interpretation of a poet 
from first principles  carries us beyond
 the limits of art2 and by insisting on 
the unity of  his work1 more may be     
attributed to him1 or demanded from him1
 than he  properly owns4 ,to make such a
 demand is to require that poetry should
 be  philosophy as well1 which1 owing to
 its method of intuition1 it can  never 
be4 ,nevertheless1 among ,english poets 
there is no one who lends  himself so   
easily1 or so justly1 to this way of    
treatment as ,browning4  ,much of his   
poetry trembles on the verge of the     
abyss which is supposed  to separate art
 from philosophy2 and1 as ,i shall try  
to show1 there was  in the poet a       
growing tendency to turn the power of   
dialectic on the  pre-suppositions of   
his art4 ,yet1 even ,browning puts great
 difficulties  in the way of a critic1  
who seeks to draw a philosophy of life  
from his  poems4 ,it is not by any means

 an easy task to lift the truths he     
utters  under the stress of poetic      
emotion into the region of placid       
contemplation1 or to connect them into a
 system1 by means of the  principle from
 which he makes his departure4    ,the  
first of these difficulties arises from 
the extent and variety of  his work4 ,he
 was prodigal of poetic ideas1 and wrote
 for fifty years on  nature1 art1 and   
man1 like a magnificent spendthrift of  
spiritual  treasures4 ,so great a store 
of knowledge lay at his hand1 so real   
and  informed with sympathy1 that we can
 scarcely find any great literature     
which he has not ransacked1 any phase of
 life which is not represented  in his  
poems4 ,all kinds of men and women1 in  
every station in life1 and  at every    
stage of evil and goodness1 crowd his   
pages4 ,there are few  forms of human   
character he has not studied1 and each  
individual he has  so caught at the     
supreme moment of his life1 and in the  
hardest stress  of circumstance1 that   

the inmost working of his nature is     
revealed4 ,the  wealth is bewildering1  
and it is hard to follow the central    
thought1  the imperial chord1 which     
steadily underlies the accidental mists 
of  music springing thence4,a           
,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at the ,fair4     
,a second and still graver difficulty   
lies in the fact that his poetry1  as he
 repeatedly insisted1 is always dramatic
 in principle1 and so many  utterances  
of so many imaginary persons1 not       
mine4,b ,in his earlier  works1         
especially1 ,browning is creative rather
 than reflective1 a ,maker  rather than 
a ,seer2 and his creations stand aloof  
from him1 working out  their fate in an 
outer world4 ,we often lose the poet in 
the imaginative  characters1 into whom  
he penetrates with his keen artistic    
intuition1  and within whom he lies as a
 necessity revealing itself in their    
actions  and words4 ,it is not easy     
anywhere to separate the elements1 so   
that we  can say with certainty1 ,here  

,i catch the poet1 there lies his       
material4 ,the identification of the    
work and worker is too intimate1  and   
the realization of the imaginary        
personage is too complete4    ,footnote 
,b3 ,pref4 to ,pauline1 #ahhh4    ,in   
regard to the dramatic interpretation of
 his poetry1 ,browning has  manifested a
 peculiar sensitiveness4 ,in his        
,preface to ,pauline and in  several of 
his poems--notably ,the ,mermaid1 the   
,house1 and the  ,shop--he explicitly   
cuts himself free from his work4 ,he    
knew that  direct self-revealment on the
 part of the poet violates the spirit of
  the drama4 ,with this same key        
,shakespeare unlocked his heart1 said   
,wordsworth2 ,did ,shakespeare8         
characteristically answers ,browning1   
,if  so1 the less ,shakespeare he6 ,and 
of himself he asks3      ,which of you  
did ,i enable      ,once to slip inside 
my breast1    ,there to catalogue and   
label      ,what ,i like least1 what    
love best1    ,hope and fear1 believe   

and doubt of1      ,seek and shun1      
respect--deride8    ,who has right to   
make a rout of      ,rarities he found  
inside8,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,at the      
,mermaid4    ,he repudiates all kinship 
with ,byron and his subjective ways1 and
  refuses to be made king by the hands  
which anointed him4 ,he will not  give  
his woes an airing1 and has no plague   
that claims respect4 ,both as  man and  
poet1 in virtue of the native1 sunny1   
outer-air healthiness of  his character1
 every kind of subjectivity is repulsive
 to him4 ,he hands  to his readers his  
work1 his scroll1 theirs to take or     
leave3 his soul  he proffers not4 ,for  
him shop was shop only2 and though he   
dealt in  gems1 and throws      ,you    
choice of jewels1 every one1    ,good1  
better1 best1 star1 moon1 and sun1,a    
,footnote ,a3 ,shop4    he still lived  
elsewhere1 and had stray thoughts and   
fancies  fugitive not meant for the open
 market4 ,the poems in which ,browning  
has  spoken without the disguise of     

another character are very few4 ,there  
are  hardly more than two or three of   
much importance which can be considered 
as directly reflecting his own ideas1   
namely1 ,christmas ,eve and  ,easter    
,day1 ,la ,saisiaz1 and ,one ,word      
,more--unless1 spite of the  poet's     
warning1 we add ,pauline4    ,but1      
although the dramatic element in        
,browning's poetry renders it  difficult
 to construct his character from his    
works1 while this is  comparatively easy
 in the case of ,wordsworth or ,byron2  
and although it  throws a shade of      
uncertainty on every conclusion we might
 draw as to  any specific doctrine held 
by him1 still ,browning lives in a      
certain  atmosphere1 and looks at his   
characters through a medium1 whose      
subtle  influence makes all his work    
indisputably his4 ,the light he throws  
on  his men and women is not the        
unobtrusive light of day1 which reveals 
objects1 but not itself4 ,though a true 
dramatist1 he is not objective  like    

,shakespeare and ,scott1 whose          
characters seem never to have had an    
author4 ,the reader feels1 rather1 that 
,browning himself attends him  through  
all the sights and wonders of the world 
of man2 he never escapes  the sense of  
the presence of the poet's powerful     
personality1 or of the  great           
convictions on which he has based his   
life4 ,browning has1 at  bottom1 only   
one way of looking at the world1 and one
 way of treating  his objects2 one point
 of view1 and one artistic method4 ,nay1
 further1  he has one supreme interest1 
which he pursues everywhere with a      
constancy shown by hardly any other     
poet2 and1 in consequence1 his works    
have a unity and a certain originality1 
which make them in many ways a  unique  
contribution to ,english literature4    
,this characteristic1 which no critic   
has missed1 and which generally  goes by
 the name of the metaphysical element in
 his poetry1 makes it  the more         
imperative to form a clear view of his  

ruling conceptions4 ,no  poet1 least of 
all a dramatic poet1 goes about seeking 
concrete vehicles  for ready-made ideas1
 or attempts to dress a philosophy in   
metaphors2  and ,browning1 as an artist1
 is interested first of all in the      
object  which he renders beautiful for  
its own sole sake1 and not in any       
abstract idea it illustrates4 ,still1 it
 is true in a peculiar sense in  his    
case1 that the eye of the poet brings   
with it what it sees4 ,he is1  as a     
rule1 conscious of no theory1 and does  
not construct a poem for its            
explication2 he rather strikes his ideas
 out of his material1 as the  sculptor  
reveals the breathing life in the stone4
 ,nevertheless1 it may  be shown that a 
theory rules him from behind1 and that  
profound  convictions arise in the heart
 and rush along the blood at the moment 
of  creation1 using his soul as an      
instrument of expression to his age and 
people4    ,of no ,english poet1 except 
,shakespeare1 can we say with           

approximate  truth that he is the poet  
of all times4 ,the subjective breath of 
their  own epoch dims the mirror which  
they hold up to nature4 ,missing by     
their  limitation the highest           
universality1 they can only be          
understood in  their setting4 ,it adds  
but little to our knowledge of          
,shakespeare's work  to regard him as   
the great ,elizabethan2 there is nothing
 temporary in  his dramas1 except petty 
incidents and external trappings--so    
truly did  he dwell amidst the elements 
constituting man in every age and clime4
  ,but this cannot be said of any other 
poet1 not even of ,chaucer or  ,spenser1
 far less of ,milton1 or ,pope or       
,wordsworth4 ,in their case1 the        
artistic form and the material1 the idea
 and its expression1 the beauty  and the
 truth1 are to some extent separable4   
,we can distinguish in  ,milton between 
the ,puritanic theology which is        
perishable1 and the art  whose beauty   
can never pass away4 ,the former fixes  

his kinship with his  own age1 gives him
 a definite place in the evolution of   
,english life2  the latter is           
independent of time1 a thing which has  
supreme worth in  itself4    ,nor can it
 be doubted that the same holds good of 
,browning4 ,he also is  ruled by the    
ideas of his own age4 ,it may not be    
altogether possible for  us1 who are    
partners of his motion and mixed up with
 his career1 to  allow for the influence
 of these ideas1 and to distinguish     
between that  which is evanescent and   
that which is permanent in his work2    
still ,i  must try to do so2 for it is  
the condition of comprehending him1 and 
of  appropriating the truth and beauty  
he came to reveal4 ,and if his  nearness
 to ourselves makes this more difficult1
 it also makes it more  imperative4 ,for
 there is no doubt that1 with ,carlyle1 
he is the  interpreter of our time1     
reflecting its confused strength and    
chaotic  wealth4 ,he is the high priest 
of our age1 standing at the altar for   

us1  and giving utterance to our needs  
and aspirations1 our fears and faith4   
,by understanding him1 we shall1 to some
 degree1 understand ourselves and  the  
power which is silently moulding us to  
its purposes4    ,it is because ,i thus 
regard ,browning as not merely a poet   
but a prophet1  that ,i think ,i am     
entitled to seek in him1 as in ,isaiah  
or ,aeschylus1 a  solution1 or a help to
 the solution1 of the problems that     
press upon us  when we reflect upon man1
 his place in the world and his destiny4
 ,he has  given us indirectly1 and as a 
poet gives1 a philosophy of life2 he has
  interpreted the world anew in the     
light of a dominant idea2 and it will   
be no little gain if we can make clear  
to ourselves those constitutive         
principles on which his view of the     
world rests4          ,,chapter ,,ii4   
,,on ,,the ,,need ,,of ,a ,,philosophy  
,,of ,,life4      ,art1--which ,i may   
style the love of loving1 rage    ,of   
knowing1 seeing1 feeling the absolute   

truth of things    ,for truth's sake1   
whole and sole1 not any good1 truth     
brings    ,the knower1 seer1 feeler1    
beside1--instinctive ,art    ,must      
fumble for the whole1 once fixing on a  
part    ,however poor1 surpass the      
fragment1 and aspire    ,to reconstruct 
thereby the ultimate entire4,a          
,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at the ,fair1     
xliv4    ,no ,english poet has spoken   
more impressively than ,browning on the 
weightier matters of morality and       
religion1 or sought with more           
earnestness to meet the difficulties    
which arise when we try to  penetrate to
 their ultimate principles4 ,his way of 
poetry is1 ,i think1  fundamentally     
different from that of any other of our 
great writers4 ,he  often seems to be   
roused into speech1 rather by the       
intensity of his  spiritual convictions 
than by the subtle incitements of poetic
  sensibility4 ,his convictions caught  
fire1 and truth became beauty for  him2 
not beauty1 truth1 as with ,keats or    

,shelley4 ,he is swayed by ideas1       
rather than by sublime moods4 ,beneath  
the endless variety of his poems1  there
 are permanent principles1 or           
colligating conceptions1 as science     
calls them2 and although these are      
expressed by the way of emotion1 they   
are held by him with all the resources  
of his reason4    ,his work1 though     
intuitive and perceptive as to form1    
gaining ,god by  first leap as all true 
art must do1 leaves the impression1 when
  regarded as a whole1 of an articulated
 system4 ,it is a view of man's  life   
and destiny that can be maintained1 not 
only during the impassioned  moods of   
poetry1 but in the very presence of     
criticism and doubt4 ,his  faith1 like  
,pompilia's1 is held fast despite the   
plucking fiend4 ,he  has given to us    
something more than intuitive glimpses  
into1 the  mysteries of man's character4
 ,throughout his life he held up the    
steady  light of an optimistic          
conception of the world1 and by its     

means  injected new vigour into ,english
 ethical thought4 ,in his case1         
therefore1 it is not an immaterial      
question1 but one almost forced upon    
us1 whether we are to take his ethical  
doctrine and inspiring optimism  as     
valid truths1 or to regard them merely  
as subjective opinions held by  a       
religious poet4 ,are they creations of a
 powerful imagination1 and  nothing     
more8 ,do they give to the hopes and    
aspirations that rise so  irrepressibly 
in the heart of man anything better than
 an appearance of  validity1 which will 
prove illusory the moment the cold light
 of  critical inquiry is turned upon    
them8    ,it is to this unity of his    
work that ,i would attribute1 in the    
main1 the  impressiveness of his        
deliverances on morality and religion4  
,and this  unity justifies us1 ,i think1
 in applying to ,browning's view of life
  methods of criticism that would be out
 of place with any other ,english  poet4
 ,it is one of his unique               

characteristics1 as already hinted1 that
  he has endeavoured to give us a       
complete and reasoned view of the       
ethical nature of man1 and of his       
relation to the world--has sought1 in   
fact1 to establish a philosophy of life4
 ,in his case1 not without  injustice1  
it is true1 but with less injustice than
 in the case of any  other poet1 we may 
disregard1 for our purposes1 the        
artistic method of  his thought1 and lay
 stress on its content only4 ,he has a  
right to a  place amongst philosophers1 
as ,plato has to a place amongst poets4 
,there  is such deliberate earnestness  
and systematic consistency in his       
teaching1 that ,hegel can scarcely be   
said to have maintained that ,the       
,rational is the ,real with greater     
intellectual tenacity1 than ,browning   
held to his view of life4 ,he sought1 in
 fact1 to establish an ,idealism2  and  
that ,idealism1 like ,kant's and        
,fichte's1 has its last basis in the    
moral consciousness4    ,but1 even if it

 be considered that it is not altogether
 just to apply  these critical tests to 
the poet's teaching1 and to make him pay
 the  penalty for assuming a place      
amongst philosophers1 it is certain that
  what he says of man's spiritual life  
cannot be rightly valued1 till it  is   
regarded in the light of his guiding    
principles4 ,we shall miss much  of what
 is best in him1 even as a poet1 if1 for
 instance1 we regard his  treatment of  
love merely as the expression of        
elevated passion1 or his  optimism as   
based upon mere hope4 ,love was to him  
rather an indwelling  element in the    
world1 present1 like power1 in          
everything4      ,from the first1 ,power
 was--,i knew4      ,life has made clear
 to me    ,that1 strive but for closer  
view1      ,love were as plain to see4,a
    ,footnote3 ,a ,reverie--,asolando4  
,love yielded to him1 as ,reason did to 
,hegel1 a fundamental exposition of  the
 nature of things4 ,or1 to express the  
same thing in another way1 it  was a    

deliberate hypothesis1 which he sought  
to apply to facts and to  test by their 
means1 almost in the same manner as that
 in which natural  science applies and  
tests its principles4    ,that          
,browning's ethical and religious ideas 
were for him something  different from1 
and perhaps more than1 mere poetic      
sentiments1 will1 ,i  believe1 be       
scarcely denied4 ,that he held a        
deliberate theory1 and held  it with    
greater and greater difficulty as he    
became older1 and as his  dialectical   
tendencies grew and threatened to wreck 
his artistic  freedom1 is evident to any
 one who regards his work as a whole4   
,but it  will not be admitted so readily
 that anything other than harm can issue
  from an attempt to deal with him as if
 he were a philosopher4 ,even if it  be 
allowed that he held and expressed a    
definite theory1 will it retain  any    
value if we take it out of the region of
 poetry and impassioned  religious      
faith1 into the frigid zone of          

philosophical inquiry8 ,could  any one  
maintain1 apart from the intoxication of
 religious and poetic  sentiment1 that  
the essence of existence is love8 ,as   
long as we remain  within the realm of  
imagination1 it may be argued1 we may   
find in our  poet's great sayings both  
solacement and strength1 both rest and  
an  impulse towards higher moral        
endeavour2 but if we seek to treat them 
as  theories of facts1 and turn upon    
them the light of the understanding1    
will they not inevitably prove to be    
hallucinations8 ,poetry1 we think1  has 
its own proper place and function4 ,it  
is an invaluable anodyne to  the cark   
and care of reflective thought2 an      
opiate which1 by steeping  the critical 
intellect in slumber1 sets the soul free
 to rise on the  wings of religious     
faith4 ,but reason breaks the spell2 and
 the world of  poetry1 and religion--a  
world which to them is always beautiful 
and good  with ,god's presence--becomes 
a system of inexorable laws1 dead1      

mechanical1 explicable in strict truth1 
as an equipoise of constantly  changing 
forms of energy4    ,there is1 at the   
present time1 a widespread belief that  
we had better  keep poetry and religion 
beyond the reach of critical            
investigation1 if  we set any store by  
them4 ,faith and reason are thought to  
be finally  divorced4 ,it is an article 
of the common creed that every attempt  
which  the world has made to bring them 
together has resulted in denial1 or at  
the best in doubt1 regarding all        
supersensuous facts4 ,the one condition 
of leading a full life1 of maintaining a
 living relation between  ourselves and 
both the spiritual and material elements
 of our existence1  is to make our lives
 an alternating rhythm of the head and  
heart1 to  distinguish with absolute    
clearness between the realm of reason   
and that  of faith4    ,now1 such an    
assumption would be fatal to any attempt
 like the present1  to find truth in    
poetry2 and ,i must1 therefore1 try to  

meet it before  entering upon a         
statement and criticism of ,browning's  
view of life4 ,i  cannot admit that the 
difficulties of placing the facts of    
man's  spiritual life on a rational     
basis are so great as to justify the    
assertion that there is no such basis1  
or that it is not discoverable by  man4 
,surely1 it is unreasonable to make     
intellectual death the condition  of    
spiritual life4 ,if such a condition    
were imposed on man1 it must  inevitably
 defeat its own purpose2 for man cannot 
possibly continue to  live a divided    
life1 and persist in believing that for 
which his reason  knows no defence4 ,we 
must1 in the long run1 either           
rationalize our faith  in morality and  
religion1 or abandon them as illusions4 
,and we should at  least hesitate to    
deny that reason--in spite of its       
apparent failure in  the past to justify
 our faith in the principles of         
spiritual life--may  yet1 as it becomes 
aware of its own nature and the might   

which dwells in  it1 find beauty and    
goodness1 nay1 ,god himself1 in the     
world4 ,we should  at least hesitate to 
condemn man to choose between           
irreflective  ignorance and irreligion1 
or to lock the intellect and the highest
  emotions of our nature and principles 
of our life1 in a mortal struggle4      
,poetry and religion may1 after all1 be 
truer then prose1 and have  something to
 tell the world that science1 which is  
often ignorant of its  own limits1      
cannot teach4    ,the failure of        
philosophy in the past1 even if it were 
as complete as is  believed by persons  
ignorant of its history1 is no argument 
against its  success in the future4     
,such persons have never known that the 
world of  thought like that of action   
makes a stepping stone of its dead self4
 ,he  who presumes to decide what passes
 the power of man's thought1 or to      
prescribe absolute limits to human      
knowledge1 is rash1 to say the least2   
and he has neither caught the most      

important of the lessons of modern      
science1 nor been lifted to the level of
 its inspiration4 ,for science  has done
 one thing greater than to unlock the   
secrets of nature4 ,it has  revealed    
something of the might of reason1 and   
given new grounds for the  faith1 which 
in all ages has inspired the effort to  
know1--the faith  that the world is an  
intelligible structure1 meant to be     
penetrated by  the thought of man4 ,can 
it be that nature is an open secret1 but
 that  man1 and he alone1 must remain an
 enigma8 ,or does he not rather bear    
within himself the key to every problem 
which he solves1 and is it not  his     
thought which penetrates the secrets of 
nature8 ,the success of  science1 in    
reducing to law the most varied and     
apparently unconnected  facts1 should   
dispel any suspicion which attaches to  
the attempt to  gather these laws under 
still wider ones1 and to interpret the  
world in  the light of the highest      
principles4 ,and this is precisely what 

poetry  and religion and philosophy do1 
each in its own way4 ,they carry the    
work  of the sciences into wider        
regions1 and that1 as ,i shall try to   
show1 by  methods which1 in spite of    
many external differences1 are          
fundamentally  at one with those which  
the sciences employ4    ,there is only  
one way of giving the quietus to the    
metaphysics of poets  and philosophers1 
and of showing the futility of a        
philosophy of life1  or of any          
scientific explanation of religion and  
morals4 ,it is to show  that there is   
some radical absurdity in the very      
attempt4 ,till this is  done1 the human 
mind will not give up problems of       
weighty import1  however hard it may be 
to solve them4 ,the world refused to    
believe  ,socrates when he pronounced a 
science of nature impossible1 and       
centuries of failure did not break man's
 courage4 ,science1 it is true1  has    
given up some problems as insoluble2 it 
will not now try to  construct a        

perpetually moving machine1 or to square
 the circle4 ,but it  has given them up1
 not because they are difficult1 but    
because they are  unreasonable tasks4   
,the problems have a surd or irrational 
element in  them2 and to solve them     
would be to bring reason into collision 
with  itself4    ,now1 whatever may be  
the difficulties of establishing a      
theory of life1  or a philosophy1 it has
 never been shown to be an unreasonable 
task to  attempt it4 ,one might1 on the 
contrary1 expect1 prima facie1 that in  
a world progressively proved to be      
intelligible to man1 man himself  would 
be no exception4 ,it is impossible that 
the light in him should be  darkness1 or
 that the thought which reveals the     
order of the world  should be itself    
chaotic4    ,the need for philosophy is 
just the ultimate form of the need for  
knowledge2 and the truths which         
philosophy brings to light are implied  
in every rational explanation of things4
 ,the only choice we can have is        

between a conscious metaphysics and an  
unconscious one1 between  hypotheses    
which we have examined and whose        
limitations we know1 and  hypotheses    
which rule us from behind1 as pure      
prejudices do4 ,it is  because of this  
that the empiric is so dogmatic1 and the
 ignorant man so  certain of the truth  
of his opinion4 ,they do not know their 
postulates1  nor are they aware that    
there is no interpretation of an object 
which  does not finally point to a      
theory of being4 ,we understand no joint
 or  ligament1 except in relation to the
 whole organism1 and no fact1 or  event1
 except by finding a place for it in the
 context of our  experience4 ,the       
history of the pebble can be given1 only
 in the light of  the story of the      
earth1 as it is told by the whole of    
geology4 ,we must  begin very far back1 
and bring our widest principles to bear 
upon the  particular thing1 if we wish  
really to know what it is4 ,it is a law 
that  explains1 and laws are always     

universal4 ,all our knowledge1 even the 
most broken and inconsistent1 streams   
from some fundamental conception1  in   
virtue of which all the variety of      
objects constitute one world1 one       
orderly kosmos1 even to the meanest     
mind4 ,it is true that the central      
thought1 be it rich or poor1 must1 like 
the sun's light1 be broken  against     
particular facts4 ,but there is no need 
of forgetting the real  source of       
knowledge1 or of deeming that its       
progress is a synthesis  without law1 or
 an addition of fact to fact without any
 guiding  principles4    ,now1 it is the
 characteristic of poetry and philosophy
 that they keep  alive our consciousness
 of these primary1 uniting principles4  
,they  always dwell in the presence of  
the idea which makes their object one4  
,to them the world is always1 and       
necessarily1 a harmonious whole1 as it  
is also to the religious spirit4 ,it is 
because of this that the universe  is a 
thing of beauty for the poet1 a         

revelation of ,god's goodness to the    
devout soul1 and a manifestation of     
absolute reason to the philosopher4     
,art1 religion1 and philosophy fail or  
flourish together4 ,the age of  prose   
and scepticism appears when the sense of
 the presence of the whole  in the      
particular facts of the world and of    
life has been dulled4 ,and  there is a  
necessity in this2 for if the conception
 of the world as a  whole is held to be 
impossible1 if philosophy is a futility1
 then  poetry will be a vain sentiment  
and religion a delusion4    ,nor will   
the failure of thought1 when once       
demonstrated in these upper  regions1 be
 confined to them4 ,on the contrary1 it 
will spread downwards  to science and   
ordinary knowledge1 as mountain mists   
blot out the  valleys4 ,for every       
synthesis of fact to fact1 every attempt
 to know1  however humble and limited1  
is inspired by a secret faith in the    
unity  of the world4 ,each of the       
sciences works within its own region1   

and  colligates its details in the light
 of its own hypothesis2 and all the     
sciences taken together presuppose the  
presence in the world of a  principle   
that binds it into an orderly totality4 
,scientific explorers  know that they   
are all working towards the same centre4
 ,and1 ever and  anon1 as the isolated  
thinker presses home his own hypothesis1
 he finds  his thought beating on the   
limits of his science1 and suggesting   
some  wider hypothesis4 ,the walls that 
separate the sciences are wearing thin1 
and at times light penetrates from one  
to the other4 ,so that to their         
votaries1 at least1 the faith is        
progressively justified1 that there is  
a meeting point for the sciences1 a     
central truth in which the dispersed    
rays will again be gathered together4   
,in fact1 all the sciences are  working 
together under the guidance of a        
principle common to them all1  although 
it may not be consciously known and no  
attempt is made to  define it4 ,in      

science1 as in philosophy and art and   
religion1 there is a  principle of      
unity1 which1 though latent1 is really  
prior to all  explanation of particular 
matters of fact4    ,in truth1 man has  
only one way of knowing4 ,there is no   
fundamental  difference between         
scientific and philosophic procedure4   
,we always light  up facts by means of  
general laws4 ,the fall of the stone was
 a perfect  enigma1 a universally       
unintelligible bit of experience1 till  
the  majestic imagination of ,newton    
conceived the idea of universal         
gravitation4 ,wherever mind successfully
 invades the realm of chaos1  poetry1   
the sense of the whole1 comes first4    
,there is the intuitive  flash1 the     
penetrative glimpse1 got no one knows   
exactly whence--though  we do know that 
it comes neither from the dead facts nor
 from the vacant  region of a priori    
thought1 but somehow from the           
interaction of both  these elements of  
knowledge4 ,after the intuitive flash   

comes the slow  labour of proof1 the    
application of the principle to details4
 ,and that  application transforms both 
the principle and the details1 so that  
the  former is enriched with content and
 the latter are made intelligible--a    
veritable conquest and valid possession 
for mankind4 ,and in this labour  of    
proof1 science and philosophy alike take
 their share4    ,philosophy may be said
 to come midway between poetry and      
science1 and to  partake of the nature  
of both4 ,on the one side it deals1 like
 poetry1  with ideals of knowledge1 and 
announces truths which it does not      
completely verify2 on the other1 it     
leaves to science the task of           
articulating its principles in facts1   
though it begins the articulation       
itself4 ,it reveals subsidiary          
principles1 and is1 at the same time1 a 
witness for the unity of the categories 
of science4 ,we may say1 if we  wish1   
that its principles are mere hypotheses4
 ,but so are the ideas  which underlie  

the most practical of the sciences2 so  
is every forecast  of genius by virtue  
of which knowledge is extended2 so is   
every  principle of knowledge not       
completely worked out4 ,to say that     
philosophy  is hypothetical implies no  
charge1 other than that which can be    
levelled1 in the same sense1 against the
 most solid body of scientific          
knowledge in the world4 ,the fruitful   
question in each case alike is1 how     
far1 if at all1 does the hypothesis     
enable us to understand particular      
facts4    ,the more careful of our      
scientific thinkers are well aware of   
the limits  under which they work and of
 the hypothetical character of their    
results4 ,i take ,euclidean space1 and  
the existence of material  particles and
 elemental energy for granted1 says the 
physicist2 deny  them1 and ,i am        
helpless2 grant them1 and ,i shall      
establish quantitative  relations       
between the different forms of this     
elemental energy1 and make  it tractable

 and tame to man's uses4 ,all ,i teach  
depends upon my  hypothesis4 ,in it is  
the secret of all the power ,i wield4 ,i
 do not  pretend to say what this       
elemental energy is4 ,i make no         
declaration  regarding the actual nature
 of things2 and all questions as to the 
ultimate origin or final destination of 
the world are beyond the scope  of my   
inquiry4 ,i am ruled by my hypothesis2  
,i regard phenomena from my  point of   
view2 and my right to do so ,i          
substantiate by the practical  and      
theoretical results which follow4 ,the  
language of geology1  chemistry1        
zoology1 and even mathematics is the    
same4 ,they all start  from a           
hypothesis2 they are all based on an    
imaginative conception1 and  in this    
sense their votaries are poets1 who see 
the unity of being throb  in the        
particular fact4    ,now1 so far as the 
particular sciences are concerned1 ,i   
presume that no  one will deny the      
supreme power of these colligating      

ideas4 ,the sciences  do not grow by a  
process of empiricism1 which rambles    
tentatively and  blindly from fact to   
fact1 unguided of any hypothesis4 ,but  
if they do  not1 if1 on the contrary1   
each science is ruled by its own        
hypothesis1  and uses that hypothesis to
 bind its facts together1 then the      
question  arises1 are there no wider    
colligating principles amongst these    
hypotheses themselves8 ,are the sciences
 independent of each other1 or  is their
 independence only surface appearance8  
,this is the question  which philosophy 
asks1 and the sciences themselves by    
their progress  suggest a positive      
answer to it4    ,the knowledge of the  
world which the sciences are building is
 not a  chaotic structure4 ,by their    
apparently independent efforts1 the     
outer  kosmos is gradually reproduced in
 the mind of man1 and the temple of     
truth is silently rising4 ,we may not as
 yet be able to connect wing with  wing1
 or to declare definitely the law of the

 whole4 ,the logical order  of the      
hypotheses of the various sciences1 the 
true connection of these  categories of 
constructive thought1 may yet be        
uncertain4 ,but1 still1  there is such  
an order and connection3 the whole      
building has its  plan1 which becomes   
more and more intelligible as it        
approaches to its  completion4 ,beneath 
all the differences1 there are          
fundamental  principles which give to   
human thought a definite unity of       
movement and  direction4 ,there are     
architectonic conceptions which are     
guiding1 not  only the different        
sciences1 but all the modes of thought  
of an age4  ,there are intellectual     
media1 working hypotheses1 by means of  
which  successive centuries observe all 
that they see2 and these far-reaching   
constructive principles divide the      
history of mankind into distinct        
stages4 ,in a word1 there are dynasties 
of great ideas1 such as the idea  of    
development in our own day2 and these   

successively ascend the throne  of mind1
 and hold a sway over human thought     
which is well-nigh absolute4    ,now1 if
 this is so1 is it certain that all     
knowledge of these ruling  conceptions  
is impossible8 ,in other words1 is the  
attempt to construct a  philosophy      
absurd8 ,to say that it is1 to deny the 
possibility of  catching any glimpse of 
those regulative ideas1 which determine 
the main  tendencies of human thought1  
is to place the supreme directorate of  
the  human intelligence in the hands of 
a necessity which1 for us1 is  blind4   
,for1 an order that is hidden is        
equivalent to chance1 so far as         
knowledge is concerned2 and if we       
believe it to exist1 we do so in the    
face of the fact that all we see1 and   
all we can see1 is the opposite  of     
order1 namely lawlessness4 ,human       
knowledge1 on this view1 would be       
subjected to law in its details and     
compartments1 but to disorder as a      
whole4 ,thinking men would be organized 

into regiments2 but the regiments  would
 not constitute an army1 nor would there
 be any unity of movement  in the attack
 on the realm of ignorance4    ,but1    
such is not the conclusion to which the 
study of human history  leads1          
especially when we observe its movements
 on a large scale4 ,on the  contrary1 it
 is found that history falls into great 
epochs1 each of  which has its own      
peculiar characteristics4 ,ages1 as well
 as nations and  individuals1 have      
features of their own1 special and      
definite modes of  thinking and acting4 
,the movement of thought in each age has
 its own  direction1 which is determined
 by some characteristic and fundamental 
idea1 that fulfils for it the part of a 
working hypothesis in a  particular     
science4 ,it is the prerogative of the  
greatest leaders of  thought in an age  
to catch a glimpse of this ruling idea  
when it first  makes its appearance2 and
 it is their function1 not only to      
discover it1  but also to reveal it to  

others4 ,and1 in this way1 they are at  
once the  exponents of their time1 and  
its prophets4 ,they reveal that which is
  already a latent but active power--a  
tendency2 but they reveal it to a       
generation which will see the truth for 
itself1 only after the potency  which   
lies in it has manifested itself in     
national institutions and  habits of    
thought and action4 ,after the prophets 
have left us1 we  believe what they have
 said2 as long as they are with us1 they
 are  voices crying in the wilderness4  
,now1 these great ideas1 these harmonies
 of the world of mind1 first  strike    
upon the ear of the poet4 ,they seem to 
break into the  consciousness of man by 
the way of emotion4 ,they possess the   
seer2 he is  divinely mad1 and he utters
 words whose meaning passes his own     
calmer  comprehension4 ,what we find in 
,goethe1 we find also in a manner in    
,browning3 an insight which is also     
foresight1 a dim and partial            
consciousness of the truth about to be1 

sending its light before it1 and        
anticipating all systematic reflection4 
,it is an insight which appears  to be  
independent of all method2 but it is in 
nature1 though not in  sweep and        
expanse1 akin to the intuitive leap by  
which the scientific  explorer lights   
upon his new hypothesis4 ,we can find no
 other law for  it1 than that           
sensitiveness to the beauty and truth   
hidden in facts1  which much reflection 
on them generates for genius4 ,for these
 great  minds the muddy vesture is worn 
thin by thought1 and they hear the      
immortal music4    ,the poet soon passes
 his glowing torch into the hands of the
  philosopher4 ,after ,aeschylus and    
,sophocles1 come ,plato and ,aristotle4 
,the intuitive flash grows into a fixed 
light1 which rules the day4 ,the  great 
idea1 when reflected upon1 becomes a    
system4 ,when the light of  such an idea
 is steadily held on human affairs1 it  
breaks into endless  forms of beauty and
 truth4 ,the content of the idea is     

gradually evolved2  hypotheses spring   
out of it1 which are accepted as        
principles1 rule the  mind of an age1   
and give it its work and its character4 
,in this way1  ,hobbes and ,locke laid  
down1 or at least defined1 the          
boundaries within  which moved the      
thought of the eighteenth century2 and  
no one acquainted  with the poetic and  
philosophic thought of ,germany1 from   
,lessing to  ,goethe and from ,kant to  
,hegel1 can fail to find therein the    
source and  spring of the constitutive  
principles of our own intellectual1     
social1  political1 and religious life4 
,the virtues and the vices of the       
aristocracy of the world of mind        
penetrate downwards4 ,the works of the  
poets and philosophers1 so far from     
being filled with impracticable  dreams1
 are repositories of great suggestions  
which the world adopts for  its         
guidance4 ,the poets and philosophers   
lay no railroads and invent no          
telephones2 but they1 nevertheless1     

bring about that attitude towards       
nature1 man and ,god1 and generate those
 moods of the general mind1 from  which 
issue1 not only the scientific1 but also
 the social1 political and  religious   
forces of the age4    ,it is mainly on  
this account that ,i cannot treat the   
supreme utterances  of ,browning        
lightly1 or think it an idle task to try
 to connect them  into a philosophy of  
life4 ,in his optimism of love1 in his  
supreme  confidence in man's destiny and
 sense of the infinite height of the    
moral horizon of humanity1 in his       
courageous faith in the good1 and his   
profound conviction of the evanescence  
of evil1 there lies a vital  energy     
whose inspiring power we are yet        
destined to feel4 ,until a spirit       
kindred to his own arises1 able to push 
the battle further into the same        
region1 much of the practical task of   
the age that is coming will  consist in 
living out in detail the ideas to which 
he has given  expression4    ,i contend1

 then1 not merely for a larger charity1 
but for a truer view  of the facts of   
history than is evinced by those who set
 aside the poets  and philosophers as   
mere dreamers1 and conceive that the    
sciences alone  occupy the region of    
valid thought in all its extent4 ,there 
is a  universal brotherhood of which all
 who think are members4 ,not only do    
they all contribute to man's victory    
over his environment and himself1  but  
they contribute in a manner which is    
substantially the same4 ,there  are many
 points of superficial distinction      
between the processes of  philosophy and
 science1 and between both and the      
method of poetry2 but  the inner        
movement1 if one may so express it1 is  
identical in all4 ,it is  time to have  
done with the notion that philosophers  
occupy a  transcendent region beyond    
experience1 or spin spiritual cocoons by
 a  priori methods1 and with the view   
that scientific men are mere  empirics1 
building their structures from below by 

an a posteriori way  of thought1 without
 the help of any ruling conceptions4    
,all alike  endeavour to interpret      
experience1 but none of them get their  
principles  from it4                    
,but1 friends1    ,truth is within      
ourselves2 it takes no rise    ,from    
outward things1 whate'er you may        
believe4    ,there is room and need for 
the higher synthesis of philosophy and  
poetry1 as well as for the more palpable
 and1 at the same time1 more  narrow    
colligating conceptions of the          
systematic sciences4 ,the  quantitative 
relations between material objects1     
which are investigated  by mathematics  
and physics1 do not exhaust the realm of
 the knowable1 so  as to leave no place 
for the poet's1 or the philosopher's    
view of the  world4 ,the scientific     
investigator who1 like ,mr4 ,tyndall1 so
 far forgets  the limitations of his    
province as to use his natural data as  
premises  for religious or irreligious  
conclusions1 is as illogical as the     

popular  preacher1 who attacks          
scientific conclusions because they are 
not  consistent with his theological    
presuppositions4 ,looking only at their 
primary aspects1 we cannot say that     
religious presuppositions and the       
scientific interpretation of facts are  
either consistent or  inconsistent3 they
 are simply different4 ,their harmony or
 discord can  come only when the higher 
principles of philosophy have been fully
  developed1 and when the departmental  
ideas of the various sciences are       
organized into a view of the world as a 
whole4 ,and this is a task which  has   
not as yet been accomplished4 ,the      
forces from above and below have  not   
met4 ,when they do meet1 they will      
assuredly find that they are  friends1  
and not foes4 ,for philosophy can       
articulate its supreme  conception only 
by interaction with the sciences2 and1  
on the other  hand1 the progress of     
science1 and the effectiveness of its   
division of  labour1 are ultimately     

conditioned by its sensitiveness to the 
hints1  given by poets and philosophers1
 of those wider principles in virtue of 
which the world is conceived as a unity4
 ,there are many1 indeed1 who  cannot   
see the wood for the trees1 as there are
 others who cannot see  the trees for   
the wood4 ,carlyle cared nothing though 
science were able  to turn a sunbeam on 
its axis2 ,ruskin sees little in the    
advance of  invention except more       
slag-hills4 ,and scientific men have not
 been slow  to return with interest the 
scorn of the moralists4 ,but a more     
comprehensive view of the movement of   
human knowledge will show that  none    
labour in vain4 ,for its movement is    
that of a thing which grows6  and in    
growth there is always movement towards 
both unity and  difference4 ,science1 in
 pursuing truth into greater and greater
 detail1  is constrained by its growing 
consciousness of the unlimited wealth of
  its material1 to divide and isolate   
its interests more and more2 and  thus1 

at the same time1 the need for the poets
 and philosophers is  growing deeper1   
their task is becoming more difficult of
 achievement1  and a greater triumph in 
so far as it is achieved4 ,both science 
and  philosophy are working towards a   
more concrete view of the world as an   
articulated whole4 ,if we cannot quite  
say with ,browning that poets  never    
dream1 we may yet admit with gratitude  
that their dreams are an  inspiration4  
,sorrow is hard to bear1 and doubt is   
slow to clear4      ,each sufferer says 
his say1 his scheme of the weal and woe3
    ,but ,god has a few of us whom he   
whispers in the ear2      ,the rest may 
reason and welcome3 'tis we musicians   
know4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,abt ,vogler4  
,and side by side with the poetry that  
grasps the truth in immediate           
intuition1 there is also the uniting    
activity of philosophy1 which1  catching
 up its hints1 carries back our         
scattered knowledge of the  facts and   
laws of nature to the principle upon    

which they rest2 and1 on  the other     
hand1 develops that principle so as to  
fill all the details of  knowledge with 
a significance which they cannot have in
 themselves1 but  only as seen sub      
specie aeternitatis4,b    ,footnote ,b3 
,the ,problem of ,philosophy at the     
,present ,time1 by  ,professor ,caird4  
,so far we have spoken of the function  
of philosophy in the  interpretation of 
the phenomena of the outer world4 ,it   
bears witness to  the unity of          
knowledge1 and strives by the           
constructive criticism of the           
categories of science to render that    
unity explicit4 ,its function is1 no    
doubt1 valid and important1 for it is   
evident that man cannot rest  content   
with fragmentary knowledge4 ,but still1 
it might be objected that  it is        
premature at present to endeavour to    
formulate that unity4  ,physics1        
chemistry1 biology1 and the other       
sciences1 while they  necessarily       
presuppose the unity of knowledge1 and  

attempt in their own  way and in their  
own sphere to discover it1 are making   
very satisfactory  headway without      
raising any of the desperate questions  
of metaphysics as  to its ultimate      
nature4 ,for them it is not likely to   
matter for a long  time to come whether 
,optimism or ,pessimism1 ,materialism or
 ,idealism1 or  none of them1 be true4  
,in any case the principles they        
establish are  valid4 ,physical         
relations always remain true2 ginger    
will be hot i' the  mouth1 and there    
will be more cakes and ale4 ,it is only 
when the  sciences break down beneath   
the weight of knowledge and prove       
themselves  inadequate1 that it becomes 
necessary or advantageous to seek for   
more  comprehensive principles4 ,at     
present is it not better to persevere in
  the way of science1 than to be seduced
 from it by the desire to solve         
ultimate problems1 which1 however       
reasonable and pressing1 seem to be     
beyond our power to answer8    ,such    

reasonings are not convincing2 still1 so
 far as natural science is  concerned1  
they seem to indicate that there might  
be no great harm in  ignoring1 for a    
time1 its dependence on the wider       
aspects of human  thought4 ,there is no 
department of nature so limited1 but    
that it may  more than satisfy the      
largest ambition of the individual for  
knowledge4  ,but this attitude of       
indifference to ultimate questions is   
liable at any  moment to be disturbed4  
,just when we are safest1 there's a     
sunset-touch1    ,a fancy from a        
flower-bell1 some one's death1    ,a    
chorus-ending from ,euripides1--    ,and
 that's enough for fifty hopes and fears
    ,as old and new at once as nature's 
self1    ,to rap and knock and enter in 
our soul1    ,take hands and dance      
there1 a fantastic ring1    ,round the  
ancient idol1 on his base again1--      
,the grand ,perhaps6 ,we look on        
helplessly4    ,there the old           
misgivings1 crooked questions are4,a    

,footnote ,a3 ,bishop ,blougram's       
,apology4    ,amongst the facts of our  
experience which cry most loudly for    
some kind  of solution1 are those of our
 own inner life4 ,we are in pressing    
need of  a working hypothesis wherewith 
to understand ourselves1 as well as of  
a theory which will explain the         
revolution of the planets1 or the       
structure of an oyster4 ,and this self  
of ours intrudes everywhere4 ,it is     
only by resolutely shutting our eyes1   
that we can forget the part it  plays   
even in the outer world of natural      
science4 ,so active is it in the        
constitution of things1 so dependent is 
their nature on the nature of  our      
knowing faculties1 that scientific men  
themselves admit that their  surest     
results are only hypothetical4 ,their   
truth depends on laws of  thought which 
natural science does not investigate4   
,but quite apart from this doctrine of  
the relativity of knowledge1 which  is  
generally first acknowledged and then   

ignored1 every man1 the worst  and the  
best alike1 is constrained to take some 
practical attitude  towards his fellows4
 ,man is never alone with nature1 and   
the connections  with his fellows which 
sustain his intelligent life1 are liable
 to bring  him into trouble1 if they are
 not to some degree understood4         
,there's power in me1 said ,bishop      
,blougram1 and will to dominate         
,which ,i must exercise1 they hurt me   
else4    ,the impulse to know is only a 
phase of the more general impulse to act
  and to be4 ,the specialist's devotion 
to his science is his answer to a       
demand1 springing from his practical    
need1 that he realize himself  through  
action4 ,he does not construct his      
edifice of knowledge1 as the  bird is   
supposed to build its nest1 without any 
consciousness of an end  to be attained 
thereby4 ,even if1 like ,lessing1 he    
values the pursuit of  truth for its own
 sake1 still what stings him into effort
 is the sense  that in truth only can he

 find the means of satisfying and       
realizing  himself4 ,beneath all man's  
activities1 as their very spring and    
source1  there lies some dim conception 
of an end to be attained4 ,this is his  
moral consciousness1 which no neglect   
will utterly suppress4 ,all human       
effort1 the effort to know like every   
other1 conceals within it a  reference  
to some good1 conceived at the time as  
supreme and complete2  and this1 in     
turn1 contains a theory both of man's   
self and of the  universe on which he   
must impress his image4 ,every man must 
have his  philosophy of life1 simply    
because he must act2 though1 in many    
cases1  that philosophy may be latent   
and unconscious1 or1 at least1 not a    
definite object of reflection4 ,the most
 elementary question directed at  his   
moral consciousness will at once elicit 
the universal element4 ,we  cannot ask  
whether an action be right or wrong     
without awakening all the  echoes of    
metaphysics4 ,as there is no object on  

the earth's surface  whose equilibrium  
is not fixed by its relation to the     
earth's centre1 so  the most elementary 
moral judgment1 the simplest choice1 the
 most  irrational vagaries of a will    
calling itself free and revelling in its
  supposed lawlessness1 are dominated by
 the conception of a universal  good4   
,everything that a man does is an       
attempt to articulate his view of  this 
good1 with a particular content4 ,hence1
 man as a moral agent is  always the    
centre of his own horizon1 and stands   
right beneath the  zenith4 ,little as he
 may be aware of it1 his relation       
between himself  and his supreme good is
 direct4 ,and he orders his whole world 
from his  point of view1 just as he     
regards ,east and ,west as meeting at   
the spot  on which he stands4 ,whether  
he will or not1 he cannot but regard the
  universe of men and objects as the    
instrument of his purposes4 ,he         
extracts all its interest and meaning   
from himself4 ,his own shadow falls     

upon it all4 ,if he is selfish1 that is1
 if he interprets the self that  is in  
him as vulturous1 then the whole outer  
world and his fellow-men  fall for him  
into the category of carrion1 or        
not-carrion4 ,if he knows  himself as   
spirit1 as the energy of love or reason1
 if the prime  necessity he recognizes  
within himself is the necessity to be   
good1 then  the universe becomes for him
 an instrument wherewith moral character
 is  evolved4 ,in all cases alike1 his  
life-work is an effort to rob the world 
of its alien character1 and to translate
 it into terms of himself4    ,we are in
 the habit of fixing a chasm between a  
man's deeds and his  metaphysical1      
moral1 and religious creed2 and even of 
thinking that he  can get on in a       
sufficiently prosperous manner1 without 
any such  creed4 ,can we not digest     
without a theory of peptics1 or do      
justice  without constructing an ideal  
state8 ,the truest answer1 though it is 
an  answer easily misunderstood1 is that

 we cannot4 ,in the sphere of  morality1
 at least1 action1 depends on knowledge3
 ,socrates was right in  saying that    
virtuous conduct ignorant of its end is 
accidental4 ,man's  action1 so far as it
 is good or evil1 is shot through and   
through with  his intelligence4 ,and    
once we clearly distinguish between     
belief and  profession1 between the     
motives which really impel our actions  
and the  psychological account of them  
with which we may deceive ourselves and 
others1 we shall be obliged to confess  
that we always act our creed4 ,a  man's 
conduct1 just because he is man1 is     
generated by his view of  himself and   
his world4 ,he who cheats his neighbour 
believes in  tortuosity1 and1 as        
,carlyle says1 has the ,supreme ,quack  
for his ,god4 ,no  one ever acted       
without some dim1 though perhaps foolish
 enough1  half-belief that the world was
 at his back2 whether he plots good or  
evil he always has ,god as an           
accomplice4 ,and this is why character  

cannot be really bettered by any        
peddling process4 ,moralists and        
preachers are right in insisting on the 
need of a new life1 that is1 of  a new  
principle1 as the basis of any real     
improvement2 and such a  principle      
necessarily carries in it a new attitude
 towards men1 and a  new interpretation 
of the moral agent himself and of his   
world4    ,thus1 wherever we touch the  
practical life of man1 we are at once   
referred to a metaphysic4 ,his creed is 
the heart of his character1 and  it     
beats as a pulse in every action4       
,hence1 when we deal with moral  life1  
we must start from the centre4 ,in our  
intellectual life1 it is  not obviously 
unreasonable to suppose that there is no
 need of  endeavouring to reach upward  
to a constructive idea1 which makes the 
universe one1 but when we act1 such     
self-deception is not possible4 ,as a   
moral agent1 and a moral agent man      
always is1 he not only may1 but must    
have his working hypothesis1 and that   

hypothesis must be all-inclusive4  ,as  
there are natural laws which connect    
man's physical movements with  the whole
 system of nature1 so there are         
spiritual relations which  connect him  
with the whole spiritual universe2 and  
spiritual relations  are always direct4 
,now it follows from this1 that1        
whenever we consider man as a moral     
agent1 that is1 as an agent who converts
 ideas into actual things1 the  need of 
a philosophy becomes evident4 ,instead  
of condemning ideal  interpretations of 
the universe as useless dreams1 the     
foolish products  of an ambition of     
thought which refuses to respect the    
limits of the  human intellect1 we shall
 understand that philosophers and poets 
are  really striving with greater       
clearness of vision1 and in a more      
sustained manner1 to perform the task   
which all men are obliged to  perform in
 some way or other4 ,man subsists as a  
natural being only on  condition of     
comprehending1 to some degree1 the      

conditions of his  natural life1 and the
 laws of his natural environment4 ,from 
earliest  youth upwards1 he is learning 
that fire will burn and water drown1 and
  that he can play with the elements    
with safety only within the sphere  lit 
up by his intelligence4 ,nature will not
 pardon the blunders of  ignorance1 nor 
tamely submit to every hasty            
construction4 ,and this truth  is still 
more obvious in relation to man's moral 
life4 ,here1 too1 and in  a pre-eminent 
degree1 conduct waits on intelligence4  
,deep will only  answer unto deep2 and  
great characters only come with much    
meditation on  the things that are      
highest4 ,and1 on the other hand1 the   
misconstruction  of life's meaning      
flings man back upon himself1 and makes 
his action  nugatory4 ,byronism was     
driven howling home again1 says the     
poet4 ,the  universe will not be        
interpreted in terms of sense1 nor be   
treated as  carrion1 as ,carlyle said4  
,there is no rest in the ,everlasting   

,no1  because it is a wrong view of man 
and of the world4 ,or rather1 the       
negative is not everlasting2 and man is 
driven onwards by despair1  through the 
,centre of ,indifference1 till he finds 
a ,universal ,yea--a  true view of his  
relation to the universe4    ,there is  
given to men the largest choice to do or
 to let alone1 at every  step in life4  
,but there is one necessity which they  
cannot escape1  because they carry it   
within them4 ,they absolutely must try  
to make the  world their home1 find some
 kind of reconciling idea between       
themselves  and the forces amidst which 
they move1 have some kind of working    
hypothesis of life4 ,nor is it possible 
to admit that they will find rest  till 
they discover a true hypothesis4 ,if    
they do not seek it by  reflection--if1 
in their ardour to penetrate into the   
secrets of nature1  they forget         
themselves2 if they allow the supreme   
facts of their moral  life to remain in 
the confusion of tradition1 and seek to 

compromise the  demands of their spirit 
by sacrificing to the idols of their    
childhood's  faith2 if they fortify     
themselves in the indifference of       
agnosticism1--they must reap the harvest
 of their irreflection4  ,ignorance is  
not harmless in matters of character any
 more than in the  concerns of our outer
 life4 ,there are in national and in    
individual  history seasons of despair1 
and that despair1 when it is deepest1 is
  ever found to be the shadow of moral  
failure--the result of going out  into  
action with a false view of the purpose 
of human life1 and a wrong  conception  
of man's destiny4 ,at such times1 the   
people have not  understood themselves  
or their environment1 and1 in           
consequence1 they  come into collision  
with their own welfare4 ,there is no    
experiment so  dangerous to an age or   
people1 as that of relegating to the    
common  ignorance of unreasoning faith  
the deep concerns of moral conduct2 and 
there is no attitude more pitiable than 

that which leads it to turn a  deaf ear 
and the lip of contempt towards those   
philosophers who carry  the spirit of   
scientific inquiry into these higher    
regions1 and  endeavour to establish for
 mankind1 by the irrefragable processes 
of  reason1 those principles on which   
rest all the great elements of man's    
destiny4 ,we cannot act without a theory
 of life2 and to whom shall we  look for
 such a theory1 except to those who1    
undaunted by the  difficulties of the   
task1 ask once more1 and strive to      
answer1 those  problems which man cannot
 entirely escape1 as long as he         
continues to  think and act8            
,,chapter ,,iii4    ,,browning',s       
,,place ,,in ,,english ,,poetry4        
,but there's a great contrast between   
him and me4 ,he seems      very content 
with life1 and takes much satisfaction  
in the      world4 ,it's a very strange 
and curious spectacle to behold      a  
man in these days so confidently        
cheerful4 7,carlyle47    ,it has been   

said of ,carlyle1 who may for many      
reasons be considered as  our poet's    
twin figure1 that he laid the           
foundations of his world of  thought in 
,sartor ,resartus1 and never enlarged   
them4 ,his ,orientirung  was over before
 he was forty years old--as is1 indeed1 
the case with  most men4 ,after that    
period there was no fundamental change  
in his view  of the world2 nothing which
 can be called a new idea disturbed his 
outline sketch of the universe4 ,he     
lived afterwards only to fill it in1    
showing with ever greater detail the    
relations of man to man in history1  and
 emphasizing with greater grimness the  
war of good and evil in human  action4  
,there is evidence1 it is true1 that the
 formulae from which he  more or less   
consciously set forth1 ultimately proved
 too narrow for  him1 and we find him   
beating himself in vain against their   
limitations2  still1 on the whole1      
,carlyle speculated within the range and
 influence  of principles adopted early 

in life1 and never abandoned for higher 
or  richer ideas1 or substantially      
changed4    ,in these respects1 there is
 considerable resemblance between       
,carlyle and  ,browning4 ,browning1     
indeed1 fixed his point of view and     
chose his  battleground still earlier2  
and he held it resolutely to his life's 
close4 ,in his ,pauline and in his      
,epilogue to ,asolando we catch the     
triumphant tone of a single idea1 which1
 during all the long interval1  had     
never sunk into silence4 ,like      ,the
 wise thrush1 he sings each song twice  
over1    ,lest you should think he never
 could recapture    ,the first fine     
careless rapture6,a    ,footnote ,a3    
,home ,thoughts from ,abroad4           
,moreover1 these two poets1 if ,i may be
 permitted to call ,carlyle a poet1     
taught the same truth4 ,they were both  
witnesses to the presence of ,god  in   
the spirit of man1 and looked at this   
life in the light of another  and a     
higher2 or rather1 they penetrated      

through the husk of time and  saw that  
eternity is even here1 a tranquil       
element underlying the noisy            
antagonisms of man's earthly life4 ,both
 of them1 like ,plato's  philosopher1   
made their home in the sunlight of ideal
 truth3 they were  not denizens of the  
cave taking the things of sense for     
those of  thought1 shadows for          
realities1 echoes for the voices of men4
    ,but1 while ,carlyle fought his way 
into this region1 ,browning found       
himself in it from the first2 while     
,carlyle bought his freedom with a      
great sum1 the poet was free born4      
,carlyle saw the old world faith  break 
up around him1 and its fragments never  
ceased to embarrass his  path4 ,he was  
at the point of transition1 present at  
the collision of  the old and new1 and  
in the midst of the confusion4 ,he1 more
 than any  other ,english writer1 was   
the instrument of the change from the   
,deism of  the eighteenth century and   
the despair which followed it1 into the 

larger faith of our own4 ,but1 for      
,browning1 there was a new heaven and a 
new earth1 and old things had passed    
away4 ,this notable contrast between    
the two men1 arising at once from their 
disposition and their moral             
environment1 had far-reaching effects on
 their lives and their writings4  ,but  
their affinity was deeper than the      
difference1 for they are  essentially   
heirs and exponents of the same movement
 in ,english thought4    ,the main      
characteristic of that movement is that 
it is both moral and  religious1 a      
devotion to ,god and the active service 
of man1 a  recognition at once of the   
rights of nature and of spirit4 ,it does
 not1  on the one hand1 raise the       
individual as a natural being to the    
throne  of the universe1 and make all   
forces social1 political1 and spiritual 
stoop to his rights2 nor does it1 on the
 other hand1 deny these rights1  or make
 the individual a mere instrument of    
society4 ,it at least  attempts to      

reconcile the fundamental facts of human
 nature1 without  compromising any of   
them4 ,it cannot be called either       
individualistic or  socialistic2 but it 
strives to be both at once1 so that both
 man and  society mean more to this age 
than they ever did before4 ,the narrow  
formulae that cramped the thought of the
 period which preceded ours have  been  
broken through4 ,no one can pass from   
the hedonists and  individualists to    
,carlyle and ,browning without feeling  
that these two  men are representatives 
of new forces in politics1 in religion1 
and in  literature1--forces which will  
undoubtedly effect momentous changes    
before they are caught again and fixed  
in creeds4    ,that a new epoch in      
,english thought was veritably opened by
 them is  indicated by the surprise and 
bewilderment they occasioned at their   
first appearance4 ,carlyle had ,emerson 
to break his loneliness and  ,browning  
had ,rossetti2 but1 to most other men at
 that day1 ,sartor and  ,pauline were   

all but unintelligible4 ,the general    
,english reader could  make little of   
the strange figures that had broken into
 the realm of  literature2 and the value
 and significance of their work1 as well
 as its  originality1 will be recognized
 better by ourselves if we take a       
hurried  glance at the times which lay  
behind them4 ,its main worth will be    
found  to lie in the fact that they     
strove to bring together again certain  
fundamental elements1 on which the moral
 life of man must always rest1  and     
which had fallen asunder in the ages    
which preceded their own4    ,the       
whole-hearted1 instinctive life of the  
,elizabethan age was narrowed  and      
deepened into the severe one-sidedness  
of ,puritanism1 which cast on  the      
bright earth the sombre shadow of a life
 to come4 ,england was given  up for a  
time to a magnificent half-truth4 ,it   
did not        ,wait    ,the slow and   
sober uprise all around    ,o' the      
building1    but        ,ran up right to

 roof    ,a sudden marvel1 piece of     
perfectness4,a    ,footnote ,a3,prince  
,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,after       
,puritanism came ,charles the ,second   
and the rights of the flesh1  which     
rights were gradually clarified1 till   
they contradicted themselves  in the    
benevolent self-seeking of altruistic   
hedonism4 ,david ,hume led  the world   
out of the shadow of eternity1 and      
showed that it was only an  object of   
the five senses2 or of six1 if we add   
that of hunger4 ,the  divine element was
 explained away1 and the proper study of
 mankind was1  not man1 as that age     
thought1 but man reduced to his beggarly
  elements--a being animated solely by  
the sensuous springs of pleasure  and   
pain1 which should properly1 as ,carlyle
 thought1 go on all fours1  and not lay 
claim to the dignity of being moral4    
,all things were reduced  to what they  
seemed1 robbed of their suggestiveness1 
changed into  definite1 sharp-edged1    
mutually exclusive particulars4 ,the    

world was an  aggregate of isolated     
facts1 or1 at the best1 a mechanism into
 which  particulars were fitted by      
force2 and society was a gathering of   
mere  individuals1 repelling each other 
by their needs and greed1 with a ring   
of natural necessity to bind them       
together4 ,it was a fit time for        
political economy to supplant ethics4   
,there was nowhere an ideal which  could
 lift man above his natural self1 and   
teach him1 by losing it1 to  find a     
higher life4 ,and1 as a necessary       
consequence1 religion gave way  to      
naturalism and poetry to prose4         
,after this age of prose came our own   
day4 ,the new light first flushed  the  
modern world in the writings of the     
philosopher-poets of ,germany3  ,kant   
and ,lessing1 ,fichte and ,schiller1    
,goethe and ,hegel4 ,they brought  about
 the ,copernican change4 ,for them this 
world of the five senses1 of  space and 
time and natural cause1 instead of being
 the fixed centre  around which all     

things revolved1 was explicable only in 
its relation to  a system which was     
spiritual2 and man found his meaning in 
his  connection with society1 the life  
of which stretched endlessly far back   
into the past and forward into the      
future4 ,psychology gave way to         
metaphysics4 ,the universal element in  
the thought of man was revealed4        
,instead of mechanism there was life4 ,a
 new spirit of poetry and  philosophy   
brought ,god back into the world1       
revealed his incarnation in  the mind of
 man1 and changed nature into a pellucid
 garment within which  throbbed the love
 divine4 ,the antagonism of hard        
alternatives was at an  end2 the        
universe was spirit-woven and every     
smallest object was filled  full of     
magical music1 as they freight a star   
with light4 ,there were no  longer two  
worlds1 but one2 for the other world    
penetrated this1 and  was revealed in   
it3 thought and sense1 spirit and       
nature1 were  reconciled4 ,these        

thinkers made room for man1 as against  
the ,puritans1  and for ,god1 as against
 their successors4 ,instead of the      
hopeless  struggle of ascetic morality1 
which divides man against himself1 they 
awakened him to that sense of his       
reconciliation with his ideal which     
religion gives3 ,psyche drinks its      
stream and forgets her sorrows4    ,now1
 this is just the soil where art blooms4
 ,for what is beauty but the  harmony of
 thought and sense1 a universal meaning 
caught and tamed in  the particular8 ,to
 the poet each little flower that blooms
 has endless  worth1 and is regarded as 
perfect and complete2 for he sees that  
the  spirit of the whole dwells in it4  
,it whispers to him the mystery of the  
infinite2 it is a pulse in which beats  
the universal heart4 ,the true  poet    
finds ,god everywhere2 for the ideal is 
actual wherever beauty  dwells4 ,and    
there is the closest affinity between   
art and religion1 as  its history       
proves1 from ,job and ,isaiah1 ,homer   

and ,aeschylus1 to our own  poet2 for   
both art and religion lift us1 each in  
its own way1 above  one-sidedness and   
limitation1 to the region of the        
universal4 ,the one  draws ,god to man1 
brings perfection here1 and reaches its 
highest form  in the joyous life of     
,greece1 where the natural world was    
clothed with  almost supernatural       
beauty2 the other lifts man to ,god1 and
 finds this  life good because it       
reflects and suggests the greater life  
that is to  be4 ,both poetry and        
religion are a reconciliation and a     
satisfaction2  both lift man above the  
contradictions of limited existence1 and
 place  him in the region of            
peace--where1        with an eye made   
quiet by the power    ,of harmony1 and  
the deep power of joy1    ,he sees into 
the life of things4,a    ,footnote ,a3  
,tintern ,abbey4    ,in this sense1 it  
will be always true of the poet1 as it  
is of the  religious man1 that          
the world1    ,the beauty and the wonder

 and the power1    ,the shapes of       
things1 their colours1 lights and       
shades1    ,changes1 surprises1,a       
,footnote ,a3 ,fra ,lippo ,lippi4       
lead him back to ,god1 who made it all4 
,he is essentially a witness to the     
divine element in the world4    ,it is  
the rediscovery of this divine element1 
after its expulsion by the  age of      
,deism and doubt1 that has given to this
 century its poetic  grandeur4 ,unless  
we regard ,burke as the herald of the   
new era1 we may  say that ,england first
 felt the breath of the returning spirit
 in the  poems of ,shelley and          
,wordsworth4      ,the ,one remains1 the
 many change and pass2      ,heaven's   
light for ever shines1 earth's shadows  
fly2    ,life1 like a dome of           
many-coloured glass1      ,stains the   
white radiance of eternity1      ,until 
death tramples it to fragments4,b       
,footnote ,b3 ,adonais4    ,and ,i have 
felt1 says ,wordsworth1      ,a presence
 that disturbs me with the joy    ,of   

elevated thoughts2 a sense sublime      
,of something far more deeply           
interfused1    ,whose dwelling is the   
light of setting suns1    ,and the round
 ocean and the living air1    ,and the  
blue sky1 and in the mind of man3    ,a 
motion and a spirit1 that impels    ,all
 thinking things1 all objects of all    
thought1    ,and rolls through all      
things4,c    ,footnote ,c3 ,tintern     
,abbey4    ,such notes as these could   
not be struck by ,pope1 nor be          
understood by  the age of prose4 ,still 
they are only the prelude of the fuller 
song of  ,browning4 ,whether he be a    
greater poet than these or not1--a      
question  whose answer can benefit      
nothing1 for each poet has his own      
worth1 and  reflects by his own facet   
the universal truth--his poetry contains
 in it  larger elements1 and the promise
 of a deeper harmony from the harsher   
discords of his more stubborn material4 
,even where their spheres touch1        
,browning held by the artistic truth in 

a different manner4 ,to ,shelley1       
perhaps the most intensely spiritual of 
all our poets1      ,that light whose   
smile kindles the universe1    ,that    
beauty in which all things work and     
move1    was an impassioned sentiment1 a
 glorious intoxication2 to ,browning it 
was a conviction1 reasoned and willed1  
possessing the whole man1 and  held in  
the sober moments when the heart is     
silent4 ,the heavy and the  weary weight
 of all this unintelligible world was   
lightened for  ,wordsworth1 only when he
 was far from the haunts of men1 and    
free from  the dreary intercourse of    
daily life2 but ,browning weaved his    
song of  hope right amidst the wail and 
woe of man's sin and wretchedness4 ,for 
,wordsworth sensations sweet1 felt in   
the blood and felt along the  heart1    
passed into his purer mind with tranquil
 restoration1 and issued  in a serene   
and blessed mood2 but ,browning's poetry
 is not merely the  poetry of the       
emotions however sublimated4 ,he starts 

with the hard  repellent fact1 crushes  
by sheer force of thought its stubborn  
rind1  presses into it1 and brings forth
 the truth at its heart4 ,the greatness 
of ,browning's poetry is in its         
perceptive grip3 and in nothing is he   
more original than in the manner in     
which he takes up his task1 and  assumes
 his artistic function4 ,in his         
postponement of feeling to thought  we  
recognize a new poetic method1 the      
significance of which we cannot         
estimate as yet4 ,but1 although we may  
fail to apprehend the meaning of  the   
new method he employs1 we cannot fail to
 perceive the fact1 which is  not less  
striking1 that the region from which he 
quarries his material  is new4    ,and  
yet he does not break away abruptly from
 his predecessors4 ,his  kinship with   
them1 in that he recognizes the presence
 of ,god in nature1  is everywhere      
evident4 ,we quote one passage1 scarcely
 to be surpassed by  any of our poets1  
as indicative of his power of dealing   

with the  supernaturalism of nature4    
,the centre-fire heaves underneath the  
earth1    ,and the earth changes like a 
human face2    ,the molten ore burst up 
among the rocks1    ,winds into the     
stone's heart1 outbranches bright    ,in
 hidden mines1 spots barren river-beds1 
,crumbles into fine sand where sunbeams 
bask--    ,god joys therein4 ,the wroth 
sea's waves are edged    ,with foam1    
white as the bitter lip of hate1        
,when1 in the solitary waste1 strange   
groups    ,of young volcanos come up1   
cyclops-like1    ,staring together with 
their eyes on flame--    ,god tastes a  
pleasure in their uncouth pride4        
,then all is still2 earth is a wintry   
clod3    ,but spring-wind1 like a       
dancing psaltress1 passes    ,over its  
breast to waken it1 rare verdure        
,buds tenderly upon rough banks1 between
    ,the withered tree-roots and the    
cracks of frost1    ,like a smile       
striving with a wrinkled face4          
99       99       99       99       99  

,above1 birds fly in merry flocks1 the  
lark    ,soars up and up1 shivering for 
very joy2    ,afar the ocean sleeps2    
white fishing gulls    ,flit where the  
strand is purple with its tribe    ,of  
nested limpets2 savage creatures seek   
,their loves in wood and plain--and ,god
 renews    ,his ancient rapture4 ,thus  
,he dwells in all1    ,from life's      
minute beginnings1 up at last    ,to    
man--the consummation of this scheme    
,of being1 the completion of this sphere
 of life4,a    ,footnote ,a3            
,paracelsus4    ,such passages as these 
contain neither the rapt1 reflective    
calm of  ,wordsworth's solemn tones1 nor
 the ethereal intoxication of ,shelley's
  spirit-music2 but there is in them the
 same consciousness of the  infinite    
meaning of natural facts4 ,and beyond   
this1 there is also1 in  the closing    
lines1 a hint of a new region for art4  
,shelley and  ,wordsworth were the poets
 of ,nature1 as all truly say2 ,browning
 was the  poet of the human soul4 ,for  

,shelley1 the beauty in which all things
 work  and move was well-nigh quenched  
by the eclipsing curse of the birth of  
man2 and ,wordsworth lived beneath the  
habitual sway of fountains1  meadows1   
hills and groves1 while he kept grave   
watch o'er man's  mortality1 and saw the
 shades of the prison-house gather round
 him4 ,from  the life of man they       
garnered nought but mad indignation1 or 
mellowed  sadness4 ,it was a foolish and
 furious strife with unknown powers     
fought  in the dark1 from which the poet
 kept aloof1 for he could not see that  
,god dwelt amidst the chaos4 ,but       
,browning found harmony in immortal     
souls1 spite of the muddy vesture of    
decay4 ,he found nature crowned in  man1
 though man was mean and miserable4 ,at 
the heart of the most  wretched abortion
 of wickedness there was the mark of the
 loving touch  of ,god4 ,shelley turned 
away from man2 ,wordsworth paid him rare
 visits1  like those of a being from a  
strange world1 made wise and sad with   

looking at him from afar2 ,browning     
dwelt with him4 ,he was a comrade in    
the fight1 and ever in the van of man's 
endeavour bidding him be of good  cheer4
 ,he was a witness for ,god in the      
midmost dark1 where meet in  deathless  
struggle the elemental powers of right  
and wrong4 ,for ,god is  present for    
him1 not only in the order and beauty of
 nature1 but in the  world of will and  
thought4 ,beneath the caprice and wilful
 lawlessness of  individual action1 he  
saw a beneficent purpose which cannot   
fail1 but  has its way with man1 not he 
with it4    ,now this was a new world   
for poetry to enter into2 a new depth to
  penetrate with hope2 and ,browning was
 the first of modern poets to           
,stoop    ,into the vast and unexplored 
abyss1                   ,strenuously   
beating    ,the silent boundless regions
 of the sky4    ,it is also a new world 
for religion and morality2 and to       
understand it  demands a deeper insight 
into the fundamental elements of human  

life4    ,to show this in a proximately 
adequate manner1 we should be obliged1  
as  already hinted1 to connect the      
poet's work1 not merely with that of his
  ,english predecessors1 but with the   
deeper and more comprehensive  movement 
of the thought of ,germany since the    
time of ,kant4 ,it would be  necessary  
to indicate how1 by breaking a way      
through the narrow creeds  and equally  
narrow scepticism of the previous age1  
the new spirit  extended the horizon of 
man's active and contemplative life1 and
 made  him free of the universe1 and the
 repository of the past conquests of    
his race4 ,it proposed to man the great 
task of solving the problem of          
humanity1 but it strengthened him with  
its past achievement1 and  inspired him 
with the conviction of its boundless    
progress4 ,it is not  that the          
significance of the individual or the   
meaning of his endeavour  is lost4      
,under this new view1 man has still to  
fight for his own hand1  and it is still

 recognized that spirit is always       
burdened with its own  fate and cannot  
share its responsibility4 ,morality does
 not give way to  religion or pass into 
it1 and there is a sense in which the   
individual  is always alone in the      
sphere of duty4    ,but from this new   
point of view the individual is         
re-explained for us1  and we begin to   
understand that he is the focus of a    
light which is  universal1 one more     
incarnation of the mind of ,god4 ,his   
moral task is  no longer to seek his own
 in the old sense1 but to elevate       
humanity2 for  it is only by taking this
 circuit that he can come to his own4   
,such a  task as this is a sufficiently 
great one to occupy all time2 but it is 
to humanity in him that the task        
belongs1 and it will therefore be       
achieved4 ,this is no new one-sidedness4
 ,it does not mean1 to those who        
comprehend it1 the supplanting of the   
individual thought by the  collective   
thought1 or the substitution of humanity

 for man4 ,the  universal is in the     
particular1 the fact is the law4 ,there 
is no  collision between the whole and  
the part1 for the whole lives in the    
part4 ,as each individual plant has its 
own life and beauty and worth1  although
 the universe has conspired to bring it 
into being2 so also1 and  in a far      
higher degree1 man has his own duty and 
his own dignity1  although he is but the
 embodiment of forces1 natural and      
spiritual1  which have come from the    
endless past4 ,like a letter in a word1 
or a  word in a sentence1 he gets his   
meaning from his context2 but the       
sentence is meaningless without him4    
,rays from all round converge in  him1  
and he has no power except that which   
has been lent to him2 but  all the same1
 nay1 all the more1 he must      ,think 
as if man never thought before6    ,act 
as if all creation hung attent    ,on   
the acting of such faculty as his4,a    
,footnote ,a3 ,prince                   
,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,his         

responsibility1 his individuality1 is   
not less1 but greater1 in that  he can1 
in his thought and moral action1 command
 the forces that the  race has stored   
for him4 ,the great man speaks the      
thought of his people1  and his         
invocations as their priest are just the
 expression of their  dumb yearnings4   
,and even the mean and insignificant man
 is what he is1  in virtue of the       
humanity which is blurred and distorted 
within him2 and  he can shed his        
insignificance and meanness1 only by    
becoming a truer  vehicle for that      
humanity4    ,thus1 when spirit is      
spiritually discerned1 it is seen that  
man is bound  to man in a union closer  
than any physical organism can show2    
while the  individual1 in the old sense 
of a being opposed to society and       
opposed to the world1 is found to be a  
fiction of abstract thought1  not       
discoverable anywhere1 because not real4
 ,and1 on the other hand1  society is no
 longer collective1 but so organic that 

the whole is  potentially in every      
part--an organism of organisms4    ,the 
influence of this organic idea in every 
department of thought which  concerns   
itself with man is not to be measured4  
,it is already fast  changing all the   
practical sciences of man--economics1   
politics1 ethics  and religion4 ,the    
material1 being newly interpreted1 is   
wrought into a  new purpose1 and        
revelation is once more bringing about a
 reformation4  ,but human action in its 
ethical aspect is1 above all1 charged   
with a new  significance4 ,the idea of  
duty has received an expansion almost   
illimitable1 and man himself has thereby
 attained new worth and  dignity--for   
what is duty except a dignity and       
opportunity1 man's chance  of being     
good8 ,when we contrast this view of the
 life of man as the life  of humanity in
 him1 with the old individualism1 we may
 say that morality  also has at last1 in
 ,bacon's phrase1 passed from the narrow
 seas into  the open ocean4 ,and after  

all1 the greatest achievement of our age
 may  be not that it has established the
 sciences of nature1 but that it has    
made possible the science of man4 ,we   
have1 at length1 reached a point of     
view from which we may hope to          
understand ourselves4 ,law1 order1      
continuity1 in human action--the        
essential pre-conditions of a moral     
science--were beyond the reach of an    
individualistic theory4 ,it left to     
ethical writers no choice but that of   
either sacrificing man to law1 or  law  
to man2 of denying either the particular
 or the universal element in  his       
nature4 ,naturalism did the first4      
,intuitionism1 the second4 ,the  former 
made human action the reaction of a     
natural agent on the  incitement of     
natural forces4 ,it made man a mere     
object1 a thing  capable of being       
affected by other things through his    
faculty of being  pained or pleased2 an 
object acting in obedience to motives   
that had an  external origin1 just like 

any other object4 ,the latter theory cut
 man  free from the world and his       
fellows1 endowed him with a will that   
had no  law1 and a conscience that was  
dogmatic2 and thereby succeeded in      
stultifying both law and morality4      
,but this new consciousness of the      
relation of man to mankind and the      
world takes him out of his isolation and
 still leaves him free4 ,it  relates men
 to one another in a humanity1 which is 
incarnated anew in  each of them4 ,it   
elevates the individual above the       
distinctions of time2  it treasures up  
the past in him as the active energy of 
his knowledge  and morality in the      
present1 and also as the potency of the 
ideal life  of the future4 ,on this     
view1 the individual and the race are   
possible  only through each other4      
,this fundamental change in our way of  
looking at the life of man is  bound to 
abolish the ancient landmarks and bring 
confusion for a time4  ,out of the new  
conception1 i4e41 out of the idea of    

evolution1 has  sprung the tumult as    
well as the strength of our time4 ,the  
present age  is moved with thoughts     
beyond the reach of its powers3 great   
aspirations  for the well-being of the  
people and high ideals of social welfare
 flash  across its mind1 to be followed 
again by thicker darkness4 ,there is    
hardly any limit to its despair or hope4
 ,it has a far larger faith in  the     
destiny of man than any of its          
predecessors1 and yet it is sure of     
hardly anything--except that the ancient
 rules of human life are false4         
,individualism is now detected as       
scepticism and moral chaos in disguise4 
,we know that the old methods are no    
longer of use4 ,we cannot now cut       
ourselves free of the fate of others4   
,the confused cries for help that  are  
heard on every hand are recognized as   
the voices of our brethren2  and we now 
know that our fate is involved in       
theirs1 and that the  problem of their  
welfare is also ours4 ,we grapple with  

social questions  at last1 and recognize
 that the issues of life and death lie  
in the  solution of these enigmas4      
,legislators and economists1 teachers of
  religion and socialists1 are all alike
 social reformers4 ,philanthropy  has   
taken a deeper meaning2 and all sects   
bear its banner4 ,but their  forces are 
beaten back by the social wretchedness1 
for they have not  found the sovereign  
remedy of a great idea2 and the result  
is in many  ways sad enough4 ,our social
 remedies often work mischief2 for we   
degrade  those whom we would elevate1   
and in our charity forget justice4 ,we  
insist on the rights of the people and  
the duties of the privileged  classes1  
and thereby tend to teach greed to those
 for whom we labour1  and goodness to   
those whom we condemn4 ,the task that   
lies before us is  plain3 we want the   
welfare of the people as a whole4 ,but  
we fail to  grasp the complex social    
elements together1 and our very remedies
 tend  to sunder them4 ,we know that the

 public good will not be obtained by    
separating man from man1 securing each  
unit in a charmed circle of  personal   
rights1 and protecting it from others by
 isolation4 ,we must  find a place for  
the individual within the social        
organism1 and we know  now that this    
organism has not1 as our fathers seemed 
to think1 the  simple constitution of a 
wooden doll4 ,society is not put        
together  mechanically1 and the         
individual cannot be outwardly attached 
to it1 if  he is to be helped1 ,he must 
rather share its life1 be the heir of   
the  wealth it has garnered for him in  
the past1 and participate in its  onward
 movement4 ,between this new social     
ideal and our attainment1  between the  
magnitude of our social duties and the  
resources of  intellect and will at our 
command1 there lies a chasm which we    
despair  of bridging over4    ,the      
characteristics of this epoch faithfully
 reflect themselves in the  pages of    
,carlyle1 with whose thoughts those of  

,browning are immediately  connected4   
,it was ,carlyle who first effectively  
revealed to ,england the  continuity of 
human life1 and the magnitude of the    
issues of individual  action4 ,seeing   
the infinite in the finite1 living under
 a continued  sense of the mystery that 
surrounds man1 he flung explosive       
negations  amidst the narrow formulae of
 the social and religious orthodoxy of  
his  day1 blew down the blinding walls  
of ethical individualism1 and1 amidst   
much smoke and din1 showed his ,english 
readers something of the  greatness of  
the moral world4 ,he gave us a          
philosophy of clothes1  penetrated      
through symbols to the immortal ideas1  
condemned all  shibboleths1 and revealed
 the soul of humanity behind the        
external modes  of man's activity4 ,he  
showed us1 in a word1 that the world is 
spiritual1  that loyalty to duty is the 
foundation of all human good1 and that  
national welfare rests on character4    
,after reading him1 it is impossible    

for any one who reflects on the nature  
of duty to ask1 ,am ,i my  brother's    
keeper8 ,he not only imagined1 but knew1
 how all things the  minutest that man  
does1 minutely influence all men1 and   
the very look of  his face blesses or   
curses whom-so it lights on1 and so     
generates ever  new blessing or new     
cursing4 ,i say1 there is not a ,red    
,indian1 hunting  by ,lake ,winnipeg1   
can quarrel with his squaw1 but the     
whole world must  smart for it3 will not
 the price of beaver rise8 ,it is a     
mathematical  fact that the casting of  
this pebble from my hand alters the     
centre of  gravity of the universe4     
,carlyle dealt the deathblow to the     
laissez-faire theory rampant in his day1
 and made each individual  responsible  
for the race4 ,he has demonstrated that 
the sphere of duty  does not terminate  
with ourselves and our next-door        
neighbours4 ,there  will be no pure air 
for the correctest ,levite to breathe1  
till the laws  of sanitation have been  

applied to the moral slums4 ,ye are my  
brethren1 said he1 and he adds1 as if   
conscious of his too denunciatory  way  
of dealing with them1 hence my rage and 
sorrow4    ,but his consciousness of    
brotherhood with all men brought only   
despair  for him4 ,he saw clearly the   
responsibility of man1 but not the      
dignity  which that implies2 he felt the
 weight of the burden of humanity upon  
his own soul1 and it crushed him1 for he
 forgot that all the good of the  world 
was there to help him bear it1 and that 
,one with ,god is a  majority4 ,he      
taught only the half-truth1 that all men
 are united on the  side of duty1 and   
that the spiritual life of each is      
conditional on  striving to save all4   
,but he neglected the complement of this
 truth1 and  forgot the greatness of the
 beings on whom so great a duty could be
  laid4 ,he therefore dignifies humanity
 only to degrade it again4 ,the  twenty 
millions each must try to save are      
mostly fools4 ,but how  fools1 when they

 can have such a task8 ,is it not true1 
on the contrary1  that no man ever saw a
 duty beyond his strength1 and that man 
can  because he ought and ought only    
because he can8 ,the evils an individual
  cannot overcome are the moral         
opportunities of his fellows4 ,the good 
are  not lone workers of ,god's         
purposes1 and there is no need of       
despair4  ,carlyle1 like the ancient    
prophet1 was too conscious of his own   
mission1  and too forgetful of that of  
others4 ,i have been very jealous for   
the  ,lord ,god of hosts2 because the   
children of ,israel have forgotten ,thy 
covenant1 thrown down ,thine alters1 and
 slain ,thy prophets1 and ,i1 even  ,i  
only1 am left2 and they seek my life1 to
 take it away4 ,he needed1  beside the  
consciousness of his prophetic function1
 a consciousness of  brotherhood with   
humbler workers4 ,yet ,i have left ,me  
seven thousand in  ,israel1 all the     
knees which have not bowed unto ,baal1  
and every mouth  which hath not kissed  

him4 ,it would have helped him had he   
remembered1  that there were on all     
sides other workers engaged on the      
temple not  made with hands1 although he
 could not hear the sound of their      
hammers  for the din he made himself4   
,it would have changed his despair into 
joy1  and his pity into a higher moral  
quality1 had he been able to believe    
that1 amidst all the millions against   
whom he hurled his anathemas1  there is 
no one who1 let him do what he will1 is 
not constrained to  illustrate either   
the folly and wretchedness of sin1 or   
the glory of  goodness4 ,it is not given
 to any one1 least of all to the wicked1
 to  hold back the onward movement of   
the race1 or to destroy the impulse for 
good which is planted within it4    ,but
 ,carlyle saw only one side of the truth
 about man's moral nature and  destiny4 
,he knew1 as the ancient prophets did1  
that evil is potential  wreck2 and he   
taxed the power of metaphor to the      
utmost to indicate1 how  wrong gradually

 takes root1 and ripens into putrescence
 and  self-combustion1 in obedience to a
 necessity which is absolute4 ,that     
morality is the essence of things1 that 
wrong must prove its  weakness1 that    
right is the only might1 is reiterated  
and illustrated on  all his pages2 they 
are now commonplaces of speculation on  
matters of  history1 if not conscious   
practical principles which guide its    
makers4  ,but ,carlyle never inquired   
into the character of this moral        
necessity1  and he overlooked the       
beneficence which places death at the   
heart of  sin4 ,he never saw wrong      
except on its way to execution1 or in   
the death  throes2 but he did not look  
in the face of the gentle power that led
 it  on to death4 ,he saw the necessity 
which rules history1 but not the        
beneficent character of that necessity4 
,the same limitations marred his view of
 duty1 which was his greatest           
revelation to his age4 ,he felt its     
categorical authority and its binding   

force4 ,but the power which imposed the 
duty was an alien power1 awful in       
majesty1 infinite in might1 a great     
task-master2 and the duty itself  was an
 outer law1 written in letters of flame 
across the high heavens1  in comparison 
with which man's action at its best sank
 into failure4 ,his  only virtue is     
obedience1 and his last rendering even  
of himself is  unprofitable servant4 ,in
 this he has much of the combined       
strength and  weakness of the old       
,scottish ,calvinism4 ,he stands between
 the  individual and the ,infinite      
without hope or guide4 ,he has a        
constant  disposition to crush the human
 being by comparing him with ,god1 said 
,mazzini1 with marvellous penetration4  
,from his lips1 at times so  daring1 we 
seem to hear every instant the cry of   
the ,breton ,mariner--',my  ,god protect
 me6 ,my bark is so small1 and ,thy     
ocean so vast4' ,his  reconciliation of 
,god and man was incomplete3 ,god seemed
 to him to have  manifested ,himself to 

man but not in man4 ,he did not see that
 the  ,eternity which is before and     
behind us is also within us4    ,but the
 moral law which commands is just the   
reflection of the  aspirations of       
progressive man1 who always creates his 
own horizon4 ,the  extension of duty is 
the objective counterpart of man's      
growth2 a proof  of victory and not of  
failure1 a sign that man is mounting    
upwards4 ,and1  if so1 it is irrational 
to infer the impossibility of success   
from the  magnitude of the demands of a 
moral law1 which is itself the promise  
of  a better future4 ,the hard problems 
set for us by our social environment    
are recognized as set by ourselves2 for1
 in matters of morality1 the eye  sees  
only what the heart prompts4 ,the very  
statement of the difficulty  contains   
the potency of its solution2 for evil1  
when understood1 is on  the way towards 
being overcome1 and the good1 when seen1
 contains the  promise of its own       
fulfilment4 ,it is ignorance which is   

ruinous1 as when  the cries of humanity 
beat against a deaf ear2 and we can take
 a  comfort1 denied to ,carlyle1 from   
the fact that he has made us awake to   
our social duties4 ,he has let loose the
 confusion upon us1 and it is  only     
natural that we should at first be      
overcome by a sense of  bewildered      
helplessness4 ,but this very sense      
contains the germ of hope1  and ,england
 is struggling to its feet to wrestle   
with its wrongs4  ,carlyle has brought  
us within sight of our future1 and we   
are now taking  a step into it4 ,he has 
been our guide in the wilderness2 but he
 died  there1 and was denied the view   
from ,pisgah4    ,now1 this view was    
given to ,robert ,browning1 and he broke
 out into a  song of victory1 whose     
strains will give strength and comfort  
to many in  the coming time4 ,that his  
solution of the evils of life is not    
final1  may at once be admitted4 ,there 
are elements in the problem of which he 
has taken no account1 and which will    

force those who seek light on the       
deeper mysteries of man's moral nature1 
to go beyond anything that the  poet has
 to say4 ,even the poet himself grows1  
at least in some  directions1 less      
confident of the completeness of his    
triumph as he  grows older4 ,his faith  
in the good does not fail1 but it is the
 faith of  one who confesses to         
ignorance1 and links himself to his     
finitude4  ,still1 so thorough is his   
conviction of the moral purpose of life1
 of  the certainty of the good towards  
which man is moving1 and of the         
beneficence of the power which is at    
work everywhere in the world1 that  many
 of his poems ring like the triumphant  
songs of ,luther4          ,,chapter    
,,iv4    ,,browning',s ,,optimism4      
,gladness be with thee1 ,helper of the  
,world6    ,i think this is the         
authentic sign and seal    ,of ,godship1
 that it ever waxes glad1    ,and more  
glad1 until gladness blossoms1 bursts   
,into a rage to suffer for mankind1     

,and recommence at sorrow4,a            
,footnote ,a3 ,balaustion's ,adventure4 
,i have tried to show that one of the   
distinctive features of the present  era
 is the stress it lays on the worth of  
the moral life of man1 and the  new     
significance it has given to that life  
by its view of the continuity  of       
history4 ,this view finds expression1 on
 its social and ethical side1  in the   
pages of ,carlyle and ,browning3 both of
 whom are interested  exclusively1 one  
may almost say1 in the evolution of     
human character2  and both of whom1 too1
 regard that evolution as the           
realization by man  of the purposes1    
greater than man's1 which rule in the   
world4 ,and1  although neither of them  
developed the organic view of humanity1 
which  is implied in their doctrines1   
into an explicit philosophy1 still the  
moral life of the individual is for each
 of them the infinite life in  the      
finite4 ,the meaning of the universe is 
moral1 its last might is  rightness2 and

 the task of man is to catch up that    
meaning1 convert it  into his own       
motive1 and thereby make it the source  
of his actions1 the  inmost principle of
 his life4 ,this1 fully grasped1 will   
bring the finite  and the infinite1     
morality and religion1 together1 and    
reconcile them4    ,but the             
reconciliation which ,carlyle sought to 
effect was incomplete on  every         
side--even within the sphere of duty1   
with which alone1 as  moralist1 he      
specially concerned himself4 ,the moral 
law was imposed upon  man by a higher   
power1 in the presence of whom man was  
awed and crushed2  for that power had   
stinted man's endowment1 and set him to 
fight a  hopeless battle against endless
 evil4 ,god was everywhere around man1  
and  the universe was just the          
expression of ,his will--a will         
inexorably bent  on the good1 so that   
evil could not prevail2 but ,god was not
 within  man1 except as a voice of      
conscience issuing imperatives and      

threats4 ,an  infinite duty was laid    
upon a finite being1 and its weight made
 him  break out into a cry of despair4  
,browning1 however1 not only sought to  
bring about the reconciliation1  but    
succeeded1 in so far as that is possible
 in terms of mere feeling4  ,his poetry 
contains suggestions that the moral will
 without is also a  force within man2   
that the power which makes for          
righteousness in the  world has         
penetrated into1 or rather manifests    
itself as1 man4  ,intelligence and will1
 the reason which apprehends the nature 
of things1  and the original impulse of 
self-conscious life which issues in     
action1  are ,god's power in man2 so    
that ,god is realizing ,himself in the  
deeds of  man1 and human history is just
 ,his return to ,himself4 ,outer law and
  inner motive are1 for the poet1       
manifestations of the same beneficent   
purpose2 and instead of duty in the     
sense of an autocratic imperative1  or  
beneficent tyranny1 he finds1 deep      

beneath man's foolishness and sin1  a   
constant tendency towards the good which
 is bound up with the very  nature of   
man's reason and will4 ,if man could    
only understand himself he  would find  
without him no limiting necessity1 but  
the manifestation of a  law which is one
 with his own essential being4 ,a       
beneficent power has  loaded the dice1  
according to the epigram1 so that the   
chances of  failure and victory are not 
even2 for man's nature is itself a      
divine  endowment1 one with the power   
that rules his life1 and man must       
finally  reach through error to truth1  
and through sin to holiness4 ,in the    
language of theology1 it may be said    
that the moral process is the  spiritual
 incarnation of ,god2 it is ,god's      
goodness as love1 effecting  itself in  
human action4 ,hence ,carlyle's cry of  
despair is turned by  ,browning into a  
song of victory4 ,while the former      
regards the struggle  between good and  
evil as a fixed battle1 in which the    

forces are  immovably interlocked1 the  
latter has the consciousness of battling
  against a retreating foe2 and the     
conviction of coming triumph gives      
joyous vigour to every stroke4 ,browning
 lifted morality into an  optimism1 and 
translated its battle into song4 ,this  
was the distinctive  mark and mission   
which give to him such power of moral   
inspiration4    ,in order1 however1 to  
estimate the value of this feature of   
the poet's  work1 it is necessary to    
look more closely into the character of 
his  faith in the good4 ,merely to      
attribute to him an optimistic creed is 
to  say very little2 for the worth1 or  
worthlessness1 of such a creed  depends 
upon its content--upon its fidelity to  
the facts of human life1  the clearness 
of its consciousness of the evils it    
confronts1 and the  intensity of its    
realism4    ,there is a sense1 and that 
a true one1 in which it may be said that
 all  men are optimists2 for such a     
faith is implied in every conscious and 

deliberate action of man4 ,there is no  
deed which is not an attempt to  realize
 an ideal2 whenever man acts he seeks a 
good1 however ruinously  he may         
misunderstand its nature4 ,final and    
absolute disbelief in an  ultimate good 
in the sphere of morals1 like absolute  
scepticism in the  sphere of knowledge1 
is a disguised self-contradiction1 and  
therefore an  impossibility in fact4    
,the one stultifies action1 and asserts 
an effect  without any cause1 or even   
contrary to the cause2 the other        
stultifies  intellectual activity3 and  
both views imply that the critic has so 
escaped the conditions of human life1 as
 to be able to pass a  condemnatory     
judgment upon them4 ,the belief that a  
harmonious relation  between the        
self-conscious agent and the supreme    
good is possible1  underlies the        
practical activity of man2 just as the  
belief in the unity  of thought and     
being underlies his intellectual        
activity4 ,a moral  order--that is1 an  

order of rational ends--is postulated in
 all human  actions1 and we act at all  
only in virtue of it1--just as truly as 
we  move and work only in virtue of the 
forces which make the spheres  revolve1 
or think by help of the meaning which   
presses upon us from the  thought-woven 
world1 through all the pores of sense4  
,a true ethics1 like  a true psychology1
 or a true science of nature1 must lean 
upon  metaphysics1 and it cannot pretend
 to start ab initio4 ,we live in the    
,copernican age1 which puts the         
individual in a system1 in obedience to 
whose laws he finds his welfare4 ,and   
this is simply the assertion of an      
optimistic creed1 for it implies a      
harmonious world4    ,but1 though this  
is true1 it must be remembered that this
 faith is a  prophetic anticipation1    
rather than acquired knowledge4 ,we are 
only on  the way towards reconstructing 
in thought the fact which we are1 or    
towards bringing into clear knowledge   
the elemental power which  manifests    

itself within us as thought1 desire1 and
 deed4 ,and1 until this  is achieved1 we
 have no full right to an optimistic    
creed4 ,the  revelation of the unity    
which pervades all things1 even in the  
natural  world1 will be the last        
attainment of science2 and the          
reconciliation of  nature and man and   
,god is still further in the future1 and
 will be the  last triumph of           
philosophy4 ,during all the interval the
 world will be a  scene of warring      
elements2 and poetry1 religion1 and     
philosophy can only  hold forth a       
promise1 and give to man a foretaste of 
ultimate victory4  ,and in this state of
 things even their assurance often      
falters4 ,faith  lapses into doubt1     
poetry becomes a wail for a lost god1   
and its votary  exhibits1 through       
,europe to the ,a,etolian shore1 the    
pageant of his  bleeding heart4 ,the    
optimistic faith is1 as a rule1 only a  
hope and a  desire1 a ,grand ,perhaps1  
which knows no defence against the      

critical  understanding1 and sinks dumb 
when questioned4 ,if1 in the form of a  
religious conviction1 its assurance is  
more confident1 then1 too often1  it    
rests upon the treacherous foundations  
of authoritative ignorance1  which      
crumble into dust beneath the blows of  
awakened and liberated  reason4 ,nay1 if
 by the aid of philosophy we turn our   
optimism into a  faith held by reason1 a
 fact before which the intellect1 as    
well as the  heart1 worships and grows  
glad1 it still is for most of us only a 
general hypothesis1 a mere leap to ,god 
which spurns the intermediate  steps1 a 
universal without content1 a bare form  
that lacks reality4    ,such an         
optimism1 such a plunge into the pure   
blue and away from facts1  was          
,emerson's4 ,caroline ,fox tells a story
 of him and ,carlyle which  reveals this
 very pointedly4 ,it seems that ,carlyle
 once led the serene  philosopher       
through the abominations of the streets 
of ,london at  midnight1 asking him with

 grim humour at every few steps1 ,do you
  believe in the devil now8 ,emerson    
replied that the more he saw of the     
,english people the greater and better  
he thought them4 ,this little  incident 
lays bare the limits of both these great
 men4 ,where the one  saw1 the other was
 blind4 ,to the one there was the misery
 and the  universal mirk2 to the other1 
the pure white beam was scarcely broken4
  ,carlyle believed in the good1 beyond 
all doubt3 he fought his great  battle  
in its strength and won1 but he was     
sorely wounded4 ,emerson was  ,sir      
,galahad1 blind to all but the ,holy    
,grail1 his armour spotless-white1  his 
virtue cloistered and unbreathed1 his   
race won without the dust and  heat4    
,but his optimism was too easy to be    
satisfactory4 ,his victory was  not won 
in the enemy's citadel1 where sin sits  
throned amidst the chaos1  but in the   
placid upper air of poetic imagination4 
,and1 in consequence1  ,emerson can only
 convince the converted2 and his song is

 not heard in  the dark1 nor does it    
cheer the wayfarer on the muddy highway1
 along  which burthened humanity meanly 
toils4    ,but ,browning's optimism is  
more earnest and real than any pious    
hope1 or  dogmatic belief1 or benevolent
 theory held by a placid philosopher1   
protected against contact with the sins 
and sorrows of man as by an  invisible  
garment of contemplative holiness4 ,it  
is a conviction which  has sustained    
shocks of criticism and the test of     
facts2 and it  therefore1 both for the  
poet and his readers1 fulfils a mission 
beyond  the reach of any easy trust in a
 mystic good4 ,its power will be felt   
and  its value recognized by those who  
have themselves confronted the          
contradictions of human life and known  
their depths4    ,no lover of           
,browning's poetry can miss the vigorous
 manliness of the  poet's own bearing1  
or fail to recognize the strength that  
flows from  his joyous1 fearless        
personality1 and the might of his       

intellect and  heart4 ,when ,british    
literature1 said ,carlyle of ,scott and 
,cobbett1  lay all puking and sprawling 
in ,wertherism1 ,byronism and other     
,sentimentalisms1 nature was kind enough
 to send us two healthy men4 ,and  he   
breaks out into a eulogy of mere health1
 of the just balance of  faculties that 
radiates a glad light outwards1         
enlightening and  embellishing all      
things4 ,but he finds it easy to account
 for the health  of these men3 they had 
never faced the mystery of existence4   
,such  healthiness we find in ,browning1
 although he wrote with ,carlyle at his 
side1 and within earshot of the infinite
 wail of this moral fatalist4  ,and yet1
 the word health is inadequate to convey
 the depth of the joyous  meaning which 
the poet found in the world4 ,his       
optimism was not a  constitutional and  
irreflective hopefulness1 to be         
accounted for on the  ground that the   
great mystery of existence was not great
 to him3 did  not drive him into rocky  

solitudes to wrestle with it for an     
answer1 to  be answered or to perish4   
,there are1 indeed1 certain rash and    
foolish  persons who pretend to trace   
,browning's optimism to his mixed       
descent2  but there is a pause in the   
leading and the light of those          
wiseacres1  who pretend to trace moral  
and mental characteristics to           
physiological  antecedents4 ,they cannot
 quite catch a great man in the making1 
nor1  even by the help of evolution1 say
 anything wiser about genius than that  
the wind bloweth where it listeth4 ,no  
doubt the poet's optimism  indicates a  
native sturdiness of head and heart4 ,he
 had the invaluable  endowment of a     
pre-disposition to see the sunny side of
 life1 and a  native tendency to revolt 
against that subjectivity1 which is the 
root  of our misery in all its forms4   
,he had little respect for the          
,welt-schmerz1 and can scarcely be civil
 to the hero of the bleeding  heart4    
,sinning1 sorrowing1 despairing1        

,body-ruined1 spirit-wrecked--          
,should ,i give my woes an airing1--    
,where's one plague that claims respect8
      ,have you found your life         
distasteful8      ,my life did1 and     
does1 smack sweet4    ,was your youth of
 pleasure wasteful8      ,mine ,i saved 
and hold complete4    ,do your joys with
 age diminish8      ,when mine fail me  
,i'll complain4    ,must in death your  
daylight finish8      ,my sun sets to   
rise again4           99       99       
99       99       99      ,i find earth 
not grey but rosy1      ,heaven not grim
 but fair of hue4    ,do ,i stoop8 ,i   
pluck a posy4      ,do ,i stand and     
stare8 ,all's blue4,a    ,footnote ,a3  
,at the ,mermaid4    ,browning was no   
doubt least of all men inclined to pout 
at his plain  bun2 on the contrary1 he  
was awake to the grandeur of his        
inheritance1  and valued most highly his
 life-rent of ,god's universe with the  
tasks  it offered and the tools to do   
them with4 ,but his optimism sent its   

roots deeper than any disposition2 it   
penetrated beyond mere health  of body  
and mind1 as it did beyond a mere       
sentiment of ,god's goodness4           
,optimisms resting on these bases are   
always weak2 for the former leaves  man 
naked and sensitive to the evils that   
crowd round him when the  powers of body
 and mind decay1 and the latter is1 at  
best1 useful only  for the individual   
who possesses it1 and it breaks down    
under the stress  of criticism and      
doubt4 ,browning's optimism is a great  
element in  ,english literature1 because
 it opposes with such strength the      
shocks  that come from both these       
quarters4 ,his joyousness is the        
reflection in  feeling of a conviction  
as to the nature of things1 which he had
  verified in the darkest details of    
human life1 and established for  himself
 in the face of the gravest objections  
that his intellect was  able to call    
forth4 ,in fact1 its value lies1 above  
all1 in this1--that  it comes after     

criticism1 after the condemnation which 
,byron and ,carlyle  had passed1 each   
from his own point of view1 on the world
 and on man4    ,the need of an optimism
 is one of the penalties which          
reflection brings4  ,natural life takes 
the goodness of things for granted2 but 
reflection  disturbs the placid         
contentment and sets man at variance    
with his world4  ,the fruit of the tree 
of knowledge always reveals his         
nakedness to man2  he is turned out of  
the paradise of unconsciousness and     
doomed to force  ,nature1 now conceived 
as a step-dame1 to satisfy needs which  
are now  first felt4 ,optimism is the   
expression of man's new reconciliation  
with  his world2 as the opposite        
doctrine of pessimism is the            
consciousness of  an unresolved         
contradiction4 ,both are a judgment     
passed upon the world1  from the point  
of view of its adequacy or inadequacy to
 meet demands1  arising from needs which
 the individual has discovered in       

himself4    ,now1 as ,i have tried to   
show1 one of the main characteristics of
 the  opening years of the present era  
was its deeper intuition of the         
significance of human life1 and1        
therefore1 by implication1 of its wants 
and claims4 ,the spiritual nature of    
man1 lost sight of during the  preceding
 age1 was re-discovered2 and the first  
and immediate  consequence was that man1
 as man1 attained infinite worth4 ,man  
was born  free1 cried ,rousseau1 with a 
conviction which swept all before it2 he
  has original1 inalienable1 and supreme
 rights against all things which  can   
set themselves against him4 ,and        
,rousseau's countrymen believed him4    
,there was not a ,sans-culotte amongst  
them all but held his head high1  being 
creation's lord2 and history can        
scarcely show a parallel to their  great
 burst of joy and hope1 as they ran riot
 in their new-found  inheritance1 from  
which they had so long been excluded4   
,they flung  themselves upon the world1 

as if they would glut their sense upon  
it4                      ,expend        
,eternity upon its shows1    ,flung them
 as freely as one rose    ,out of a     
summer's opulence4,a    ,footnote       
,a3,easter ,day4    ,but the very       
discovery that man is spirit1 which is  
the source of all  his rights1 is also  
an implicit discovery that he has       
outgrown the  resources of the natural  
world4 ,the infinite hunger of a soul   
cannot be  satisfied with the things of 
sense4 ,the natural world is too limited
  even for ,carlyle's shoe-black2 nor is
 it surprising that ,byron should  find 
it a waste1 and dolefully proclaim his  
disappointment to  much-admiring        
mankind4 ,now1 both ,carlyle and        
,browning apprehended the  cause of the 
discontent1 and both endured the        
,byronic utterance of it  with          
considerable impatience4 ,art thou      
nothing other than a vulture1  then1    
asks the former1 that fliest through the
 universe seeking after  somewhat to    

eat1 and shrieking dolefully because    
carrion enough is not  given thee8      
,close thy ,byron1 open thy ,goethe4    
,huntsman ,common ,sense    ,came to the
 rescue1 bade prompt thwack of thong    
dispense    ,quiet i' the kennel3 taught
 that ocean might be blue1    ,and      
rolling and much more1 and yet the soul 
have1 too1    ,its touch of ,god's own  
flame1 which ,he may so expand    ',who 
measured the waters i' the hollow of    
,his hand'    ,that ocean's self shall  
dry1 turn dew-drop in respect    ,of    
all-triumphant fire1 matter with        
intellect    ,once fairly matched4,a    
,footnote ,a3,fifine at the ,fair1      
lxvii4    ,but ,carlyle was always more 
able to detect the disease than to      
suggest  the remedy4 ,he had1 indeed1 a 
glimpse of it4 ,there is in man a       
,higher  than love of ,happiness3 he can
 do without ,happiness1 and instead     
thereof  find ,blessedness4 ,but the    
glimpse was misleading1 for it          
penetrated no  further than the first   

negative step4 ,the ,everlasting ,yea   
was1 after  all1 only a deeper ,no6 only
 ,entsagung1 renunciation3 the fraction 
of life can be increased in value not so
 much by increasing your  numerator as  
by lessening your denominator4 ,blessed 
alone is he that  expecteth nothing4    
,the holy of holies1 where man hears    
whispered the  mystery of life1 is the  
sanctuary of sorrow4 ,what ,act of      
,legislature  was there that thou       
shouldst be ,happy8 ,a little while ago 
thou hadst  no right to be at all4 ,what
 if thou wert born and predestined not  
to  be ,happy1 but to be ,unhappy8 ,nay1
 is not 'life itself a disease1         
knowledge the symptom of derangement'8  
,have not the poets sung ',hymns to  the
 ,night' as if ,night were nobler than  
,day2 as if ,day were but a small       
motley-coloured veil spread transiently 
over the infinite bosom of  ,night1 and 
did but deform and hide from us its pure
 transparent eternal  deeps4 ,we1 the   
whole species of ,mankind1 and our whole

 existence and  history1 are but a      
floating speck in the illimitable ocean 
of the ,all  444 borne this way and that
 way by its deep-swelling tides1 and    
grand  ocean currents1 of which what    
faintest chance is there that we should 
ever exhaust the significance1 ascertain
 the goings and comings8 ,a  region of  
,doubt1 therefore1 hovers for ever in   
the back-ground4444 ,only  on a canvas  
of ,darkness1 such is man's way of      
being1 could the  many-coloured picture 
of our ,life paint itself and shine4    
,in such passages as these1 there is far
 deeper pessimism than in  anything     
which ,byron could experience or        
express4 ,scepticism is directed  by    
,carlyle1 not against the natural       
elements of life--the mere sensuous     
outworks1 but against the citadel of    
thought itself4 ,self-consciousness1  or
 the reflecting interpretation by man of
 himself and his world1 the  very       
activity that lifts him above animal    
existence and makes him man1  instead of

 being a divine endowment1 is declared  
to be a disease1 a  poisonous           
subjectivity destructive of all good4   
,the discovery that man  is spirit and  
no vulture1 which was due to ,carlyle   
himself more than to  any other ,english
 writer of his age1 seemed1 after all1  
to be a great  calamity2 for it led to  
the renunciation of happiness1 and      
filled man  with yearnings after a      
better than happiness1 but left him     
nothing  wherewith they might be        
satisfied1 except the duty next to hand4
 ,and  the duty next to hand1 as        
interpreted by ,carlyle1 is a means of  
suppressing by action1 not idle speech  
only1 but thought itself4 ,but1 if  this
 be true1 the highest in man is set     
against itself4 ,and what kind of       
action remains possible to a speck on   
the illimitable ocean1 borne this  way  
and that way by its deep-swelling tides8
 ,here on earth we are  soldiers1       
fighting in a foreign land2 that        
understand not the plan of  the         

campaign1 and have no need to understand
 it1 seeing what is at our  hand to be  
done4 ,but there is one element of still
 deeper gloom in this  blind fighting2  
it is fought for a foreign cause4 ,it is
 ,god's cause and  not ours1 or ours    
only in so far as it has been           
despotically imposed  upon us2 and it is
 hard to discover from ,carlyle what    
interest we can  have in the victory4   
,duty is to him a menace--like the duty 
of a slave1  were that possible4 ,it    
lacks the element which alone can make  
it  imperative to a free being1 namely1 
that it be recognized as his good1  and 
that the outer law become his inner     
motive4 ,the moral law is rarely  looked
 at by ,carlyle as a beneficent         
revelation1 and still more rarely  as   
the condition which1 if fulfilled1 will 
reconcile man with nature and  with     
,god4 ,and consequently1 he can draw    
little strength from religion2  for it  
is only love that can cast out fear4    
,to sum up all in a word1 ,carlyle      

regarded evil as having penetrated into 
the inmost recesses of man's being4     
,thought was disease2 morality was      
blind obedience to a foreign authority2 
religion was awe of an  ,unknowable1    
with whom man can claim no kinship4     
,man's nature was  discovered to be     
spiritual1 only on the side of its      
,wants4 ,it was an  endowment of a      
hunger which nothing could satisfy--not 
the infinite1  because it is too great1 
not the finite1 because it is too       
little2 not  ,god1 because ,he is too   
far above man1 not nature1 because it is
 too far  beneath him4 ,we are unable to
 satisfy ourselves with the things of   
sense1 and are also shut out of the     
heaven of spirit4 ,what have been       
called1 the three great terms of        
thought--the ,world1 ,self1 and         
,god--have fallen asunder in his        
teaching4 ,it is the difficulty of      
reconciling these which brings despair1 
while optimism is evidently the         
consciousness of their harmony4    ,now1

 these evils which reflection has       
revealed1 and which are so much  deeper 
than those of mere sensuous             
disappointment1 can only be removed  by 
deeper reflection4 ,the harmony of the  
world of man's experience1  which has   
been broken by the comprehensive curse  
of sceptical despair1  can1 as ,goethe  
teaches us1 be restored only by         
thought--      ,in thine own soul1 build
 it up again4    ,the complete          
refutation of ,carlyle's pessimistic    
view can only come1 by  reinterpreting  
each of the contradicting terms in the  
light of a higher  conception4 ,we must 
have a deeper grasp and a new view of   
the ,self1 the  ,world1 and ,god4 ,and  
such a view can be given adequately only
 by  philosophy4 ,reason alone can      
justify the faith that has been         
disturbed  by reflection1 and           
re-establish its authority4    ,how1    
then1 it may be asked1 can a poet be    
expected to turn back the  forces of a  
scepticism1 which have been thus armed  

with the weapons of  dialectic8 ,can    
anything avail in this region except    
explicit  demonstration8 ,a poet never  
demonstrates1 but perceives2 art is not 
a  process1 but a result2 truth for it  
is immediate1 and it neither admits  nor
 demands any logical connection of      
ideas4 ,the standard-bearers and  the   
trumpeters may be necessary to kindle   
the courage of the army and to  lead it 
on to victory1 but the fight must be won
 by the thrust of sword  and pike4 ,man 
needs more than the intuitions of the   
great poets1 if he  is to maintain solid
 possession of the truth4    ,now1 ,i am
 prepared to admit the force of this    
objection1 and ,i shall  endeavour in   
the sequel to prove that1 in order to   
establish optimism1  more is needed than
 ,browning can give1 even when          
interpreted in the most  sympathetic    
way4 ,his doctrine is offered in terms  
of art1 and it cannot  have any         
demonstrative force without violating   
the limits of art4 ,in  some of his     

poems1 however1--for instance1 in ,la   
,saisiaz1 ,ferishtatis  ,fancies and the
 ,parleyings1 ,browning sought to       
advance definite  proofs of the theories
 which he held4 ,he appears before us at
 times  armed cap--pie1 like a          
philosopher4 ,still1 it is not when he  
argues  that ,browning proves3 it is    
when he sees1 as a poet sees4 ,it is not
 by  means of logical demonstrations    
that he helps us to meet the despair of 
,carlyle1 or contributes to the         
establishment of a better faith4        
,browning's proofs are least convincing 
when he was most aware of his           
philosophical presuppositions2 and a    
philosophical critic could well  afford 
to agree with the critic of art1 in     
relegating the demonstrating  portions  
of his poems to the chaotic limbo lying 
between philosophy and  poetry4         
,when1 however1 he forgets his          
philosophy1 and speaks as poet and      
religious man1 when he is dominated by  
that sovereign thought which gave  unity

 to his life-work1 and which1 therefore1
 seemed to lie deeper in  him than the  
necessities of his art and to determine 
his poetic  function1 his utterances    
have a far higher significance4 ,for he 
so lifts  the artistic object into the  
region of pure thought1 and makes sense 
and  reason so to interpenetrate1 that  
the old metaphors of the noble lie  and 
the truth beneath the veil seem no      
longer to help4 ,he seems to  show us   
the truth so vividly and simply1 that we
 are less willing to  make art and      
philosophy mutually exclusive1 although 
their methods  differ4 ,like some of the
 greatest philosophers1 and notably     
,plato and  ,hegel1 he constrains us to 
doubt1 whether the distinction          
penetrates low  beneath the surface2 for
 philosophy1 too1 when at its best1 is a
  thinking of things together4 ,in their
 light we begin to ask1 whether it  is  
not possible that the interpretation of 
the world in terms of spirit1  which is 
the common feature of both ,hegel's     

philosophy and ,browning's  poetry1 does
 not necessarily bring with it a        
settlement of the ancient  feud between 
these two modes of thought4    ,but1 in 
any case1 ,browning's utterances1       
especially those which he makes  when he
 is most poet and least philosopher1    
have something of the  convincing       
impressiveness of a reasoned system of  
optimism4 ,and this  comes1 as already  
suggested1 from his loyalty to a single 
idea1 which  gives unity to all his     
work4 ,that idea we may1 in the end1 be 
obliged to  treat not only as a         
hypothesis--for all principles of       
reconciliation1  even those of the      
sciences1 as long as knowledge is       
incomplete1 must be  regarded as        
hypotheses--but also as a hypothesis    
which he had no right  to assume4 ,it   
may be that in the end we shall be      
obliged to say of him1  as of so many   
others--      ,see the sage1 with the   
hunger for the truth1    ,and see his   
system that's all true1 except    ,the  

one weak place1 that's stanchioned by a 
lie6,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,prince         
,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,it may be   
that the religious form1 through which  
he generally reaches  his convictions1  
is not freed from a dogmatic element1   
which so  penetrates his thought as to  
vitiate it as a philosophy4             
,nevertheless1  it answered for the poet
 all the uses of a philosophy1 and it   
may do the  same for many who are       
distrustful of the systems of the       
schools1 and who  are neither able to   
find a faith nor to do without one4 ,it 
contains  far-reaching hints of a       
reconciliation of the elements of       
discord in our  lives1 and a suggestion 
of a way in which it may be             
demonstrated1 that  an optimistic theory
 is truer to facts than any scepticism  
or  agnosticism1 with the despair that  
they necessarily bring4    ,for         
,browning not only advanced a principle1
 whereby1 as he conceived1  man might   
again be reconciled to the world and    

,god1 and all things be  viewed as the  
manifestation of a power that is        
benevolent2 he also  sought to apply his
 principle to the facts of life4 ,he    
illustrates his  fundamental hypothesis 
by means of these facts2 and he tests   
its  validity with the persistence and  
impressive candour of a scientific      
investigator4 ,his optimism is not that 
of an eclectic1 who can ignore          
inconvenient difficulties4 ,it is not an
 attempt to justify the whole by        
neglecting details1 or to make wrong    
seem right by reference to a  far-off   
result1 in which the steps of the       
process are forgotten4 ,he  stakes the  
value of his view of life on its power  
to meet all facts2  one fact1 ultimately
 irreconcilable with his hypothesis1    
will1 he knows1  destroy it4            
,all the same1    ,of absolute and      
irretrievable black1--black's soul of   
black    ,beyond white's power to       
disintensify1--    ,of that ,i saw no   
sample3 such may wreck    ,my life and  

ruin my philosophy    ,tomorrow1        
doubtless4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a ,bean  
,stripe--,ferishtah's ,fancies4    ,he  
knew that1 to justify ,god1 he had to   
justify all ,his ways to man2  that if  
the good rules at all1 it rules         
absolutely2 and that a single  exception
 would confute his optimism4      ,so1  
gazing up1 in my youth1 at love    ,as  
seen through power1 ever above    ,all  
modes which make it manifest1    ,my    
soul brought all to a single test--     
,that ,he1 the ,eternal ,first and      
,last1    ,who1 in ,his power1 had so   
surpassed    ,all man conceives of what 
is might1--    ,whose wisdom1 too1      
showed infinite1    --,would prove as   
infinitely good2    ,would never1 7my   
soul understood17    ,with power to work
 all love desires1    ,bestow e'en less 
than man requires4,b    ,footnote ,b3   
,christmas ,eve4      ,no3 love which1  
on earth1 amid all the shows of it1     
,has ever been seen the sole good of    
life in it1    ,the love1 ever growing  

there1 spite of the strife in it1       
,shall arise1 made perfect1 from death's
 repose of it4    ,and ,i shall behold  
,thee1 face to face1    ,o ,god1 and in 
,thy light retrace    ,how in all ,i    
loved here1 still wast ,thou6,c         
,footnote ,c3 ,ibid4    ,we can scarcely
 miss the emphasis of the poet's own    
conviction in these  passages1 or in the
 assertion that1--          ,the        
acknowledgment of ,god in ,christ       
,accepted by thy reason1 solves for thee
    ,all questions in the earth and out 
of it1    ,and has so far advanced thee 
to be wise4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a ,death
 in the ,desert4    ,consequently1 there
 is a defiant and aggressive element in 
his attitude4  ,strengthened with an    
unfaltering faith in the supreme ,good1 
this knight  of the ,holy ,spirit goes  
forth over all the world seeking out    
wrongs4 ,he  has1 said ,dr4 ,westcott1  
dared to look on the darkest and meanest
 forms  of action and passion1 from     
which we commonly and rightly turn our  

eyes1  and he has brought back for us   
from this universal survey a conviction 
of hope4 ,i believe1 further1 that it   
was in order to justify this  conviction
 that he set out on his quest4 ,his     
interest in vice--in  malice1 cruelty1  
ignorance1 brutishness1 meanness1 the   
irrational  perversity of a corrupt     
disposition1 and the subtleties of      
philosophic  and aesthetic              
falsehood--was no morbid curiosity4     
,browning was no  painter of dirt2 no   
artist can portray filth for filth's    
sake1 and  remain an artist4 ,he crowds 
his pages with criminals1 because he    
sees  deeper than their crimes4 ,he     
describes evil without palliation or    
reserve1 and allows it to put forth all 
its might1 in order that he  may1 in the
 end1 show it to be subjected to ,god's 
purposes4 ,he confronts  evil in order  
to force it to give up the good1 which  
is all the reality  that is in it4 ,he  
conceives it as his mission to prove    
that evil is  stuff for transmuting1 and

 that there is nought in the world4     
,but1 touched aright1 prompt yields each
 particle its tongue    ,of elemental   
flame--no matter whence flame sprung1   
,from gums and spice1 or else from straw
 and rottenness4    ,all we want is--   
,the power to make them burn1 express   
,what lights and warms henceforth1      
leaves only ash behind1    ,howe'er the 
chance4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at   
the ,fair4    ,he had ,pompilia's faith4
      ,and still1 as the day wore1 the  
trouble grew1    ,whereby ,i guessed    
there would be born a star4    ,he goes 
forth in the might of his faith in the  
power of good1 as if he  wished once for
 all to try the resources of evil at    
their uttermost1 and  pass upon it a    
complete and final condemnation4 ,with  
this view1 he seeks  evil in its own    
haunts4 ,he creates ,guido1 the subtlest
 and most powerful  compound of vice in 
our literature--except ,iago1           
perhaps--merely in  order that we may   
see evil at its worst2 and he places him

 in an  environment suited to his       
nature1 as if he was carrying out an    
experimentum crucis4 ,the               
,midmost blotch of black    ,discernible
 in the group of clustered crimes       
,huddling together in the cave they call
    ,their palace4,b    ,footnote ,b3   
,the ,ring and the ,book--,the ,pope1   
#hfi-hgb4    ,beside him are his        
brothers1 each with his own tint of     
hell2 his  mistress1 on whose face even 
,pompilia saw the glow of the nether pit
  flash and fade2 and his mother--      
,the gaunt grey nightmare in the        
furthest smoke1    ,the hag that gave   
these three abortions birth1            
,unmotherly mother and unwomanly        
,woman1 that near turns motherhood to   
shame1    ,womanliness to loathing,a    
,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,the ,pope1 #iaa-iae4    ,such   
denizens o' the cave now cluster round  
,pompilia and heat the  furnace         
sevenfold4 ,while she                   
,sent prayer like incense up    ,to ,god

 the strong1 ,god the beneficent1       
,god ever mindful in all strife and     
strait1    ,who1 for our own good1 makes
 the need extreme1    ,till at the last 
,he puts forth might and saves4,b       
,footnote ,b3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,pompilia1 #achd-achh4    ,in    
these lines we feel the poet's purpose1 
constant throughout the whole  poem4 ,we
 know all the while that with him at our
 side we can travel  safely through the 
depths of the ,inferno--for the flames  
bend back from  him2 and it is only what
 we expect as the result of it all1 that
 there  should come      ,a bolt from   
heaven to cleave roof and clear place1  
4 4 4 4 then flood    ,and purify the   
scene with outside day--    ,which yet1 
in the absolutest drench of dark1       
,ne'er wants its witness1 some stray    
beauty-beam    ,to the despair of       
hell4,c    ,footnote ,c3 ,the ,ring and 
the ,book--,the ,pope1 #iif-ajjc4       
,the superabundant strength of          
,browning's conviction in the supremacy 

of  the good1 which led him in ,the     
,ring and the ,book to depict criminals 
at their worst1 forced him later on in  
his life to exhibit evil in  another    
form4 ,the real meaning and value of    
such poems as ,fifine at the  ,fair1    
,prince ,hohenstiel-,schwangau1 ,red    
,cotton ,nightcap ,country1             
,ferishtah's ,francies1 and others1 can 
only be determined by a careful  and    
complete analysis of each of them4 ,but 
they have one characteristic  so        
prominent1 and so new in poetry1 that   
the most careless reader cannot  fail to
 detect it4 ,action and dramatic        
treatment give place to a  discussion   
which is metaphysical2 instead of the   
conflict of motives  within a character1
 the stress and strain of passion and   
will in  collision with circumstances1  
there is reflection on action after it  
has  passed1 and the conflict of subtle 
arguments on the ethical value of       
motives and ways of conduct1 which the  
ordinary moral consciousness  condemns  

without hesitation4 ,all agree that     
these poems represent a new  departure  
in poetry1 and some consider that in    
them the poet1 in thus  dealing with    
metaphysical abstractions1 has overleapt
 the boundaries of  the poetic art4 ,to 
such critics1 this later period seems   
the period of  his decadence1 in which  
the casuistical tendencies1 which had   
already  appeared in ,bishop ,blougram's
 ,apology1 ,mr4 ,sludge the ,medium1 and
  other poems1 have overwhelmed his art1
 and his intellect1 in its pride  of    
strength1 has grown wanton4 ,fifine at  
the ,fair is said to be a  defence of   
inconstancy1 or of the right of         
experiment in love4 ,its  hero1 who is a
 modern gentleman1 a refined1 cultured1 
musical1 artistic  and philosophic      
person1 of high attainments1 lofty      
aspirations1 strong  emotions1 and      
capricious will1 produces arguments wide
 in range1 of  profound significance and
 infinite ingenuity1 to defend and      
justify  immoral intercourse with a     

gipsy trull4 ,the poem consists of the  
speculations of a libertine1 who coerces
 into his service truth and  sophistry1 
and a superabounding wealth of thought  
and imagery1 and  with no further       
purpose on the poet's part than the     
dramatic delineation  of character4     
,prince ,hohenstiel-,schwangau is spoken
 of in a similar  manner as the         
justification1 by reference to the      
deepest principles of  morality1 of     
compromise1 hypocrisy1 lying1 and a     
selfishness that  betrays every cause to
 the individual's meanest welfare4 ,the 
object of  the poet is by no means to   
prove black white1 or white black1 or to
  make the worse appear the better      
reason1 but to bring a seeming monster  
and perplexing anomaly under the common 
laws of nature1 by showing how  it has  
grown to be what it is1 and how it can  
with more or less  self-delusion        
reconcile itself to itself4    ,i am not
 able to accept this as a complete      
explanation of the intention  of the    

poet1 except with reference to ,prince  
,hohenstiel-,schwangau4 ,the  ,prince is
 a psychological study1 like ,mr4       
,sludge the ,medium1 and  ,bishop       
,blougram4 ,no doubt he had the interest
 of a dramatist in the  hero of ,fifine 
at the ,fair and in the hero of ,red    
,cotton ,nightcap  ,country2 but1 in    
these poems1 his dramatic interest is   
itself  determined by an ethical        
purpose1 which is equally profound4 ,his
 meeting  with the gipsy at ,pornic1 and
 the spectacle of her unscrupulous      
audacity  in vice1 not only sent his    
fancy roaming1 but opened out before him
  the fundamental problems of life4     
,what ,i would find1 therefore1 in      
,fifine at the ,fair is not the         
casuistic defence of an artistic and    
speculative libertine1 but an earnest   
attempt on the part of the poet to      
prove1      ,that1 through the outward  
sign1 the inward grace allures1    ,and 
sparks from heaven transpierce earth's  
coarsest covertures1--    ,all by       

demonstrating the value of ,fifine4,a   
,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at the ,fair1     
xxviii4    ,within his scheme of the    
universal good he seeks to find a place 
even  for this gipsy creature1 who      
traffics in just what we most pique us  
that we keep4 ,having1 in the ,ring and 
the ,book1 challenged evil at  its worst
 as it manifests itself practically in  
concrete characters and  external       
action1 and having wrung from it the    
victory of the good1 in  ,fifine and in 
his other later poems he meets it again 
in the region of  dialectic4 ,in this   
sphere of metaphysical ethics1 evil has 
assumed a  more dangerous form1         
especially for an artist4 ,his          
optimistic faith has  driven the poet   
into a realm into which poetry never    
ventured before4  ,his battle is now1   
not with flesh and blood1 but with the  
subtler powers  of darkness grown vocal 
and argumentative1 and threatening to   
turn the  poet's faith in good into a   
defence of immorality1 and to justify   

the  worst evil by what is highest of   
all4 ,having indicated in outward fact  
the need1 as well as the transiency of  
sin and death1 he seeks here  to prove  
that need1 and seems1 thereby1 to       
degrade the highest truth of  religion  
into a defence of the worst wickedness4 
,no doubt the result is sufficiently    
repulsive to the abstract moralist1  who
 is apt to find in ,fifine nothing but a
 casuistical and shameless              
justification of evil1 which is         
blasphemy against goodness itself4 ,we  
are made to discover1 for instance1 that
                               ,there   
was just    ,enough and not too much of 
hate1 love1 greed and lust1    ,could   
one discerningly but hold the balance1  
shift    ,the weight from scale to      
scale1 do justice to the drift    ,of   
nature1 and explain the glories by the  
shames    ,mixed up in man1 one stuff   
miscalled by different names4,a         
,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at the ,fair1     
cviii4    ,we are told that--           

,force1 guile were arms which earned    
,my praise1 not blame at all4           
,confronted with such utterances as     
these1 it is only natural that1  rather 
than entangle the poet in them1 we      
should regard them as the  sophistries  
of a philosophical ,don ,juan1 powerful 
enough1 under the  stress of            
self-defence1 to confuse the            
distinctions of right and wrong4  ,but1 
as we shall try to show in the next     
chapter1 such an apparent  justification
 of evil cannot be avoided by a         
reflective optimist2 and it  is         
implicitly contained even in those      
religious utterances of ,rabbi ,ben     
,ezra1 ,christmas ,eve1 and ,a ,death in
 the ,desert1 with which we not  only   
identify the poet but ourselves1 in so  
far as we share his faith  that         
,god's in ,his heaven1--    ,all's right
 with the world4    ,the poet had far   
too much speculative acumen to be       
ignorant of this1 and  too much boldness
 and strength of conviction in the might

 of the good1  to refuse to confront the
 issues that sprang from it4 ,in his    
later  poems1 as in his earlier ones1 he
 is endeavouring to justify the ways of 
,god to man2 and the difficulties which 
surround him are not those of a         
casuist1 but the stubborn questionings  
of a spirit1 whose religious  faith is  
thoroughly earnest and fearless4 ,to a  
spirit so loyal to the  truth1 and so   
bold to follow its leading1 the         
suppression of such  problems is        
impossible2 and1 consequently1 it was   
inevitable that he  should use the whole
 strength of his dialectic to try those 
fundamental  principles1 on which the   
moral life of man is based4 ,and it is  
this1 ,i  believe1 which we find in     
,fifine1 as in ,ferishtah's ,fancies and
 the  ,parleyings2 not an exhibition of 
the argumentative subtlety of a mind    
whose strength has become lawless1 and  
which spends itself in  intellectual    
gymnastics1 that have no place within   
the realm of either  the beautiful or   

the true4          ,,chapter ,v4        
,,optimism ,,and ,,ethics3 ,,their      
,,contradiction4        ,our remedies   
oft in ourselves do lie1    ,which we   
ascribe to heaven4 ,the fated sky       
,gives us free scope2 only doth backward
 pull    ,our slow designs1 when we     
ourselves are dull4           99        
99       99       99       99      ,but 
most it is presumption in us1 when      
,the help of heaven we count the act of 
men4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,all's ,well    
that ,ends ,well4    ,i have tried to   
show that one of the ruling conceptions 
of ,browning's  view of life is that the
 ,good is absolute1 and that it reveals 
itself in  all the events of human life4
 ,by means of this conception1 he       
endeavoured to bring together the       
elements which had fallen asunder in    
the sensational and moral pessimism of  
,byron and ,carlyle4 ,in other  words1  
through the re-interpreting power which 
lies in this fundamental  thought when  
it is soberly held and fearlessly       

applied1 he sought to  reconcile man    
with the world and with ,god1 and       
thereby with himself4 ,and  the         
governing motive1 whether the conscious 
motive or not1 of ,browning's  poetry1  
the secret impulse which led him to     
dramatise the conflicts and  antagonisms
 of human life1 was the necessity of    
finding in them evidence  of the        
presence of this absolute ,good4        
,browning's optimism was deep and       
comprehensive enough to reject all      
compromise4 ,his faith in the good      
seemed to rise with the demands that    
were made upon it by the misery and     
wickedness of man1 and the  apparently  
purposeless waste of life and its       
resources4 ,there was in it  a          
deliberate earnestness which led him to 
grapple1 not only with the  concrete    
difficulties of individual life1 but    
with those also that  spring from       
reflection and theory4    ,the test of a
 philosophic optimism1 as of any        
optimism which is more  than a pious    

sentiment1 must finally lie in its power
 to reveal the  presence of the good in 
actual individual evils4 ,but there are 
difficulties still nearer than those    
presented by concrete facts1            
difficulties arising out of the very    
suggestion that evil is a form of  good4
 ,such speculative difficulties must be 
met by a reflective mind1  before it can
 follow out the application of an       
optimistic theory to  particular facts4 
,now1 ,browning's creed1 at least as he 
held it in his  later years1 was not    
merely the allowable exaggeration of an 
ecstatic  religious sentiment1 the      
impassioned conviction of a             
,god-intoxicated  man4 ,it was          
deliberately presented as a solution of 
moral problems1 and  was intended to    
serve as a theory of the spiritual      
nature of things4 ,it  is1 therefore1   
justly open to the same kind of         
criticism as that to  which a           
philosophic doctrine is exposed4 ,the   
poet deprived himself of  the refuge1   

legitimate enough to the intuitive      
method of art1 when1 in  his later      
works1 he not only offered a dramatic   
solution of the problem  of life1 but   
definitely attempted to meet the        
difficulties of  speculative ethics4    
,in this chapter ,i shall point out some
 of these difficulties1 and then        
proceed to show how the poet proposed to
 solve them4    ,a thorough-going       
optimism1 in that it subdues all things 
to the idea of  the supreme ,good1 and  
denies to evil the right even to dispute
 the  absoluteness of its sway1         
naturally seems to imply a pantheistic  
theory  of the world4 ,and ,browning's  
insistence on the presence of the       
highest  in all things may easily be    
regarded as a mere revival of the oldest
 and  crudest attempts at finding their 
unity in ,god4 ,for if all1 as he  says1
 is for the best1 there seems to be no  
room left for the  differences apparent 
in the world1 and the variety which     
gives it beauty  and worth4 ,particular 

existences would seem to be illusory and
  evanescent phenomena1 the creations of
 human imagination1 itself a  delusive  
appearance4 ,the infinite1 on this view1
 stands over against the  finite1 and it
 overpowers and consumes it2 and the    
optimism1 implied in  the phrase that   
,god is all1 turns at once into a       
pessimism4 ,for1 as  soon as we inquire 
into the meaning of this all1 we find   
that it is  only a negation of          
everything we can know or be4 ,such a   
pantheism as  this is                   
self-contradictory2 for1 while seeming  
to level all things  upwards to a       
manifestation of the divine1 it really  
levels all downwards  to the level of   
mere unqualified being1 a stagnant and  
empty unknowable4  ,it leaves only a    
choice between akosmism and atheism1    
and1 at the same  time1 it makes each of
 the alternatives impossible4 ,for1 in  
explaining  the world it abolishes it1  
and in abolishing the world it empties  
itself  of all signification2 so that   

the ,godhood which it attempts to       
establish  throughout the whole realm of
 being1 is found to mean nothing4 ,it is
  the night1 in which all cows are      
black4    ,the optimistic creed1 which  
the poet strove to teach1 must1         
therefore1  not only establish the      
immanence of ,god1 but show in some way 
how such  immanence is consistent with  
the existence of particular things4 ,his
  doctrine that there is no failure1 or 
folly1 or wickedness1 or misery1  but   
conceals within it1 at its heart1 a     
divine element2 that there is no        
incident in human history which is not a
 pulsation of the life of the  highest1 
and which has not its place in a scheme 
of universal good1 must  leave room for 
the moral life of man1 and all the risks
 which morality  brings with it4        
,otherwise1 optimism is impossible4 ,for
 a ,god who1 in  filling the universe   
with ,his presence1 encroaches on the   
freedom and  extinguishes the           
independence of man1 precludes the      

possibility of all  that is best for    
man--namely1 moral achievement4 ,life1  
deprived of its  moral purpose1 is      
worthless to the poet1 and so1 in       
consequence1 is all  that exists in     
order to maintain that life4 ,optimism  
and ethics seem  thus to come into      
immediate collision4 ,the former1       
finding the presence  of ,god in all    
things1 seems to leave no room for man2 
and the latter  seems to set man to work
 out his own destiny in solitude1 and to
 give  him supreme and absolute         
authority over his own life2 so that any
  character which he forms1 be it good  
or bad1 is entirely the product of  his 
own activity4 ,so far as his life is    
culpable or praiseworthy1 in  other     
words1 so far as we pass any moral      
judgment upon it1 we  necessarily think 
of it as the revelation of a self1 that 
is1 of an  independent will1 which      
cannot divide its responsibility4 ,there
 may be1  and indeed there always is for
 every individual1 a hereditary         

predisposition and a soliciting         
environment1 tendencies which are his   
inheritance from a remote past1 and     
which rise to the surface in his own    
life2 in other words1 the life of the   
individual is always led within  the    
larger sweep of the life of humanity4   
,he is part of a whole1 and has  his    
place fixed1 and his function           
predetermined1 by a power which is      
greater than his own4 ,but1 if we are to
 call him good or evil1 if he is  to    
aspire and repent and strive1 in a word1
 if he is to have any moral  character1 
he cannot be merely a part of a system2 
there must be  something within him     
which is superior to circumstances1 and 
which  makes him master of his own fate4
 ,his natural history may begin with the
  grey dawn of primal being1 but his    
moral history begins with himself1  from
 the time when he first reacted upon the
 world in which he is  placed1 and      
transformed his natural relations into  
will and character4  ,for who can be    

responsible for what he did not will8   
,what could a moral  imperative mean1   
what could an ought signify1 to a being 
who was only  a temporary embodiment of 
forces1 who are prior to1 and           
independent of  himself8 ,it would seem1
 therefore1 as if morality were         
irreconcilable  with optimism4 ,the     
moral life of man cannot be the         
manifestation of a  divine benevolence  
whose purpose is necessary2 it is a     
trust laid upon  himself1 which he may  
either violate or keep4 ,it surpasses   
divine  goodness1 tho' matched with     
equal power to make man good1 as it has 
made the flowers beautiful4 ,from this  
point of view1 spiritual  attainment1   
whether intellectual or moral1 is man's 
own1 a spontaneous  product4 ,just as   
,god is conceived as all in all in the  
universe1 so man  is all in all within  
the sphere of duty2 for the kingdom of  
heaven is  within4 ,in both cases alike1
 there is absolute exclusion of external
  interference4    ,for this reason1 it 

has often seemed both to philosophers   
and  theologians1 as if the world were  
too confined to hold within it both     
,god and man4 ,in the ,east1 the        
consciousness of the infinite seemed at 
times to leave no room for the finite2  
and in the ,west1 where the             
consciousness of the finite and interest
 therein is strongest1 and man  strives 
and aspires1 a ,deism arose which set   
,god at a distance1 and  allowed ,him to
 interfere in the fate of man only by a 
benevolent  miracle4 ,nor is this       
collision of pantheism and freedom1 nay 
of religion  and morality1 confined to  
the theoretical region4 ,this difficulty
 is not  merely the punishment of an    
over-bold and over-ambitious philosophy1
  which pries too curiously into the    
mystery of being4 ,it lies at the very  
threshold of all reflection on the facts
 of the moral life4 ,even  children feel
 the mystery of ,god's permitting sin1  
and embarrass their  helpless parents   
with the contradiction between absolute 

benevolence and  the miseries and       
cruelties of life4 ,a vain interminable 
controversy1  says ,teufels-drckh1 which
 arises in every soul since the         
beginning of  the world3 and in every   
soul1 that would pass from idle         
suffering into  actual endeavouring1    
must be put an end to4 ,the most1 in our
 own time1  have to go content with a   
simple1 incomplete enough ,suppression  
of this  controversy3 to a few ,solution
 of it is indispensable4    ,solution1  
and not ,suppression1 is what ,browning 
sought2 he did1 in fact1  propound a    
solution1 which1 whether finally        
satisfactory or not1 at  least carries  
us beyond the easy compromises of       
ordinary religious and  ethical         
teaching4 ,he does not deny the         
universality of ,god's beneficence  or  
power1 and divide the realm of being    
between ,him and the adversary3  nor1 on
 the other hand1 does he limit man's    
freedom1 and stultify ethics  by        
extracting the sting of reality from    

sin4 ,to limit ,god1 he knew1 was  to   
deny ,him2 and1 whatever the            
difficulties he felt in regarding the   
absolute ,spirit as realising itself in 
man1 he could not be content to  reduce 
man into a temporary phantom1 an        
evanescent embodiment of  spiritual or  
natural forces1 that take a fleeting    
form in him as they  pursue their onward
 way4    ,browning held with equal      
tenacity to the idea of a universal     
benevolent  order1 and to the idea of   
the moral freedom of man within it4 ,he 
was  driven in opposite directions by   
two beliefs1 both of which he knew to   
be essential to the life of man as      
spirit1 and both of which he            
illustrates throughout his poems with an
 endless variety of poetic  expression4 
,he endeavoured to find ,god in man and 
still to leave man  free4 ,his          
optimistic faith sought reconciliation  
with morality4 ,the  vigour of his      
ethical doctrine is as pre-eminent1 as  
the fulness of his  conviction of the   

absolute sway of the ,good4 ,side by    
side with his  doctrine that there is no
 failure1 no wretchedness of corruption 
that  does not conceal within it a germ 
of goodness1 is his sense of the evil   
of sin1 of the infinite earnestness of  
man's moral warfare1 and of the         
surpassing magnitude of the issues at   
stake for each individual soul4 ,so     
powerful is his interest in man as a    
moral agent1 that he sees nought  else  
in the world of any deep concern4 ,my   
stress lay1 he said in his  preface to  
,sordello 7#ahfc71 on the incidents in  
the development of a  soul3 little else 
is worth study4 ,i1 at least1 always    
thought so--you1  with many known and   
unknown to me1 think so--others may one 
day think  so4 ,and this development of 
a soul is not at any time regarded by   
the  poet as a peaceful process1 like   
the growth of a plant or animal4        
,although he thinks of the life of man  
as the gradual realization of a  divine 
purpose within him1 he does not suppose 

it to take place in  obedience to a     
tranquil necessity4 ,man advances       
morally by fighting his  way inch by    
inch1 and he gains nothing except       
through conflict4 ,he does  not become  
good as the plant grows into maturity4  
,the kingdom of heaven  suffereth       
violence1 and the violent take it by    
force4      ,no1 when the fight begins  
within himself1    ,a man's worth       
something4 ,god stoops o'er his head1   
,satan looks up between his feet1--both 
tug--    ,he's left1 himself1 i' the    
middle3 the soul awakes    ,and grows4  
,prolong that battle through this life6 
,never leave growing till the life to   
come4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,bishop        
,blougram4    ,man is no idle spectator 
of the conflict of the forces of right  
and  wrong2 ,browning never loses the   
individual in the throng1 or sinks him  
into his age or race4 ,and although the 
poet ever bears within him the          
certainty of victory for the good1 he   
calls his fellows to the fight as  if   

the fate of all hung on the valour of   
each4 ,the struggle is always  personal1
 individual like the duels of the       
,homeric heroes4    ,it is under the    
guise of warfare that morality always   
presents itself to  ,browning4 ,it is   
not a mere equilibrium of qualities--the
 measured1  self-contained1 statuesque  
ethics of the ,greeks1 nor the          
asceticism and  self-restraint of       
,puritanism1 nor the peaceful evolution 
of ,goethe's  artistic morality3 it is  
valour in the battle of life4 ,his code 
contains  no negative commandments1 and 
no limitations2 but he bids each man let
  out all the power that is within him1 
and throw himself upon life with  the   
whole energy of his being4 ,it is better
 even to seek evil with one's  whole    
mind1 than to be lukewarm in goodness4  
,whether you seek good or  evil1 and    
play for the counter or the coin1 stake 
it boldly6      ,let a man contend to   
the uttermost    ,for his life's set    
prize1 be it what it will6      ,the    

counter our lovers staked was lost      
,as surely as if it were lawful coin3   
,and the sin ,i impute to each frustrate
 ghost      ,is1 the unlit lamp and the 
ungirt loin    ,though the end in sight 
was a vice1 ,i say4    ,you1 of the     
virtue 7we issue join7    ,how strive   
you8--',de te fabula6',a    ,footnote   
,a3 ,the ,statue and the ,bust4         
,indifference and spiritual lassitude   
are1 to the poet1 the worst of  sins4   
,go6 says the ,pope to ,pompilia's      
pseudo-parents1      ,never again elude 
the choice of tints6    ,white shall not
 neutralize the black1 nor good         
,compensate bad in man1 absolve him so3 
,life's business being just the terrible
 choice4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,the ,ring  
and the ,book--,the ,pope1 #abce-abch4  
,in all the greater characters of ,the  
,ring and the ,book1 this intensity  of 
vigour in good and evil flashes out upon
 us4 ,even ,pompilia1 the most  gentle  
of all his creations1 at the first      
prompting of the instinct of            

motherhood1 rises to the law demanding  
resistance1 and casts off the old       
passivity4      ,dutiful to the foolish 
parents first1    ,submissive next to   
the bad husband1--nay1    ,tolerant of  
those meaner miserable    ,that did his 
hests1 eked out the dole of pain 2,c    
,footnote ,c3 ,ibid41 #ajeb-ajee4    she
 is found      ,sublime in new          
impatience with the foe4      ,i did for
 once see right1 do right1 give tongue  
,the adequate protest3 for a worm must  
turn    ,if it would have its wrong     
observed by ,god4    ,i did spring up1  
attempt to thrust aside    ,that        
ice-block 'twixt the sun and me1 lay low
    ,the neutralizer of all good and    
truth4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and
 the ,book--,pompilia1 #aeia-aeif4      
,yet1 shame thus rank and patent1 ,i    
struck1 bare1    ,at foe from head to   
foot in magic mail1    ,and off it      
withered1 cobweb armoury    ,against the
 lightning6 ',twas truth singed the lies
    ,and saved me4,b    ,footnote ,b3   

,ibid41 #afcg-afda4    ,beneath the     
mature wisdom of the ,pope1 amidst the  
ashes of old age1  there sleeps the same
 fire4 ,he is as truly a warrior priest 
as  ,caponsacchi himself1 and his       
matured experience only muffles his     
vigour4  ,wearied with his life-long    
labour1 we see him gather himself       
together  in ,god's name1 to do ,his    
will on earth once more with            
concentrated  might4                    
,i smite    ,with my whole strength once
 more1 ere end my part1    ,ending1 so  
far as man may1 this offence4,c         
,footnote ,c3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,the ,pope1 #aieh-aifj4    ,nor1 
spite of doubts1 the promptings of      
mercy1 the friends plucking his  sleeve 
to stay his arm1 does he fear to handle 
a lie roughly2 or  shrink from sending  
the criminal to his account1 though it  
be but one  day before he himself is    
called before the judgment seat4 ,the   
same  energy1 the same spirit of bold   
conflict1 animates ,guido's adoption of 

evil for his good4 ,at all but the last 
moment of his life of monstrous  crime1 
just before he hears the echo of the    
feet of the priests1 who  descend the   
stair to lead him to his death1 he      
repeats his evil deed in  will4         
,nor is it in me to unhate my hates1--  
,i use up my last strength to strike    
once more    ,old ,pietro in the        
wine-house-gossip-face1    ,to trample  
underfoot the whine and wile    ,of     
beast ,violante1--and ,i grow one gorge 
,to loathingly reject ,pompilia's pale  
,poison my hasty hunger took for food4,a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and the    
,book--,guido1 #bdjj-bdjf4    ,if there 
be any concrete form of evil with which 
the poet's optimism is  not able to     
cope1 any irretrievable black beyond    
white's power to  disintensify1 it is   
the refusal to take a definite stand and
 resolute  for either virtue or vice2   
the hesitancy and compromise of a life  
that  is loyal to nothing1 not even to  
its own selfishness4 ,the cool self-love

  of the old ,english moralists1 which  
reduced the game of life to  principles1
 and weighed good and evil in the scales
 of prudence1 is to  our poet the       
deepest damnation4      ,saint          
,eldobert--,i much approve his mode2    
,with sinner ,vertgalant ,i sympathize2 
,but histrionic ,sganarelle1 who prompts
    ,while pulling back1 refuses yet    
concedes1--           99       99       
99       99       99      ,surely1 one  
should bid pack that mountebank6    ,in 
him1 even                   thickheads  
ought to recognize    ,the ,devil1 that 
old stager1 at his trick    ,of general 
utility1 who leads    ,downward1        
perhaps1 but fiddles all the way6,a     
,footnote ,a3 ,red ,cotton ,nightcap    
,country4    ,for the bold sinner1 who  
chooses and sustains his part to the    
end1 the  poet has hope4 ,indeed1 the   
resolute choice is itself the beginning 
of  hope2 for1 let a man only give      
himself to anything1 wreak himself on   
the world in the intensity of his hate1 

set all sail before the gusts of        
passion and range from ,helen to        
,elvire1 frenetic to be free1 let him   
rise into a decisive self-assertion     
against the stable order of the  moral  
world1 and he cannot fail to discover   
the nature of the task he  has          
undertaken1 and the meaning of the power
 without1 against which he  has set     
himself4 ,if there be sufficient        
strength in a man to vent  himself in   
action1 and try conclusions with the    
world1 he will then  learn that it has  
another destiny than to be the          
instrument of evil4  ,self-assertion    
taken by itself is good2 indeed1 it is  
the very law of  every life1 human and  
other4                                  
,each lie    ,redounded to the praise of
 man1 was victory    ,man's nature had  
both right to get and might to gain4,b  
,footnote ,b3 ,fifine at the ,fair1     
cxxviii4    ,but it leads to the        
revelation of a higher law than that of 
selfishness4  ,the very assertion of the

 self which leads into evil1 ultimately 
leaves  the self assertion futile4      
,there is the disappointment of utter   
failure2  the sinner is thrown back upon
 himself empty-handed4 ,he finds himself
  subjected1 even when sinning1         
,to the reign    ,of other quite as real
 a nature1 that saw fit    ,to have its 
way with man1 not man his way with it4,a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at the ,fair1 
cxxviii4      ,poor pabulum for pride   
when the first love is found    ,last   
also6 and1 so far from realizing gain1  
,each step aside just proves divergency 
in vain4    ,the wanderer brings home no
 profit from his quest    ,beyond the   
sad surmise that keeping house were best
    ,could life begin anew4,b           
,footnote ,b3,ibid4 cxxix4    ,the      
impossibility of living a divided life1 
of enjoying at once the  sweets of the  
flesh on the ,turf1 and the security of 
the ,towers1 is  the text of ,red       
,cotton ,nightcap ,country4 ,the sordid 
hero of the poem  is gradually driven to

 choose between the alternatives4 ,the  
best of his  luck1 the poet thinks1 was 
the      ,rough but wholesome shock1    
,an accident which comes to kill or     
cure1    ,a jerk which mends a          
dislocated joint6,c    ,footnote ,c3    
,red ,cotton ,nightcap ,country4    ,the
 continuance of disguise and subterfuge1
 and the retention of the  first        
falsehood1 are ultimately made          
impossible to ,lonce ,miranda3          
,thus by a rude in seeming--rightlier   
judged    ,beneficent surprise1         
publicity    ,stopped further fear and  
trembling1 and what tale    ,cowardice  
thinks a covert3 one bold splash        
,into the mid-shame1 and the shiver     
ends1    ,though cramp and drowning may 
begin perhaps4,d    ,footnote ,d3 ,ibid4
    ,in the same spirit he finds        
,miranda's suicidal leap the best deed  
possible for him4                       
',mad6' ',no6 sane1 ,i say4    ,such    
being the conditions of his life1       
,such end of life was not irrational4   

,hold a belief1 you only half-believe1  
,with all-momentous issues either way1--
    ,and ,i advise you imitate this     
leap1    ,put faith to proof1 be cured  
or killed at once6',a    ,footnote ,a3  
,red ,cotton ,nightcap ,country4        
,thus it is the decisive deed that gains
 the poet's approval4 ,he finds  the    
universe a great plot against a pied    
morality4 ,even ,guido claims  some kind
 of regard from him1 since hate1 as     
,pompilia said1 was the  truth of him4  
,in that very hate we find1 beneath his 
endless  subterfuges1 something real1 at
 last4 ,and since1 through his hate1 he 
is  frankly measuring his powers against
 the good at work in the world1  there  
cannot remain any doubt of the issue4   
,to bring the rival forces  face to face
 is just what is wanted4          ,i    
felt quite sure that ,god had set       
,himself to ,satan2 who would spend     
,a minute's mistrust on the end8,b      
,footnote ,b3,count ,gismond4    ,it is 
the same respect for strenuous action   

and dislike of compromise1  that        
inspired the pathetic lines in which he 
condemns the ,lost ,leader1  who broke  
,from the van and the free-men1 and sunk
 to the rear and the  slaves4 ,for the  
good pursues its work without him4      
,we shall march prospering1--not thro'  
his presence2      ,songs may inspirit  
us1--not from his lyre2    ,deeds will  
be done1--while he boasts his           
quiescence1      ,still bidding crouch  
whom the rest bade aspire3    ,blot out 
his name1 then1 record one lost soul    
more1      ,one task more declined1 one 
more footpath untrod1    ,one more      
devil's triumph and sorrow for angels1  
,one wrong more to man1 one more insult 
to ,god6,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,list  
,leader4    ,everywhere ,browning's     
ethical teaching has this characteristic
 feature  of vigorous decisiveness4 ,as 
,dr4 ,westcott has said1 ,no room is    
left for  indifference or neutrality4   
,there is no surrender to an idle       
optimism4 ,a  part must be taken and    

maintained4 ,the spirit in which ,luther
 said  ',pecca fortiter' finds in him   
powerful expression4 ,browning is       
emphatically the poet-militant1 and the 
prophet of struggling manhood4  ,his    
words are like trumpet-calls sounded in 
the van of man's struggle1  wafted back 
by the winds1 and heard through all the 
din of conflict by  his meaner brethren1
 who are obscurely fighting for the good
 in the  throng and crush of life4 ,we  
catch the tones of this                 
heart-strengthening  music in the       
earliest poems he sung3 nor did his     
courage fail1 or vigour  wane1 as the   
shades of night gathered round him4 ,in 
the latest of all  his poems1 he still  
speaks of      ,one who never turned his
 back but marched breast forward1       
,never doubted clouds would break1      
,never dreamed1 though right were       
worsted1 wrong would triumph1      ,held
 we fall to rise1 are baffled to fight  
better1        ,sleep to wake4      ,no1
 at noon-day in the bustle of man's     

work-time      ,greet the unseen with a 
cheer6    ,bid him forward1 breast and  
back as either should be1      ',strive 
and thrive'6 cry ',speed6--fight on1    
fare ever        ,there as here4',a     
,footnote ,a3 ,epilogue to ,asolande4   
,these are fit words to close such a    
life4 ,his last act is a kind of        
re-enlistment in the service of the     
good2 the joyous venturing forth on  a  
new war under new conditions and in     
lands unknown1 by a heroic man who  is  
sure of himself and sure of his cause4  
,but now comes the great difficulty4    
,how can the poet combine such          
earnestness in the moral struggle with  
so deep a conviction of the  ultimate   
nothingness of evil1 and of the complete
 victory of the good8  ,again and again 
we have found him pronounce such victory
 to be  absolutely necessary and        
inevitable4 ,his belief in ,god1 his    
trust in ,his  love and might1 will     
brook no limit anywhere4 ,his conviction
 is that the  power of the good subjects

 evil itself to its authority4          
,my own hope is1 a sun will pierce      
,the thickest cloud earth ever          
stretched2      ,that1 after ,last1     
returns the ,first1    ,though a wide   
compass round be fetched2      ,that    
what began best1 can't end worst4       
,nor what ,god blessed once1 prove      
accurst4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,apparent   
,failure4    ,it is the poet himself and
 not merely the sophistic aesthete of   
,fifine  that speaks3--      ,partake my
 confidence6 ,no creature's made so mean
    ,but that1 some way1 it boasts1     
could we investigate1    ,its supreme   
worth3 fulfils1 by ordinance of fate1   
,its momentary task1 gets glory all its 
own1    ,tastes triumph in the world1   
pre-eminent1 alone4           99        
99       99       99       99      ,as  
firm is my belief1 quick sense perceives
 the same    ,self-vindicating flash    
illustrate every man    ,and woman of   
our mass1 and prove1 throughout the     
plan1    ,no detail but1 in place       

allotted it1 was prime    ,and          
perfect4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at  
the ,fair1 xxix4    ,but if so1--if     
,helen1 ,fifine1 ,guido1 find themselves
 within the plan1  fulfilling1 after    
all1 the task allotted to them in the   
universal  scheme1 how can we condemn   
them8 ,must we not plainly either modify
 our  optimism and keep our faith in    
,god within bounds1 or1 on the other    
hand1  make every failure apparent only1
 sin a phantom1 and the distinction     
between right and wrong a helpful       
illusion that stings man to  effort--but
 an illusion all the same8      ,what   
but the weakness in a ,faith supplies   
,the incentive to humanity1 no strength 
,absolute1 irresistible comforts4       
,how can man love but what he yearns to 
help8,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,the ,ring and 
the ,book--,the ,pope1 #afdi-afeb4      
,where is the need1 nay1 the            
possibility1 of self-sacrifice1 except  
where  there is misery8 ,how can good1  
the good which is highest1 find itself1 

and give utterance and actuality to the 
power that slumbers within it1  except  
as resisting evil8 ,are not good and    
evil relative8 ,is not every  criminal1 
when really known1 working out in his   
own way the salvation of  himself and   
the world8 ,why cannot he1 then1 take   
his stand on his right  to move towards 
the good by any path that best pleases  
himself3 since  move he must4 ,it is    
easy for the religious conscience to    
admit with  ,pippa that      ,all       
service ranks the same with ,god--      
,with ,god1 whose puppets1 best and     
worst1    ,are we3 there is no last or  
first4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,pippa        
,passes4    ,but1 if so1 why do we      
admire her sweet pre-eminence in moral  
beauty1 and  in what is she really      
better than ,ottima8 ,the doctrine that 
,god's in ,his heaven--    ,all's right 
with the world6,b    ,footnote ,b3      
,ibid4    finds its echo in every devout
 spirit from the beginning of the world3
  it is of the very essence of religion4

 ,but what of its moral  consequences8  
,religion1 when thoroughly consistent1  
is the triumphant  reconciliation of all
 contradictions4 ,it is optimism1 the   
justification  of things as the process 
of evolving the good2 and its peace and 
joy are  just the outcome of the        
conviction1 won by faith1 that the ideal
 is  actual1 and that every detail of   
life is1 in its own place1 illumined    
with divine goodness4 ,but morality is  
the condemnation of things as they  are1
 by reference to a conception of a good 
which ought to be4 ,the  absolute       
identification of the actual and ideal  
extinguishes morality1  either in       
something lower or something higher4    
,but the moral ideal1 when  reached1    
turns at once into a stepping-stone1 a  
dead self2 and the good  formulates     
itself anew as an ideal in the future4  
,so that morality is  the sphere of     
discrepancy1 and the moral life a       
progressive realization  of a good that 
can never be complete4 ,it would thus   

seem to be  irreconcilably different    
from religion1 which must1 in some way  
or  other1 find the good to be present1 
actual1 absolute1 without shadow of     
change1 or hint of limit or             
imperfection4    ,how1 then1 does the   
poet deal with the apparently           
fundamental  discrepancy between        
religion1 which postulates the absolute 
and  universal supremacy of ,god1 and   
morality1 which postulates the absolute 
supremacy of man within the sphere of   
his own action1 in so far as it is      
called right or wrong8    ,this         
difficulty1 in one or other of its      
forms1 is1 perhaps1 the most  pressing  
in modern philosophy4 ,it is the problem
 of the possibility of  rising above the
 ,either1 ,or of discrepant conceptions1
 to a position  which grasps the        
alternatives together in a higher idea4 
,it is at bottom  the question1 whether 
we can have a philosophy at all2 or     
whether we  must fall back once more    
into compromise1 and the scepticism and 

despair  which it always brings with it4
    ,it is just because ,browning does  
not compromise between the contending   
truths that he is instructive4 ,the     
value of his solution of the problem    
corresponds accurately to the degree in 
which he holds both the  absoluteness of
 ,god's presence in history1 and the    
complete independence  of the moral     
consciousness4 ,he refused to degrade   
either ,god or man4 ,in  the name of    
religion1 he refuses to say that a      
purpose of reason is  visible in the    
social and legal structures of          
mankind--only on the  whole 2 and in the
 name of morality1 he refuses to assert 
the  perfection of the actual world as  
it is1 and by implication to stultify   
all human endeavour4 ,he knew the vice  
of compromising1 and strove to  hold    
both the truths in their fulness4       
,that he did not compromise ,god's love 
or power1 and make it dominant  merely  
on the whole1 leaving within ,his realm1
 which is universal1 a  limbo for the   

lost1 is evident to the most casual     
reader4      ,this doctrine1 which one  
healthy view of things1    ,one sane    
sight of the general ordinance--        
,nature1--and its particular            
object1--man1--    ,which one mere      
eyecast at the character    ,of ,who    
made these and gave man sense to boot1  
,had dissipated once and evermore1--    
,this doctrine ,i have dosed our flock  
withal4    ,why8 ,because none believed 
it4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,inn ,album4
    ,o'er-punished wrong grows right1   
,browning says4 ,hell is1 for him1 the  
consciousness of opportunities          
neglected1 arrested growth2 and even    
that1 in turn1 is the beginning of a    
better life4      ,however near ,i stand
 in ,his regard1    ,so much the nearer 
had ,i stood by steps    ,offered the   
feet which rashly spurned their help4   
,that ,i call ,hell2 why further        
punishment8,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,a       
,camel-,driver4    ,another ordinary    
view1 according to which evil is        

self-destructive1 and  ends with the    
annihilation of its servant1 he does not
 so decisively  reject4 ,at least1 in a 
passage of wonderful poetic and         
philosophic  power1 which he puts into  
the mouth of ,caponsacchi1 he describes 
,guido  as gradually lapsing towards the
 chaos1 which is lower then created     
existence4 ,he observes him      ,not to
 die so much as slide out of life1      
,pushed by the general horror and common
 hate    ,low1 lower1--left o' the very 
ledge of things1    ,i seem to see him  
catch convulsively1    ,one by one at   
all honest forms of life1    ,at reason1
 order1 decency and use1    ,to cramp   
him and get foothold by at least2       
,and still they disengage them from his 
clutch4           99       99       99  
99       99      ,and thus ,i see him   
slowly and surely edged    ,off all the 
table-land whence life upsprings        
,aspiring to be immortality4    ,there  
he loses him in the loneliness1 silence 
and dusk--      ,at the horizontal line1

 creation's verge4    ,from what just is
 to absolute nothingness4,a    ,footnote
 ,a3 ,the ,ring and the ,book--,giuseppe
 ,caponsacchi1 #aiaa-aica4    ,but the  
matchless moral insight of the ,pope    
leads to a different  conclusion1 and   
the poet again retrieves his faith4 ,the
 ,pope puts his  first trust in the     
suddenness of ,guido's fate1 and hopes  
that the  truth may be flashed out by   
the blow of death1 and ,guido see one   
instant and be saved4 ,nor is his trust 
vain4 ,the end comes1 said ,dr4         
,westcott4 ,the ministers of death claim
 him4 ,in his agony he summons  every   
helper whom he has known or heard of--  
',abate1--,cardinal1--,christ1--,maria1-
-,god--'    and then the light breaks   
through the blackest gloom3             
',pompilia6 will you let them murder    
me8'    ,in this supreme moment he has  
known what love is1 and1 knowing it1 has
  begun to feel it4 ,the cry1 like the  
intercession of the rich man in  ,hades1
 is a promise of a far-off deliverance4 

,but even beyond this hope1 which is the
 last for most men1 the ,pope had  still
 another4      ,else ,i avert my face1  
nor follow him    ,into that sad obscure
 sequestered state    ,where ,god       
unmakes but to remake the soul    ,he   
else made first in vain3 which must not 
be4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and   
the ,book--,the ,pope1 #babi-bacb4      
,this phrase1 which must not be1 seems  
to me to carry in it the  irrefragable  
conviction of the poet himself4 ,the    
same faith in the  future appears in the
 words in which ,pompilia addresses her 
priest4      ,o lover of my life1 ,o    
soldier-saint1    ,no work begun shall  
ever pause for death6    ,love will be  
helpful to me more and more    ,i' the  
coming course1 the new path ,i must     
tread1    ,my weak hand in thy strong   
hand1 strong for that6,b    ,footnote   
,b3 ,the ,ring and the ,seek--,pompilia1
 #aghf-agij4    ,for the poet1 the death
 of man brings no change in the purpose 
of ,god2  nor does it1 or aught else1   

fix a limit to ,his power1 or stultify  
by  failure the end implied in all      
,god's work1 nature no less than man    
himself--to wit1 that every soul shall  
learn the lesson of goodness1 and       
reflect the devine life in desire1      
intelligence1 and will4    ,equally     
emphatic1 on some sides at least1 is    
,browning's rejection of  those         
compromises1 with which the one-sided   
religious consciousness  threatens the  
existence of the moral life4 ,at times1 
indeed1 he seems to  teach1 as man's    
best and highest1 a passive acquiescence
 in the divine  benevolence2 and he uses
 the dangerous metaphor of the clay and 
potter's  wheel4 ,rabbi ,ben ,ezra bids 
us feel      ,why time spins fast1 why  
passive lies our clay2    and his prayer
 is1      ,so1 take and use ,thy work3  
,amend what flaws may lurk1    ,what    
strain o' the stuff1 what warpings past 
the aim6    ,my times be in ,thy hand6  
,perfect the cup as planned6    ,let age
 approve of youth1 and death complete   

the same6,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,rabbi ,ben
 ,ezra4    ,but this attitude of        
quiescent trust1 which is so            
characteristic of  religion1 is known by
 the poet to be only a phase of man's   
best life4 ,it  is a temporary          
resting-place for the pilgrim3 the      
country of ,beulah1  whose air is very  
sweet and pleasant1 where he may solace 
himself for a  season4 ,but1 the way    
lies directly through it1 and the       
pilgrim1  being a little strengthened   
and better able to bear his sickness1   
has  to go forward on his journey4      
,browning's characteristic doctrine on  
this  matter is not acquiescence and    
resignation4 ,leave ,god the way has1 in
  his view1 its counterpart and         
condition--,have you the will6          
,for a worm must turn    ,if it would   
have its wrong observed by ,god4,b      
,footnote ,b3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,pompilia1 #aeib-aeic4    ,the   
root of ,browning's joy is in the need  
of progress towards an  infinitely high 

goal4 ,he rejoices               that   
man is hurled    ,from change to change 
unceasingly1    ,his soul's wings never 
furled4    ,the bliss of endeavour1 the 
infinite worth of the consciousness of  
failure1 with its evidence of coming    
triumph1 the spark which disturbs  our  
clod1 these are the essence of his      
optimistic interpretation of  human     
life1 and also of his robust ethical    
doctrine4      ,then1 welcome each      
rebuff    ,that turns earth's smoothness
 rough1    ,each sting that bids nor sit
 nor stand but go6    ,be our joys      
three-parts pain6    ,strive1 and hold  
cheap the strain2    ,learn1 nor account
 the pang2 dare1 never grudge the       
throe6,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,rabbi ,ben   
,ezra4    ,and he prolongs the battle   
beyond time1 for the battle is the moral
 life  and man's best1 and therefore    
,god's best in man4 ,the struggle upward
  from the brute1 may1 indeed end with  
death4 ,but this only means that man    
has learned the uses of the flesh1 and  

there are in him other  potencies to    
evolve3      ,other heights in other    
lives1 ,god willing4    ,death is the   
summing up of this life's meaning1      
stored strength for new  adventure4     
,the future ,i may face now ,i have     
proved the past2 and1 in view of it1    
,browning is      ,fearless and         
unperplexed    ,when ,i wage battle     
next1    ,what weapons to select1 what  
armour to indue4    ,he is sure that it 
will be a battle1 and a winning one4    
,there is no  limiting here of man's    
possibility1 or confining of man's      
endeavour  after goodness4      ,strive 
and ,thrive6 cry ',speed1' fight on1    
fare ever    ,there as here1    are the 
last words which came from his pen4     
,now1 it may fairly be argued that these
 allusions to what death may  mean1 and 
what may lie beyond death1 valuable as  
they may be as poetry1  cannot help in  
philosophy4 ,they do not solve the      
problem of the relation  between        
morality and religion1 but merely       

continue the antagonism  between them   
into a life beyond1 of which we have no 
experience4 ,if the  problem is to be   
solved1 it must be solved as it is      
stated for us in the  present world4    
,this objection is valid1 so far as it  
goes4 ,but ,browning's treatment is     
valuable all the same1 in so far as it  
indicates his unwillingness to  limit or
 compromise the conflicting truths4 ,he1
 by implication1 rejects  the view1     
ordinarily held without being examined1 
that the moral life is  preliminary to  
the joy and rest of religion2 a brief   
struggle1 to be  followed by a sudden   
lift out of it into some serene sphere1 
where man  will lead an angel's life1   
which knows no imperfection and         
therefore no  growth4 ,he refuses to    
make morality an accident in man's      
history and to  put man in the place of 
,god1 by identifying the process with   
the ideal2  he also refuses to make     
man's struggle1 and ,god's achievement  
within  man1 mutually exclusive         

alternatives4 ,as ,i shall show in the  
sequel1  movement towards an ideal1     
actualizing but never actualized1 is for
 the  poet the very nature of man4 ,and 
to speak about either ,god or man 7or   
even the absolute philosopher7 as the   
last term of a development has  no      
meaning to him4 ,we are not first moral 
and then religious1 first  struggling   
with evil and then conscious of         
overcoming it4 ,god is with us  in the  
battle1 and the victory is in every     
blow4    ,but there lies a deeper       
difficulty than this in the way of      
reconciling  morality and religion1 or  
the presence of both ,god and man in    
human  action4 ,morality1 in so far as  
it is achievement1 might conceivably be 
immediately identified with the process 
of an absolute good2 but  morality is   
always a consciousness of failure as    
well4 ,its very essence  and verve is   
the conviction that the ideal is not    
actual4 ,and the higher  a man's        
spiritual attainment1 the more          

impressive is his view of the  evil of  
the world1 and of the greatness of the  
work pressing to be done4  ,say not ye1 
there are yet four months1 and then     
cometh harvest8 ,behold  ,i say unto    
you1 ',lift up your eyes and look on the
 fields2 for they are  white already to 
harvest4' ,it looks like blasphemy      
against morality to  say that ,god lives
 in eternity and has1 therefore1 plenty 
of time4  ,morality destroys one's      
contentment with the world2 and its     
language  seems to be1 ,god is not here1
 but there2 the kingdom is still to     
come4    ,nor does it rest with         
condemning the world4 ,it also finds    
flaws in its  own highest achievement2  
so that we seem ever ,to mock ourselves 
in all  that's best of us4 ,the         
beginning of the spiritual life seems   
just to  consist in a consciousness of  
complete failure1 and that consciousness
  ever grows deeper4    ,this is well   
illustrated in ,browning's account of   
,caponsacchi2 from the  time when       

,pompilia's smile first glowed upon him1
 and set him--        ,thinking how my  
life    ,had shaken under me--broken    
short indeed    ,and showed the gap     
'twixt what is1 what should be--    ,and
 into what abysm the soul may slip--,a  
,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,giuseppe ,caponsacchi1 #dhe-dhh4
    up to the time when his pure love   
for her revealed to him something of    
the grandeur of goodness1 and led him to
 define his ideal and also to  express  
his despair4      ,to have to do with   
nothing but the true1    ,the good1 the 
eternal--and these1 not alone    ,in the
 main current of the general life1      
,but small experiences of every day1    
,concerns of the particular hearth and  
home3    ,to learn not only by a comet's
 rush    ,but a rose's birth--not by the
 grandeur1 ,god1    ,but the comfort1   
,christ4 ,all this how far away    ,mere
 delectation1 meet for a minute's       
dream6,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4        
#bjhi-bjig4    ,so illimitably beyond   

his strength is such a life1 that he    
finds himself  like the drudging student
 who                                    
,trims his lamp1    ,opens his          
,plutarch1 puts him in the place    ,of 
,roman1 ,grecian2 draws the patched gown
 close1    ,dreams1 ',thus should ,i    
fight1 save or rule the world6'--       
,then smilingly1 contentedly1 awakes    
,to the old solitary nothingness4,a     
,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,giuseppe ,caponsacchi1          
#bjih-bajc4    ,the moral world with its
 illimitable horizon had ,opened out    
around him1  the voice of the new       
commandment bidding him be perfect as   
his ,father  in heaven is perfect had   
destroyed his peace1 and made imperative
 a  well nigh hopeless struggle2 and1 as
 he compares himself at his best  with  
the new ideal1 he breaks out into the   
cry1      ,o great1 just1 good ,god6    
,miserable ,me6    ,this humility and   
contrition1 this discontent verging on  
hopelessness1  constituted1 as we have  

seen1 the characteristic attitude of    
,carlyle2  and it represents a true and1
 in fact1 an indispensable element of   
man's  moral life4    ,but this         
self-condemnation in the face of the    
moral law is nothing more  than an      
element1 and must not be taken either   
for the whole truth or for  the most    
fundamental one4 ,it is because it is   
taken as fundamental and  final that the
 discrepancy between morality and       
religion is held to be  absolute1 and   
the consciousness of evil is turned     
against faith in the  ,good4 ,it is an  
abstract way of thinking that makes us  
deduce1 from the  transcendent height of
 the moral ideal1 the impossibility of  
attaining  goodness1 and the failure of 
,god's purpose in man4 ,and this is what
  ,carlyle did4 ,he stopped short at the
 consciousness of imperfection1 and  he 
made no attempt to account for it4 ,he  
took it as a complete fact1 and         
therefore drew a sharp line of          
distinction between the human and the   

divine4 ,and1 so far1 he was right2 for1
 if we look no further than this        
negative side1 it is emphatically absurd
 to identify man1 be he  philosopher or 
not1 with the ,absolute4 ,why callest   
thou ,me good8  there is none good save 
,one1 that is ,god4 ,the ought must     
stand  above all human attainment1 and  
declare that whatever is1 is wrong4     
,but whence comes the ought itself1 the 
ideal which condemns us8 ,is it  not    
also immanent in the fact it condemns8  
,who is not acute enough1 asks ,hegel1  
to see a great deal in his  surroundings
 which is really far from being what it 
ought to be8 ,and  who also1 we may add1
 has not enough of the generalizing     
faculty1 often  mistaken for a          
philosophical one1 to extend this       
condemnation over the  whole of this    
best of all possible worlds8 ,but what  
is this  ought-to-be1 which has such    
potency in it that all things confronted
  with it lose their worth8    ,the     
first answer is1 that it is an idea     

which men1 and particularly good  men1  
carry with them4 ,but a little          
consideration will show that it  cannot 
be a mere idea4 ,it must be something   
more valid than a capricious  product of
 the individual imagination4 ,for we    
cannot wisely condemn  things because   
they do not happen to answer to any     
casual conception  which we may choose  
to elevate into a criterion4 ,a         
criterion must have  objective validity4
 ,it must be an idea of something and   
not an empty  notion2 and that something
 must1 at the worst1 be possible4 ,nay1 
when we  consider all that is involved  
in it1 it becomes obvious that a true   
ideal--an ideal which is a valid        
criterion--must be not only possible    
but real1 and1 indeed1 more real than   
that which is condemned by  reference to
 it4 ,absolute pessimism has in it the  
same contradiction as  absolute         
scepticism has1--in fact1 it is only its
 practical counterpart2  for both       
scepticism and pessimism involve the    

assumption that it is  possible to reach
 a position outside the realm of being1 
from which it  may be condemned as a    
whole4 ,but the rift between actual and 
ideal must  fall within the real or     
intelligible world1 do what the         
pessimists will2  and a condemnation of 
man which is not based on a principle   
realized by  humanity1 is a fiction of  
abstract thought1 which lays stress on  
the  actuality of the imperfect and     
treats the perfect as if it were as good
  as nothing1 which it cannot be4 ,in   
other words1 this way of regarding      
human life isolates the passing         
phenomenon1 and does not look to that   
which reveals itself in it and causes it
 to pass away4 ,confining  ourselves1   
however1 for the present1 to the ideal  
in morality1 we can  easily see that1 in
 that sphere at least1 the actual and   
ideal change  places2 and that the      
latter contrasts with the former as the 
real with  the phenomenal4 ,for1 in the 
first place1 the moral ideal is         

something  more than a mere idea not yet
 realized4 ,it is more even than a true 
idea2 for no mere knowledge1 however    
true1 has such intimate relation to  the
 self-consciousness of man as his moral 
ideal4 ,a mathematical axiom1  and the  
statement of a physical law1 express    
what is true2 but they do  not occupy   
the same place in our mind as a moral   
principle4 ,such a  principle is an     
ideal1 as well as an idea4 ,it is an    
idea which has  causative potency in it4
 ,it supplies motives1 it is an         
incentive to  action1 and1 though in one
 sense a thing of the future1 it is also
 the  actual spring and source of       
present activity4 ,in so far as the     
agent  acts1 as ,kant put it1 not       
according to laws1 but according to an  
idea  of law 7and a responsible agent   
always acts in this manner71 the ideal  
is as truly actualized in him as the    
physical law is actualized in the       
physical fact1 or the vegetable life in 
the plant4 ,in fact1 the ideal of  a    

moral being is his life4 ,all his       
actions are its manifestations4 ,and1   
just as the physical fact is not seen as
 it really is1 nor its reality  proved1 
till science has penetrated through the 
husk of the sensuous  phenomenon1 and   
grasped it in thought as an instance of 
a law2 so an  individual's actions are  
not understood1 and can have no moral   
meaning  whatsoever1 except in the light
 of the purpose which gave them being4  
,we  know the man only when we know his 
creed4 ,his reality is what he  believes
 in2 that is1 it is his ideal4    ,it is
 the consciousness that the ideal is the
 real which explains the  fact of       
contrition4 ,to become morally awakened 
is to become conscious of  the vanity   
and nothingness of the past life1 as    
confronted with the new  ideal implied  
in it4 ,the past life is something to be
 cast aside as  false show1 just because
 the self that experienced it was not   
realized  in it4 ,it is for this reason 
that the moral agent sets himself       

against  it1 and desires to annihilate  
all its claims upon him by undergoing   
its  punishment1 and drinking to the    
dregs its cup of bitterness4 ,thus his  
true life lies in the realization of his
 ideal1 and his advance towards  it is  
his coming to himself4 ,only in         
attaining to it does he attain  reality1
 and the only realization possible for  
him in the present is  just the         
consciousness of the potency of the     
ideal4 ,to him to live is to  realize   
his ideal4 ,it is a power that irks1    
till it finds expression in  moral      
habits that accord with its nature1     
i4e41 till the spirit has1  out of its  
environment1 created a body adequate to 
itself4    ,the condemnation of self    
which characterizes all moral life and  
is the  condition of moral progress1    
must not1 therefore1 be regarded as a   
complete truth4 ,for the very           
condemnation implies the actual presence
 of  something better4 ,both of the     
terms--both the criterion and the fact  

which is condemned by it--fall within   
the same individual life4 ,man  cannot1 
therefore1 without injustice1 condemn   
himself in all that he is2  for the     
condemnation is itself a witness to the 
activity of that good of  which he      
despairs4 ,hence1 the threatening       
majesty of the moral  imperative is     
nothing but the shadow of man's own     
dignity2 and moral  contrition1 and even
 the complete despair of the pessimistic
 theory1  when rightly understood1 are  
recognized as unwilling witnesses to the
  authority and the actuality of the    
highest good4 ,and1 on the other hand1  
the highest good cannot be regarded as a
 mere phantom1 without  nullifying all  
our condemnation of the self and the    
world4    ,the legitimate deduction from
 the height of man's moral ideal is thus
  found to be1 not1 as ,carlyle thought1
 the weakness and worthlessness of      
human nature1 but its promise and native
 dignity3 and in a healthy moral        
consciousness it produces1 not despair1 

but faith and joy4 ,for1 as has  been   
already suggested in a previous chapter1
 the authority of the moral  law over   
man is rooted in man's endowment4 ,its  
imperative is nothing but  the voice of 
the future self1 bidding the present    
self aspire1 while its  reproof is only 
the expression of a moral aspiration    
which has  misunderstood itself4        
,contrition is not a bad moral state    
which should  bring despair1 but a good 
state1 full of promise of one that is   
still  better4 ,it is1 in fact1 just the
 first step which the ideal takes in its
  process of self-realization3 the sting
 that bids nor sit1 nor stand1  but go6 
,the moral ideal thus1 like every other 
ideal1 even that which we regard  as    
present in natural life1 contains a     
certain guarantee of its own            
fulfilment4 ,it is essentially an active
 thing1 an energy1 a movement  upwards4 
,it may1 indeed1 be urged that the      
guarantee is imperfect4  ,ideals tend to
 self-realization1 but the tendency may 

remain  unfulfilled4 ,men have some     
ideals which they never reach1 and      
others  which1 at first sight at least1 
it were better for them not to reach4   
,the goal may never be attained1 or it  
may prove a ruin like the rest4  ,and1  
as long as man is moral1 the ideal is   
not1 and cannot be1 fully  reached1     
,morality necessarily implies a rift    
within human nature1 a  contradiction   
between what is and what ought to be2   
although neither the  rift nor the      
contradiction is absolute4 ,there might 
seem for this reason  to be no way of   
bringing optimism and ethics together1  
of reconciling  what is and what ought  
to be4    ,my answer to these           
difficulties must at this stage be very 
brief and  incomplete4 ,that the moral  
good1 if attained1 should itself prove  
vain  is a plain self-contradiction4    
,for moral good has no meaning except in
  so far as it is conceived as the      
highest good4 ,the question4 ,why should
  ,i be moral1 has no answer1 because it

 is self-contradictory4 ,the moral      
ideal contains its justification in     
itself1 and requires to lean on  nothing
 else4    ,but it is not easy to prove  
that it is attainable4 ,in one sense it 
is  not attainable1 at least under the  
conditions of human life which fall     
within our experience1 from which alone 
we have a right to speak4 ,for1  as ,i  
shall strive to show in a succeeding    
chapter1 the essence of man's  life as  
spiritual1 that is as intelligent and   
moral1 is its  self-realizing activity4 
,intellectual and moral life is         
progress1  although it is the progress  
of an ideal which is real and complete1 
the  return of the infinite to itself   
through the finite4 ,the cessation of   
the progress of the ideal in man1       
whereby man interprets the world in     
terms of himself and makes it the       
instrument of his purposes1 is          
intellectual and moral death4 ,from one 
point of view1 therefore1 this          
spiritual life1 or moral and            

intellectual activity1 is inspired at   
every  step by the consciousness of a   
beyond not possessed1 of an unsolved    
contradiction between the self and the  
not-self1 of a good that ought to  be   
and is not4 ,the last word1 or rather   
the last word but one1  regarding man is
 failure4    ,but failure is the last   
word but one1 as the poet well knew4    
,what's  come to perfection perishes1 he
 tells us4 ,from this point of view the 
fact that perfection is not reached1    
merely means that the process is  not   
ended4 ,it seethes with the morrow for  
us and more4 ,the recognition  of       
failure implies more effort and higher  
progress1 and contains a  suggestion of 
an absolute good1 and even a proof of   
its active presence4  ,the beyond1 for  
knowledge and morality1 is the ,land of 
,promise4 ,and  the promise is not a    
false one2 for the land is possessed4   
,the  recognition of the fact to be     
known1 the statement of the problem1 is 
the first step in its solution2 and the 

consciousness of the moral ideal  not   
attained is the first step in its       
self-actualizing progress4 ,had man  not
 come so far1 he would not have known   
the further difficulty1 or  recognized  
the higher good4 ,to say that the moral 
ideal is never  attained1 is thus only a
 half-truth4 ,we must add to it the fact
 that it  is always being attained2 nay1
 that it is always present as an active 
reality1 attaining itself1 evolving its 
own content4 ,or1 to return to  the     
previous metaphor1 the land of promise  
is possessed1 although the  possession  
always reveals a still better beyond1   
which is again a land  of promise4      
,while1 therefore1 it must always remain
 true that knowledge does not  reach    
absolute reality1 nor morality absolute 
goodness1 this cannot be  used as an    
argument against optimism1 except on the
 presupposition that  mental and moral  
activity are a disease4 ,and this is a  
contradiction in  terms4 ,if the ideal  
is in itself good1 the process whereby  

it is  attained is good2 if the process 
in itself is evil1 the ideal it seeks   
is evil1 and therefore the condemnation 
of the actual by reference to it  is    
absurd4 ,and1 on the other hand1 to     
postulate as best the identity of  ideal
 and actual1 so that no process is      
necessary1 is to assume a point  of view
 where both optimism and pessimism are  
meaningless1 for there is  no criterion4
 ,as ,aristotle teaches us1 we have no  
right either to praise  or to blame the 
highest4 ,a process1 such as morality   
is1 which is not  the self-manifestation
 of an actual idea1 and an ideal which  
does not  reveal its potencies in its   
passing forms1 are both fictions of     
one-sided thought4 ,the process is not  
the ideal1 but its manifestation2  and  
the ideal is not the process1 but the   
principle which is its source  and      
guide4    ,but if the process cannot be 
thus immediately identified with the    
ideal1  or man take the place of ,god1  
or human self-consciousness be confused 

with the absolute self-consciousness1   
far less can they be separated4  ,the   
infinitely high ideal of perfect        
knowledge and perfect goodness1  implied
 in the ,christian command1 ,be ye      
perfect as your ,father in  heaven is   
perfect1 is an ideal1 just because the  
unity of what is and  what ought to be  
is deeper than their difference4 ,the   
recognition of the  limit of our        
knowledge1 or the imperfection of our   
moral character1 is a  direct witness to
 the fact that there is more to be known
 and a better  to be achieved4 ,the     
negative implies the affirmative1 and is
 its effect4  ,man's confession of the  
limitation of his knowledge is made on  
the  supposition that the universe of   
facts1 in all its infinitely rich       
complexity1 is meant to be known2 and   
his confession of moral  imperfection is
 made by reference to a good which is   
absolute1 and which  yet may be and     
ought to be his4 ,the good in morality  
is necessarily  supreme and perfect4 ,a 

good that is merely human1 relative to  
man's  nature1 in the sense of not being
 true goodness1 is a phantom of         
confused thinking4 ,morality demands the
 good1 and not a simulacrum  or         
make-shift4 ,the distinction between    
right and wrong1 and with it all  moral 
aspiration1 contrition1 and repentance1 
would otherwise become  meaningless4    
,what can a seeming good avail to a     
moral agent8 ,there is no  better or    
worse among merely apparent             
excellencies1 and of phantoms it        
matters not which is chosen4 ,and1 in a 
similar way1 the distinction  between   
true and false in knowledge1 and the    
common condemnation of  human knowledge 
as merely of phenomena1 implies the     
absolute unity of  thought and being1   
and the knowledge of that unity as a    
fact4 ,there is  no true or false       
amongst merely apparent facts4    ,but1 
if the ideal of man as a spiritual being
 is conceived as perfect1  then it      
follows not only that its attainment is 

possible1 but that it is  necessary4    
,the guarantee of its own fulfilment    
which an ideal carries  with it as an   
ideal1 that is1 as a potency in process 
of fulfilment1  becomes complete when   
that ideal is absolute4 ,if ,god be for 
us1 who can  be against us8 ,the        
absolute good1 in the language of       
,emerson1 is too  good not to be true4  
,if such an ideal be latent in the      
nature of man1  it brings the order of  
the universe over to his side4 ,for it  
implies a  kinship between him1 as a    
spiritual being1 and the whole of       
existence4  ,the stars in their courses 
fight for him4 ,in other words1 the     
moral  ideal means nothing1 if it does  
not imply a law which is universal4 ,it 
is a law which exists already1 whether  
man recognizes it or not2 it is  the    
might in things1 a law of which no jot  
or tittle can in any wise  pass away4   
,the individual does not institute the  
moral law2 he finds it  to be written   
both within and without him4 ,his part  

is to recognize1 not  to create it2 to  
make it valid in his own life and so to 
identify  himself with it1 that his     
service of it may be perfect freedom4   
,we thus conclude that morality1 and    
even the self-condemnation1  contrition1
 and consciousness of failure which it  
brings with it as  phases of its growth1
 are witnesses of the presence1 and the 
actual  product of an absolute good in  
man4 ,morality1 in other words1 rests   
upon1 and is the self-evolution of the  
religious principle in man4    ,a       
similar line of proof would show that   
religion implies morality4 ,an  absolute
 good is not conceivable1 except in     
relation to the process  whereby it     
manifests itself4 ,in the language of   
theology1 we may say  that ,god must    
create and redeem the world in order to 
be ,god2 or that  creation and          
redemption1--the outflow of the universe
 from ,god as its  source1 and its      
return to ,him through the salvation of 
mankind1--reveal  to us the nature of   

,god4 ,apart from this outgoing of the  
infinite to the  finite and its return  
to itself through it1 the name ,god     
would be an  empty word1 signifying a   
something unintelligible dwelling in the
 void  beyond the realm of being4 ,but  
religion1 as we have seen1 is the       
recognition not of an unknown but of the
 absolute good as real2 the  joyous     
consciousness of the presence of ,god in
 all things4 ,and morality1  in that it 
is the realization of an ideal which is 
perfect1 is the  process whereby the    
absolute good actualizes itself in man4 
,it is true  that the ideal cannot be   
identified with the process2 for it is  
the  principle of the process1 and      
therefore more than it4 ,man does not   
reach  the last term of development1 for
 there is no last term to a being  whose
 essence is progressive activity4 ,he   
does not therefore take the  place of   
,god1 and his self-consciousness is     
never the absolute  self-consciousness4 
,but still1 in so far as his life is a  

progress  towards the true and good1 it 
is the process of truth and goodness    
within him4 ,it is the activity of the  
ideal4 ,it is ,god lifting man up to    
,himself1 or1 in the language of        
philosophy1 returning to ,himself in    
history4 ,and yet it is at the same time
 man's effort after goodness4  ,man is  
not a mere vessel of divine grace1 or a 
passive recipient of  the highest       
bounty4 ,all man's goodness is          
necessarily man's achievement4  ,and the
 realization by the ideal of itself is  
man's achievement of it4  ,for it is his
 ideal4 ,the law without is also the law
 within4 ,it is the  law within because 
it is recognized as the law without4    
,thus1 the moral  consciousness passes  
into the religious consciousness4 ,the  
performance  of duty is the willing     
service of the absolute good2 and1 as   
such1 it  involves also the recognition 
of a purpose that cannot fail4 ,it is   
both  activity and faith1 both a        
struggle and a consciousness of victory1

 both  morality and religion4 ,we       
cannot1 therefore1 treat these as       
alternative  phases of man's life4      
,there is not first the pain of the     
moral struggle1  and then the joy and   
rest of religion4 ,the meat and drink is
 to do the  will of ,him that sent ,me1 
to finish ,his work4 ,heaven is the     
service of  the good4 ,there is nothing 
in the world or out of it that can be   
called  unconditionally good1 except the
 good will4 ,the process of willing--the
  moral activity--is its own reward2 the
 only jewel that shines in its  own     
light4    ,it may seem to some to be    
presumptuous thus to identify the divine
 and  the human2 but to separate them   
makes both morality and religion        
impossible4 ,it robs morality of its    
ideal1 and makes ,god a mere name for   
the unknown4 ,those who think that this 
identification degrades the  divine1    
misapprehend the nature of spirit2 and  
forget that it is of its  essence to    
communicate itself4 ,and goodness and   

truth do not become less  when shared2  
they grow greater4 ,spiritual           
possessions imply community  wherein    
there is no exclusion2 and to the       
,christian the glory of ,god is  ,his   
communication of ,himself4 ,hence the   
so-called religious humility1  which    
makes ,god different in nature from ,his
 work1 really degrades the  object of   
its worship4 ,it puts mere power above  
the gifts of spirit1 and  it indicates  
that the worshipper has not been        
emancipated from the  slavishness1 which
 makes a fetish of its ,god4 ,such a    
religion is not  free1 and the          
development of man destroys it4      ,i 
never realized ,god's birth before--    
,how ,he grew likest ,god in being      
born4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and 
the ,book--,pompilia1 #afij-afia4       
,the intense love of the young mother   
drew the divine and the human  together1
 and set at nought the contrast which   
prose ever draws between  them4 ,this   
thought of the unity of ,god and man is 

one which has frequent  utterance from  
the poet when his religious spirit is   
most deeply moved2  for it is the       
characteristic of religious feeling that
 it abolishes all  sense of separation4 
,it removes all the limitations of      
finitude and  lifts man into rapturous  
unity with the ,god he adores2 and it   
gives such  completeness to his life    
that it seems to him to be a joyous     
pulse of  the life that is absolute4    
,the feeling of unity may be an         
illusion4 ,this  we cannot discuss here2
 but1 in any case1 it is a feeling      
essential to  religion4 ,and the        
philosophy which seeks to lift this     
feeling into clear  consciousness and to
 account for its existence1 cannot but  
recognize  that it implies and          
presupposes the essential affinity of   
the divine  nature with the nature of   
man4    ,thus1 both from the side of    
morality and from that of religion1 we  
are  brought to recognize the unity of  
,god with man as a spiritual being4 ,the

  moral ideal is man's idea of          
perfection1 that is1 his idea of ,god4  
,while  theology and philosophy are     
often occupied with the vain task of    
bridging a chasm between the finite and 
the infinite1 which they assume  to be  
separated1 the supreme facts of the life
 of man as a spirit spring  from their  
unity4 ,in other words1 morality and    
religion are but  different             
manifestations of the same principle4   
,the good that man  effects is1 at the  
same time1 the working of ,god within   
him4 ,the  activity that man is1        
tending up1    ,holds1 is upheld by1    
,god1 and ends the man    ,upward in    
that dread point of intercourse    ,nor 
needs a place1 for it returns to ,him4,a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,a ,death in the      
,desert4                                
,god1 perchance1    ,grants each new    
man1 by some as new a mode1             
,inter-communication with ,himself      
,wreaking on finiteness infinitude4,b   
,footnote ,b3 ,prince                   

,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,and while   
man's moral endeavour is thus recognized
 as the activity of  ,god within him1 it
 is also implied that the divine being  
can be known  only as revealed1 and     
incarnated1 if one may so say1 in a     
perfect human  character4 ,it was a     
permanent conviction of ,browning1 that 
the acknowledgment of ,god in ,christ   
,accepted by thy reason1 solves for thee
    ,all questions in the earth and out 
of it4    ,so far from regarding the    
,power in the world which makes for     
righteousness1 as not-ourselves1 as     
,matthew ,arnold did in his haste1  that
 ,power is known to be the man's true   
self and more1 and morality is  the     
gradual process whereby its content is  
evolved4 ,and man's state of            
perfection1 which is symbolized for the 
intelligent by the term ,heaven1  is1   
for ,browning1      ,the equalizing1    
ever and anon1    ,in momentary rapture1
 great with small1    ,omniscience with 
intelligency1 ,god    ,with man--the    

thunder glow from pole to pole          
,abolishing1 a blissful moment-space1   
,great cloud alike and small cloud1 in  
one fire--    ,as sure to ebb as sure   
again to flow    ,when the new          
receptivity deserves    ,the new        
completion4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,prince  
,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,thus1       
therefore1 does the poet wed the divine 
strength with human  weakness2 and the  
principle of unity1 thus conceived1     
gives him at once  his moral            
strenuousness and that ever present     
foretaste of victory1  which we may call
 his religious optimism4    ,whether    
this principle receives adequate        
expression from the poet1 we  shall     
inquire in the next chapter4 ,for on    
this depends its worth as a  solution of
 the enigma of man's moral life4        
,,chapter ,,vi4    ,,browning',s        
,,treatment ,,of ,,the ,,principle ,,of 
,,love4        ,god6 ,thou art ,love6 ,i
 build my faith on that6,a    ,footnote 
,a3 ,paracelsus    ,it may be well      

before going further to gather together 
the results so  far reached4            
,browning was aware of the conflict of  
the religious and moral  consciousness1 
but he did not hesitate to give to each 
of them its most  uncompromising        
utterance4 ,and it is on this account   
that he is  instructive2 for1 whatever  
may be the value of compromise in       
practical  affairs1 there is no doubt   
that it has never done anything to      
advance  human thought4 ,his religion is
 an optimistic faith1 a peaceful        
consciousness of the presence of the    
highest in man1 and therefore in  all   
other things4 ,yet he does not hesitate 
to represent the moral life  as a       
struggle with evil1 and a movement      
through error towards a highest  good   
which is never finally realized4 ,he    
sees that the contradiction is  not an  
absolute one1 but that a good man is    
always both moral and  religious1 and1  
in every good act he does1 transcends   
their difference4  ,he knew that the    

ideal apart from the process is nothing1
 and that a  ,god beyond the stars is   
simply the unknowable4 ,but he knew1    
too1 that  the ideal is not merely the  
process1 but also that which starts the 
process1 guides it1 and comes to itself 
through it4 ,god1 emptied of  human     
elements1 is a mere name2 but1 at the   
same time1 the process of  human        
evolution does not exhaust the idea of  
,god4 ,the process by itself1  i4e41    
mere morality1 is a conception of a     
fragment1 a fiction of  abstract        
thought2 it is a movement which has no  
beginning or end2 and in  it neither the
 head nor the heart of man could find   
contentment4 ,he is  driven by ethics   
into philosophy1 and by morality into   
religion4    ,it was in this way that   
,browning found himself compelled to    
trace back  the moral process to its    
origin1 and to identify the moral law   
with the  nature of ,god4 ,it is this   
that gives value to his view of moral   
progress1 as reaching beyond death to a 

higher stage of being1 for which  man's 
attainments in this life are only       
preliminary4      ,what's time8 ,leave  
,now for dogs and apes1    ,man has     
,forever4,a    ,footnote ,a3            
,grammarian's ,funeral4    ,there are   
other adventures brave and new for man1 
more lives yet1  other ways of warfare1 
other depths of goodness and heights of 
love4 ,the  poet lifts the moral ideal  
into infinitude1 and removes all limits 
to  the possibility and necessity of    
being good4 ,nay1 the process itself is 
good4 ,moral activity is its own        
bountiful reward2 for moral progress1   
which means struggle1 is the best thing 
in the world or out of it4 ,to  end such
 a process1 to stop that activity1 were 
therefore evil4 ,but it  cannot end1 for
 it is the self-manifestation of the    
divine life4 ,there  is plenty of way to
 make1 for the ideal is absolute        
goodness4 ,the  process cannot exhaust  
the absolute1 and it is impossible that 
man  should be ,god4 ,and yet this      

process is the process of the absolute1 
the  working of the ideal1 the presence 
of the highest in man as a living  power
 realizing itself in his acts and in his
 thoughts4 ,and the absolute  cannot    
fail2 not in man1 for the process is the
 evolution of his  essential nature2 and
 not in the world1 for that is but the  
necessary  instrument of the evolution4 
,by lifting the moral ideal of man to   
infinitude1 the poet has identified it  
with the nature of ,god1 and made  it   
the absolute law of things4    ,now1    
this idea of the identity of the human  
and the divine is a  perfectly familiar 
,christian idea4      ,thence shall ,i1 
approved    ,a man1 for aye removed     
,from the developed brute2 a ,god though
 in the germ4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,rabbi 
,ben ,ezra4    ,this idea is involved in
 the ordinary expressions of religious  
thought4  ,but1 nevertheless1 both      
theology and philosophy shrink from     
giving to it  a clear and unembarrassed 
utterance4 ,instead of rising to the    

sublime  boldness of the ,nazarene      
,teacher1 they set up prudential        
differences  between ,god and           
man--differences not of degree only but 
of nature2 and1  in consequence1 ,god is
 reduced into an unknowable absolute1   
and man is  made incapable not only of  
moral1 but also of intellectual life4   
,the  poet himself has proved           
craven-hearted in this1 as we shall see4
 ,he1  too1 sets up insurmountable      
barriers between the divine and the     
human1  and thereby weakens both his    
religious and his moral convictions4    
,his  moral inspiration is greatest just
 where his religious enthusiasm is  most
 intense4 ,in ,rabbi ,ben ,ezra1 ,the   
,death in the ,desert1 and ,the  ,ring  
and the ,book1 there prevails a constant
 sense of the community of  ,god and man
 within the realm of goodness2 and the  
world itself1 with  its dread machinery 
of sin and sorrow1 is made to join the  
great  conspiracy1 whose purpose is at  
once the evolution of man's character1  

and the realization of the will of ,god4
      ,so1 the ,all-,great1 were the    
,all-,loving too--    ,so1 through the  
thunder comes a human voice    ,saying1 
',o heart ,i made1 a heart beats here6  
,face1 my hands fashioned1 see it in    
myself6    ,thou hast no power nor      
may'st conceive of mine1    ,but love ,i
 gave thee1 with myself to love1    ,and
 thou must love ,me who have died for   
thee4',a    ,footnote ,a3 ,an ,epistle  
from ,karshish4    ,but1 if we follow   
,browning's thoughts in his later and   
more reflective  poems1 such as         
,ferishtah's ,fancies for instance1 it  
will not be  possible to hold that the  
poet altogether realized the importance 
for  both morality and religion alike1  
of the idea of the actual immanence of  
,god in man4 ,in these poems he seems to
 have abandoned it in favour of  the    
hypotheses of a more timid philosophy4  
,but1 if his religious faith  had not   
been embarrassed by certain dogmatic    
presuppositions of which he  could not  

free himself1 he might have met more    
successfully some of the  difficulties  
which later reflection revealed to him1 
and might have been  able to set a true 
value on that philosophy1 which betrayed
 his faith  while appearing to support  
it4    ,but1 before trying to criticize 
the principle by means of which         
,browning  sought to reconcile the moral
 and religious elements of human life1  
it  may be well to give it a more       
explicit and careful statement4         
,what1 then1 is that principle of unity 
between the divine and the human8  ,how 
can we interpret the life of man as     
,god's life in man1 so that man1  in    
attaining the moral ideal proper to his 
own nature1 is at the same  time        
fulfilling ends which may justly be     
called divine8    ,the poet1 in early   
life and in late life alike1 has one    
answer to this  question--an answer     
given with the confidence of complete   
conviction4  ,the meeting-point of ,god 
and man is love4 ,love1 in other words1 

is1 for  the poet1 the supreme principle
 both of morality and religion4 ,love1  
once for all1 solves that contradiction 
between them which1 both in  theory and 
in practice1 has embarrassed the world  
for so many ages4 ,love  is the         
sublimest conception attainable by man2 
a life inspired by it is  the most      
perfect form of goodness he can         
conceive2 therefore1 love is1  at the   
same moment1 man's moral ideal1 and the 
very essence of ,godhood4  ,a life      
actuated by love is divine1 whatever    
other limitations it may  have4 ,such is
 the perfection and glory of this       
emotion1 when it has been  translated   
into a self-conscious motive1 and become
 the energy of an  intelligent will1    
that it lifts him who owns it to the    
sublimest height  of being4      ,for   
the loving worm within its clod1        
,were diviner than a loveless ,god      
,amid his worlds1 ,i will dare to say4,a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,christmas ,eve4      
,so excellent is this emotion that1 if  

man1 who has this power to love1  did   
not find the same power in ,god1 then   
man would excel ,him1 and the  creature 
and ,creator change parts4      ,do ,i  
find love so full in my nature1 ,god's  
ultimate gift1    ,that ,i doubt ,his   
own love can compete with it8 ,here1 the
 parts shift8    ,here1 the creature    
surpass the ,creator1--the end what     
,began8,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,saul4       
,not so1 says ,david1 and with him no   
doubt the poet himself4 ,god is         
,himself the source and fulness of love4
            ,tis ,thou1 ,god1 that      
givest1 'tis ,i who receive3    ,in the 
first is the last1 in ,thy will is my   
power to believe4    ,all's one gift4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,would ,i suffer for him that ,i love8  
,so would'st ,thou1--so wilt ,thou6     
,so shall crown ,thee1 the topmost1     
ineffablest1 uttermost crown--    ,and  
,thy love fill infinitude wholly1 nor   
leave up nor down    ,one spot for the  
creature to stand in6,a    ,footnote ,a3

 ,saul4    ,and this same love not only 
constitutes the nature of ,god and the  
moral  ideal of man1 but it is also the 
purpose and essence of all created      
being1 both animate and inanimate4      
,this world's no blot for us1    ,nor   
blank2 it means intensely and means     
good4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,fra ,lippo    
,lippi4      ,o world1 as ,god has made 
it6 ,all is beauty3    ,and knowing this
 is love1 and love is duty1    ,what    
further may be sought for or declared8  
,in this world then all's love1 yet     
all's law4 ,god permits nothing to      
break through its universal sway1 even  
the very wickedness and misery of  life 
are brought into the scheme of good1    
and1 when rightly understood1  reveal   
themselves as its means4      ,i can    
believe this dread machinery    ,of sin 
and sorrow1 would confound me else1     
,devised--all pain1 at most expenditure 
,of pain by ,who devised pain--to       
evolve1    ,by new machinery in         
counterpart1    ,the moral qualities of 

man--how else8--    ,to make him love in
 turn and be beloved1    ,creative and  
self-sacrificing too1    ,and thus      
eventually ,godlike4,c    ,footnote ,c3 
,the ,ring and the ,book--,the ,pope1   
#acge-achc4    ,the poet thus brings the
 natural world1 the history of man1 and 
the  nature of ,god1 within the limits  
of the same conception4 ,the idea of    
love solves for ,browning all the       
enigmas of human life and thought4      
,the thing that seems    ,mere misery1  
under human schemes1    ,becomes1       
regarded by the light    ,of love1 as   
very near1 or quite    ,as good a gift  
as joy before4,a    ,footnote ,a3       
,easter ,day4    ,taking ,browning's    
work as a whole1 it is scarcely possible
 to deny that  this is at once the      
supreme motive of his art1 and the      
principle on  which his moral and       
religious doctrine rests4 ,he is always 
strong and  convincing when he is       
dealing with this theme4 ,it was        
evidently his own  deepest conviction1  

and it gave him the courage to face the 
evils of the  world1 and the power as an
 artist to contrive his music from its  
moans4 ,it plays1 in his philosophy of  
life1 the part that ,reason fills  for  
,hegel1 or the ,blind ,will for         
,schopenhauer2 and he is as fearless as 
they are in reducing all phenomena into 
forms of the activity of his  first     
principle4 ,love not only gave him firm 
footing amid the wash and  welter of the
 present world1 where time spins fast1  
life fleets1 and all  is change1 but it 
made him look forward with joy to the   
immortal  course2 for1 to him1 all the  
universe is love-woven4 ,all life is but
  treading the love-way1 and no wanderer
 can finally lose it4 ,the  way-faring  
men1 though fools1 shall not err        
therein4    ,since love has such an     
important place in ,browning's theory of
 life1 it  is necessary to see what he  
means by it4 ,for love has had for      
different  individuals1 ages and        
nations1 a very different significance2 

and almost  every great poet has given  
it a different interpretation4 ,and this
 is  not unnatural4 ,for love is a      
passion which1 beginning with youth and 
the  hey-day of the blood1 expands with 
the expanding life1 and takes new  forms
 of beauty and goodness at every stage4 
,and this is equally true1  whether we  
speak of the individual or of the human 
race4    ,love is no accident in man's  
history1 nor a passing emotion4 ,it is  
rather a constitutive element of man's  
nature1 fundamental and necessary  as   
his intelligence4 ,and1 like everything 
native and constitutive1 it is  obedient
 to the law of evolution1 which is the  
law of man's being2 and  it passes1     
therefore1 through ever varying forms4  
,to it--if we may for  the moment make a
 distinction between the theoretical and
 practical  life1 or between ideas and  
their causative potency--must be        
attributed  the constructive power which
 has built the world of morality1 with  
its  intangible but most real relations 

which bind man to man and age to age4   
,it is the author of the organic        
institutions which1 standing between the
  individual and the rudeness of nature1
 awaken in him the need1 and give  him  
the desire and the faculty1 of attaining
 higher things than physical            
satisfaction4 ,man is meant to act as   
well as to think1 to be virtuous as     
well as to have knowledge4 ,it is       
possible that reverence for the         
intellect may have led men1 at times1 to
 attribute the evolution of the  race   
too exclusively to the theoretic        
consciousness1 forgetting that1  along  
with reason1 there co-operates a twin   
power in all that is wisest  and best in
 us1 and that a heart which can love1 is
 as essential a  pre-condition of all   
worthy attainment1 as an intellect which
 can see4  ,love and reason,a are       
equally primal powers in man1 and they  
reflect  might into each other3 for love
 increases knowledge1 and knowledge     
love4  ,it is their combined power that 

gives interest and meaning to the facts 
of life1 and transmutes them into a     
moral and intellectual order4 ,they1    
together1 are lifting man out of the    
isolation and chaos of subjectivity     
into membership in a spiritual kingdom1 
where collision and exclusion  are      
impossible1 and all are at once kings   
and subjects4    ,footnote ,a3 ,it would
 be more correct to say the reason that 
is loving  or the love that is rational2
 for1 though there is distinction1 there
 is  no dualism4    ,and1 just as reason
 is present as a transmuting power in   
the sensational  life of the infancy of 
the individual and race1 so is love     
present  amidst the confused and chaotic
 activity of the life that knows no law 
other than its own changing emotions4   
,both make for order1 and both grow     
with it4 ,both love and reason have     
travelled a long way in the history  of 
man4 ,the patriot's passion for his     
country1 the enthusiasm of pity  and    
helpfulness towards all suffering which 

marks the man of ,god1 are as  far      
removed from the physical attraction of 
sex for sex1 and the mere  liking of the
 eye and ear1 as is the intellectual    
power of the sage from  the vulpine     
cunning of the savage4 ,for1 as ,emerson
 well said1 it is a  fire that1 kindling
 its first embers in the narrow nook of 
a private  bosom1 caught from a         
wandering spark out of another heart1   
glows and  enlarges until it warms and  
beams upon multitudes of men and women1 
upon  the universal heart of all1 and so
 lights up the world and all nature     
with its generous flames4 ,both love and
 reason alike pass through stage  after 
stage1 always away from the             
particularity of selfishness and        
ignorance1 into larger and larger cycles
 of common truth and goodness1  towards 
the full realization of knowledge and   
benevolence1 which is the  inheritance  
of emancipated man4 ,in this transition1
 the sensuous play of  feeling within   
man1 and the sensitive responses to     

external stimuli1 are  made more and    
more organic to ends which are          
universal1 that is1 to  spiritual ends4 
,love1 which in its earliest form1 seems
 to be the  natural yearning of brute   
for brute1 appearing and disappearing at
 the  suggestion of physical needs1     
passes into an idealized sentiment1 into
  an emotion of the soul1 into a        
principle of moral activity which       
manifests itself in a permanent outflow 
of helpful deeds for man4 ,it           
represents1 when thus sublimated1 one   
side at least of the expansion of  the  
self1 which culminates when the world   
beats in the pulse of the  individual1  
and the joys and sorrows1 the defeats   
and victories of  mankind are felt by   
him as his own4 ,it is no longer        
dependent merely on  the incitement of  
youth1 grace1 beauty1 whether of body or
 character2 it  transcends all          
limitations of sex and age1 and finds   
objects on which it  can spend itself in
 all that ,god has made1 even in that   

which has  violated its own law of life 
and become mean and pitiful4 ,it becomes
 a  love of fallen humanity1 and an     
ardour to save it by becoming the       
conscious and permanent motive of all   
men4 ,the history of this evolution  of 
love has been written by the poets4     
,every phase through which this         
ever-deepening emotion has passed1 every
 form which this primary power  has     
taken in its growth1 has received from  
them its own proper  expression4 ,they  
have made even the grosser instincts    
lyric with beauty2  and1 ascending with 
their theme1 they have sung the pure    
passion of soul  for soul1 its charm and
 its strength1 its idealism and heroism1
 up to  the point at which1 in          
,browning1 it transcends the limits of  
finite  existence1 sheds all its earthly
 vesture1 and becomes a spiritual       
principle of religious aspiration and   
self-surrender to ,god4    ,browning    
nowhere shows his native strength more  
clearly than in his  treatment of love4 

,he has touched this world-old          
theme--which almost  every poet has     
handled1 and handled in his highest     
manner--with that  freshness and        
insight1 which is possible only to the  
inborn originality  of genius4 ,other   
poets have1 in some ways1 given to love 
a more  exquisite utterance1 and        
rendered its sweetness1 and tenderness1 
and  charm with a lighter grace4 ,it may
 even be admitted that there are poets  
whose verses have echoed more faithfully
 the fervour and intoxication of        
passion1 and who have shown greater     
power of interpreting it in the  light  
of a mystic idealism4 ,but1 in one      
thing1 ,browning stands alone4 ,he  has 
given to love a moral significance1 a   
place and power amongst those           
substantial elements on which rest the  
dignity of man's being and the          
greatness of his destiny1 in a way which
 is1 ,i believe1 without example  in any
 other poet4 ,and he has done this by   
means of that moral and  religious      

earnestness1 which pervades all his     
poetry4 ,the one object of  supreme     
interest to him is the development of   
the soul1 and his  penetrative insight  
revealed to him the power to love as the
 paramount  fact in that development4   
,to love1 he repeatedly tells us1 is the
 sole  and supreme object of man's life2
 it is the one lesson which he has to   
learn on earth2 and1 love once learnt1  
in what way matters little1 it  leaves  
completion in the soul4 ,love we dare   
not1 and1 indeed1 cannot  absolutely    
miss4 ,no man can be absolutely selfish 
and be man4      ,beneath the veriest   
ash1 there hides a spark of soul        
,which1 quickened by love's breath1 may 
yet pervade the whole    ,o' the grey1  
and1 free again1 be fire2 of worth the  
same1    ,howe'er produced1 for1 great  
or little1 flame is flame4,a            
,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at the ,fair1     
xliii4    ,love1 once evoked1 once      
admitted into the soul1                 
adds worth to worth1    ,as wine        

enriches blood1 and straightway sends it
 forth1    ,conquering and to conquer1  
through all eternity1    ,that's battle 
without end4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4  
liv4    ,this view of the significance  
of love grew on ,browning as his        
knowledge  of man's nature and destiny  
became fuller and deeper1 while1 at the 
same  time1 his trust in the intellect  
became less4 ,even in ,paracelsus he    
reveals love1 not as a sentiment or     
intoxicating passion1 as one might      
expect from a youthful poet1 but as one 
of the great fundamental  faculties of  
man4 ,love1 blind1 oft-failing1         
half-enlightened1  often-chequered      
trust1 though it be1 still makes man    
,the heir of hopes too fair to turn out 
false4    ,in that poem1 love is        
definitely lifted by the poet to the    
level of  knowledge4 ,intellectual gain1
 apart from love1 is folly and futility1
  worthless for the individual and      
worthless to the race4 ,mind is nothing 
but disease1 ,paracelsus cries in the   

bitterness of his disappointment1  and  
natural health is ignorance2 and he asks
 of the mad poet who  loved too rashly1 
,are we not halves of one dissevered    
world1    ,whom this strange chance     
unites once more8 ,part8 ,never6        
,till thou the lover1 know2 and ,i1 the 
knower1    ,love--until both are        
saved4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,paracelsus4  
,and1 at the end of the poem1           
,paracelsus1 coming to an understanding 
with  himself as to the gain and loss of
 life1 proclaims with his last  strength
 the truth he had missed throughout his 
great career1 namely1  the supreme worth
 of love4      ,i saw ,aprile--my       
,aprile there6    ,and as the poor      
melodious wretch disburthened    ,his   
heart1 and moaned his weakness in my    
ear1    ,i learned my own deep error2   
love's undoing    ,taught me the worth  
of love in man's estate1    ,and what   
proportion love should hold with power  
,in his right constitution2 love        
preceding    ,power1 and with much      

power1 always much more love2    ,love  
still too straitened in his present     
means1    ,and earnest for new power to 
set love free4    ,as long as he hated  
men1 or1 in his passionate pursuit of   
truth1 was  indifferent to their        
concerns1 it was not strange that he saw
 no good in  men and failed to help     
them4 ,knowledge without love is not    
true  knowledge1 but folly and weakness4
    ,but1 great as is the place given to
 love in ,paracelsus1 it is far less    
than that given to it in the poet's     
later works4 ,in ,ferishtah's  ,fancies 
and ,la ,saisiaz it is no longer        
rivalled by knowledge2 nor  even in     
,easter ,day1 where the voice beside the
 poet proclaiming that      ,life is    
done1    ,time ends1 ,eternity's begun1 
gives a final pronouncement upon the    
purposes of the life of man4 ,the  world
 of sense--of beauty and art1 of        
knowledge and truth1 are given to  man1 
but none of them satisfy his spirit2    
they merely sting with hunger  for      

something better4 ,deficiency gapes     
every side1 till love is known  as the  
essence and worth of all things4        
,is this thy final choice8    ,love is  
the best8 ',tis somewhat late6    ,and  
all thou dost enumerate    ,of power and
 beauty in the world1    ,the           
righteousness of love was curled        
,inextricably round about4    ,love lay 
within it and without1    ,to clasp     
thee1--but in vain6 ,thy soul    ,still 
shrunk from ,him who made the whole1    
,still set deliberate aside    ,his     
love6--,now take love6 ,well betide     
,thy tardy conscience6,a    ,footnote   
,a3 ,easter ,day4    ,in his later      
reflective poems1 in which he deals with
 the problems of  life in the spirit of 
a metaphysician1 seeking a definite     
answer to the  questions of the         
intelligence1 he declares the reason for
 his preference  of love to knowledge4  
,in ,la ,saisiaz he states that man's   
love is ,god's  too1 a spark from ,his  
central fire2 but man's knowledge is    

man's only4  ,knowledge is finite1      
limited and tinged with sense4 ,the     
truth we reach  at best is only truth   
for us1 relative1 distorted4 ,we are for
 ever  kept from the fact which is      
supposed to be given2 our intellects    
play  about it2 sense and even intellect
 itself are interposing media1 which  we
 must use1 and yet1 in using them1 we   
only fool ourselves with  semblances4   
,the poet has now grown so cautious that
 he will not declare  his own knowledge 
to be valid for any other man4 ,david   
,hume could  scarcely be more suspicious
 of the human intellect2 nor ,berkeley  
more  surely persuaded of the purely    
subjective nature of its attainments4   
,in  fact1 the latter relied on human   
knowledge in a way impossible to        
,browning1 for he regarded it as the    
language of spirit speaking to  spirit4 
,out of his experience1 ,browning says1 
,there crowds conjecture manifold4      
,but1 as knowledge1 this comes          
only1--things may be as ,i behold    ,or

 may not be1 but1 without me and above  
me1 things there are2    ,i myself am   
what ,i know not--ignorance which proves
 no bar    ,to the knowledge that ,i am1
 and1 since ,i am1 can recognize        
,what to me is pain and pleasure3 this  
is sure1 the rest--surmise4,a           
,footnote ,a3 ,la ,saisiaz4    ,thought 
itself1 for aught he knows1 may be      
afflicted with a kind of                
colour-blindness2 and he knows no appeal
 when one affirms green as  grass1 and  
another contradicts him with red as     
grass4 ,under such  circumstances1 it is
 not strange that ,browning should      
decline to speak  except for himself1   
and that he will      ,nowise dare to   
play the spokesman for my brothers      
strong or weak1    or that he will far  
less presume to pronounce for ,god1 and 
pretend that  the truth finds utterance 
from lips of clay--      ,pass off human
 lisp as echo of the sphere-song out of 
reach4      ,have ,i knowledge8         
,confounded it shrivels at ,wisdom laid 

bare6    ,have ,i forethought8 how      
purblind1 how blank1 to the ,infinite   
,care6           99       99       99   
99       99      ,and thus looking      
within and around me1 ,i ever renew     
7,with that stoop of the soul1 which in 
bending upraises it too7    ,the        
submission of man's nothing-perfect to  
,god's all-complete1    ,as by each new 
obeisance in spirit1 ,i climb to ,his   
feet4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,saul1 ,,iii4  
,but ,david finds in himself one faculty
 so supreme in worth that he keeps  it  
in abeyance--      ,lest1 insisting to  
claim and parade in it1 wot ye1 ,i worst
    ,e'en the ,giver in one             
gift4--,behold1 ,i could love if ,i     
durst6    ,but ,i sink the pretension as
 fearing a man may o'ertake    ,god's   
own speed in the one way of love3 ,i    
abstain for love's sake4,a    ,footnote 
,a3 ,saul1 ,,iii4    ,this faculty of   
love1 so far from being tainted with    
finitude1 like  knowledge2 so far from  
being mere man's1 or a temporary and    

deceptive  power given to man for       
temporary uses1 by a ,creator who has   
another  ineffably higher way of loving1
 as ,he has of truth1 is itself divine4 
,in  contrast with the activity of love1
 ,omnipotence itself dwindles into      
insignificance1 and creation sinks into 
a puny exercise of power4 ,love1  in a  
word1 is the highest good2 and1 as such1
 it has all its worth in  itself1 and   
gives to all other things what worth    
they have4 ,god ,himself  gains the     
ineffable crown by showing love and     
saving the weak4 ,it is  the power      
divine1 the central energy of ,god's    
being4    ,browning never forgets this  
moral or religious quality of love4 ,so 
pure  is this emotion to the poet1 so   
perfect in whiteness1 that it will not  
take pollution2 but1 ermine-like1 is    
armed from dishonour by its own  soft   
snow4 ,in the corruptest hearts1 amidst 
the worst sensuality1 love  is still a  
power divine1 making for all goodness4  
,even when it is  kindled into flame by 

an illicit touch1 and wars against the  
life of the  family1 which is its own   
product1 its worth is supreme4 ,he who  
has  learned to love in any way1 has    
caught ,god's secret4 ,how he has caught
  it1 whom he loves1 whether or not he  
is loved in return1 all these  things   
matter little4 ,the paramount question  
on which hangs man's fate  is1 has he   
learned to love another1 any other1     
,fifine or ,elvire4 ,she  has lost me1  
said the unloved lover2 ,i have gained  
her4 ,her soul's  mine4    ,the supreme 
worth of love1 the mere emotion itself1 
however called into  activity1 secures  
it against all taint4 ,no one who       
understands ,browning  in the least1 can
 accuse him of touching with a rash hand
 the sanctity  of the family2 rather he 
places it on the basis of its own       
principle1  and thereby makes for it the
 strongest defence4 ,such love as he    
speaks  of1 however irregular its       
manifestation or sensuous its setting1  
can  never be confounded with           

lust--hell's own blue tint4 ,it is      
further  removed from lust even than    
asceticism4 ,it has not even a negative 
attitude towards the flesh2 but finds   
the flesh to be stuff for  transmuting1 
and reduces it to the uses of the       
spirit4 ,the love which  is sung by     
,browning is more pure and free1 and is 
set in a higher  altitude than anything 
that can be reached by the way of       
negation4 ,it is  a consecration of the 
undivided self1 so that soul helps not  
flesh  more1 than flesh helps soul4 ,it 
is not only a spiritual and divine      
emotion1 but it also shows a heart      
within blood-tinctured with a veined    
humanity4      ,be a ,god and hold me   
,with a charm6    ,be a man and hold me 
,with thine arm6      ,teach me1 only   
teach1 ,love6      ,as ,i ought    ,i   
will speak thy speech1 ,love6           
,think thy thought--      ,meet1 if thou
 require it1      ,both demands1        
,laying flesh and spirit      ,in thy   
hands4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a ,woman's   

,last ,word4    ,true love is always an 
infinite giving1 which holds nothing    
back4 ,it is  a spendthrift1 magnificent
 in its recklessness1 squandering the   
very  essence of the self upon its      
object1 and by doing so1 in the end     
enriching the self beyond all counting4 
,for in loving1 the individual  becomes 
re-impersonated in another2 the         
distinction of ,me and ,thee is  swept  
away1 and there pulses in two           
individuals one warm life4      ,if two 
lives join1 there is oft a scar         
,they are one and one with a shadowy    
third2    ,one near one is too far4     
,a moment after1 and hands unseen       
,were hanging the night around us fast2 
,but we knew that a bar was broken      
between      ,life and life3 we were    
mixed at last    ,in spite of the mortal
 screen4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,by the     
,fireside4    ,the throwing down of the 
limits that wall a man within himself1  
the  mingling of his own deepest        
interests with those of others1 always  

marks  love2 be it love of man for maid1
 parent for child1 or patriot for his   
country4 ,it opens an outlet into the   
pure air of the world of objects1  and  
enables man to escape from the stuffed  
and poisonous atmosphere of  his narrow 
self4 ,it is a streaming outwards of the
 inmost treasures of  the spirit1 a     
consecration of its best activities to  
the welfare of  others4 ,and when this  
is known to be the native quality and   
quintessence  of love1 no one can regard
 it anywhere1 or at any time1 as out of 
place4  ,prize-lawful or prize-lawless  
it is ever a flower1 even though it     
grow1 like the love of the hero of ,turf
 and ,towers1 in slime4 ,lust1  fleshly 
desire1 which has been too often        
miscalled love1 is its worst            
perversion4 ,love spends itself for     
another1 and seeks satisfaction only  in
 another's good4 ,but last uses up      
others for its own worst purposes1      
wastes its object1 and turns the current
 of life back inwards1 into the  slush  

and filth of selfish pleasure4 ,the     
distinction between love and  its       
perversion1 which is impossible in the  
naive life of an animal1  ought to be   
clear enough to all1 and probably is4   
,nor should the sexual  impulse in human
 beings be confused with fleshly desire1
 and treated as  if it were merely      
natural1 the mere lust of life common to
 all living  things1--that strive1 as   
,spinoza put it1 to persevere in        
existing4  ,for there is no purely      
natural impulse in man2 all that he is1 
is  transfused with spirit1 whether he  
will or no4 ,he cannot act as a mere    
animal1 because he cannot leave his     
rational nature behind him4    ,he      
cannot desire as an innocent brute      
desires3 his desire is always love  or  
lust4 ,we have as little right to say   
that the wisdom of the sage is  nothing 
but the purblind savagery of a ,terra   
del ,fuegian1 as we have  to assert that
 love is nothing but a sexual impulse4  
,that impulse  rather1 when its potency 

is set free1 will show itself1 at first 
confusedly1 but with more and more      
clearness as it expands1 to be the      
yearning of soul for soul4 ,it puts us  
in training for a love which  knows not 
sex1 nor person1 nor partiality2 but    
which seeks virtue and  wisdom          
everywhere1 to the end of increasing    
virtue and wisdom4 ,the  height to which
 this passion lifts man1 is just what   
makes possible the  fall into a         
sensuality and excess of brutishness1 in
 comparison with  which animal life is a
 paradise of innocence4    ,if this is  
clearly recognized1 many of the idle    
questions of casuistry  that are        
sometimes raised regarding sexual love  
and marriage will cease  to trouble4    
,for these questions generally          
presuppose the lowest possible  view of 
this passion4 ,browning shows us how to 
follow with serene  security the pure   
light of the emotion of love1 amidst all
 the confused  lawlessness of lustful   
passion1 and through all the intricacies

 of human  character4 ,love1 he thinks1 
is never illicit1 never unwise1 except  
when  it is disloyal to itself2 it never
 ruins1 but always strives to enrich    
its object4 ,bacon quotes with approval 
a saying ,that it is impossible  to     
love1 and to be wise4 ,browning asserts 
that it is impossible to love  and not  
be wise4 ,it is a power that1 according 
to the ,christian idea  which the poet  
adopts1 has infinite goodness for its   
source1 and that1  even in its meanest  
expression1 is always feeling its way   
back to its  origin1 flowing again into 
the ocean whence it came4    ,so        
sparklingly pure is this passion that it
 could exorcise the evil and  turn old  
to new1 even in the case of ,lonce      
,miranda4 ,at least ,browning1  in this 
poem1 strives to show that1 being true  
love1 though the love of  an unclean man
 for an unclean woman1 it was a power at
 war with the  sordid elements of that  
sordid life4 ,love has always the same  
potency1  flame is always flame1        

no matter whence flame sprung1    ,from 
gums and spice1 or else from straw and  
rottenness4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,fifine  
at the ,fair1 lv4          ,let her but 
love you1    ,all else you disregard6   
what else can be8    ,you know how love 
is incompatible    ,with                
falsehood--purifies1 assimilates    ,all
 other passions to itself4,b            
,footnote ,b3 ,colombe's ,birthday4     
,ne'er wrong yourself so far as quote   
the world    ,and say1 love can go      
unrequited here6    ,you will have      
blessed him to his whole life's end--   
,low passions hindered1 baser cares kept
 back1    ,all goodness cherished where 
you dwelt--and dwell4,c    ,footnote ,c3
 ,ibid4    ,but1 while love is always a 
power lifting a man upwards to the level
 of  its own origin from whatever depths
 of degradation1 its greatest potency   
can reveal itself only in characters    
intrinsically pure1 such as  ,pompilia  
and ,caponsacchi4 ,like mercy and every 
other spiritual gift1 it  is mightiest  

in the mighty4 ,in the good and great of
 the earth love is  veritably seen to be
 ,god's own energy2        ,who never is
 dishonoured in the spark    ,he gave us
 from ,his fire of fires1 and bade      
,remember whence it sprang1 nor be      
afraid        ,while that burns on1     
though all the rest grow dark4,a        
,footnote ,a3 ,any ,wife to ,any        
,husband1 ,,iii4    ,it were almost an  
endless task to recount the ways in     
which ,browning  exhibits the moralizing
 power of love3 how it is for him the   
quintessence of all goodness2 the       
motive1 and inspiring cause1 of every   
act in the world that is completely     
right2 and how1 on that account1 it  is 
the actual working in the man of the    
ideal of all perfection4 ,this  doctrine
 of love is1 in my opinion1 the richest 
vein of pure ore in  ,browning's poetry4
    ,but it remains to follow briefly   
our poet's treatment of love in another 
direction--as a principle present1 not  
only in ,god as creative and  redeeming 

,power1 and in man as the highest motive
 and energy of the  moral life1 but also
 in the outer world1 in the material    
universe4 ,in  the view of the poet1 the
 whole creation is nothing but love     
incarnate1  a pulsation from the divine 
heart4 ,love is the source of all law   
and of  all beauty4 ,day unto day       
uttereth speech1 and night unto night   
speaketh  knowledge4 ,there is no speech
 or language where their voice is not   
heard4 ,and our poet speaks as if he had
 caught the meaning of the  language1   
and believes that all things speak of   
love--the love of ,god4    ,i think1    
says the heroine of the ,inn ,album1    
,womanliness means only motherhood2     
,all love begins and ends there1--roams 
enough1    ,but1 having run the circle1 
rests at home4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the  
,inn ,album4    ,and ,browning detects  
something of this motherhood everywhere4
 ,he finds  it as                       
,some cause    ,such as is put into a   
tree1 which turns    ,away from the     

north wind with what nest it holds4,b   
,footnote ,b3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,canon ,caponsacchi1 #acgd-acgf4 
,the ,pope--who1 if any one1 speaks for 
,browning--declares that          ,brute
 and bird1 reptile and the fly1    ,ay  
and1 ,i nothing doubt1 even tree1 shrub1
 plant    ,and flower o' the field1 are 
all in a common pact    ,to worthily    
defend the trust of trusts1    ,life    
from the ,ever ,living4,c    ,footnote  
,c3 ,the ,ring and the ,book--,the      
,pope1 #ajgf-ajha4    ,because of       
motherhood1 said the minor pope in ,ivn 
,ivnovitch1                             
each male    ,yields to his partner     
place1 sinks proudly in the scale3      
,his strength owned weakness1           
wit--folly1 and courage--fear1          
,beside the female proved males's       
mistress--only here    ,the fox-dam1    
hunger-pined1 will slay the felon sire  
,who dares assault her whelp4    ,the   
betrayal of the mother's trust is the   
unexampled sin1 which scares  the world 

and shames ,god4      ,i hold that1     
failing human sense1    ,the very earth 
had oped1 sky fallen1 to efface         
,humanity's new wrong1 motherhood's     
first disgrace4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,ivn 
,ivnovitch4    ,this instinct of love1  
which binds brute-parent to             
brute-offspring1 is a  kind of spiritual
 law in the natural world3 it1 like all 
law1 guarantees  the continuity and     
unity of the world1 and it is scarcely  
akin to merely  physical attraction4 ,no
 doubt its basis is physical2 it has an 
organism  of flesh and blood for its    
vehicle and instrument3 but mathematical
  physics cannot explain it1 nor can it 
be detected by chemical tests4  ,rather1
 with the poet1 we are to regard brute  
affection as a kind of  rude outline of 
human love2 as a law in nature1 which1  
when understood  by man and adopted as  
his rule of conduct1 becomes the essence
 and  potency of his moral life4        
,thus ,browning regards love as an      
omnipresent good4 ,there is nothing1 he 

tells us in ,fifine1 which cannot       
reflect it2 even moral putridity        
becomes phosphorescent1 and sparks from 
heaven transpierce earth's  coarsest    
covertures4      ,there is no good of   
life but love--but love6    ,what else  
looks good1 is some shade flung from    
love1    ,love gilds it1 gives it       
worth4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,in a balcony4
    ,there is no fact which1 if seen to 
the heart1 will not prove itself to     
have love for its purpose1 and1         
therefore1 for its substance4 ,and it is
  on this account that everything finds 
its place in a kosmos and that  there is
      ,no detail but1 in place allotted 
it1 was prime    ,and perfect4,a        
,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at the ,fair4     
xxxi4    ,every event in the history of 
the world and of man is explicable1 as  
the  bursting into new form of this     
elemental1 all-pervading power4 ,the    
permanence in change of nature1 the     
unity in variety1 the strength which    
clothes itself in beauty1 are all       

manifestations of love4 ,nature is not  
merely natural2 matter and life's minute
 beginnings1 are more than they  seem4  
,paracelsus said that he knew and felt  
,what ,god is1 what we are1    ,what    
life is--how ,god tastes an infinite joy
    ,in finite ways--one everlasting    
bliss1    ,from whom all being emanates1
 all power    ,proceeds3 in whom is life
 for evermore1    ,yet whom existence in
 its lowest form    ,includes4,b        
,footnote ,b3 ,paracelsus4    ,the      
scheme of love does not begin with man1 
he is rather its  consummation4         
,whose attributes had here and there    
,been scattered o'er the visible world  
before1    ,asking to be combined1 dim  
fragments meant    ,to be united in some
 wondrous whole1    ,imperfect qualities
 throughout creation1    ,suggesting    
some one creature yet to make1    ,some 
point where all those scattered rays    
should meet    ,convergent in the       
faculties of man4           99       99 
99       99       99      ,hints and    

previsions of which faculties1    ,are  
strewn confusedly everywhere about      
,the inferior natures1 and all lead up  
higher1    ,all shape out divinely the  
superior race1    ,the heir of hopes too
 fair to turn out false1    ,and man    
appears at last4,a    ,footnote ,a3     
,paracelsus4    ,power1 knowledge1 love1
 all these are found in the world1 in   
which                ,all tended to     
mankind1    ,and1 man produced1 all has 
its end thus far3    ,but1 in completed 
man begins anew    ,a tendency to       
,god4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,for 
man1 being intelligent1 flings back his 
light on all that went  before1         
,illustrates all the inferior grades1   
explains    ,each back step in the      
circle4,c    ,footnote ,c3 ,ibid4 #ahi4 
,he gives voice to the mute significance
 of ,nature1 and lets in the light  on  
its blind groping4        ,man1 once    
descried1 imprints for ever    ,his     
presence on all lifeless things4    ,and
 how is this interpretation achieved8   

,by penetrating behind force1  power1   
mechanism1 and even intelligence1 thinks
 the poet1 to a purpose  which is       
benevolent1 a reason which is all       
embracing and rooted in love4  ,the     
magnificent failure of ,paracelsus came 
from missing this last step4  ,his      
transcendent hunger for knowledge was   
not satisfied1 not because  human       
knowledge is essentially an illusion or 
mind disease1 but because  his knowledge
 did not reach the final truth of       
things1 which is love4  ,for love alone 
makes the heart wise1 to know the secret
 of all being4  ,this is the ultimate   
hypothesis in the light of which alone  
man can  catch a glimpse of the general 
direction and intent of the universal   
movement in the world and man4 ,dying1  
,paracelsus1 taught by ,aprile1  caught 
a glimpse of this elemental love-force1 
in which alone lies the  clue to every  
problem1 and the promise of the final   
satisfaction of the  human spirit4      
,failing in this knowledge1 man may know

 many things1 but  nothing truly2 for   
all such knowledge stays with outward   
shows4 ,it is  love alone that puts man 
in the right relation to his fellows and
 to the  world1 and removes the         
distortion which fills life with sorrow1
 and  makes it                ,only a   
scene    ,of degradation1 ugliness and  
tears1    ,the record of disgraces best 
forgotten1    ,a sullen page in human   
chronicles    ,fit to erase4,a          
,footnote ,a3 ,paracelsus4    ,but in   
the light of love1 man sees a good in   
evil1 and a hope in ill  success1 and   
recognizes that mankind are      ,all   
with a touch of nobleness1 despite      
,their error1 upward tending all though 
weak2    ,like plants in mines which    
never saw the sun1    ,but dream of him1
 and guess where he may be1    ,and do  
their best to climb and get to him4,b   
,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,all this ,i    
knew not1 adds ,paracelsus1 and ,i      
failed4 ,let men take the  lesson and   
press this lamp of love1 ',god's lamp1  

close to their  breasts'2 its splendour1
 soon or late1 will pierce the gloom1   
and show  that the universe is a        
transparent manifestation of ,his       
beneficence4          ,,chapter ,,vii4  
,,browning',s ,,idealism1 ,,and ,,its   
,,philosophical ,,justification4        
,master1 explain this incongruity6      
,when ,i dared question1 ',it is        
beautiful1    ,but is it true8' thy     
answer was1 ',in truth    ,lives        
,beauty4',a    ,footnote ,a3 ,shah      
,abbas4    ,we have now seen how        
,browning sought to explain all things  
as  manifestations of the principle of  
love2 how he endeavoured to bring all   
the variety of finite existence1 and    
even the deep discrepancies of good  and
 evil1 under the sway of one idea4 ,i   
have already tried to show that  all    
human thought is occupied with the same 
task3 science1 art1  philosophy1 and    
even the most ordinary common-sense1 are
 all1 in their  different ways1 seeking 
for constant laws amongst changing      

facts4 ,nay1  we may even go so far as  
to say that all the activity of man1 the
  practical as well as the theoretical1 
is an attempt to establish a  modus     
vivendi between his environment and     
himself4 ,and such an attempt  rests on 
the assumption that there is some ground
 common to both of the  struggling      
powers within and without1 some         
principle that manifests  itself both in
 man and in nature4 ,so that all men are
 philosophers to  the extent of         
postulating a unity1 which is deeper    
than all differences2  and all are alike
 trying to discover1 in however limited 
or ignorant a  way1 what that unity is4 
,if this fact were more constantly kept 
in view1  the effort of philosophers to 
bring the ultimate colligating          
principles  of thought into clear       
consciousness would not1 at the outset  
at least1  be regarded with so much     
suspicion4 ,for the philosopher differs 
from the  practical man of the world1   
not so much in the nature of the task   

which  he is trying to accomplish1 as in
 the distinct and conscious purpose     
with which he enters upon it4    ,now1  
,i think that those1 who1 like          
,browning1 offer an explicitly          
optimistic idea of the relation between 
man and the world1 have a  special right
 to a respectful hearing2 for it can    
scarcely be denied  that their          
optimistic explanation is invaluable1 if
 it is true--      ,so might we safely  
mock at what unnerves    ,faith now1 be 
spared the sapping fear's increase      
,that haply evil's strife with good     
shall cease    ,never on earth4,a       
,footnote ,a3 ,bernard de ,mandeville4  
,despair is a great clog to good work   
for the world1 and pessimists1 as a     
rule1 have shown much more readiness    
than optimists to let evil have its     
unimpeded way4 ,having found1 like      
,schopenhauer1 that ,life is an awkward 
business1 they determine to spend life  
in reflecting on it1 or at  least in    
moaning about it4 ,the world's helpers  

have been men of another  mould2 and the
 contrast between ,fichte and           
,schopenhauer is suggestive of  a       
general truth3--,fichte1 in the bright  
triumphant flight of his  idealism1     
supported by faith in a moral order of  
the world which works  for              
righteousness1 turning his back on the  
darker ethics of self-torture  and      
mortification1 and rushing into the     
political and social fray1  proclaiming 
the duties of patriotism1 idealizing the
 soldier1  calling to and exercising an 
active philanthrophy1 living with  his  
nation1 and continually urging it       
upwards to higher levels of             
self-realization--,schopenhauer         
recurring to the idea of asceticism1    
preaching the blessedness of the        
quiescence of all will1 disparaging     
efforts to save the nation or elevate   
the masses1 and holding that each  has  
enough to do in raising his own self    
from its dull engrossment in  lower     
things to an absorption in that pure1   

passionless being which lies  far beyond
 all1 even the so-called highest1       
pursuits of practical  life4,a          
,footnote ,a3 ,schopenhauer1 by ,prof4  
,wallace4    ,a pessimism1 which is     
nothing more than flippant              
fault-finding1  frequently gains a cheap
 reputation for wisdom2 and1 on the     
other hand1  an optimism1 which is      
really the result of much reflection and
  experience1 may be regarded as the    
product of a superficial spirit that    
has never known the deeper evils of     
life4 ,but1 if pessimism be true1 it    
differs from other truths by its        
uselessness2 for1 even if it saves man  
from the bitterness of petty            
disappointments1 it does so only by     
making  the misery universal4 ,there is 
no need to specify1 when ,all is        
vanity4 ,the drowning man does not feel 
the discomfort of being wet4 ,but  yet1 
if we reflect on the problem of evil1 we
 shall find that there is  no neutral   
ground1 and shall ultimately be driven  

to choose between  pessimism and its    
opposite4 ,nor1 on the other hand1 is   
the suppression  of the problem of evil 
possible1 except at a great cost4 ,it   
presents  itself anew in the mind of    
every thinking man2 and some kind of    
solution  of it1 or at least some       
definite way of meeting its difficulty1 
is  involved in the attitude which every
 man assumes towards life and its       
tasks4    ,it is not impossible that    
there may be as much to be said for     
,browning's  joy in life and his love of
 it1 as there is for his predecessor's  
rage  and sorrow4 ,browning certainly   
thought that there was2 and he held his 
view consistently to the end4 ,we       
cannot1 therefore1 do justice to the    
poet without dealing critically with the
 principle on which he has based  his   
faith1 and observing how far it is      
applicable to the facts of human  life4 
,as ,i have previously said1 he strives 
hard to come into fair  contact with the
 misery of man in all its sadness2 and1 

after doing so1  he claims1 not as a    
matter of poetic sentiment1 but as a    
matter of  strict truth1 that good is   
the heart and reality of it all4 ,it is 
true  that he cannot demonstrate the    
truth of his principle by reference to  
all the facts1 any more than the        
scientific man can justify his          
hypothesis in every detail2 but he holds
 it as a faith which reason can  justify
 and experience establish1 although not 
in every isolated  phenomenon4 ,the good
 may1 he holds1 be seen actually at work
 in the  world1 and its process will be 
more fully known1 as human life advances
  towards its goal4                     
,though ,master keep aloof1    ,signs of
 ,his presence multiply from roof    ,to
 basement of the building4,a            
,footnote ,a3 ,francis ,furini4    ,thus
 ,browning bases his view upon          
experience1 and finds firm footing for  
his faith in the present2 although he   
acknowledges that the profound of       
ignorance surges round his rockspit of  

self-knowledge4                         
,enough that now1    ,here where ,i     
stand1 this moment's me and mine1       
,shows me what is1 permits me to divine 
,what shall be4,b    ,footnote ,b3      
,ibid4    ,since we know love we know   
enough2 for in love1 he confidently     
thinks  we have the key to all the      
mystery of being4    ,now1 what is to be
 made of an optimism of this kind1 which
 is based upon  love and which professes
 to start from experience1 or to be     
legitimately  and rationally derived    
from it8    ,if such a view be taken    
seriously1 as ,i propose doing1 we must 
be  prepared to meet at the outset with 
some very grave difficulties4 ,the      
first of these is that it is an         
interpretation of facts by a human      
emotion4 ,to say that love blushes in   
the rose1 or breaks into beauty in  the 
clouds1 that it shows its strength in   
the storm1 and sets the stars  in the   
sky1 and that it is in all things the   
source of order and law1  may imply a   

principle of supreme worth both to      
poetry and religion2 but  when we are   
asked to take it as a metaphysical      
explanation of facts1 we  are prone1    
like the judges of ,caponsacchi1 not to 
levity1 or to  anything indecorous--    
,only--,i think ,i apprehend the mood3  
,there was the blameless shrug1         
permissible smirk1    ,the pen's        
pretence at play with the pursed mouth1 
,the titter stifled in the hollow palm  
,which rubbed the eye-brow and caressed 
the nose1    ,when ,i first told my     
tale2 they meant1 you know--    ',the   
sly one1 all this we are bound believe6 
,well1 he can say no other than what he 
says4',a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and
 the ,book--,canon ,caponsacchi1 #ad-bj4
    ,we are sufficiently willing to let 
the doctrine be held as a pious         
opinion4 ,the faith that all's love yet 
all's law1 like many another  illusion1 
if not hugged too closely1 may comfort  
man's nakedness4 ,but if  we are asked  
to substitute this view for that which  

the sciences  suggest1--if we are asked 
to put ,love in the place of physical   
energy1  and1 by assuming it as a       
principle1 to regard as unreal all the  
infinite  misery of humanity and the    
degradation of intellect and character  
from  which it arises1 common-sense     
seems at once to take the side of the   
doleful sage of ,chelsea4 ,when the     
optimist postulates that the state of   
the world1 were it rightly understood1  
is completely satisfactory1  reason     
seems to be brought to a stand2 and if  
poetry and religion  involve such a     
postulate1 they are taken to be         
ministering to the  emotions at the     
expense of the intellect4    ,browning1 
however1 was not a mere sentimentalist  
who could satisfy his  heart without    
answering the questions of his          
intellect4 ,nor is his view  without    
support--at least1 as regards the       
substance of it4 ,the presence  of an   
idealistic element in things is         
recognized even by ordinary  thought2   

and no man's world is so poor that it   
would not be poorer still  for him1 if  
it were reduced by the abstract sciences
 of nature into a  mere manifestation of
 physical force4 ,such a world ,richter 
compares to  an empty eye-socket4       
,the great result of speculation since  
the time of ,kant is to teach us to     
recognize that objects are essentially  
related to mind1 and that the           
principles which rule our thought enter1
 so to speak1 into the  constitution of 
the things we know4 ,a very slight      
acquaintance with the  history even of  
psychology1 especially in modern times1 
shows that facts  are more and more     
retracted into thought4 ,this science1  
which began with  a sufficiently        
common-sense view1 not only of the      
reality and solidity  of the things of  
the outer world1 but of their opposition
 to1 or  independence of thought1 is now
 thinning that world down into a mere   
shadow--a something which excites       
sensation4 ,it shows that external      

things as we know them1 and we are not  
concerned in any others1 are1 to  a very
 great extent1 the product of our       
thinking activities4 ,no one will  now  
subscribe to the ,lockian or ,humean    
view1 of images impressed by  objects on
 mind3 the object which impresses has   
first to be made by  mind1 out of the   
results of nervous excitation4 ,in a    
word1 modern  psychology as well as     
modern metaphysics1 is demonstrating    
more and more  fully the dependence of  
the world1 as it is known1 on the nature
 and  activity of man's mind4 ,every    
explanation of the world is found to be1
  in this sense1 idealistic2 and in this
 respect1 there is no difference        
whatsoever between the interpretation   
given by science and that of  poetry1 or
 religion1 or philosophy4 ,if we say    
that a thing is a  substance1 or has a  
cause2 if1 with the physicist1 we assert
 the  principle of the transmutation of 
energy1 or make use of the idea of      
evolution with the biologist or         

geologist2 nay1 if we speak of time and 
space with the mathematician1 we use    
principles of unity derived from        
self-consciousness1 and interpret nature
 in terms of ourselves1 just as  truly  
as the poet or philosopher1 who makes   
love1 or reason1 the  constitutive      
element in things4 ,if the practical man
 of the world  charges the poet and     
philosopher with living amidst phantoms1
 he can be  answered with a ,tu quoque4 
,how easy1 said ,emerson1 it is to show 
the materialist that he also is a       
phantom walking and working amid        
phantoms1 and that he need only ask a   
question or two beyond his daily        
questions to find his solid universe    
proving dim and impalpable before  his  
sense4    ,sense1 which seems to show   
directly that the world is a solid      
reality1  not dependent in any way on   
thought1 is found not to be reliable4   
,all  science is nothing but an appeal  
to thought from ordinary sensuous       
opinion4 ,it is an attempt to find the  

reality of things by thinking  about    
them2 and this reality1 when it is      
found1 turns out to be a law4  ,but laws
 are ideas2 though1 if they are true    
ideas1 they represent not  merely       
thoughts in the mind1 but also real     
principles1 which manifest  themselves  
in the objects of the outer world1 as   
well as in the  thinker's mind4    ,it  
is not possible in such a work as this1 
to give a carefully reasoned  proof of  
this view of the relation of thought and
 things1 or to repeat  the argument of  
,kant4 ,i must be content with merely   
referring to it1 as  showing that the   
principles in virtue of which we think1 
are the  principles in virtue of which  
objects as we know them exist2 and we   
cannot be concerned with any other      
objects4 ,the laws which scientific     
investigation discovers are not only    
ideas that can be written in books1  but
 also principles which explain the      
nature of things4 ,in other words1  the 
hypotheses of the natural sciences1 or  

their categories1 are points  of view in
 the light of which the external world  
can be regarded as  governed by uniform 
laws4 ,and these constructive           
principles1 which lift  the otherwise   
disconnected world into an intelligible 
system1 are  revelations of the nature  
of intelligence1 and only on that       
account  principles for explaining the  
world4                               ,to
 know1    ,rather consists in opening   
out a way    ,whence the imprisoned     
splendour may escape1    ,than in       
effecting entry for a light    ,supposed
 to be without4,a    ,footnote ,a3      
,paracelsus4    ,in this sense1 it may  
be said that all knowledge is           
anthropomorphic2 and  in this respect   
there is no difference between the      
physics1 which speaks  of energy as the 
essence of things1 and the poetry1 which
 speaks of love  as the ultimate        
principle of reality4 ,between such     
scientific and  idealistic explanations 
there is not even the difference that   

the one  begins without and the other   
within1 or that the one is objective and
  the other subjective4 ,the true       
distinction is that the principles upon 
which the latter proceed are less       
abstract than those of science4  ,reason
 and love are higher principles for the 
explanation of the  nature of things    
than substance or cause2 but both are   
forms of the  unity of thought4 ,and if 
the latter seem to have nothing to do   
with the  self1 it is only because they 
are inadequate to express its full      
character4 ,on the other hand1 the      
higher categories1 or ideas of reason1  
seem to be merely anthropomorphic1 and1 
therefore1 ill-suited to explain        
nature1 because the relation of nature  
to intelligence is habitually  neglected
 by ordinary thought1 which has not     
pressed its problems far  enough to know
 that such higher categories can alone  
satisfy the demand  for truth4    ,but  
natural science is gradually driven from
 the lower to the higher  categories1   

or1 in other words1 it is learning to   
take a more and more  idealistic view of
 nature4 ,it is moving very slowly1     
because it is a  long labour to exhaust 
the uses of an instrument of thought2   
and it is  only at great intervals in   
the history of the human intellect1 that
 we  find the need of a change of       
categories4 ,but1 as already hinted1    
there  is no doubt that science is      
becoming increasingly aware of the      
conditions1 under which alone its       
results may be held as valid4 ,at       
first1 it drove mind out of the realm of
 nature1 and offered to  explain both it
 and man in physical and mathematical   
terms4 ,but1 in our  day1 the man of    
science has become too cautious to make 
such rash  extensions of the principles 
he uses4 ,he is more inclined to limit  
himself to his special field1 and he    
refuses to make any declaration as  to  
the ultimate nature of things4 ,he holds
 himself apart from  materialism1 as he 
does from idealism4 ,i think ,i may even

 go further1  and say that the fatal    
flaw of materialism has been finally    
detected1  and that the essential       
relativity of all objects to thought is 
all but  universally acknowledged4      
,the common notion that science gives a 
complete view of truth1 to which  we may
 appeal as refuting idealism1 is        
untenable4 ,science itself will  not    
support the appeal1 but will direct the 
appellant to another court4  ,perhaps1  
rather1 it would be truer to say that   
its attitude is one of  doubt whether or
 not any court1 philosophical or other1 
can give any  valid decision on the     
matter4 ,confining themselves to the    
region of  material phenomena1          
scientific men generally leave to common
 ignorance1  or to moral and theological
 tradition1 all the interests and       
activities  of man1 other than those    
which are physical or physiological4    
,and some  of them are even aware1 that 
if they could find the physical equation
 of  man1 or1 through their knowledge of

 physiology1 actually produce in man    
the sensations1 thoughts1 and notions   
now ascribed to the intelligent  life   
within him1 the question of the         
spiritual or material nature of man  and
 the world1 would remain precisely where
 it was4 ,the explanation  would still  
begin with mind and end there4 ,the     
principles of the  materialistic        
explanation of the world would still be 
derived from  intelligence2 mind would  
still underlie all it explained1 and    
completed  science would still be1 in   
this sense1 anthropomorphic4 ,the charge
 of  anthropomorphism thus falls to the 
ground1 because it would prove too      
much4 ,it is a weapon which cuts the    
hand that wields it4 ,and1 as  directed 
against idealism1 it only shows that he 
who uses it has  inadequate notions both
 of the nature of the self and of the   
world1 and  is not aware that each gets 
meaning1 only as an exponent of the     
other4    ,on the whole1 we may say that
 it is not men of science who now assail

  philosophy1 because it gives an       
idealistic explanation of the world1 so 
much as unsystematic dabblers in matters
 of thought4 ,the best men of  science1 
rather1 show a tendency to acquiesce in 
a kind of dualism of  matter and spirit1
 and to leave morality and religion1 art
 and  philosophy to pursue their own    
ends undisturbed4 ,mr4 ,huxley1 for     
instance1 and some others1 offer two    
philosophical solutions1 one  proceeding
 from the material world and the other  
from the sensations and  other facts of 
consciousness4 ,they say that we may    
either explain man  as a natural        
phenomenon1 or the world as a mental    
one4    ,but it is a little difficult   
not to ask which of these explanations  
is  true4 ,both of them cannot well be1 
seeing that they are different4 ,and    
neither of them can be adopted without  
very serious consequences4 ,it  would   
require considerable hardihood to       
suggest that natural science  should be 
swept away in favour of psychology1     

which would be done if the  one view    
held by ,mr4 ,huxley were true4 ,and1 in
 my opinion1 it requires  quite as much 
hardihood to suggest the adoption of a  
theory that makes  morality and religion
 illusory1 which would be done were the 
other view  valid4    ,as a matter of   
fact1 however1 such an attitude can     
scarcely be held by  any one who is     
interested both in the success of       
natural science and  in the spiritual   
development of mankind4 ,we are         
constrained rather to  say that1 if     
these rival lines of thought lead us to 
deny either the  outer world of things1 
or the world of thought and morality1   
then they  must both be wrong4 ,they are
 not explanations but false theories1 if
  they lead to such conclusions as      
these4 ,and1 instead of holding them up 
to the world as the final triumph of    
human thought1 we should sweep them     
into the dust-bin1 and seek for some    
better explanation from a new point  of 
view4    ,and1 indeed1 a better         

explanation is sought1 and sought not   
only by  idealists1 but by scientific   
men themselves1--did they only          
comprehend  their own main tendency and 
method4 ,the impulse towards unity1     
which is  the very essence of thought1  
if it is baulked in one direction by a  
hopeless dualism1 just breaks out in    
another4 ,subjective idealism1 that  is1
 the theory that things are nothing but 
phenomena of the individual's           
consciousness1 that the world is really 
all inside the philosopher1 is  now     
known by most people to end in          
self-contradiction2 and materialism  is 
also known to begin with it4 ,and there 
are not many people sanguine  enough to 
believe with ,mr4 ,huxley and ,mr4      
,herbert ,spencer1 that1 if we  add two 
self-contradictory theories together1 or
 hold them alternately1  we shall find  
the truth4 ,modern science1 that is1 the
 science which does  not philosophize1  
and modern philosophy are with tolerable
 unanimity  denying this absolute       

dualism4 ,they do not know of any       
thought that is  not of things1 or of   
any things that are not for thought4 ,it
 is  necessarily assumed that1 in some  
way or other1 the gap between things    
and thought is got over by knowledge4   
,how the connection is brought  about   
may not be known2 but1 that there is the
 connection between real  things and    
true thoughts1 no one can well deny4 ,it
 is an ill-starred  perversity which    
leads men to deny such a connection1    
merely because  they have not found out 
how it is established4    ,a new        
category of thought has taken possession
 of the thought of our  time--a category
 which is fatal to dualism4 ,the idea of
 development is  breaking down the      
division between mind and matter1 as it 
is breaking  down all other absolute    
divisions4 ,geology1 astronomy1 and     
physics at  one extreme1 biology1       
psychology1 and philosophy at the other1
 combine  in asserting the idea of the  
universe as a unity which is always     

evolving its content1 and bringing its  
secret potencies to the light4 ,it  is  
true that these sciences have not linked
 hands as yet4 ,we cannot get  from     
chemistry to biology without a leap1 or 
from physiology to  psychology without  
another4 ,but no one will postulate a   
rift right  through being4 ,the whole   
tendency of modern science implies the  
opposite  of such a conception4 ,history
 is striving to trace continuity between
  the civilized man and the savage4     
,psychology is making towards a         
junction with physiology and general    
biology1 biology with chemistry1  and   
chemistry with physics4 ,that there is  
an unbroken continuity in  existence is 
becoming a postulate of modern science1 
almost as truly as  the universality of 
law or the uniformity of nature4 ,nor is
 the  postulate held less firmly because
 the evidence for the continuity of     
nature is not yet complete4 ,chemistry  
has not yet quite lapsed into  physics2 
biology at present shows no sign of     

giving up its  characteristic conception
 of life1 and the former science is as  
yet  quite unable to deal with that     
peculiar phenomenon4 ,the facts of      
consciousness have not been resolved    
into nervous action1 and1 so far1  mind 
has not been shown to be a secretion of 
brain4 ,nevertheless1 all  these        
sciences are beating against the limits 
which separate them1 and  new           
suggestions of connection between       
natural life and its inorganic          
environment are continually discovered4 
,the sciences are boring towards  each  
other1 and the dividing strata are      
wearing thin2 so that it seems          
reasonable to expect that1 with the     
growth of knowledge1 an unbroken way    
upwards may be discovered1 from the     
lowest and simplest stages of  existence
 to the highest and most complex forms  
of self-conscious life4    ,now1 to     
those persons who are primarily         
interested in the ethical and  religious
 phenomena of man's life1 the idea of   

abolishing the chasm  between spirit and
 nature is viewed with no little        
apprehension4 ,it is  supposed that if  
evolution were established as a         
universal law1 and the  unity of being  
were proved1 the mental and moral life  
of man would be  degraded into a complex
 manifestation of mere physical force4  
,and we  even find religious men        
rejoicing at the failure of science to  
bridge  the gap between the inorganic   
and the organic1 and between natural and
  self-conscious life2 as if the        
validity of religion depended upon the  
maintenance of their separating         
boundaries4 ,but no religion that is    
free  from superstitious elements has   
anything to gain from the failure of    
knowledge to relate things to each      
other4 ,it is difficult to see how      
breaks in the continuity of being can be
 established1 when every living  plant  
confutes the absolute difference between
 the organic and  inorganic1 and1 by the
 very fact of living1 turns the latter  

into the  former2 and it is difficult to
 deny the continuity of mind and matter1
  when every human being is relating    
himself to the outer world in all his   
thoughts and actions4 ,and religion is  
the very last form of thought  which    
could profit from such a proof of       
absolute distinctions1 were it          
possible4 ,in fact1 as we have seen1    
religion1 in so far as it demands a     
perfect and absolute being as the object
 of worship1 is vitally  concerned in   
maintaining the unity of the world4 ,it 
must assume that  matter1 in its degree1
 reveals the same principle which1 in a 
higher  form1 manifests itself in       
spirit4    ,but closer investigation    
will show that the real ground for such 
apprehension does not lie in the        
continuity of existence1 which          
evolution implies2 for religion itself  
postulates the same thing4 ,the         
apprehension springs1 rather1 from the  
idea that the continuity asserted  by   
evolution1 is obtained by resolving the 

higher forms of existence  into the     
lower4 ,it is believed that1 if the     
application of development  to facts    
were successfully carried out1 the      
organic would be shown to be  nothing   
but complex inorganic forces1 mental    
life nothing but a  physiological       
process1 and religion1 morality1 and    
art1 nothing but  products of the highly
 complex motion of highly complex       
aggregates of  physical atoms4    ,it   
seems to me quite natural that science  
should be regarded as tending  towards  
such a materialistic conclusion4 ,this  
is the view which many  scientific      
investigators have themselves taken of  
their work2 and some  of their          
philosophical exponents1 notably ,mr4   
,herbert ,spencer1 have1  with more or  
less inconsistency1 interpreted the idea
 of evolution in  this manner4 ,but1 it 
may be well to bear in mind that science
 is  generally far more successful in   
employing its constructive ideas1 than  
it is in rendering an account of them4  

,in fact1 it is not its business  to    
examine its categories3 that task       
properly belongs to philosophy1 and  it 
is not a superfluous one4 ,but1 so long 
as the employment of the  categories in 
the special province of a particular    
science yields valid  results1          
scientific explorers and those who      
attach1 and rightly attach1  so much    
value to their discoveries1 are very    
unwilling to believe that  these        
categories are not valid universally4   
,the warning voice of  philosophy is not
 heeded1 when it charges natural science
 with applying  its conceptions to      
materials to which they are inadequate2 
and its  examination of the categories  
of thought is regarded as an innocent1  
but  also a useless1 activity4 ,for1 it 
is argued1 what good can arise from  the
 analysis of our working ideas8 ,the    
world looked for causes1 and  found     
them1 when it was very young2 but1 up to
 the time of ,david ,hume1  no one had  
shown what causality meant1 and the     

explanation which he  offered is now    
rejected by modern science1 as          
definitely as it is  rejected by        
philosophy4 ,meantime1 while philosophy 
is still engaged in  exposing the       
fallacies of the theory of association  
as held by ,hume1  science has gone     
beyond this category altogether2 it is  
now establishing  a theory of the       
conservation of energy1 which supplants 
the law of  causality by tracing it into
 a deeper law of nature4    ,there is   
some force in this argument1 but it cuts
 both ways4 ,for1 even  if it be        
admitted that the category was          
successfully applied in the  past1 it is
 also admitted that it was applied      
without being understood2  and it cannot
 now be questioned that the philosophers
 were right in  rejecting it as the     
final explanation of the relation of    
objects to each  other1 and in pointing 
to other and higher connecting ideas4   
,and this  consideration should go some 
way towards convincing evolutionists    

that1  though they may be able          
successfully to apply the idea of       
development to  particular facts1 this  
does not guarantee the soundness of     
their view of  it as an instrument of   
thought1 or of the nature of the final  
results  which it is destined to        
achieve4 ,hence1 without any            
disparagement to the  new extension     
which science has received by the use of
 this new idea1 it  may be maintained   
that the ordinary view of its tendency  
and mission is  erroneous4    ,the      
prevailing method of explaining the     
world1 says ,professor ,caird1  may be  
described as an attempt to level        
'downwards4' ,the doctrine of           
development1 interpreted as that idea   
usually is interpreted1 supports  this  
view1 as making it necessary to trace   
back higher and more complex  to lower  
or simpler forms of being2 for the most 
obvious way of  accomplishing this task 
is to show analytically that there is   
really  nothing more in the former than 

in the latter4,a ,divorced from  matter1
 asks ,professor ,tyndall1 where is life
 to be found8 ,whatever  our faith may  
say our knowledge shows them to be      
indissolubly  joined4 ,every meal we    
eat1 and every cup we drink1 illustrates
 the  mysterious control of ,mind by    
,matter4 ,trace the line of life        
backwards  and see it approaching more  
and more to what we call the purely     
physical condition4,b ,and then1 rising 
to the height of his subject1  or even  
above it1 he proclaims1 ,by an          
intellectual necessity ,i cross  the    
boundary of the experimental evidence1  
and discern in that ,matter  which we1  
in our ignorance of its latent powers1  
and notwithstanding our  professed      
reverence for its ,creator1 have        
hitherto covered with  opprobrium1 the  
promise and potency of all terrestrial  
life4,c ,a  little further on1 speaking 
in the name of science1 and on behalf of
 his  scientific fellow-workers 7with   
what right is a little doubtful71 he    

adds--,we claim1 and we shall wrest1    
from theology1 the entire domain of     
cosmological theory4 ,all schemes and   
systems which thus infringe upon  the   
domain of science1 must1 in so far as   
they do this1 submit to its  control1   
and relinquish all thought of           
controlling it4 ,but if science  is to  
control the knowable world1 he          
generously leaves the remainder for     
religion4 ,he will not deprive it of a  
faith in a ,power absolutely            
inscrutable to the intellect of man4 ,as
 little in our days as in the  days of  
,job can a man by searching find this   
,power out4 ,and1 now that  he has left 
this empty sphere of the unknown to     
religion1 he feels  justified in adding1
 ,there is1 you will observe1 no very   
rank  materialism here4    ,footnote ,a3
 ,the ,critical ,philosophy of ,kant1   
,vol4 ,i4 p4 #cd    ,footnote ,b3       
,address to the ,british ,association1  
#ahgd1 p4 #ed4    ,footnote ,c3 ,belfast
 ,address1 #ahgd4      ,yet they did not

 abolish the gods1 but they sent them   
well out    of the way1    ,with the    
rarest of nectar to drink1 and blue     
fields of nothing    to sway4,a         
,footnote ,a3 ,clerk ,maxwell3 ,notes of
 the ,president's ,address1  ,british   
,association1 #ahgd4    ,now these      
declarations of ,mr4 ,tyndall are1 to   
say the least1 somewhat  ambiguous and  
shadowy4 ,yet1 when he informs us that  
eating and drinking  illustrate the     
control of mind by matter1 and that the 
line of life  traced backwards leads    
towards a purely physical condition1 it 
is a  little difficult to avoid the     
conclusion that he regards science as   
destined4      ,to tread the world      
,into a paste1 and thereof make a smooth
    ,uniform mound1 whereon to plant its
 flag4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,prince       
,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,for the     
conclusion of the whole argument seems  
to be1 that all we know  as facts are   
mere forms of matter2 although the      
stubborn refusal of  consciousness to be

 resolved into natural force1 and its   
power of  constructing for itself a     
world of symbols1 gives science no      
little  trouble1 and forces it to       
acknowledge complete ignorance of the   
nature  of the power from which all     
comes4      ,so roll things to the level
 which you love1    ,that you could     
stand at ease there and survey    ,the  
universal ,nothing undisgraced    ,by   
pert obtrusion of some old church-spire 
,i' the distance6 ,a    ,footnote ,a3   
,prince ,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,some
 writers on ethics and religion have    
adopted the same view of the  goal of   
the idea of evolution4 ,in consistency  
with this supposed  tendency of science1
 to resolve all things into their       
simplest1 and  earliest forms1 religion 
has been traced back to the superstition
 and  ghost-worship of savages2 and then
 it has been contended that it is1 in   
essence1 nothing more than superstition 
and ghost-worship4 ,and1 in like        
manner1 morality1 with its categorical  

imperative of duty1 has been  traced    
back1 without a break1 to the ignorant  
fear of the vengeance of a  savage      
chief4 ,a similar process in the same   
direction reduces the love  divine1 of  
which our poet speaks1 into brute lust2 
somewhat sublimated1  it is true1 in its
 highest forms1 but not fundamentally   
changed4      ,philosophers deduce you  
chastity    ,or shame1 from just the    
fact that at the first    ,whoso        
embraced a woman in the field1    ,threw
 club down and forewent his brains      
beside2    ,so1 stood a ready victim in 
the reach    ,of any brother-savage1    
club in hand4    ,hence saw the use of  
going out of sight    ,in wood or cave  
to prosecute his loves4,b    ,footnote  
,b3 ,bishop ,blouhram's ,apology4       
,and when the sacred things of life are 
treated in this manner--when  moral     
conduct is showed to be evolved by a    
continuous process from  conduct in     
general1 the conduct of an infusorium or
 a cephalopod1 or  even of wind-mills or

 water-wheels1 it is not surprising if  
the  authority of the moral law seems to
 be undermined1 and that devout  souls  
are apprehensive of the results of      
science4 ,does law so analyzed  coerce  
you much8 asks ,browning4    ,the       
derivation of spiritual from natural    
laws thus appears to be fatal  to the   
former2 and religious teachers naturally
 think that it is  necessary for their  
cause to snap the links of the chain of 
evolution1  and1 like ,professor        
,drummond1 to establish absolute gaps1  
not only  between the inorganic and the 
organic worlds1 but also between the    
self-conscious life of man and the      
mysterious1 spiritual life of ,christ1  
or ,god4 ,but it seems to me that1 in   
their antagonism to evolution1          
religious teachers are showing the same 
incapacity to distinguish  between their
 friends and their foes1 which they     
previously manifested  in their         
acceptance of the ,kantian doctrine of  
things in  themselves1--a doctrine which

 placed ,god and the soul beyond the    
power  of speculative reason either to  
prove or disprove4 ,it is1 however1     
already recognized that the attempt of  
,mansel and ,hamilton to degrade  human 
reason for the behoof of faith was      
really a veiled agnosticism2  and a     
little reflection must show that the    
idea of evolution1 truly  interpreted1  
in no wise threatens the degradation of 
man1 or the  overthrow of his spiritual 
interests4 ,on the contrary1 this idea  
is1 in  all the history of thought1 the 
first constructive hypothesis which is  
adequate to the uses of ethics and      
religion4 ,by means of it1 we may hope  
to solve many of the problems arising   
from the nature of knowledge and  moral 
conduct1 which the lower category of    
cause turned into pure  enigmas4 ,it    
seems1 indeed1 to contain the promise of
 establishing the  science of man1 as   
intelligent1 on a firm basis2 on which  
we may raise a  superstructure1         
comparable in strength and superior in  

worth1 to that of  the science of       
nature4 ,and1 even if the moral science 
must1 like  philosophy1 always return to
 the beginning--must1 that is1 from the 
necessity of its nature1 and not from   
any complete failure--it will  still    
begin again at a higher level now that  
the idea of evolution is in  the field4 
,it now remains to show in what way the 
idea of evolution leaves room for       
religion and morality2 or1 in other     
words1 to show how1 so far from         
degrading man to the level of the brute 
condition1 and running life down  into  
purely physical conditions1 it contains 
the promise of  establishing that       
idealistic view of the world1 which is  
maintained by  art and religion4    ,in 
order to show this1 it is necessary that
 the idea of evolution should  be used  
fearlessly1 and applied to all facts    
that can in any way come  under it4 ,it 
must1 in other words1 be used as a      
category of thought1  whose application 
is universal2 so that1 if it is valid at

 all as a  theory1 it is valid of all   
finite things4 ,for the question we are 
dealing with is not the truth of the    
hypothesis of a particular science1  but
 the truth of a hypothesis as to the    
relation of all objects in the  world1  
including man himself4 ,we must not be  
deterred from this  universal           
application by the fact that we cannot1 
as yet1 prove its  truth in every       
detail4 ,no scientific hypothesis ever  
has exhausted its  details4 ,i consider1
 therefore1 that ,mr4 ,tyndall had a    
complete right to  cross the boundary of
 the experimental evidence by an        
intellectual  necessity2 for the        
necessity comes from the assumption of a
 possible  explanation by the aid of the
 hypothesis4 ,it is no argument against 
such  a procedure to insist that1 as    
yet1 there is no proof of the absolute  
continuity of matter and physical life1 
or that the dead begets the  living4    
,the hypothesis is not disproved by the 
absence of evidence2 it  is only not    

proved4 ,the connection may be there1   
although we have not1  as yet1 been able
 to find it4 ,in the face of such       
difficulties as these1  the scientific  
investigator has always a right to claim
 more time2 and  his attitude is        
impregnable as long as he remembers1 as 
,mr4 ,tyndall did  on the whole1 that   
his hypothesis is a hypothesis4    ,but 
,mr4 ,tyndall has himself given up this 
right4 ,he1 like ,mr4 ,huxley1  has     
placed the phenomena of                 
self-consciousness outside of the       
developing  process1 and confined the   
sphere in which evolution is applicable1
 to  natural objects4 ,between objects  
and the subject1 even when both subject 
and object are man himself1 there lies  
an impassable gulf4    ,even to try to  
comprehend the connection between       
thought and thing is  absurd1 like the  
effort of a man trying to lift himself  
by his own  waist-band4 ,our states of  
self-consciousness are symbols          
only--symbols  of an outside entity1    

whose real nature we can never know4 ,we
 know only  these states2 we only infer 
that anything answering to our          
impressions exists outside of ourselves4
 ,and it is impossible to  justify even 
that inference2 for1 if we can only know
 states of  consciousness1 we cannot say
 that they are symbols of anything1 or  
that  there is anything to be           
symbolized4 ,the external world1 on this
 theory1  ceases to exist even as an    
unknown entity4 ,in triumphantly        
pointing out  that1 in virtue of this   
psychological view1 ,there is1 you will 
observe1  no very rank materialism here1
 ,mr4 ,tyndall forgets that he has      
destroyed the basis of all natural      
science1 and reduced evolution into a   
law of an outside entity1 of which we   
can never know anything1 and any        
inference regarding which violates every
 law of thought4    ,it seems to me     
quite plain that either this            
psychological theory1 which  ,mr4       
,tyndall has mistaken for a philosophy1 

is invalid2 or else it is  useless to   
endeavour to propound any view regarding
 a nature which is  the phantom of the  
individual's mind4 ,i prefer the science
 of ,mr4  ,tyndall 7and of ,mr4 ,huxley1
 too7 to his philosophy2 and he would   
have  escaped materialism more          
effectively1 if he had remained faithful
 to his  theory of evolution4 ,it is a  
disloyalty1 not only to science1 but to 
thought1 to cast away our categories    
when they seem to imply  inconvenient   
consequences4 ,they must be valid       
universally1 if they are  valid at all4 
,mr4 ,tyndall contends that nature makes
 man1 and he finds evidence in the  fact
 that we eat and drink1 of the control  
of mind by matter4 ,now1 it  seems to   
me1 that if nature makes man1 then      
nature makes man's  thoughts also4 ,his 
sensations1 feelings1 ideas1 notions1   
being those of  a naturally-evolved     
agent1 are revelations of the potency of
 the primal  matter1 just as truly as   
are the buds1 flowers1 and fruits of a  

tree4 ,no  doubt1 we cannot as yet      
comprehend the connection between       
nervous  action and sensation1 any more 
than we can comprehend the connection   
between inorganic and organic existence4
 ,but1 if the absence of  experimental  
evidence does not disprove the          
hypothesis in the one  case1 it can not 
disprove it in the other4 ,there are two
 crucial points  in which the theory has
 not been established4    ,but1 in both 
cases alike1 there is the same kind of  
evidence that the  connection exists2   
although in neither case can we1 as yet1
 discover  what it is4 ,plants live by  
changing inorganic elements into organic
  structure2 and man is intelligent only
 in so far as he crosses over the       
boundary between subject and object1 and
 knows the world without him4  ,there is
 no impassable gulf separating the      
subject and object2 if  there were we   
could not know anything of either4      
,there are not two  worlds--the one of  
thoughts1 the other of things--which are

 absolutely  exclusive of each other1   
but one universe in which thought and   
reality  meet4 ,mr4 ,tyndall thinks that
 it is an inference 7and an inference   
over  an impassable gulf67 that anything
 answering to our impressions exists    
outside ourselves4 ,the question of the 
external world is the great             
battleground of metaphysics1 he quotes  
approvingly from ,mr4 ,j4,s4 ,mill4     
,but the question of the external world 
is not whether that world exists2  it   
is1 how are we to account for our       
knowledge that it does exist4 ,the      
inference is not from thoughts to       
things1 nor from things to thoughts1    
but from a partially known world to a   
systematic theory of that world4        
,philosophy is not engaged on the       
foolish enterprise of trying to         
discover whether the world exists1 or   
whether we know that it exists2  its    
problem is how to account for our       
knowledge4 ,it asks what must the       
nature of things be1 seeing that they   

are known2 and what is the nature  of   
thought1 seeing that it knows facts8    
,there is no hope whatsoever for ethics1
 or religion1 or philosophy--no  hope   
even for science--in a theory which     
would apply evolution all the  way up   
from inorganic matter to life1 but which
 would postulate an  absolute break at  
consciousness4 ,the connection between  
thought and  things is there to begin   
with1 whether we can account for it or  
not2 if  it were not1 then natural      
science would be impossible4 ,it would  
be  palpably irrational even to try to  
find out the nature of things by        
thinking4 ,the only science would be    
psychology1 and even that would be  the 
science of symbols of an unknown entity4
 ,what symbols of an  unknown can       
signify1 or how an unknown can produce  
symbols of itself  across an impassable 
gulf--,mr4 ,spencer1 ,mr4 ,huxley1 and  
,mr4 ,tyndall have  yet to inform us4   
,it is the more necessary to insist on  
this1 because the division between      

thought and matter1 which is admitted by
 these writers1 is often grasped  at by 
their opponents1 as a means of warding  
off the results which they  draw from   
the theory of evolution4 ,when science  
breaks its sword1  religion assails it1 
with the fragment4 ,it is not at once   
evident that  if this chasm were shown  
to exist1 knowledge would be a chimera2 
for  there would be no outer world at   
all1 not even a phenomenal one1 to      
supply an object for it4 ,we must       
postulate the ultimate unity of all     
beings with each other and with the mind
 that knows them1 just because  we are  
intellectual and moral beings2 and to   
destroy this unity is to  kill reason   
itself1 as it were1 in the eye1 as      
,milton said4    ,now1 evolution not    
only postulates unity1 or the unbroken  
continuity of  all existence1 but it    
also negates all differences1 except    
those which  are expressions of that    
unity4 ,it is not the mere assertion of 
a  substratum under qualities2 but it   

implies that the substratum  penetrates 
into the qualities1 and manifests itself
 in them4 ,that which  develops--be it  
plant1 child1 or biological kingdom--is1
 at every stage  from lowest to highest1
 a concrete unity of all its            
differences2 and in  the whole history  
of its process its actual content is    
always the same4  ,the environment of   
the plant evokes that content1 but it   
adds nothing to  it4 ,no addition of    
anything absolutely new1 no external    
aggregation1 no  insertion of anything  
alien into a growing thing1 is possible4
 ,what it  is now1 it was in the        
beginning2 and what it will be1 it is   
now4  ,granting the hypothesis of       
evolution1 there can be no quarrel with 
the  view that the crude beginnings of  
things1 matter in its most nebulous     
state1 contains potentially all the rich
 variety of both natural and  spiritual 
life4    ,but this continuity of all    
existence may be interpreted in two very
  different ways4 ,it may lead us either

 to radically change our notions of     
mind and its activities1 or to radically
 change our notions of matter4  ,we may 
take as the principle of explanation1   
either the beginning1 or  the end of the
 process of development4 ,we may say of 
the simple and  crass1 ,there is all    
that your rich universe really means2 or
 we may  say of the spiritual activities
 of man1 ,this is what your crude       
beginning really was4 ,we may explain   
the complex by the simple1 or the       
simple by the complex4 ,we may analyze  
the highest back into the lowest1  or we
 may follow the lowest1 by a process of 
synthesis1 up to the  highest4    ,and  
one of the most important of all        
questions for morality and religion  is 
the question1 which of these two methods
 is valid4 ,if out of crass  matter is  
evolved all animal and spiritual life1  
does that prove life to  be nothing but 
matter2 or does it not rather show that 
what we1 in our  ignorance1 took to be  
mere matter was really something much   

greater8 ,if  crass matter contains all 
this promise and potency1 by what right 
do  we still call it crass8 ,it is      
manifestly impossible to treat the      
potencies1 assumed to lie in a thing    
that grows1 as if they were of no       
significance2 first1 to assert that such
 potencies exist1 in saying that  the   
object develops2 and then1 to neglect   
them1 and to regard the effect  as      
constituted merely of its simplest      
elements4 ,either these potencies  are  
not in the object1 or else the object   
has in it1 and is1 at the  first1 more  
than it appears to be4 ,either the      
object does not grow1 or  the lowest    
stage of its being is no explanation of 
its true nature4    ,if we wish to know 
what the forms of natural life mean1 we 
look in vain  to their primary state4   
,we must watch the evolution and        
revelation of  the secret hid in natural
 life1 as it moves through the ascending
 cycles  of the biological kingdom4 ,the
 idea of evolution1 when it is not      

muddled1 is synthetic--not analytic2 it 
explains the simplest in the  light of  
the complex1 the beginning in the light 
of the end1 and not  vice versa4 ,in a  
word1 it follows the ways of nature1 the
 footsteps of  fact1 instead of         
inventing a wilful backward path of its 
own4 ,and nature  explains by gradually 
expanding4 ,if we hearken to nature1 and
 not to the  voice of illusory          
preconceptions1 we shall hear her       
proclaim at the last  stage1 ,here is   
the meaning of the seedling4 ,now it is 
clear what it  really was2 for the power
 which lay dormant has pushed itself    
into  light1 through bud and flower and 
leaf and fruit4 ,the reality of a       
growing thing is its highest form of    
being4 ,the last explains the first1    
but not the first the last4 ,the first  
is abstract1 incomplete1 not yet        
actual1 but mere potency2 and we could  
never know even the potency1  except in 
the light of its own actualization4     
,from this correction of the abstract   

view of development momentous           
consequences follow4 ,if the universe   
is1 as science pronounces1 an  organic  
totality1 which is ever converting its  
promise and potency into  actuality1    
then we must add that the ultimate      
interpretation even of  the lowest      
existence in the world cannot be given  
except on principles  which are adequate
 to explain the highest4 ,we must level 
up and not  level down3 we must not only
 deny that matter can explain spirit1   
but  we must say that even matter itself
 cannot be fully understood1 except  as 
an element in a spiritual world4,a      
,footnote ,a3 ,professor ,caird1 ,the   
,critical ,philosophy of ,kant1 p4 #ce4 
,that the idea of evolution1 even when  
applied in this consistent way1  has    
difficulties of its own1 it is scarcely 
necessary to say4 ,but there  is nothing
 in it which imperils the ethical and   
religious interests of  humanity1 or    
tends to reduce man into a natural      
phenomenon4 ,instead of  degrading man1 

it lifts nature into a manifestation of 
spirit4 ,if it  were established1 if    
every link of the endless chain were    
discovered and  the continuity of       
existence were irrefragably proved1     
science would not  overthrow idealism1  
but it would rather vindicate it4 ,it   
would justify  in detail the attempt of 
poetry and religion and philosophy1 to  
interpret all being as the transparent  
vesture of reason1 or love1 or  whatever
 other power in the world is regarded as
 highest4    ,i have now arrived at the 
conclusion that was sought4 ,i have     
tried to  show1 not only that the       
attempt to interpret nature in terms of 
man is  not a superstitious             
anthropomorphism1 but that such an      
interpretation is  implied in all       
rational thought4 ,in other words1      
self-consciousness is  the key to all   
the problems of nature4 ,science1 in its
 progress1 is  gradually substituting   
one category for the other1 and every   
one of  these categories is at once a   

law of thought and a law of things as   
known4 ,each category1 successively     
adopted1 lifts nature more to the  level
 of man2 and the last category of modern
 thought1 namely1  development1         
constrains us so to modify our views of 
nature1 as to  regard it as finally     
explicable only in the terms of spirit4 
,thus1 the  movement of science is      
towards idealism4 ,instead of lowering  
man1 it  elevates nature into a potency 
of that which is highest and best in    
man4  ,it represents the life of man1 in
 the language of philosophy1 as the     
return of the highest to itself2 or in  
the language of our poet1 and of        
religion1 as a manifestation of infinite
 love4 ,the explanation of nature  from 
the principle of love1 if it errs1 errs 
because it is not  anthropomorphic      
enough1 not because it is too           
anthropomorphic2 it is  not too high and
 concrete a principle1 but too low and  
abstract4    ,it now remains to show    
that the poet1 in employing the idea of 

evolution1 was aware of its upward      
direction4 ,i have already quoted a  few
 passages which indicate that he had    
detected the false use of it4 ,i  shall 
now quote a few others in which he shows
 a consciousness of its  true meaning3  
',will you have why and wherefore1 and  
the fact    ,made plain as pike-staff8' 
modern ,science asks4    ',that mass man
 sprung from was a jelly-lump    ,once  
on a time2 he kept an after course      
,through fish and insect1 reptile1 bird 
and beast1    ,till he attained to be an
 ape at last1    ,or last but one4 ,and 
if this doctrine shock    ,in aught the 
natural pride4',a    ,footnote ,a3      
,prince ,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,not 
at all1 the poet interrupts the man of  
science3 ,friend1 banish  fear6      ,i 
like the thought ,he should have lodged 
me once    ,i' the hole1 the cave1 the  
hut1 the tenement1    ,the mansion and  
the palace2 made me learn    ,the feel  
o' the first1 before ,i found myself    
,loftier i' the last4,b    ,footnote ,b3

 ,ibid4    ,this way upward from the    
lowest stage through every other to the 
highest1 that is1 the way of            
development1 so far from lowering us to 
the  brute level1 is the only way for us
 to attain to the true highest1  namely1
 the all-complete4      ,but grant me   
time1 give me the management    ,and    
manufacture of a model me1    ,me       
fifty-fold1 a prince without a flaw1--  
,why1 there's no social grade1 the      
sordidest1    ,my embryo potentate      
should brink and scape4    ,king1 all   
the better he was cobbler once1    ,he  
should know1 sitting on the throne1 how 
tastes    ,life to who sweeps the       
doorway4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,prince     
,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,but then1   
unfortunately1 we have no time to make  
our kings in this way1                  
,you cut probation short1    ,and1 being
 half-instructed1 on the stage    ,you  
shuffle through your part as best you   
can4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,god1 
however1 takes time4 ,he makes man pass 

his apprenticeship in all  the forms of 
being4 ,nor does the poet               
,refuse to follow farther yet    ,i' the
 backwardness1 repine if tree and       
flower1    ,mountain or streamlet were  
my dwelling-place    ,before ,i gained  
enlargement1 grew mollusc4,c            
,footnote ,c3 ,ibid4    ,it is1 indeed1 
only on the supposition of having been  
thus evolved from  inanimate being that 
he is able to account                   
,for many a thrill    ,of kinship1 ,i   
confess to1 with the powers    ,called  
,nature3 animate1 inanimate1    ,in     
parts or in the whole1 there's something
 there    ,man-like that somehow meets  
the man in me4,d    ,footnote ,d3 ,ibid4
    ,these passages make it clear that  
the poet recognized that the idea of    
development levels up1 and that he makes
 an intelligent1 and not a  perverted   
and abstract use of this instrument of  
thought4 ,he sees each  higher stage    
carrying within it the lower1 the       
present storing up the  past2 he        

recognizes that the process is a        
self-enriching one4 ,he knows  it to be 
no degradation of the higher that it has
 been in the lower2 for  he             
distinguishes between that life1 which  
is continuous amidst the  fleeting      
forms1 and the temporary tenements1     
which it makes use of  during the       
process of ascending4      ,from first  
to last of lodging1 ,i was ,i1    ,and  
not at all the place that harboured     
me4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,prince          
,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,when nature 
is thus looked upon from the point of   
view of its final  attainment1 in the   
light of the self-consciousness into    
which it  ultimately breaks1 a new      
dignity is added to every preceding     
phase4 ,the  lowest ceases to be lowest1
 except in the sense that its promise is
 not  fulfilled and its potency not     
actualized2 for1 throughout the whole   
process1 the activity streams from the  
highest4 ,it is that which is  about to 
be which guides the growing thing and   

gives it unity4 ,the final  cause is the
 efficient cause2 the distant purpose is
 the ever-present  energy2 the last is  
always first4    ,nor does the poet     
shrink from calling this highest1 this  
last which is  also first1 by its       
highest name1--,god4                ,he 
dwells in all1    ,from1 life's minute  
beginnings1 up at last    ,to man--the  
consummation of this scheme    ,of      
being1 the completion of this sphere    
,of life4,a    ,footnote ,a3            
,paracelsus4    ,all tended to mankind1 
he said1 after reviewing the whole      
process of  nature in ,paracelsus1      
,and1 man produced1 all has its end thus
 far3    ,but in completed man begins   
anew    ,a tendency to ,god4,b          
,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,there is       
nowhere a break in the continuity4 ,god 
is at the beginning1 ,his  rapturous    
presence is seen in all the processes of
 nature1 ,his power and  knowledge and  
love work in the mind of man1 and all   
history is ,his  revelation of ,himself4

    ,the gap which yawns for ordinary   
thought between animate and inanimate1  
between nature and spirit1 between man  
and ,god1 does not baffle the  poet4 ,at
 the stage of human life1 which is the  
grand result of  nature's blind process1
      ,a supplementary reflux of light1 
,illustrates all the inferior grades1   
explains    ,each back step in the      
circle4,c    ,footnote ,c3 ,ibid4       
,nature is retracted into thought1 built
 again in mind4        ,man1 once       
descried1 imprints for ever    ,his     
presence on all lifeless things4,d      
,footnote ,d3 ,ibid4    ,the            
self-consciousness of man is the point  
where all the scattered rays  meet2 and 
the dim fragments1 the otherwise        
meaningless manifold1 the  dispersed    
activities of nature1 are lifted into a 
kosmos by the activity  of intelligence4
 ,in its light1 the forces of nature are
 found to be1 not  blind nor            
purposeless1 but hints and previsions   
,strewn confusedly everywhere about     

,the inferior natures1 and all lead up  
higher1    ,all shape out dimly the     
superior race1    ,the heir of hopes too
 fair to turn out false1    ,and man    
appears at last4,a    ,footnote ,a3     
,paracelsus4    ,in this way1 and in    
strict accordance with the principle of 
evolution1  the poet turns back at each 
higher stage to re-illumine in a broader
  light what went before1--just as we   
know the seedling after it is grown2    
just as1 with every advance in life1 we 
interpret the past anew1 and  turn the  
mixed ore of action into pure metal by  
the reflection which  draws the false   
from the true4      ,youth ended1 ,i    
shall try    ,my gain or loss thereby2  
,leave the fire ashes1 what survives is 
gold3    ,and ,i shall weigh the same1  
,give life its praise or blame3         
,young1 all lay in dispute2 ,i shall    
know1 being old4,b    ,footnote ,b3     
,rabbi ,ben ,ezra4    ,as youth attains 
its meaning in age1 so does the         
unconscious process of  nature come to  

its meaning in man ,and old age1        
,still within this life    ,though      
lifted o'er its strife1    is able to   
,discern1 compare1 pronounce at last1   
,this rage was right i' the main1       
,that acquiescence vain2,c    ,footnote 
,c3 ,ibid4    so man is able to         
penetrate beneath the apparently chaotic
 play of  phenomena1 and find in them   
law1 and beauty1 and goodness4 ,the laws
  which he finds by thought are not his 
inventions1 but his discoveries4  ,the  
harmonies are in the organ1 if the      
artist only knows how to elicit  them4  
,nay1 the connection is still more      
intimate4 ,it is in the thought  of man 
that silent nature finds its voice2 it  
blooms into meaning1  significance1     
thought1 in him1 as the plant shows its 
beauty in the  flower4 ,nature is making
 towards humanity1 and in humanity it   
finds  itself4      ,striving to be man1
 the worm    ,mounts through all the    
spires of form4,a    ,footnote ,a3      
,emerson4    ,the geologist1 physicist1 

chemist1 by discovering the laws of     
nature1 do  not bind unconnected        
phenomena2 but they refute the hasty    
conclusion of  sensuous thought1 that   
the phenomena ever were unconnected4    
,men of  science do not introduce order 
into chance and chaos1 but show that    
there never was chance or chaos4 ,the   
poet does not make the world  beautiful1
 but finds the beauty that is dwelling  
there4 ,without him1  indeed1 the beauty
 would not be1 any more than the life of
 the tree is  beautiful until it has    
evolved its potencies into the outward  
form4  ,nevertheless1 he is the         
expression of what was before1 and the  
beauty  was there in potency1 awaiting  
its expression4 ,only let his thoughts  
be  of equal scope1 and the frame will  
suit the picture1 said ,emerson4        
,the winds    ,are henceforth voices1   
wailing or a shout1    ,a querulous     
mutter1 or a quick gay laugh1    ,never 
a senseless gust now man is born4       
,the herded pines commune and have deep 

thoughts1    ,a secret they assemble to 
discuss    ,when the sun drops behind   
their trunks4           99       99     
99       99       99      ,the morn has 
enterprise1 deep quiet droops    ,with  
evening1 triumph takes the sunset hour1 
,voluptuous transport ripens with the   
corn    ,beneath a warm moon like a     
happy face4,a    ,footnote ,a3          
,paracelsus4    ,such is the transmuting
 power of imagination1 that there is    
nothing but  doth suffer change into    
something rich and strange2 and yet the 
imagination1 when loyal to itself1 only 
sees more deeply into the truth  of     
things1 and gets a closer and fuller    
hold of facts4    ,but1 although the    
human mind thus heals the breach between
 nature and  spirit1 and discovers the  
latter in the former1 still it is not in
 this  way that ,browning finally       
establishes his idealism4 ,for him1 the 
principle working in all things is not  
reason1 but love4 ,it is from love  that
 all being first flowed2 into it all    

returns through man2 and in all  the    
wide compass which is fetched1 through  
the infinite variety of  forms of being1
 love is the permanent element and the  
true essence4  ,nature is on its way    
back to ,god1 gathering treasure as it  
goes4 ,the  static view is not true to  
facts2 it is development that for the   
poet  explains the nature of things2 and
 development is the evolution of love4  
,love is for ,browning the highest1     
richest conception man can form4 ,it is 
our idea of that which is perfect2 we   
cannot even imagine anything  better4   
,and the idea of evolution necessarily  
explains the world as the  return of the
 highest to itself4 ,the universe is    
homeward bound4    ,now1 whether love is
 the highest principle or not1 ,i shall 
not inquire  at present4 ,my task in    
this chapter has been to try to show    
that the  idea of evolution drives us   
onward towards some highest conception1 
and  then uses that conception as a     
principle to explain all things4 ,if man

  is veritably higher as a physical     
organism than the bird or reptile1  then
 biology1 if it proceeds according to   
the principles of evolution1  must seek 
the meaning of the latter in the former1
 and make the whole  kingdom of life a  
process towards man4 ,man is no upstart 
in the  creation4 ,his limbs are only a 
more exquisite organization--say rather 
the finish--of the rudimental forms that
 have already been sweeping the  sea and
 creeping in the mud4 ,and the same way 
of thought applies to man  as a         
spiritual agent4 ,if spirit be higher   
than matter1 and if love be  spirit at  
its best1 then the principle of         
evolution leaves no option to  the      
scientific thinker1 but to regard all   
things as potentially spirit1  and all  
the phenomena of the world as           
manifestations of love4 ,evolution      
necessarily combines all the objects to 
which it is applied into a  unity4 ,it  
knits all the infinite forms of natural 
life into an organism  of organisms1 so 

that it is a universal life which really
 lives in all  animate beings4 ,each    
animal or vegetable form remembers the  
next  inferior and predicts the next    
higher4 ,there is one animal1 one plant1
  one matter1 and one force4 ,in its    
still wider application by poetry and   
philosophy1 the idea of evolution       
gathers all being into one  self-centred
 totality1 and makes all finite         
existence a movement within1  and a     
movement of1 that final perfection      
which1 although last in order  of time1 
is first in order of potency1--the prius
 of all things1 the  active energy in   
all things1 and the reality of all      
things4 ,it is  the doctrine of the     
immanence of ,god2 and it reveals the   
effort of ,god1  of the supreme         
intellect1 in the extreme frontier of   
,his universe4    ,in pronouncing1 as   
,browning frequently does1 that after   
last comes  first and what ,god once    
blessed cannot prove accursed2 in the   
boldness of the faith whereby he makes  

all the inferior grades of being  into  
embodiments of the supreme good2 in     
resolving the evils of human  life1 the 
sorrow1 strife1 and sin of man into     
means of man's promotion1  he is only   
applying1 in a thorough manner1 the     
principle on which all  modern          
speculation rests4 ,his conclusions may 
shock common-sense2 and  they may seem  
to stultify not only our observation of 
facts1 but the  testimony of our moral  
consciousness4 ,but ,i do not know of   
any principle  of speculation which1    
when elevated into a universal principle
 of  thought1 will not do the same2 and 
this is why the greatest poets and      
philosophers seem to be touched with a  
divine madness4 ,still1 if this be      
madness1 there is a method in it4 ,we   
cannot escape from its logic1  except by
 denying the idea of evolution--the     
hypothesis by means of  which modern    
thought aims1 and in the main           
successfully aims1 at  reducing the     
variety of existence1 and the chaos of  

ordinary experience1  into an           
order-ruled world and a kosmos of       
articulated knowledge4    ,the new idea 
of evolution differs from that of       
universal causation1 to  which even the 
ignorance of our own day has learnt to  
submit1 in this  mainly--it does not    
leave things on the level on which it   
finds them4  ,both cause and evolution  
assert the unity of being1 which1       
indeed1 every  one must assume--even    
sceptics and pessimists2 but development
  represents that unity as              
self-enriching2 so that its true nature 
is  revealed1 only in the highest form  
of existence which man can conceive4    
,the attempt of poets and philosophers  
to establish a universal synthesis  by  
means of evolution1 differs from the    
work which is done by men of  science1  
only in the extent of its range and the 
breadth of its results4  ,it is not     
idealism1 but the scepticism which1 in  
our day1 conceals its  real nature under
 the name of dualism or agnosticism1    

that is at war  with the inner spirit of
 science4 ,not only1 we may say of      
,browning as  it was said of ,emerson by
 ,professor ,tyndall1 is his religious  
sense  entirely undaunted by the        
discoveries of science2 but all such    
discoveries he comprehends and          
assimilates4 ,by him scientific         
conceptions are continually transmuted  
into the finer forms and warmer  hues of
 an ideal world4 ,and this he does      
without any distortion of the  truth4   
,for natural science1 to one who        
understands its main tendency1  does not
 militate against philosophy1 art1 and  
religion2 nor threaten to  overturn a   
metaphysic whose principle is truth1 or 
beauty1 or goodness4  ,rather1 it is    
gradually eliminating the discord of    
fragmentary  existence1 and making the  
harmony of the world more and more      
audible to  mankind4 ,it is             
progressively proving that the unity1 of
 which we are all  obscurely conscious  
from the first1 actually holds in the   

whole region  of its survey4 ,the idea  
of evolution is reconciling science with
 art and  religion1 in an idealistic    
conception of the universe4             
,,chapter ,,viii4    ,,browning',s      
,,solution ,,of ,,the ,,problem ,,of    
,,evil4          ,let him1 therefore1   
who would arrive at knowledge of        
nature1 train his moral sense1 let him  
act and conceive in      accordance with
 the noble essence of his soul2 and1 as 
if      of herself1 nature will become  
open to him4 ,moral action      is that 
great and only experiment1 in which all 
riddles of      the most manifold       
appearances explain themselves4,a       
,footnote ,a3 ,novalis4    ,in the last 
chapter1 ,i tried to set forth some     
considerations that  justify the attempt
 to interpret the world by a spiritual  
principle4 ,the  conception of          
development1 which modern science and   
philosophy assume as  a starting-point  
for their investigation1 was shown to   
imply that the  lowest forms of         

existence can be explained1 only as     
stages in the  self-realization of that 
which is highest4 ,this idea levels     
upwards1  and points to                 
self-consciousness as the ultimate truth
 of all things4 ,in  other words1 it    
involves that all interpretation of the 
world is  anthropomorphic1 in the sense 
that what constitutes thought           
constitutes  things1 and1 therefore1    
that the key to nature is man4    ,in   
propounding this theory of love1 and    
establishing an idealism1  ,browning is 
in agreement with the latest achievement
 of modern thought4  ,for1 if the       
principle of evolution be granted1 love 
is a far more  adequate hypothesis for  
the explanation of the nature of things1
 than  any purely physical principle4   
,nay1 science itself1 in so far as it   
presupposes evolution1 tends towards an 
idealism of this type4 ,whether  love be
 the best expression for that highest   
principle1 which is  conceived as the   
truth of being1 and whether ,browning's 

treatment of it  is consistent and      
valid1 ,i do not as yet inquire4 ,before
 attempting that  task1 it must be seen 
to what extent1 and in what way1 he     
applies the  hypothesis of universal    
love to the particular facts of life4   
,for the  present1 ,i take it as        
admitted that the hypothesis is         
legitimate1 as an  hypothesis2 it       
remains to ask1 with what success1 if   
any1 we may hope1  by its means1 to     
solve the contradictions of life1 and to
 gather its  conflicting phenomena into 
the unity of an intelligible system4    
,this  task cannot be accomplished      
within our limits1 except in a very     
partial  manner4 ,i can attempt to meet 
only a few of the more evident and      
pressing difficulties that present      
themselves1 and ,i can do that only in  
a very general way4    ,the first of    
these difficulties1 or1 rather1 the main
 difficulty from  which all others      
spring1 is that the hypothesis of       
universal love is  incompatible with the

 existence of any kind of evil1 whether 
natural or  moral4 ,of this1 ,browning  
was well aware4 ,he knew that he had    
brought  upon himself the hard task of  
showing that pain1 weakness1 ignorance1 
failure1 doubt1 death1 misery1 and vice1
 in all their complex forms1 can  find  
their legitimate place in a scheme of   
love4 ,and there is nothing  more       
admirable in his attitude1 or more      
inspiring in his teaching1 than  the    
manly frankness with which he endeavours
 to confront the manifold  miseries of  
human life1 and to constrain them to    
yield1 as their  ultimate meaning and   
reality1 some spark of good4    ,but1 as
 we have seen1 there is a portion of    
this task in the discharge  of which    
,browning is drawn beyond the strict    
limits of art4 ,neither the  magnificent
 boldness of his religious faith1 nor   
the penetration of his  artistic        
insight1 although they enabled him to   
deal successfully with  the worst       
samples of human evil1 as in ,the ,ring 

and the ,book1 could  dissipate the     
gloom which reflection gathers around   
the general problem4  ,art cannot answer
 the questions of philosophy4 ,the      
difficulties that  critical reason      
raises reason alone can lay4            
,nevertheless1 the poet was  forced by  
his reflective impulse1 to meet that    
problem in the form in  which it        
presents itself in the region of        
metaphysics4 ,he was conscious  of the  
presuppositions within which his art    
worked1 and he sought to  justify them4 
,into this region we must now follow    
him1 so as to examine  his theory of    
life1 not merely as it is implied in the
 concrete  creations of his art1 but as 
it is expressed in those later poems1 in
  which he attempts to deal directly    
with the speculative difficulties  that 
crowd around the conception of evil4    
,to the critic of a philosophy1 there is
 hardly more than one task of  supreme  
importance4 ,it is that of determining  
the precise point from  which the theory

 he examines takes its departure2 for1  
when the central  conception is clearly 
grasped1 it will be generally found that
 it rules  all the rest4 ,the           
superstructure of philosophic edifices  
is usually put  together in a           
sufficiently solid manner--it is the    
foundation that gives  way4 ,hence      
,hegel1 who1 whatever may be thought of 
his own theory1 was  certainly the most 
profound critic of philosophy since     
,aristotle1  generally concentrates his 
attack on the preliminary hypothesis4   
,he  brings down the erroneous system by
 removing its foundation-stone4 ,his    
criticism of ,spinoza1 ,kant1 ,fichte1  
and ,schelling may almost be said to  be
 gathered into a single sentence4       
,browning has made no secret of his     
central conception4 ,it is the idea of  
an immanent or immundate love4 ,and that
 love1 we have shown1 is  conceived by  
him as the supreme moral motive1 the    
ultimate essence and  end of all        
self-conscious activity1 the veritable  

nature of both man and  ,god4      ,denn
 das ,leben ist die ,liebe1    ,und des 
,lebens ,leben ,geist4    ,his          
philosophy of human life rests on the   
idea that it is the  realization of a   
moral purpose1 which is a loving        
purpose4 ,to him there  is no supreme   
good1 except good character2 and the    
foundation of that  character by man and
 in man is the ultimate purpose1 and1   
therefore1 the  true meaning of all     
existence4                ,i search but 
cannot see    ,what purpose serves the  
soul that strives1 or world it tries    
,conclusions with1 unless the fruit of  
victories    ,stay1 one and all1 stored 
up and guaranteed its own    ,for ever1 
by some mode whereby shall be made known
    ,the gain of every life4 ,death     
reads the title clear--    ,what each   
soul for itself conquered from out      
things here3    ,since1 in the seeing   
soul1 all worth lies1 ,i assert4,a      
,footnote ,a3 ,fifine at the ,fair1 lv4 
,in this passage1 ,browning gives       

expression to an idea which continually 
reappears in his pages--that human life1
 in its essence1 is movement to  moral  
goodness through opposition4 ,his       
fundamental conception of the  human    
spirit is that it is a process1 and not 
a fixed fact4 ,man1 he  says1 was made  
to grow not stop4      ,getting increase
 of knowledge1 since he learns          
,because he lives1 which is to be a man1
    ,set to instruct himself by his past
 self4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,a ,death in  
the ,desert4                 ,by such   
confession straight he falls    ,into   
man's place1 a thing nor ,god nor beast1
    ,made to know that he can know and  
not more3    ,lower than ,god who knows 
all and can all1    ,higher than beasts 
which know and can so far    ,as each   
beast's limit1 perfect to an end1       
,nor conscious that they know1 nor      
craving more2    ,while man knows partly
 but conceives beside1    ,creeps ever  
on from fancies to the fact1    ,and in 
this striving1 this converting air      

,into a solid he may grasp and use1     
,finds progress1 man's distinctive mark 
alone1    ,not ,god's and not the       
beasts'3 ,god is1 they are1    ,man     
partly is and wholly hopes to be4,c     
,footnote ,c3 ,ibid4    ,it were easy to
 multiply passages which show that his  
ultimate  deliverance regarding man is1 
not that he is1 nor that he is not1 but 
that he is ever becoming4 ,man is ever  
at the point of contradiction  between  
the actual and ideal1 and moving from   
the latter to the former4  ,strife      
constitutes him4 ,he is a war of        
elements2 hurled from change to  change 
unceasingly4 ,but rest is death2 for it 
is the cessation of the  spiritual      
activity1 whose essence is acquirement1 
not mere possession1  whether in        
knowledge or in goodness4               
,man must pass from old to new1    ,from
 vain to real1 from mistake to fact1    
,from what once seemed good1 to what now
 proves best4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a     
,death in the ,desert4    ,were the     

movement to stop1 and the contradiction 
between the actual and  ideal           
reconciled1 man would leave man's       
estate1 and pass under angel's  law4    
,indulging every instinct of the soul   
,there1 where law1 life1 joy1 impulse   
are one thing4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4
    ,but as long as he is man1 he has   
,somewhat to cast off1 somewhat to      
become4    ,in ,paracelsus1 ,fifine at  
the ,fair1 ,red ,cotton ,nightcap       
,country1  and many of his other poems1 
,browning deals with the problem of     
human  life from the point of view of   
development4 ,and it is this point of   
view1 consistently held1 which enables  
him to throw a new light on the  whole  
subject of ethics4 ,for1 if man be      
veritably a being in process of         
evolution1 if he be a permanent that    
always changes from earliest  childhood 
to old age1 if he be a living thing1 a  
potency in process of  actualization1   
then no fixed distinctions made with    
reference to him can  be true4 ,if1 for 

instance1 it be asked whether man is    
rational or  irrational1 free or bound1 
good or evil1 ,god or brute1 the true   
answer1  if he is veritably a being     
moving from ignorance to knowledge1 from
  wickedness to virtue1 from bondage to 
freedom1 is1 that he is at once  neither
 of these alternatives and both4 ,all   
hard terms of division1 when  applied to
 a subject which grows1 are untrue4 ,if 
the life of man is a  self-enriching    
process1 if he is becoming good1 and    
rational1 and  free1 then at no point in
 the movement is it possible to pass    
fixed and  definite judgments upon him4 
,he must be estimated by his direction  
and  momentum1 by the whence and whither
 of his life4 ,there is a sense in      
which man is from the first and always  
good1 rational and free2 for it  is only
 by the exercise of reason and freedom  
that he exists as man4 ,but  there is   
also a sense in which he is none of     
these2 for he is at the  first only a   
potency not yet actualized4 ,he is not  

rational1 but  becoming rational2 not   
good1 but becoming good2 not free1 but  
aspiring  towards freedom4 ,it is his   
prayer that in ,his light1 he may see   
light  truly1 and in ,his service find  
perfect freedom4    ,in this frank      
assumption of the point of view of      
development4 ,browning  suggests the    
question whether the endless debate     
regarding freedom1 and  necessity1 and  
other moral terms1 may not spring from  
the fact1 that  both of the opposing    
schools of ethics are fundamentally     
unfaithful to  the subject of their     
inquiry4 ,they are treating a developing
 reality  from an abstract point of     
view1 and taking for granted1--what     
cannot be  true of man1 if he grows in  
intellectual power and moral            
goodness--that  he is either good or    
evil1 either rational or irrational1    
either  free or bond1 at every moment in
 the process4 ,they are treating man    
from  a static1 instead of from a       
kinetic point of view1 and forgetting   

that  it is his business to acquire the 
moral and intellectual freedom1 which   
he has potentially from the first--     
,some fitter way express    ,heart's    
satisfaction that the ,past indeed      
,is past1 gives way before ,life's best 
and last1    ,the all-including         
,future6,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,gerard de  
,lairesse4    ,but1 whether or not the  
new point of view renders some of the   
old  disputations of ethics meaningless1
 it is certain that ,browning viewed    
moral life as a growth through conflict4
                ,what were life    ,did 
soul stand still therein1 forego her    
strife    ,through the ambiguous        
,present to the goal    ,of some        
all-reconciling ,future8,b    ,footnote 
,b3 ,ibid4    ,to become1 to develop1 to
 actualize by reaction against the      
natural and  moral environment1 is the  
meaning both of the self and of the     
world it  works upon4 ,we are here to   
learn the good of peace through strife1 
of  love through hate1 and reach        

knowledge by ignorance4    ,now1 since  
the conception of development is a      
self-contradictory one1  or1 in other   
words1 since it necessarily implies the 
conflict of the  ideal and actual in all
 life1 and in every instant of its      
history1 it  remains for us to determine
 more fully what are the warring        
elements in  human nature4 ,what is the 
nature of this life of man1 which1 like 
all  life1 is self-evolving2 and by     
conflict with what does the evolution   
take place8 ,what is the ideal which    
condemns the actual1 and yet  realizes  
itself by means of it2 and what is the  
actual which wars  against the ideal1   
and yet contains it in potency1 and     
reaches towards  it8 ,that human life is
 conceived by ,browning as a moral life1
 and not a  more refined and complex    
form of the natural life of plants and  
animals--a view which finds its         
exponents in ,herbert ,spencer1 and     
other  so-called evolutionists--it is   
scarcely necessary to assert4 ,it is a  

life which determines itself1 and       
determines itself according to an idea  
of goodness4 ,that idea1 moreover1      
because it is a moral ideal1 must be    
regarded as the conception of perfect   
and absolute goodness4 ,through the     
moral end1 man is ideally identified    
with ,god1 who1 indeed1 is  necessarily 
conceived as man's moral ideal regarded 
as already and  eternally real4 ,god and
 the moral ideal are1 in truth1         
expressions  of the same idea2 they     
convey the conception of perfect        
goodness from  different standpoints4   
,and perfect goodness is1 to ,browning1 
limitless  love4 ,pleasure1 wisdom1     
power1 and even the beauty which art    
discovers  and reveals1 together with   
every other inner quality and outer     
state of  being1 have only relative     
worth4 ,there is nothing either in the  
world  or out of it which is            
unconditionally good1 except a good     
will1 said  ,kant2 and a good will1     
according to ,browning1 is a will that  

wills  lovingly4 ,from love all other   
goodness is derived4 ,there is earnest  
meaning1 and not mere sentiment1 in the 
poet's assertion that      ,there is no 
good of life but love--but love6        
,what else looks good1 is some shade    
flung from love4    ,love gilds it1     
gives it worth4 ,be warned by me1       
,never you cheat yourself one instant6  
,love1    ,give love1 ask only love1 and
 leave the rest6,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,in 
a ,balcony4    ,let man's life be true1 
he adds1 and love's the truth of mine4  
,to  attain this truth1 that is1 to     
constitute love into the inmost law of  
his being1 and permanent source of all  
his activities1 is the task of  man4    
,and ,browning defines that love as     
,yearning to dispense1    ,each one its 
own amount of gain thro' its own mode   
,of practising with life4    ,there is  
no need of illustrating further the     
doctrine1 so evident in  ,browning1 that
 love is the ideal which in man's life  
makes through  conflict for its own     

fulfilment4 ,from what has been already 
said1 it is  abundantly plain that love 
is to him a divine element1 which is at 
war  with all that is lower in man and  
around him1 and which by reaction       
against circumstance converts its own   
mere promise into fruition and  fact4   
,through love man's nature reaches down 
to the permanent essence1  amid the     
fleeting phenomena of the world1 and is 
at one with what is  first and last4 ,as
 loving he ranks with ,god4 ,no words   
are too strong to  represent the        
intimacy of the relation4 ,for1 however 
limited in range  and tainted with alien
 qualities human love may be1 it is     
still a  pin-point rock of ,his         
boundless continent4 ,it is not a       
semblance of the  divine nature1 an     
analogon1 or verisimilitude1 but the    
love of ,god  himself in man3 so that   
man is in this sense an incarnation of  
the  divine4 ,the ,godhood in him       
constitutes him1 so that he cannot      
become  himself1 or attain his own ideal

 or true nature1 except by becoming     
perfect as ,god is perfect4    ,but the 
emphasis thus laid on the divine worth  
and dignity of human love  is balanced  
by the stress which the poet places on  
the frailty and  finitude of every other
 human attribute4 ,having elevated the  
ideal1 he  degrades the actual4         
,knowledge and the intellectual energy  
which  produces it2 art and the love of 
beauty from which it springs3 every     
power and every gift1 physical and      
spiritual1 other than love1 has in it   
the fatal flaw of being merely human4   
,all these are so tainted with          
creatureship1 so limited and            
conditioned1 that it is hardly too much 
to  say that they are1 at their best1   
deceptive endowments4 ,thus1 the life   
of man regarded as a whole is1 in its   
last essence1 a combination of  utterly 
disparate elements4 ,the distinction of 
the old moralists between  divinity and 
dust2 the absolute dualism of the old   
ascetics between  flesh and spirit1     

sense and reason1 find their accurate   
parallel in  ,browning's teachings4 ,but
 he is himself no ascetic1 and the line 
of  distinction he draws does not1 like 
theirs1 pass between the flesh and  the 
spirit4 ,it rather cleaves man's        
spiritual nature into two portions1     
which are absolutely different from each
 other4 ,a chasm divides the head  from 
the heart1 the intellect from the       
emotions1 the moral and practical  from 
the perceptive and reflective faculties4
 ,and it is this absolute  cleavage that
 gives to ,browning's teaching1 both on 
ethics and religion1  one of its most   
peculiar characteristics4 ,by keeping it
 constantly in  sight1 we may hope to   
render intelligible to ourselves the    
solution he  offers of the problem of   
evil1 and of other fundamental          
difficulties of  the life of man4 ,for1 
while ,browning's optimism has its      
original source  in his conception of   
the unity of ,god and man1 through the  
,godlike  quality of love--even the     

poorest love that was ever offered--he  
finds  himself unable to maintain it1   
except at the expense of degrading man's
  knowledge4 ,thus1 his optimism and    
faith in ,god is finally based upon     
ignorance4 ,if1 on the side of love1 he 
insists1 almost in the spirit of  a     
,spinozist1 on ,god's communication of  
,his own substance to man2 on the  side 
of knowledge he may be called an        
agnostic1 in spite of stray  expressions
 which break through his deliberate     
theory4 ,while love gains  ,god at first
 leap1                ,knowledge means  
,ever-renewed assurance by defeat       
,that victory is somehow still to       
reach4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a ,pillar at 
,sebzevar4    ,a radical flaw runs      
through our knowing faculty4 ,human     
knowledge is not  only incomplete--no   
one can be so foolish as to deny        
that--but it is1 as  regarded by        
,browning1 essentially inadequate to the
 nature of fact1 and  we must distrust  
it1 even when it seems demonstrable4 ,no

 professed  agnostic can condemn the    
human intellect more utterly than he    
does4 ,he  pushes the limitedness of    
human knowledge into a disqualification 
of it  to reach truth at all2 and makes 
the conditions according to which we    
know1 or seem to know1 into a deceiving 
necessity1 which makes us know  wrongly4
                ,to know of1 think      
about1--    ,is all man's sum of faculty
 effects    ,when exercised on earth's  
least atom1 ,son6    ,what was1 what is1
 what may such atom be8    ,no answer6,b
    ,footnote ,b3 ,a ,bean-,stripe4     
,thought plays around facts1 but never  
reaches them4 ,mind intervenes  between 
itself and its objects1 and throws its  
own shadow upon them2 nor  can it       
penetrate through that shadow1 but deals
 with it as if it were  reality1 though 
it knows all the time that it is not4   
,this theory of knowledge1 or rather of 
nescience or no-knowledge1 he  gives in 
,la ,saisiaz1 ,ferishtah's ,fancies1    
,the ,parleyings1 and  ,asolando--in all

 his later and more reflective poems1 in
 fact4 ,it  must1 ,i think1 be held to  
be his deliberate and final view--and   
all the  more so1 because1 by a peculiar
 process1 he gets from it his defence of
  his ethical and religious faith4      
,in the first of these poems1 ,browning1
 while discussing the problem of        
immortality in a purely speculative     
spirit1 and without stipulating1        
,provided answer suits my hopes1 not    
fears1 gives a tolerably full  account  
of that which must be regarded as the   
principles of his theory  of knowledge4 
,its importance to his ethical doctrine 
justifies a  somewhat exhaustive        
examination of it4    ,he finds himself 
to be a midway point1 between a cause   
before and an  effect behind--both      
blanks4 ,within that narrow space1 of   
the self  hemmed in by two unknowns1 all
 experience is crammed4 ,out of that    
experience crowds all that he knows1 and
 all that he misknows4 ,there  issues   
from experience--                       

,conjecture manifold1    ,but1 as       
knowledge1 this comes only--things may  
be as ,i behold1    ,or may not be1 but1
 without me and above me1 things there  
are2    ,i myself am what ,i know       
not--ignorance which proves no bar      
,to the knowledge that ,i am1 and1 since
 ,i am1 can recognize    ,what to me is 
pain and pleasure3 this is sure1 the    
rest--surmise4    ,if my fellows are or 
are not1 what may please them and what  
pain1--    ,mere surmise3 my own        
experience--that is knowledge once      
again4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,la ,saisiaz4 
,experience1 then1 within which he 7and 
every one else7 acknowledges that  all  
his knowledge is confined1 yields him as
 certain facts--the  consciousness that 
he is1 but not what he is3 the          
consciousness that he  is pleased or    
pained by things about him1 whose real  
nature is entirely  hidden from him3    
and1 as he tells us just before1 the    
assurance that ,god  is the thing the   
self perceives outside itself1          

,a force    ,actual e'er its own        
beginning1 operative thro' its course1  
,unaffected by its end4,a    ,footnote  
,a3 ,la ,saisiaz4    ,but1 even this    
knowledge1 limited as it is to the bare 
existence of  unknown entities1 has the 
further defect of being merely          
subjective4 ,the  experience from which 
he draws his conclusions1 is his own in 
an  exclusive sense4 ,his thinking thing
 has1 apparently1 no elements in  common
 with the thinking things of other      
selves4 ,he ignores the fact  that there
 may be general laws of thought1        
according to which his mind  must act in
 order to be a mind4 ,intelligence seems
 to have no nature1  and may be         
anything4 ,all questions regarding those
 apparent other  mortals are            
consequently unanswerable to the poet4  
,knowledge stands on  my experience2 and
 this my is totally unrelated to all    
other ,mes4                ,all outside 
its narrow hem1    ,free surmise may    
sport and welcome6 ,pleasures1 pains    

affect mankind    ,just as they affect  
myself8 ,why1 here's my neighbour       
colour-blind1    ,eyes like mine to all 
appearance3 'green as grass' do ,i      
affirm8    ',red as grass' he           
contradicts me3 which employs the proper
 term8,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,if 
there were only they two on earth as    
tenants1 there would be no way  of      
deciding between them2 for1 according to
 his argument1 the truth is  apparently 
decided by majority of opinions4 ,each  
individual1 equipped  with his own      
particular kind of senses and reason1   
gets his own  particular experience1 and
 draws his own particular conclusions   
from it4  ,if it be asked whether these 
conclusions are true or not1 the only   
answer is that the question is absurd2  
for1 under such conditions1 there       
cannot be either truth or error4 ,every 
one's opinion is its own  criterion4    
,each man is the measure of all things2 
,his own world for  every mortal1 as the
 poet puts it4      ,to each mortal     

peradventure earth becomes a new        
machine1    ,pain and pleasure no more  
tally in our sense than red and green4,a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,la ,saisiaz4    ,the 
first result of this subjective view of 
knowledge is clearly enough  seen by the
 poet4 ,he is well aware that his       
convictions regarding the  high matters 
of human destiny are valid only for     
himself4                ,only for myself
 ,i speak1    ,nowise dare to play the  
spokesman for my brothers strong and    
weak4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4         
,experience1 as he interprets it1 that  
is1 present consciousness1 this         
moment's me and mine1 is too narrow a   
basis for any universal or  objective   
conclusion4 ,so far as his own inner    
experience of pain and  pleasure goes1  
,all--for myself--seems ordered wise and
 well    ,inside it1--what reigns       
outside1 who can tell8,a    ,footnote   
,a3 ,francis ,furini4    ,but as to the 
actual world1 he can have no opinion1   
nor1 from the good  and evil that       

apparently play around him1 can he      
deduce either      ,praise or blame of  
its contriver1 shown a niggard or       
profuse    ,in each good or evil        
issue4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,la ,saisiaz4 
,the moral government of the world is a 
subject1 regarding which we are  doomed 
to absolute ignorance4 ,a theory that it
 is ruled by the prince  of the power of
 the air has just as much1 and just as  
little1 validity  as the more ordinary  
view held by religious people4 ,who     
needs be told                ,the space 
,which yields thee knowledge--do its    
bounds embrace    ,well-willing and     
wise-working1 each at height8           
,enough3 beyond thee lies the infinite--
    ,back to thy circumscription6,c     
,footnote ,c3 ,francis ,furini4    ,and 
our ignorance of ,god1 and the world1   
and ourselves is matched by a  similar  
ignorance regarding moral matters4      
,ignorance overwraps his moral sense1   
,winds him about1 relaxing1 as it wraps1
    ,so much and no more than lets      

through perhaps    ,the murmured        
knowledge--' ,ignorance exists4',d      
,footnote ,d3 ,ibid4    ,we cannot be   
certain even of the distinction and     
conflict of good and  evil in the world4
 ,they1 too1 and the apparent choice    
between them to  which man is           
continually constrained1 may be mere    
illusions--phenomena  of the individual 
consciousness4 ,what remains1 then8     
,nothing but to  wait4      ,take the   
joys and bear the sorrows--neither with 
extreme concern6    ,living here means  
nescience simply3 'tis next life that   
helps to          learn4,a    ,footnote 
,a3 ,la ,saisiaz4    ,it is hardly      
necessary to enter upon any detailed    
criticism of such a  theory of knowledge
 as this1 which is proffered by the     
poet4 ,it is well  known by all those   
who are in some degree acquainted with  
the history of  philosophy--and it will 
be easily seen by all who have any      
critical  acumen--that it leads directly
 into absolute scepticism4 ,and absolute

  scepticism is easily shown to be      
self-contradictory4 ,for a theory of    
nescience1 in condemning all knowledge  
and the faculty of knowledge1  condemns 
itself4 ,if nothing is true1 or if      
nothing is known1 then this  theory     
itself is not true1 or its truth cannot 
be known4 ,and if this  theory is true1 
then nothing is true2 for this theory1  
like all others1  is the product of a   
defective intelligence4 ,in whatsoever  
way the matter  is put1 there is left no
 standing-ground for the human critic   
who  condemns human thought4 ,and he    
cannot well pretend to a footing in a   
sphere above man's1 or below it4 ,there 
is thus one presupposition which  every 
one must make1 if he is to propound any 
doctrine whatsoever1 even  if that      
doctrine be that no doctrine can be     
valid2 it is the  presupposition that   
knowledge is possible1 and that truth   
can be known4  ,and this presupposition 
fills1 for modern philosophy1 the place 
of the  ,cogito ergo sum of ,descartes4 

,it is the starting-point and criterion 
of all knowledge4    ,it is1 at first   
sight1 a somewhat difficult task to     
account for the  fact1 that so keen an  
intellect as the poet's did not perceive
 the  conclusion to which his theory of 
knowledge so directly and necessarily   
leads4 ,it is probable1 however1 that he
 never critically examined it1  but     
simply accepted it as equivalent to the 
common doctrine of the  relativity of   
knowledge1 which1 in some form or other1
 all the schools  of philosophy adopt4  
,but the main reason will be found to   
lie in the  fact that knowledge was not1
 to ,browning1 its own criterion or end4
 ,the  primary fact of his philosophy is
 that human life is a moral process4    
,his interest in the evolution of       
character was his deepest interest1 as  
he informs us2 he was an ethical teacher
 rather than a metaphysician4 ,he  is   
ever willing to asperse man's           
intelligence4 ,but that man is a moral  
agent he will in no wise doubt4 ,this is

 his                ,solid              
standing-place amid    ,the wash and    
welter1 whence all doubts are bid       
,back to the ledge they break against in
 foam4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,francis      
,furini4    ,his practical maxim was    
,wholly distrust thy knowledge1 then1   
and trust    ,as wholly love allied to  
ignorance6    ,there lies thy truth and 
safety4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,a ,pillar of
 ,sebzevar4    ,all phenomena must1 in  
some way or other1 be reconciled by the 
poet with  the fundamental and          
indubitable fact of the progressive     
moral life of  man4 ,for the fundamental
 presupposition which a man makes1 is   
necessarily his criterion of knowledge1 
and it determines the truth or          
illusoriness of all other opinions      
whatsoever4    ,now1 ,browning held1 not
 only that no certain knowledge is      
attainable by  man1 but also that such  
certainty is incompatible with moral    
life4  ,absolute knowledge would1 he    
contends1 lift man above the need and   

the  possibility of making the moral    
choice1 which is our supreme business on
  earth4 ,man can be good or evil1 only 
on condition of being in absolute       
uncertainty regarding the true meaning  
of the facts of nature and the          
phenomena of life4    ,this somewhat    
strange doctrine finds the most explicit
 and full  expression in ,la ,saisiaz4  
,fancy1 amongst the concessions it      
demands  from ,reason1 claims that man  
should know--not merely surmise or      
fear--that every action done in this    
life awaits its proper and  necessary   
meed in the next4                    ,i 
also will that man become aware    ,life
 has worth incalculable1 every moment   
that he spends    ,so much gain or loss 
for that next life which on this life   
depends4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,la         
,saisiaz4    ,but ,reason refuses the   
concession1 upon the ground that such   
sure  knowledge would be destructive of 
the very distinction between right and  
wrong1 which the demand implies4 ,the   

promulgation of this decree1 by  ,fancy1
 makes both good and evil to cease4     
,prior to it earth was man's            
probation-place2 but under this decree  
man is no longer free2 for  certain     
knowledge makes action necessary4       
,once lay down the law1 with ,nature's  
simple ',such effects succeed    ,causes
 such1 and heaven or hell depends upon  
man's earthly deed    ,just as surely as
 depends the straight or else the       
crooked line    ,on his making point    
meet point or with or else without      
incline1'    ,thenceforth neither good  
nor evil does man1 doing what he must4,a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,la ,saisiaz1 #aie4   
,if we presuppose that man1 addressed   
this mode1 be sound and sane 7and  we   
must stipulate sanity1 if his actions   
are to be morally judged at  all7--then 
a law which binds punishment and reward 
to action in a  necessary manner1 and is
 known so to bind them1 would obtain    
prompt and  absolute obedience4 ,there  
are some edicts1 now styled ,god's own  

nature's1 which to hear means to obey4  
,all the laws relating to the           
preservation of life are of this        
character4 ,and1 if the law--,would'st  
thou live again1 be just--were in all   
ways as stringent as the other  law--   
,would'st thou live now1 regularly draw 
thy breath6    ,for1 suspend the        
operation1 straight law's breach results
 in death--,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4   
then no one would disobey it1 nor could4
 ,it is the liberty of doing  evil that 
gives the doing good a grace4 ,and that 
liberty would be taken  away by complete
 assurance1 that effects follow actions 
in the moral  world with the necessity  
seen in the natural sphere4 ,since1     
therefore1  man is made to grow1 and    
earth is the place wherein he is to pass
  probation and prove his powers1 there 
must remain a certain doubt as to  the  
issues of his actions2 conviction must  
not be so strong as to carry  with it   
man's whole nature4 ,the best ,i both   
see and praise1 the worst ,i  follow1 is

 the adage rife in man's mouth regarding
 his moral conduct4  ,but1 spite of his 
seeing and praising1                he  
disbelieves    ,in the heart of him that
 edict which for truth his head         
receives4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,la        
,saisiaz4    ,he has a dim consciousness
 of ways whereby he may elude the       
consequences  of his wickedness1 and of 
the possibility of making amends to law4
      ,and now1 auld ,cloots1 ,i ken    
ye're thinkin'1    ,a certain ,bardie's 
rantin'1 drinkin'1    ,some luckless    
hour will send him linkin'      ,to your
 black pit2    ,but1 faith1 he'll turn a
 corner jinkin'1      ,and cheat you    
yet4    ,the more orthodox and less     
generous individual is prone to agree1  
as  regards himself1 with ,burns2 but1  
he sees1 most probably1 that such an    
escape is impossible to others4 ,he has 
secret solacement in a latent  belief   
that he himself is an exception4 ,there 
will be a special method  of dealing    
with him4 ,he is a chosen sample2 and   

,god will think twice  before ,he damns 
a man of his quality4 ,it is just       
because there is such  doubt as to the  
universality and necessity of the law   
which connects  actions and consequences
 in the moral sphere1 that man's deeds  
have an  ethical character2 while1 to   
disperse doubt and ignorance by the     
assurance of complete knowledge1 would  
take the good from goodness and  the ill
 from evil4    ,in this ingenious       
manner1 the poet turns the imperfect    
intellect and  delusive knowledge of man
 to a moral use4 ,ordinarily1 the       
intellectual  impotence of man is       
regarded as carrying with it moral      
incapacity as  well1 and the            
delusiveness of knowledge is one of the 
strongest  arguments for pessimism4 ,to 
persons pledged to the support of no    
theory1  and to those who have the      
navet1 so hard to maintain side by side 
with strong doctrinal convictions1 it   
seems amongst the worst of evils  that  
man should be endowed with fallacious   

faculties1 and cursed with a  futile    
desire for true knowledge which is so   
strong1 that it cannot be  quenched even
 in those who believe that truth can    
never be attained4 ,it  is the very best
 men of the world who cry               
,oh1 this false for real1    ,this      
emptiness which feigns solidity1--      
,ever some grey that's white1 and dun   
that's black1--    ,when shall we rest  
upon the thing itself1    ,not on its   
semblance8 ,soul--too weak1 forsooth1   
,to cope with fact--wants fiction       
everywhere6    ,mine tires of falsehood3
 truth at any cost6,a    ,footnote ,a3  
,a ,bean-,stripe4    ,the poet himself  
was burdened in no small degree with    
this vain desire  for knowing the truth2
 and he recognized1 too1 that he was    
placed in a  world which seems both real
 and beautiful1 and so well worth       
knowing4  ,yet1 it is this very failure 
of knowledge--a failure which1 be it    
remembered1 is complete and absolute1   
because1 as he thinks1 all facts  must  

turn into phantoms by mere contact with 
our relative  intelligences1--which he  
constitutes into the basis of his       
optimistic  faith4    ,so high is the   
dignity and worth of the moral life to  
,browning1 that no  sacrifice is too    
great to secure it4 ,and1 indeed1 if it 
were once  clearly recognized that there
 is no good thing but goodness1 nothing 
of  supreme worth1 except the           
realization of a loving will1 then      
doubt1  ignorance1 and every other form 
of apparent evil would be fully         
justified--provided they were conditions
 whereby this highest good is  attained4
 ,and1 to ,browning1 ignorance was one  
of the conditions4 ,and  consequently1  
the dread pause in the music which      
agnosticism brings1 is  only silence    
implying sound2 and the vain cry for    
truth1 arising from  the heart of the   
earth's best men1 is only a discord     
moving towards  resolution into a more  
rapturous harmony4    ,i do not stay    
here to inquire whether sure knowledge  

would really have  this disastrous      
effect of destroying morality1 or       
whether its failure  does not rather    
imply the impossibility of a moral life4
 ,i return to the  question asked at the
 beginning of this chapter1 and which it
 is now  possible to answer4 ,that      
question was3 ,how does ,browning       
reconcile his  hypothesis of universal  
love with the natural and moral evils   
existing  in the world8    ,his answer  
is quite explicit4 ,the poet solves the 
problem by casting  doubt upon the facts
 which threaten his hypothesis4 ,he     
reduces them into  phenomena1 in the    
sense of phantoms begotten by the human 
intellect upon  unknown and unknowable  
realities4      ,thus much at least is  
clearly understood--    ,of power does  
,man possess no particle3    ,of        
knowledge--just so much as shows that   
still    ,it ends in ignorance on every 
side4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,francis       
,furini4    ,he is aware of the         
phenomena of his own consciousness1     

,my soul1 and my soul's home1    ,this  
body 2    but he knows not whether      
things outside are fact or feigning4    
,and he  heeds little1 for in either    
case they                ,teach    ,what
 good is and what evil1--just the same1 
,be feigning or be fact the teacher4,b  
,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,it is the      
mixture1 or rather the apparent mixture1
 of shade and light in  life1 the       
conflict of seeming good with seeming   
evil in the world1 that  constitutes the
 world a probation-place4 ,it is a kind 
of moral  gymnasium1 crowded with       
phantoms1 wherein by exercise man makes 
moral  muscle4 ,and the vigour of the   
athlete's struggle is not in the least  
abated by the consciousness that all he 
deals with are phantoms4     ,i have    
lived1 then1 done and suffered1 loved   
and hated1 learnt and taught            
,this--there is no reconciling wisdom   
with a world distraught1    ,goodness   
with triumphant evil1 power with failure
 in the aim1    ,if--7to my own sense1  

remember6 though none other feel the    
same67--    ,if you bar me from assuming
 earth to be a pupil's place1    ,and   
life1 time--with all their chances1     
changes1--just probation-space1         
,mine1 for me4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,la   
,saisiaz4    ,and the world would not be
 such a probation-space did we once     
penetrate  into its inmost secret1 and  
know its phenomena as veritably either  
good  or evil4 ,there is the need of    
playing something perilously like a     
trick  on the human intellect if man is 
to strive and grow4                ,here
 and there a touch    ,taught me1       
betimes1 the artifice of things--       
,that all about1 external to myself1    
,was meant to be suspected1--not        
revealed    ,demonstrably a cheat--but  
half seen through4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,a
 ,bean-,stripe4    ,to know objects as  
they veritably are1 might reveal all    
things as locked  together in a scheme  
of universal good1 so that white would  
rule  unchecked along the line4 ,but    

this would be the greatest of disasters2
  for1 as moral agents1 we cannot do    
without                the constant     
shade    ,cast on life's shine1--the    
tremor that intrudes    ,when firmest   
seems my faith in white4,c    ,footnote 
,c3 ,ibid4    ,the intellectual insight 
that would penetrate through the        
vari-colour of  events into the actual  
presence of the incandescent white of   
love1 which  glows1 as hope tells us1 in
 all things1 would stultify itself1 and 
lose  its knowledge even of the good4   
,think6    ,could ,i see plain1 be      
somehow certified    ,all was           
illusion--evil far and wide    ,was good
 disguised1--why1 out with one huge wipe
    ,goes knowledge from me4 ,type needs
 antitype3    ,as night needs day1 as   
shine needs shade1 so good    ,needs    
evil3 how were pity understood          
,unless by pain8 ,a    ,footnote ,a3    
,francis ,furini4    ,good and evil are 
relative to each other1 and each is     
known only through  its contrary4       

,for me    7,patience1 beseech you67    
,knowledge can but be    ,of good by    
knowledge of good's opposite--          
,evil4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,the
 extinction of one of the terms would be
 the extinction of the other4  ,and1 in 
a similar manner1 clear knowledge that  
evil is illusion and that  all things   
have their place in an infinite divine  
order would paralyze  all moral effort1 
as well as stultify itself4             
,make evident that pain    ,permissibly 
masks pleasure--you abstain    ,from    
out-stretch of the finger-tip that saves
    ,a drowning fly4,c    ,footnote ,c3 
,ibid4    ,certainty on either side1    
either that evil is evil for evermore1  
irredeemable and absolute1 a drench of  
utter dark not illuminable by  white2 or
 that it is but mere show and semblance1
 which the good takes  upon itself1     
would alike be ruinous to man4 ,for both
 alternatives would  render all striving
 folly4 ,the right attitude for man is  
that of  ignorance1 complete            

uncertainty1 the equipoise of           
conflicting  alternatives4 ,he must take
 his stand on the contradiction4 ,hope  
he may  have that all things work       
together for good4 ,it is right that he 
should  nourish the faith that the      
antagonism of evil with good in the     
world is  only an illusion2 but that    
faith must stop short of the complete   
conviction that knowledge would bring4  
,when1 therefore1 the hypothesis  of    
universal love is confronted with the   
evils of life1 and we ask how  it can be
 maintained in the face of the manifold 
miseries everywhere  apparent1 the poet 
answers1 ,you do not know1 and cannot   
know1 whether  they are evils or not4   
,your knowledge remains at the surface  
of things4  ,you cannot fit them into   
their true place1 or pronounce upon     
their true  purpose and character2 for  
you see only a small arc of the complete
  circle of being4 ,wait till you see   
more1 and1 in the meantime1 hope6       
,why faith--but to lift the load1       

,to leaven the lump1 where lies    ,mind
 prostrate through knowledge owed       
,to the loveless ,power it tries    ,to 
withstand1 how vain6,a    ,footnote ,a3 
,reverie--,asolando4    ,and1 if we     
reply in turn1 that this necessary      
ignorance leaves as little  room for his
 scheme of love as it does for its      
opposite1 he again  answers3 ,not so6 ,i
 appeal from the intellect1 which is    
detected as  incompetent1 to the higher 
court of the moral consciousness4 ,and  
there ,i  find the ignorance to be      
justified3 for it is the instrument of a
 higher  purpose1 a means whereby what  
is best is gained1 namely1 ,love4       
,my curls were crowned    ,in youth with
 knowledge1--off1 alas1 crown slipped   
,next moment1 pushed by better knowledge
 still    ,which nowise proved more     
constant2 gain1 to-day1    ,was toppling
 loss to-morrow1 lay at last            
--,knowledge1 the golden8--lacquered    
ignorance6    ,as gain--mistrust it6    
,not as means to gain3    ,lacquer we   

learn by3 444    ,the prize is in the   
process3 knowledge means                
,ever-renewed assurance by defeat       
,that victory is somehow still to reach1
    ,but love is victory1 the prize     
itself3    ,love--trust to6 ,be rewarded
 for the trust    ,in trust's mere      
act4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a ,pillar at   
,sebzevar4    ,now1 in order to complete
 our examination of this theory1 we must
 follow  the poet in his attempt to     
escape from the testimony of the        
intellect to  that of the heart4 ,in    
order to make the most of the latter1 we
 find that  ,browning1 especially in his
 last work1 tends to withdraw his       
accusation  of utter incompetence on the
 part of the intellect4 ,he only tends  
to do  so1 it is true4 ,he is tolerably 
consistent in asserting that we know our
  own emotions and the phenomena of our 
own consciousness2 but he is not        
consistent in his account of our        
knowledge1 or ignorance1 of external    
things4 ,on the whole1 he asserts that  

we know nothing of them4 ,but in        
,asolando he seems to imply that the    
evidence of a loveless power in  the    
world1 permitting evil1 is              
irresistible4,a ,to say the least1 the  
testimony of the intellect1 such as it  
is1 is more clear and convincing  with  
regard to evil than it is with regard to
 good4 ,within the sphere of  phenomena1
 to which the intellect is confined1    
there seems to be1  instead of a        
benevolent purpose1 a world ruled by a  
power indifferent to  the triumph of    
evil over good1 and either loveless or  
unintelligent4    ,footnote ,a3 ,see    
passage just quoted4                    
,life1 from birth to death1             
,means--either looking back on harm     
escaped1    ,or looking forward to that 
harm's return    ,with tenfold power of 
harming4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,a          
,bean-,stripe4    ,and it is not        
possible for man to contravene this     
evidence of faults and  omissions3 for1 
in doing so1 he would remove the facts  

in reaction  against which his moral    
nature becomes active4 ,what proof is   
there1  then1 that the universal love is
 no mere dream8 ,none6 from the side of 
the intellect1 answers the poet4 ,man1  
who has the will to remove the  ills of 
life1      ,stop change1 avert decay1   
,fix life fast1 banish death1,c         
,footnote ,c3 ,reverie--,asolando4      
has not the power to effect his will2   
while the ,power1 whose  limitlessness  
he recognizes everywhere around him1    
merely maintains the  world in its      
remorseless course1 and puts forth no   
helping hand when  good is prone and    
evil triumphant4 ,god does nothing4     
',no sign1'--groaned he1--    ,no       
stirring of ,god's finger to denote     
,he wills that right should have        
supremacy    ,on earth1 not wrong6 ,how 
helpful could we quote    ,but one poor 
instance when ,he interposed            
,promptly and surely and beyond mistake 
,between oppression and its victim1     
closed    ,accounts with sin for once1  

and bade us wake    ,from our long dream
 that justice bears no sword1    ,or    
else forgets whereto its sharpness      
serves4',a    ,footnote ,a3 ,bernard de 
,mandeville4    ,but he tells us in his 
later poems1 that there is no answer    
vouchsafed  to man's cry to the ,power1 
that it should reveal           ,what   
heals all harm1    ,nay1 hinders the    
harm at first1    ,saves earth4,b       
,footnote ,b3 ,reverie--,asolando4      
,and yet1 so far as man can see1 there  
were no bar to the remedy1 if  ,god's   
all-mercy did really mate ,his          
all-potency4      ,how easy it          
seems1--to sense      ,like man's--if   
somehow met    ,power with its          
match--immense      ,love1 limitless1   
unbeset    ,by hindrance on every       
side6,c    ,footnote ,c3 ,ibid4    ,but 
that love nowhere makes itself evident4 
,power1 we recognize1                   
finds nought too hard1      ,fulfilling 
itself all ways1    ,unchecked1         
unchanged2 while barred1      ,baffled1 

what good began    ,ends evil on every  
side4,a    ,footnote ,a3                
,reverie--,asolando4    ,thus1 the      
conclusion to which knowledge inevitably
 leads us is that mere  power rules4    
,no more than the passive clay          
,disputes the potter's act1    ,could   
the whelmed mind disobey                
,knowledge1 the cataract4,b    ,footnote
 ,b3 ,ibid4    ,but if the intellect is 
thus overwhelmed1 so as to be almost    
passive to  the pessimistic conclusion  
borne in upon it by resistless fact1 the
  heart of man is made of another mould4
 ,it revolts against the conclusion  of 
the intellect1 and climbs      ,through 
turbidity all between1      ,from the   
known to the unknown here1    ,heaven's 
',shall be1' from earth's ',has been4',c
    ,footnote ,c3 ,ibid4    ,it grasps a
 fact beyond the reach of knowledge1    
namely1 the possibility1  or even the   
certainty1 that power is love4 ,at      
present there is no  substantiating by  
knowledge the testimony of the heart2   

and man has no  better anchorage for his
 optimism than faith4 ,but the closer   
view will  come1 when even our life on  
earth will be seen to have within it the
  working of love1 no less manifest than
 that of power4      ,when see8 ,when   
there dawns a day1      ,if not on the  
homely earth1    ,then1 yonder1 worlds  
away1      ,where the strange and new   
have birth1    ,and ,power comes full in
 play4,d    ,footnote ,d3 ,ibid4        
,now1 what is this evidence of the      
heart1 which is sufficiently cogent  and
 valid to counterpoise that of the mind2
 and which gives to faith1  or hope1 a  
firm foothold in the very face of the   
opposing resistless  testimony of       
knowledge8    ,within our experience1 to
 which the poet knows we are entirely   
confined1  there is a fact1 the         
significance of which we have not as yet
 examined4  ,for1 plain and irresistible
 as is the evidence of evil1 so plain   
and  constant is man's recognition of it
 as evil1 and his desire to annul it4   

,if man's mind is made to acknowledge   
evil1 his moral nature is made so  as to
 revolt against it4        ,man's heart 
is made to judge    ,pain deserved      
nowhere by the common flesh    ,our     
birth-right--bad and good deserve alike 
,no pain1 to human apprehension4,a      
,footnote ,a3 ,mihrab                   
,shah--,ferishtah's ,fancies4    ,owing 
to the limitation of our intelligence1  
we cannot deny but that                 
,in the eye of ,god    ,pain may have   
purpose and be justified4    ,but       
whether it has its purpose for the      
supreme intelligence or not1      ,man's
 sense avails to only see1 in pain1     
,a hateful chance no man but would avert
    ,or1 failing1 needs must pity4,b    
,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,man must       
condemn evil1 he cannot acquiesce in its
 permanence1 but is1  spite of his      
consciousness of ignorance and          
powerlessness1 roused into  constant    
revolt against it4      ,true1 he makes 
nothing1 understands no whit3    ,had   

the initiator-spasm seen fit    ,thus   
doubly to endow him1 none the worse     
,and much the better were the universe4 
,what does ,man see or feel or apprehend
    ,here1 there1 and everywhere1 but   
faults to mend1    ,omissions to        
supply1--one wide disease    ,of things 
that are1 which ,man at once would ease 
,had will but power and knowledge8,a    
,footnote ,a3 ,francis ,furini4    ,but 
the moral worth of man does not suffer  
the least detraction from his  inability
 to effect his benevolent purpose4      
,things must take will for  deed1 as    
,browning tells us4 ,david is not at all
 distressed by the  consciousness of his
 weakness4                ,why is it ,i 
dare    ,think but lightly of such      
impuissance8 ,what stops my despair8    
,this2--'tis not what man ,does which   
exalts him1 but what man ,would do4,b   
,footnote ,b3 ,saul4    ,the fact that  
his wishes fall through1 that he cannot1
 although  willing1 help ,saul1 grow    
poor to enrich him1 fill up his life by 

starving his own1 does not prevent him  
from regarding his service as  perfect4 
,the will was there1 although it lacked 
power to effect itself4  ,the moral     
worth of an action is complete1 if it is
 willed2 and it is  nowise affected by  
its outer consequences1 as both         
,browning and ,kant  teach4 ,the loving 
will1 the inner act of loving1 though it
 can bear no  outward fruit1 being      
debarred by outward impediment1 is still
 a complete  and highest good4      ,but
 ,love is victory1 the prize itself3    
,love--trust to6 ,be rewarded for the   
trust    ,in trust's mere act4 ,in love 
success is sure1    ,attainment--no     
delusion1 whatso'er    ,the prize be3   
apprehended as a prize1    ,a prize it  
is4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a ,pillar at    
,sebzevar4    ,whatever the evil in the 
world and the impotence of man1 his duty
 and  his dignity in willing to perform 
it1 are ever the same4 ,though ,god     
neglect the world                ,man's 
part    ,is plain--to send love         

forth1--astray1 perhaps3    ,no matter1 
he has done his part4,b    ,footnote ,b3
 ,the ,sun4    ,now1 this fact of inner 
experience1 which the poet thinks       
incontrovertible--the fact that man1    
every man1 necessarily regards  evil1   
whether natural or moral1 as something  
to be annulled1 were it  only           
possible--is an immediate proof of the  
indwelling of that which is  highest in 
man4 ,on this basis1 ,browning is able  
to re-establish the  optimism which1    
from the side of knowledge1 he had      
utterly abandoned4    ,the very fact    
that the world is condemned by man is   
proof that there  dwells in man         
something better than the world1 whose  
evidence the  pessimist himself cannot  
escape4 ,all is not wrong1 as long as   
wrong  seems wrong4 ,the pessimist1 in  
condemning the world1 must except       
himself4 ,in his very charge against    
,god of having made man in ,his anger1  
there lies a contradiction2 for he      
himself fronts and defies the  outrage4 

,there is no depth of despair which this
 good cannot illumine  with joyous      
light1 for the despair is itself the    
reflex of the good4                ,were
 earth and all it holds illusions mere1 
,only a machine for teaching love and   
hate1 and hope and fear1                
,if this life's conception new life fail
 to realize--    ,though earth burst and
 proved a bubble glassing hues of hell1 
one huge    ,reflex of the devil's      
doings--,god's work by no subterfuge1,a 
,footnote ,a3 ,la ,saisiaz4    still1   
good is good1 and love is its own       
exceeding great reward4 ,alone1  in a   
world abandoned to chaos and infinite   
night1 man is still not  without ,god1  
if he loves4 ,in virtue of his love1 he 
himself would be  crowned as ,god1 as   
the poet often argues1 were there no    
higher love  elsewhere4                 
,if he believes    ,might can exist with
 neither will nor love1    ,in ,god's   
case--what he names now ,nature's ,law--
    ,while in himself he recognizes love

    ,no less than might and will1,b     
,footnote ,b3 ,death in the ,desert4    
man takes1 and rightly takes1 the title 
of being ,first1 last1 and best  of     
things4      ,since if man prove the    
sole existent thing    ,where these     
combine1 whatever their degree1         
,however weak the might or will or love1
    ,so they be found there1 put in     
evidence--    ,he is as surely higher in
 the scale    ,than any might with      
neither love nor will1    ,as life1     
apparent in the poorest midge1    ,is   
marvellous beyond dead ,atlas' self1    
,given to the nobler midge for          
resting-place6    ,thus1 man proves best
 and highest--,god1 in fine4,a          
,footnote ,a3 ,a ,death in the ,desert4 
,to any one capable of spiritually      
discerning things1 there can be no      
difficulty in regarding goodness1       
however limited and mated with          
weakness1 as infinitely above all       
natural power4 ,divinity will be known  
to consist1 not in any senseless might1 

however majestic and miraculous1  but in
 moral or spiritual perfection4 ,if ,god
 were indifferent to the  evil of the   
world1 acquiesced in it without reason1 
and let it ripen  into all manner of    
wretchedness1 then man1 in condemning   
the world1  though without power to     
remove the least of its miseries1 would 
be  higher than ,god4 ,but we have still
 to account for the possibility of      
man's assuming an attitude implied in   
the consciousness that1 while he  is    
without power1 ,god is without pity1 and
 in the despair which springs  from his 
hate of evil4 ,how comes it that human  
nature rises above its  origin1 and is  
able--nay1 obliged--to condemn the evil 
which ,god  permits8 ,is man finite in  
power1 a mere implement of a mocking    
will so  far as knowledge goes1 the     
plaything of remorseless forces1 and yet
  author and first source of something  
in himself which invests him with a     
dignity that ,god ,himself cannot share8
 ,is the moral consciousness which1  by 

its very nature1 must bear witness      
against the ,power1 although it  cannot 
arrest its pitiless course1 or remove   
the least evil1      ,man's own work1   
his birth of heart and brain1    ,his   
native grace1 no alien gift at all8     
,we are thus caught between the horns of
 a final dilemma4 ,either the pity  and 
love1 which make man revolt against all 
suffering1 are man's own  creation2 or  
else ,god1 who made man's heart to love1
 has given to man  something higher than
 ,he owns ,himself4 ,but both of these  
alternatives  are impossible4           
,here's the touch that breaks the       
bubble4    ,the first alternative is    
impossible1 because man is by definition
  powerless1 a mere link in the endless 
chain of causes1 incapable of  changing 
the least part of the scheme of things  
which he condemns1 and  therefore much  
more unable to initiate1 or to bring    
into a loveless  world abandoned to     
blind power1 the noble might of love4   
,will of man create8    ,no more than   

this my hand1 which strewed the beans   
,produced them also from its            
finger-tips4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a      
,bean-,stripe4    ,all that man is and  
has is a mere loan2 his love no less    
than his finite  intellect and limited  
power1 has had its origin elsewhere4    
,back goes creation to its source1      
source prime    ,and ultimate1 the      
single and the sole4,b    ,footnote ,b3 
,ibid4    ,the argument ends by bringing
 us back        ,to the                 
starting-point1--    ,man's impotency1  
,god's omnipotence1    ,these stop my   
answer4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a           
,bean-,stripe4    ,i shall not pause at 
present to examine the value of this new
 form of  the old argument1 ,ex         
contingentia mundi4 ,but ,i may point   
out in  passing1 that the reference of  
human love to a divine creative source  
is  accomplished by means of the idea of
 cause1 one of the categories of the    
thought which ,browning has aspersed4   
,and it is a little difficult to  show  

why1 if we are constrained to doubt our 
thought1 when by the aid of  causality  
it establishes a connection between     
finite and finite1 we  should regard it 
as worthy of trust when it connects the 
finite and the  infinite4 ,in fact1 it  
is all too evident that the poet assumes
 or denies  the possibility of          
knowledge1 according as it helps or     
hinders his  ethical doctrine4    ,but1 
if we grant the ascent from the finite  
to the infinite and regard  man's love  
as a divine gift--which it may well be  
although the poet's  argument is        
invalid--then a new light is thrown upon
 the being who gave  man this power to  
love4 ,the necessity1 the mere power1   
which alone  could be discerned by      
observation of the irresistible movement
 of the  world's events1 acquires a new 
character4 ,prior to this discovery of  
love in man as the work of ,god--       
,head praises1 but heart refrains       
,from loving's acknowledgment4    ,whole
 losses outweigh half-gains3            

,earth's good is with evil blent3       
,good struggles but evil reigns4,a      
,footnote ,a3 ,reverie--,asolando4      
,but love in man is a suggestion of a   
love without2 a proof1 in fact1  that   
,god is love1 for man's love is ,god's  
love in man4 ,the source of the  pity   
that man shows1 and of the apparent     
evils in the world which excite  it1 is 
the same4 ,the power which called man   
into being1 itself rises up  in man     
against the wrongs in the world4 ,the   
voice of the moral  consciousness1      
approving the good1 condemning evil1 and
 striving to  annul it1 is the voice of 
,god1 and has1 therefore1 supreme       
authority4 ,we  do wrong1 therefore1 in 
thinking that it is the weakness of man 
which is  matched against the might of  
evil in the world1 and that we are      
fighting  a losing battle4 ,it is an    
incomplete1 abstract1 untrue view of the
 facts  of life which puts ,god as      
irresistible ,power in the outer world1 
and  forgets that the same irresistible 

,power works1 under the higher form of  
love1 in the human heart4      ,is not  
,god now i' the world ,his power first  
made8    ,is not ,his love at issue     
still with sin1    ,visibly when a wrong
 is done on earth8    ,love1 wrong1 and 
pain1 what see ,i else around8,b        
,footnote ,b3 ,a ,death in the ,desert4 
,in this way1 therefore1 the poet argues
 back from the moral  consciousness of  
man to the goodness of ,god4 ,and he    
finds the ultimate  proof of this       
goodness in the very pessimism and      
scepticism and despair1  that come with 
the view of the apparently infinite     
waste in the world  and the endless     
miseries of humanity4 ,the source of    
this despair1  namely1 the recognition  
of evil and wrong1 is just the ,godhood 
in man4  ,there is no way of accounting 
for the fact that ,man hates what is and
  loves what should be1 except by       
blending the quality of man with the    
quality of ,god4 ,and the quality of    
,god is the fundamental fact in  man's  

history4 ,love is the last reality the  
poet always reaches4 ,beneath  the      
pessimism is love3 without love of the  
good there were no  recognition of evil1
 no condemnation of it1 and no despair4 
,but the difficulty still remains as to 
the permission of evil1 even  though it 
should prove in the end to be merely    
apparent4      ,wherefore should any    
evil hap to man--    ,from ache of flesh
 to agony of soul--    ,since ,god's    
,all-mercy mates ,all-potency8    ,nay1 
why permits ,he evil to ,himself--      
,man's sin1 accounted such8 ,suppose a  
world    ,purged of all pain1 with fit  
inhabitant--    ,man pure of evil in    
thought1 word1 and deed--    ,were it   
not well8 ,then1 wherefore otherwise8,a 
,footnote ,a3 ,mihrab ,shah4    ,the    
poet finds an answer to this difficulty 
in the very nature of moral  goodness1  
which1 as we have seen1 he regards as a 
progressive  realization of an          
infinitely high ideal4 ,the demand for a
 world purged  of all pain and sin is   

really1 he teaches us1 a demand for a   
sphere  where                ,time      
brings    ,no hope1 no fear3 as to-day1 
shall be    ,to-morrow3 advance or      
retreat need we    ,at our stand-still  
through eternity8,a    ,footnote ,a3    
,rephan--,asolando4    ,what were there 
to bless or curse1 in such a uniform    
universe1                ,where weak and
 strong1    ,the wise and the foolish1  
right and wrong1    ,are merged alike in
 a neutral ,best4,b    ,footnote ,b3    
,ibid4    ,there is a better way of     
life1 thinks ,browning1 than such a     
state of  stagnation4      ,why should  
,i speak8 ,you divine the test4    ,when
 the trouble grew in my pregnant breast 
,a voice said1 ,so would'st thou strive1
 not rest1      ,burn and not smoulder1 
win by worth1    ,not rest content with 
a wealth that's dearth1    ,thou art    
past ,rephan1 thy place be ,earth4,c    
,footnote ,c3 ,ibid4    ,the discontent 
of man1 the consciousness of sin1 evil1 
pain1 is a symbol  of promotion4 ,the   

peace of the state of nature has been   
broken for him2  and1 although the first
 consequence be      ,brow-furrowed old 
age1 youth's hollow cheek1--            
,diseased in the body1 sick in soul1    
,pinched poverty1 satiate wealth1--your 
whole    ,array of despairs1,d          
,footnote ,d3 ,ibid4    still1 without  
them1 the best is impossible4 ,they are 
the conditions of  the moral life1 which
 is essentially progressive4 ,they are  
the  consequences of the fact that man  
has been startled up                by  
an ,infinite    ,discovered above and   
below me--height    ,and depth alike to 
attract my flight1      ,repel my       
descent3 by hate taught love4    ,oh1   
gain were indeed to see above           
,supremacy ever--to move1 remove1       
,not reach--aspire yet never attain     
,to the object aimed at4,a    ,footnote 
,a3 ,rephan--,asolando4    ,he who      
places rest above effort1 ,rephan above 
the earth1 places a  natural good above 
a moral good1 stagnation above progress4

 ,the demand  for the absolute          
extinction of evil betrays ignorance of 
the nature of  the highest good4 ,for   
right and wrong are relative4 ,type need
  antitype4 ,the fact that goodness is  
best1 and that goodness is not a        
stagnant state but a progress1 a gradual
 realization1 though never  complete1 of
 an infinite ideal1 of the perfection of
 ,god by a finite  being1 necessarily   
implies the consciousness of sin and    
evil4 ,as a moral  agent man must set   
what should be above what is4 ,if he is 
to aspire and  attain1 the actual       
present must seem to him inadequate1    
imperfect1  wrong1 a state to be        
abolished in favour of a better4 ,and   
therefore it  follows that              
,though wrong were right    ,could we   
but know--still wrong must needs seem   
wrong    ,to do right's service1 prove  
men weak or strong1    ,choosers of evil
 or good4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,francis   
,furini4    ,the apparent existence of  
evil is the condition of goodness4 ,and 

yet it  must only be apparent4 ,for if  
evil be regarded as veritably evil1 it  
must remain so for all that man can do2 
he cannot annihilate any fact  nor      
change its nature1 and all effort would1
 therefore1 be futile4 ,and1  on the    
other hand1 if evil were known as       
unreal1 then there were no need  of     
moral effort1 no quarrel with the       
present and therefore no  aspiration1   
and no achievement4 ,that which is man's
 highest and  best1--namely1 a moral    
life which is a progress--would thus be 
impossible1 and his existence would be  
bereft of all meaning and  purpose4 ,and
 if the highest is impossible then all  
is wrong1 the goal  being a ruin1 so is 
all the rest4    ,the hypothesis of the 
moral life as progressive is essential  
to  ,browning4    ,but if this          
hypothesis be granted1 then all         
difficulties disappear4 ,the  conception
 of the endless acquirement of goodness 
at once postulates the  consciousness of
 evil1 and the consciousness of it as   

existing in order  to be overcome4      
,hence the consciousness of it as       
illusion comes nearest  to the truth4   
,and such a conception is essentially   
implied by the idea  of morality4 ,to   
speculative reason1 however1 it is      
impossible1 as the  poet believes1 that 
evil should thus be at the same time    
regarded as  both real and unreal4      
,knowledge leads to despair on every    
side2 for1  whether it takes the evil in
 the world as seeming or actual1 it     
stultifies effort1 and proves that moral
 progress1 which is best of all  things1
 is impossible4 ,but the moral          
consciousness derives its vitality  from
 this contradiction4 ,it is the         
meeting-point and conflict of actual    
and ideal2 and its testimony is         
indisputable1 however inconsistent it   
may be with that of knowledge4          
,acknowledging absolute ignorance of the
  outer world1 the poet has still a     
retreat within himself1 safe from all   
doubt4 ,he has in his own inner         

experience irrefragable proof           
,how things outside1 fact or feigning1  
teach    ,what good is and what         
evil--just the same1    ,be feigning or 
be fact the teacher4,a    ,footnote ,a3 
,francis ,furini4    ,the consciousness 
of being taught goodness by interaction 
with the  outside unknown is sufficient2
 it is a point of vantage whence he will
  not be moved by any contradictions    
that the intellect may conjure up       
against it4 ,and this process of        
learning goodness1 this gradual         
realization by man of an ideal          
infinitely high and absolute in worth1  
throws back a light which illumines all 
the pain and strife and despair1  and   
shows them all to be steps in the       
endless love-way4 ,the  consciousness of
 evil is thus at once the effect and the
 condition of  goodness4 ,the           
unrealized1 though ever-realizing good1 
which brings  despair1 is the best fact 
in man's history2 and it should rightly 
bring1  not despair1 but endless joy4   

,,chapter ,,ix4    ,a ,,criticism ,,of  
,,browning',s ,,view ,,of ,,the         
,,failure ,,of ,,knowledge4             
,der ,mensch1 da er ,geist ist1 darf und
 soll sich selbst      des hchsten wrdig
 achten1 von der ,grsse und ,macht      
seines ,geistes kann er nicht gross     
genug denken2 und mit      diesem       
,glauben wird nichts so sprde und hart  
seyn1 das      sich ihm nicht erffnete4 
,das zuerst verborgene und              
verschlossene ,wesen des ,universums hat
 keine ,kraft1 die      dem ,muthe des  
,erkennens ,widerstand leisten knnte3 es
 muss      sich vor ihm aufthun1 und    
seinen ,reichthum und seine      ,tiefen
 ihm vor ,augen legen und zum ,genusse  
geben4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,hegel's      
,inaugural ,address at ,heidelberg4     
,before entering upon a criticism of    
,browning's theory1 as represented in   
the last chapter1 it may be well to give
 a brief summary of it4    ,the most    
interesting feature of ,browning's proof
 of his optimistic faith  is his appeal 

from the intelligence to the moral      
consciousness4 ,to show  theoretically  
that evil is merely phenomenal is1 in   
his view1 both  impossible and          
undesirable4 ,it is impossible1 because 
the human  intellect is incapable of    
knowing anything as it really is1 or of 
pronouncing upon the ultimate nature of 
any phenomenon4 ,it is  undesirable1    
because a theoretical proof of the      
evanescence of evil  would itself give  
rise to the greatest of all evils4 ,the 
best thing in  the world is moral       
character4 ,man exists in order to grow 
better1 and  the world exists in order  
to help him4 ,but moral growth is       
possible only  through conflict against 
evil1 or what seems to be evil2 hence1  
to  disprove the existence of evil would
 be to take away the possibility of     
learning goodness1 to stultify all human
 effort1 and to deprive the  world of   
its meaning4    ,but1 if an optimistic  
doctrine cannot be reached by way of    
speculative  thought1 if the intellect  

of man cannot see the good in things    
evil1 his  moral consciousness          
guarantees that all is for the best1 and
 that the  good is all in all4 ,for1 in 
distinguishing between good and evil1   
the  moral consciousness sets up an     
ideal over against the actual4 ,it      
conceives of a scheme of goodness which 
is not realized in the world1  and it   
condemns the world as it is4 ,man1 as   
moral being1 is so  constituted that he 
cannot but regard the evil in the world 
as something  to be annulled4 ,if he had
 only the power1 there would be no pain1
 no  sorrow1 no weakness1 no failure1 no
 death4 ,is man1 then1 better than the  
,power which made the world and let woe 
gain entrance into it8 ,no6  answers the
 poet2 for man himself is part of that  
world and the product  of that ,power4  
,the ,power that made the world also    
made the moral  consciousness which     
condemns the world2 if it is the source 
of the evil  in the world1 it is also   
the source of that love in man1 which1  

by  self-expenditure1 seeks to remedy   
it4 ,if the external world is merely an 
expression of a remorseless ,power1     
whence comes the love which is the      
principle of the moral life in man8 ,the
 same ,power brings the antidote  as    
well as the bane4 ,and1 further1 the    
bane exists for the sake of the         
antidote1 the wrong for the sake of the 
remedy4 ,the evil in the world is  means
 to a higher good1 and the only means   
possible2 for it calls into  activity   
the divine element in man1 and thereby  
contributes to its  realization in his  
character4 ,it gives the necessary      
opportunity for the  exercise of love4  
,hence1 evil cannot be regarded as      
ultimately real4 ,it is real only as a  
stage in growth1 as means to an end2 and
 the means necessarily perishes1  or is 
absorbed in1 the attainment of the end4 
,it has no significance  except by      
reference to that end4 ,from this point 
of view1 evil is the  resistance which  
makes progress possible1 the negative   

which gives  meaning to the positive1   
the darkness that makes day beautiful4  
,this  must not1 however1 be taken to   
mean that evil is nothing4 ,it is       
resistance2 it is negative2 it does     
oppose the good2 although its           
opposition is finally overcome4 ,if it  
did not1 if evil were unreal1  there    
would be no possibility of calling forth
 the moral potency of man1  and the     
moral life would be a figment4 ,but     
these two conditions of the  moral      
life--on the one hand1 that the evil of 
the world must be capable  of being     
overcome and is there for the purpose of
 being overcome1 and  that it is unreal 
except as a means to the good2 and1 on  
the other hand1  that evil must be      
actually opposed to the good1 if the    
good is to have  any meaning1--cannot1  
,browning thinks1 be reconciled with    
each other4 ,it  is manifest that the   
intellect of man cannot1 at the same    
time1 regard  evil as both real and     
unreal4 ,it must assert the one and deny

 the other2  or else we must regard its 
testimony as altogether untrustworthy4  
,but  the first alternative is          
destructive of the moral consciousness4 
,moral  life is alike impossible whether
 we deny or assert the real existence of
  evil4 ,the latter alternative         
stultifies knowledge1 and leaves all the
  deeper concerns of life--the existence
 of good and evil1 the reality of  the  
distinction between them1 the existence 
of ,god1 the moral governance  of the   
world1 the destiny of man--in a state of
 absolute uncertainty4 ,we  must reject 
the testimony either of the heart or of 
the head4    ,browning1 as we have seen1
 unhesitatingly adopts the latter       
alternative4  ,he remains loyal to the  
deliverances of his moral consciousness 
and  accepts as equally valid1 beliefs  
which the intellect finds to be         
self-contradictory3 holding that        
knowledge on such matters is            
impossible4 ,and he rejects this        
knowledge1 not only because our thoughts

  are self-contradictory in themselves1 
but because the failure of a            
speculative solution of these problems  
is necessary to morality4 ,clear1       
convincing1 demonstrative knowledge     
would destroy morality2 and the fact    
that the power to attain such knowledge 
has been withheld from us is to  be     
regarded rather as an indication of the 
beneficence of ,god1 who has  not held  
even ignorance to be too great a price  
for man to pay for  goodness4           
,knowledge is not the fit atmosphere for
 morality4 ,it is faith and not  reason1
 hope and trust but not certainty1 that 
lend vigour to the good  life4 ,we may  
believe1 and rejoice in the belief1 that
 the absolute good  is fulfilling itself
 in all things1 and that even the       
miseries of life  are really its        
refracted rays--the light that gains in 
splendour by  being broken4 ,but we must
 not1 and1 indeed1 cannot ascend from   
faith to  knowledge4 ,the heart may     
trust1 and must trust1 if it faithfully 

listens  to its own natural voice2 but  
reason must not demonstrate4 ,ignorance 
on  the side of intellect1 faith on the 
side of the emotions2 distrust of       
knowledge1 absolute confidence in love2 
such is the condition of man's  highest 
welfare3 it is only thus that the       
purpose of his life1 and of  the world  
which is his instrument1 can be         
achieved4    ,no final estimate of the  
value of this theory of morals and      
religion can  be made1 without examining
 its philosophical presuppositions4 ,nor
 is  such an examination in any way     
unfair2 for it is obvious that ,browning
  explicitly offers us a philosophical  
doctrine4 ,he appeals to argument  and  
not to artistic intuition2 he offers a  
definite theory to which he  claims     
attention1 not on account of any poetic 
beauty that may lie  within it1 but on  
the ground that it is a true exposition 
of the moral  nature of man4 ,kant's    
,metaphysic of ,ethics is not more      
metaphysical in  intention than the     

poet's later utterances on the problems 
of morality4  ,in ,la ,saisiaz1 in      
,ferishtah's ,fancies1 in the           
,parleyings1 and1  though less          
explicitly1 in ,asolando1 ,fifine at the
 ,fair1 and ,red  ,cotton ,nightcap     
,country1 ,browning definitely states1  
and endeavours to  demonstrate a theory 
of knowledge1 a theory of the relation  
of knowledge  to morality1 and a theory 
of the nature of evil2 and he discusses 
the  arguments for the immortality of   
the soul4 ,in these poems his artistic  
instinct avails him1 not as in his      
earlier ones1 for the discovery of      
truth by way of intuition1 but for the  
adornment of doctrines already  derived 
from a metaphysical repository4 ,his art
 is no longer free1 no  longer its own  
end1 but coerced into an alien service4 
,it has become  illustrative and        
argumentative1 and in being made to     
subserve  speculative purposes1 it has  
ceased to be creative4 ,browning has    
appealed to philosophy1 and philosophy  

must try his cause4    ,such1 then1 is  
,browning's theory2 and ,i need make no 
further apology for  discussing at some 
length the validity of the division     
which it involves  between the          
intellectual and the moral life of man4 
,is it possible to  combine the weakness
 of man's intelligence with the strength
 of his  moral and religious life1 and  
to find in the former the condition of  
the  latter8 ,does human knowledge fail1
 as the poet considers it to fail8 ,is  
the intelligence of man absolutely      
incapable of arriving at knowledge of   
things as they are8 ,if it does1 if man 
cannot know the truth1 can he  attain   
goodness8 ,these are the questions that 
must now be answered4    ,it is one of  
the characteristics of recent thought   
that it distrusts its  own activity3 the
 ancient philosophical ,scepticism has  
been revived  and strengthened4 ,side by
 side with the sense of the triumphant  
progress  of natural science1 there is a
 conviction1 shared even by scientific  

investigators themselves1 as well as by 
religious teachers and by many  students
 of philosophy1 that our knowledge has  
only limited and relative  value1 and   
that it always stops short of the true  
nature of things4 ,the  reason of this  
general conviction lies in the fact that
 thought has  become aware of its own   
activity2 men realize more clearly than 
they did  in former times that the      
apparent constitution of things depends 
directly on the character of the        
intelligence which apprehends them4     
,this relativity of things to thought   
has1 not unnaturally1 suggested the     
idea that the objects of our knowledge  
are different from objects as  they are4
 ,that the real nature of things is very
 different from what we  make of them1  
that thought and thing are divorced1    
that there is a  fundamental antithesis 
between them1 is1 as ,hegel said1 the   
hinge on  which modern philosophy turns4
 ,educated opinion in our day has lost  
its  naive trust in itself4 ,the natural

 belief of man1 it is true1 ever  gives 
the lie to the doctrine that we do not  
know things4 ,in common  life1 adds     
,hegel1 we reflect without particularly 
noting that this is  the process of     
arriving at the truth1 and we think     
without hesitation  and in the firm     
belief that thought coincides with      
things4,a ,but1 as  soon as attention is
 directed to the process of thinking1   
and to the way  in which the process    
affects our consciousness of the object1
 it is at  once concluded that thought  
will never reach reality1 that things   
are  not given to us as they are1 but   
distorted by the medium of sense and    
our intelligence1 through which they    
pass4 ,the doctrine of the  relativity  
of knowledge is thus very generally     
regarded as equivalent to  the doctrine 
that there is no true knowledge         
whatsoever4 ,we know only  phenomena1 or
 appearances2 and it is these1 and not  
veritable facts1  that we systematize   
into sciences4 ,we can arrange the      

appearances--the  shadows of our        
cave--and that1 for the practical       
purposes of the cave1  is all that we   
require4,b ,not even earth's least atom 
can ever be  known to us as it really   
is2 it is for us1 at the best1          
,footnote ,a3 ,wallace's ,translation of
 ,hegel's ,logic1 p4 #cf4    ,footnote  
,b3 ,caird's ,comte4      ,an atom with 
some certain properties    ,known about1
 thought of as occasion needs4,c        
,footnote ,c3 ,a ,bean-,stripe4    ,in  
this general distrust of knowledge1     
however1 there are1 as might be         
expected1 many different degrees4 ,its  
origin in modern times was1 no  doubt1  
the doctrine of ,kant4 ,this divorce of 
thing and thought1 says  ,hegel1 is     
mainly the work of the critical         
philosophy and runs counter  to the     
conviction of all previous ages4 ,and   
the completeness of the  divorce        
corresponds1 with tolerable accuracy1 to
 the degree in which the  critical      
philosophy has been understood2 for     

,kant's writings1 like those  of all    
great thinkers1 are capable of many     
interpretations1 varying in  depth with 
the intelligence of the interpreters4   
,the most common and general form of    
this view of the limitation of the      
human intelligence is that which places 
the objects of religious faith  beyond  
the reach of human knowledge4 ,we find  
traces of it in much of the  popular    
theology of our day4 ,the great facts of
 religion are often  spoken of as lying 
in an extra-natural sphere1 beyond      
experience1 into  which men cannot enter
 by the native right of reason4 ,it is  
asserted  that the finite cannot know   
the infinite1 that the nature of ,god is
  unknowable--except by means of a      
supernatural interference1 which gives  
to men a new power of spiritual         
discernment1 and reveals to them  things
 which are above reason1 although not   
contrary to it4 ,the  theologian often  
shields certain of his doctrines from   
criticism1 on the  ground1 as he        

contends1 that there are facts which we 
must believe1 but  which it would be    
presumptuous for us to pretend to       
understand or to  demonstrate4 ,they are
 the proper objects of faith4    ,but   
this view of the weakness of the        
intelligence when applied to            
supersensuous facts1 is held along with 
an undisturbed conviction of the        
validity of our knowledge of ordinary   
objects4 ,it is believed1 in a  word1   
that there are two kinds of             
realities1--natural and supernatural2   
and that the former is knowable and the 
latter not4    ,it requires1 however1 no
 great degree of intellectual acumen to 
discover  that this denial of the       
validity of our knowledge of these      
matters  involves its denial in all its 
applications4 ,the ordinary knowledge of
  natural objects1 which we begin by    
regarding as valid1 or1 rather1 whose   
validity is taken for granted without   
being questioned1 depends upon our      
ideas of these supersensible objects4   

,in other words1 those fundamental      
difficulties which pious opinion        
discovers in the region of theology1    
and which1 as is thought1 fling the     
human intellect back upon itself  into a
 consciousness of frailty and finitude1 
are found to lurk beneath  our ordinary 
knowledge4 ,whenever1 for instance1 we  
endeavour to know any  object1 we find  
that we are led back along the line of  
its conditions to  that which           
unconditionally determines it4 ,for we  
cannot find the reason  for a particular
 object in a particular object4 ,we are 
driven back  endlessly from one to      
another along the chain of causes2 and  
we can  neither discover the first link 
nor do without it4 ,the first link must 
be a cause of itself1 and experience    
yields none such4 ,such a cause  would  
be the unconditioned1 and the           
unconditioned we cannot know4 ,the      
final result of thinking is thus to lead
 us to an unknown2 and1 in  consequence1
 all our seeming knowledge is seen to   

have no intelligible  basis1 and1       
therefore1 to be merely hypothetical4   
,if we cannot know ,god1  we cannot know
 anything4    ,this view is held by the 
,positivists1 and the most popular      
,english  exponent of it is1 perhaps1   
,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer4 ,its            
characteristic is  its repudition of    
both theology and metaphysics as        
pseudo-sciences1 and  its high esteem   
for science4 ,that esteem is not        
disturbed by the  confession that       
noumenal causes1--that is1 the actual   
reality of  things1--are unknown2 for we
 can still lay claim to valid knowledge 
of  the laws of phenomena4 ,having      
acknowledged that natural things as     
known  are merely phenomena1 positivism 
treats them in all respects as if they  
were realities2 and it rejoices in the  
triumphant progress of the  natural     
sciences as if it were a veritable      
growth of knowledge4 ,it does  not take 
to heart the phenomenal nature of known 
objects4 ,but1 having  paid its formal  

compliments to the doctrine of the      
relativity of all  knowledge1 it        
neglects it altogether4    ,those who   
understand ,kant better carry his       
scepticism further1 and they  complete  
the divorce between man's knowledge and 
reality4 ,the process of  knowing1 they 
hold1 instead of leading us towards     
facts1 as it was so  long supposed to   
do1 takes us away from them3 i4e41 if   
either  towards or away from can have   
any meaning when applied to two realms  
which are absolutely severed from one   
another4 ,knowledge is always  concerned
 with the relations between things2 with
 their likeness1 or  unlikeness1 their  
laws1 or connections2 but these are     
universals1 and  things are individuals4
 ,science knows the laws of things1 but 
not the  things2 it reveals how one     
object affects another1 how it is       
connected  with it2 but what are the    
things themselves1 which are connected1 
it  does not know4 ,the laws are mere   
forms of thought1 bloodless  categories1

 and not facts4 ,they may somehow be    
regarded as explaining  facts1 but they 
must not be identified with the facts4  
,knowledge is the  sphere of man's      
thoughts1 and is made up of ideas2 real 
things are in  another sphere1 which    
man's thoughts cannot reach4 ,we must   
distinguish  more clearly than has      
hitherto been done1 between logic as the
 science  of knowledge1 and metaphysics 
as a science which pretends to reveal   
the  real nature of things4 ,in a word1 
we can know thoughts or universals1  but
 not things or particular existences4   
,when existence is in question  it is   
the individual1 not the universal1 that 
is real2 and the real  individual is not
 a composite of species and accidents1  
but is  individual to the inmost fibre  
of its being4 ,each object keeps its own
  real being to itself4 ,its inmost     
secret1 its reality1 is something that  
cannot appear in knowledge4 ,we can only
 know its manifestations2 but  these    
manifestations are not its reality1 nor 

connected with it4 ,these  belong to the
 sphere of knowledge1 they are parts in 
a system of  abstract thoughts2 they do 
not exist in that system1 or no-system1 
of  individual realities1 each of which1
 in its veritable being1 is itself      
only1 and connected with nought beside4 
,now1 this view of the absolute         
impossibility of knowing any reality1 on
  account of the fundamental difference 
between things and our thoughts  about  
things1 contains a better promise of a  
true view both of reality  and of       
knowledge1 than any of the previously   
mentioned half-hearted  theories4 ,it   
forces us explicitly either to regard   
every effort to know  as futile1 or else
 to regard it as futile on this theory  
of it4 ,in  other words1 we must either 
give up knowledge or else give up the   
account of knowledge advanced by these  
philosophers4 ,hitherto1 however1  every
 philosophy that has set itself against 
the possibility of the  knowledge of    
reality has had to give way4 ,it has    

failed to shake the  faith of mankind in
 its own intellectual endowment1 or to  
arrest1 even  for a moment1 the attempt 
by thinking to know things as they are4 
,the  view held by ,berkeley1 that      
knowledge is merely subjective1 because 
the  essence of things consists in their
 being perceived by the individual1  and
 that they are nothing but his ideas1   
was refuted by ,kant1 when he  showed   
that the very illusion of seeming       
knowledge was impossible on  that       
theory4 ,and this later view1 which     
represents knowledge as merely          
subjective1 on the ground that it is the
 product of the activity of the  thought
 of mankind1 working according to       
universal laws1 is capable of  being    
refuted in the same manner4 ,the only   
difference between the  ,berkeleian and 
this modern speculative theory is that1 
on the former  view1 each individual    
constructed his own subjective entities 
or  illusions2 while1 on the latter1 all
 men1 by reason of the universality  of 

the laws of thought governing their     
minds1 create the same illusion1  the   
same subjective scheme of ideas4        
,instead of each having his own  private
 unreality1 as the product of his       
perceiving activity1 they have  all the 
same1 or at least a similar1            
phantom-world of ideas1 as the  result  
of their thinking4 ,but1 in both cases  
alike1 the reality of the  world without
 is out of reach1 and knowledge is a    
purely subjective  apprehension of a    
world within4 ,thoughts are quite       
different from  things1 and no effort of
 human reason can reveal any community  
between  them4    ,now1 there are       
certain difficulties which1 so far as ,i
 know1 those who  hold this view have   
scarcely attempted to meet4 ,the first  
of these lies  in the obvious fact1 that
 all men at all times consider that this
 very  process of thinking1 which the   
theory condemns as futile1 is the only  
way we have of finding out what the     
reality of things is4 ,why do we        

reflect and think1 except in order to   
pass beyond the illusions of  sensuous  
appearances to the knowledge of things  
as they are8 ,nay1 why do  these        
philosophers themselves reflect1 when   
reflection1 instead of  leading to      
truth1 which is knowledge of reality1   
leads only to ideas1  which1 being      
universal1 cannot represent the         
realities that are said to  be          
individual4    ,the second is1 that the 
knowledge of the laws of things gives to
 us  practical command over them2       
although1 according to this view1 laws  
are  not things1 nor any part of the    
reality of things1 nor even true        
representations of things4 ,our         
authority over things seems to grow pari
  passu with our knowledge4 ,the natural
 sciences seem to prove by their        
practical efficiency1 that they are not 
building up a world of  apparitions1    
like the real world2 but gradually      
getting inside nature1  learning more   
and more to wield her powers1 and to    

make them the  instruments of the       
purposes of man1 and the means of his   
welfare4 ,to  common-sense1--which      
frequently divines truths that it cannot
 prove1  and1 like ballast in a ship1   
has often given steadiness to human     
progress although it is only a dead     
weight1--the assertion that man  knows  
nothing is as incredible as that he     
knows all things4 ,if it is  replied1   
that the things which we seem to        
dominate by the means of  knowledge are 
themselves only phenomena1 the question 
arises1 what then  are the real things  
to which they are opposed8 ,what right  
has any  philosophy to say that there is
 any reality which no one can in any    
sense know8 ,the knowledge that such    
reality is1 is surely a relation        
between that reality and consciousness1 
and1 if so1 the assertion of an         
unknowable reality is                   
self-contradictory4 ,for the conception 
of it is  the conception of something   
that is1 and at the same time is not1   

out of  relation to consciousness4      
,to say what kind of thing reality is1  
is a still more remarkable feat1  if    
reality is unknowable4 ,reality1 being  
beyond knowledge1 why is it  called     
particular or individual1 rather than   
universal8 ,how is it known  that the   
true being of things is different from  
ideas8 ,surely both of  the terms must  
be regarded as known to some extent1 if 
they are called  like or unlike1        
contrasted or compared1 opposed or      
identified4    ,but1 lastly1 this theory
 has to account for the fact that it    
constitutes  what is not only unreal1   
but impossible1 into the criterion of   
what is  actual4 ,if knowledge of       
reality is altogether different from    
human  knowledge1 how does it come to be
 its criterion8 ,that knowledge is      
inadequate or imperfect can be known1   
only by contrasting it with its  own    
proper ideal1 whatever that may be4 ,a  
criticism by reference to a  foreign or 
irrelevant criterion1 or the            

condemnation of a theory as  imperfect  
because it does not realize an          
impossible end1 is  unreasonable4 ,all  
true criticism of an object implies a   
reference to a  more perfect state of   
itself4    ,we must1 then1 regard the   
knowledge of objects as they are1 which 
is  opposed to human knowledge1 as1 only
 a completer and fuller form of that    
knowledge2 or else we must cease to     
contrast it with our human  knowledge1  
as valid with invalid1 true with        
phenomenal4 ,either knowledge  of       
reality is complete knowledge1 or else  
it is a chimera4 ,and1 in  either case1 
the sharp distinction between the real  
and the phenomenal  vanishes2 and what  
remains1 is not a reality outside of    
consciousness1  or different from ideas1
 but a reality related to consciousness1
 or1 in  other words1 a knowable        
reality4 ,the distinction of objects    
into  phenomena and noumena1 i4e41 into 
things that for us exist1 and things    
that for us do not exist1 is an ,irish  

bull in philosophy1 said ,heine4  ,to   
speak of reality as unknowable1 or to   
speak of anything as  unknowable1 is to 
utter a direct self-contradiction2 it is
 to negate in  the predicate what is    
asserted in the subject4 ,it is a still 
more  strange perversion to erect this  
knowable emptiness into a criterion of  
knowledge1 and to call the latter       
phenomenal by reference to it4    ,these
 difficulties are so fundamental and so 
obvious1 that the theory of  the        
phenomenal nature of human knowledge1   
which1 being interpreted1  means that we
 know nothing1 could scarcely maintain  
its hold1 were it  not confused with    
another fact of human experience1 that  
is apparently  inconsistent with the    
doctrine that man can know the truth4   
,side by side  with the faith of        
ordinary consciousness1 that in order to
 know anything  we must think1 or1 in   
other words1 that knowledge shows us    
what things  really are1 there is a     
conviction1 strengthened by constant    

experience1  that we never know things  
fully4 ,every investigation into the    
nature of  an object soon brings us to  
an enigma1 a something more we do not   
know4  ,failing to know this something  
more1 we generally consider that we have
  fallen short of reaching the reality  
of the object4 ,we recognize1 as it  has
 been expressed1 that we have been      
brought to a stand1 and we  therefore   
conclude that we are also brought to the
 end4 ,we arrive at  what we do not     
know1 and we pronounce that unknown to  
be unknowable2  that is1 we regard it as
 something different in nature from what
 we do  know4 ,so far as ,i can see1 the
 attitude of ordinary thought in regard 
to  this matter might be fairly         
represented by saying1 that it always   
begins  by considering objects as       
capable of being known in their reality1
 or as  they are1 and that experience   
always proves the attempt to know them  
as  they are to be a failure4 ,the      
effort is continued although failure is 

the result1 and even although that      
failure be exaggerated and              
universalized into that despair of      
knowledge which we have described4 ,we  
are thus confronted with what seems to  
be a contradiction2 a trust and         
distrust in knowledge4 ,it can only be  
solved by doing full justice to  both of
 the conflicting elements2 and then1 if 
possible1 by showing that  they are     
elements1 and not the complete1 concrete
 fact1 except when held  together4      
,from one point of view1 it is          
undeniable that in every object of      
perception1 we come upon problems that  
we cannot solve4 ,science at its  best1 
and even when dealing with the simplest 
of things1 is forced to  stop short of  
its final secret4 ,even when it has     
discovered its law1  there is still     
apparently something over and above     
which science cannot  grasp1 and which  
seems to give to the object its reality4
 ,all the  natural sciences concentrated
 on a bit of iron ore fail to exhaust   

the  truth in it3 there is always a     
beyond in it1 something still more      
fundamental which is not yet understood4
 ,and that something beyond1 that  inner
 essence1 that point in which the laws  
meet and which the sciences  fail to    
lift into knowledge1 is regarded as just
 the reality of the  thing4 ,thus the   
reality is supposed1 at the close of    
every  investigation1 to lie outside of 
knowledge2 and conversely1 all that we  
do know1 seeing that it lacks this last 
element1 seems to be only  apparent     
knowledge1 or knowledge of phenomena4   
,in this way the process of knowing     
seems always to stop short at the       
critical moment1 when the truth is just 
about to be reached4 ,and those  who    
dwell on this aspect alone are apt to   
conclude that man's intellect  is       
touched with a kind of impotence1 which 
makes it useless when it gets  near the 
reality4 ,it is like a weapon that snaps
 at the hilt just when  the battle is   
hottest4 ,for we seem to be able to know

 everything but the  reality1 and yet   
apart from the real essence all         
knowledge seems to be  merely apparent4 
,physical science penetrates through the
 outer  appearances of things to their  
laws1 analyzes them into forms of       
energy1  calculates their action and    
predicts their effects with certainty4  
,its  practical power over the forces of
 nature is so great that it seems to    
have got inside her secrets4 ,and yet   
science will itself acknowledge  that in
 every simplest object there is an      
unknown4 ,its triumphant course  of     
explaining seems to be always arrested  
at the threshold of reality4  ,it has no
 theory1 scarcely an hypothesis1 of the 
actual nature of  things1 or of what    
that is in each object1 which           
constitutes it a real  existence4       
,natural science1 with a scarcely       
concealed sneer1 hands over  to the     
metaphysician all questions as to the   
real being of things2 and  itself makes 
the more modest pretension of showing   

how things behave1  not what they are2  
what effects follow the original        
noumenal causes1 but  not the veritable 
nature of these causes4 ,nor can the    
metaphysician1 in  his turn1 do more    
than suggest a hypothesis as to the     
nature of the  ultimate reality in      
things4 ,he cannot detect or demonstrate
 it in any  particular fact4 ,in a word1
 every minutest object in the world     
baffles  the combined powers of all     
forms of human thought1 and holds back  
its  essence or true being from them4   
,and as long as this true being1 or     
reality is not known1 the knowledge     
which we seem to have cannot be held  as
 ultimately true1 but is demonstrably a 
makeshift4    ,having made this         
confession1 there seems to be no        
alternative but to  postulate an utter  
discrepancy between human thought and   
real existence1  or between human       
knowledge and truth1 which is the       
correspondence of  thing and thought4   
,for1 at no point is knowledge found to 

be in touch  with real being2 it is     
everywhere demonstrably conditioned and 
relative1  and inadequate to express the
 true reality of its objects4 ,what     
remains1  then1 except to regard human  
knowledge as completely untrustworthy1  
as  merely of phenomena8 ,if we cannot  
know any reality1 does not knowledge    
completely fail8    ,now1 in dealing    
with the moral life of man1 we saw that 
the method of  hard alternatives is     
invalid4 ,the moral life1 being         
progressive1 was  shown to be the       
meeting--point of the ideal and the     
actual2 and the  ideal of perfect       
goodness was regarded as manifesting    
itself in actions  which1 nevertheless1 
were never adequate to express it4 ,the 
good when  achieved was ever condemned  
as unworthy1 and the ideal when attained
  ever pressed for more adequate        
expression in a better character4 ,the  
ideal was present as potency1 as        
realizing itself1 but it was never      
completely realized4 ,the absolute good 

was never reached in the best  action1  
and never completely missed in the      
worst4    ,the same conflict of real and
 unreal was shown to be essential to    
every  natural life4 ,as long as        
anything grows it neither completely    
attains1  nor completely falls away from
 its ideal4 ,the growing acorn is not an
  oak tree1 and yet it is not a mere    
acorn4 ,the child is not the man2 and   
yet the man is in the child1 and only   
needs to be evolved by interaction  with
 circumstances4 ,the process of growth  
is one wherein the ideal is  always     
present1 as a reconstructive power      
gradually changing its whole  vehicle1  
or organism1 into a more perfect        
expression of itself4 ,the  ideal is    
reached in the end1 just because it is  
present in the  beginning2 and there is 
no end as long as growth continues4     
,now1 it is evident that knowledge1     
whether it be that of the individual    
man or of the human race1 is a thing    
that grows4 ,the process by means of    

which natural science makes progress1 or
 by which the consciousness of  the     
child expands and deepens into the      
consciousness of the man1 is best  made 
intelligible from the point of view of  
evolution4 ,it is like an  organic      
process1 in which each new acquirement  
finds its place in an old  order1 each  
new fact is brought under the permanent 
principles of  experience1 and absorbed 
into an intellectual life1 which itself1
 in  turn1 grows richer and fuller with 
every new acquisition4 ,no knowledge    
worthy of the name is an aggregation of 
facts4 ,wisdom comes by growth4         
,hence1 the assertion that knowledge    
never attains reality1 does not  imply  
that it always misses it4 ,in morals we 
do not say that a man is  entirely evil1
 although he never1 even in his best    
actions1 attains the  true good4 ,and if
 the process of knowing is one that     
presses onward  towards an ideal1 that  
ideal is never completely missed even in
 the  poorest knowledge4 ,if it grows1  

the method of fixed alternatives must be
  inapplicable to it4 ,the ideal1       
whatever it may be1 must be considered  
as  active in the present1 guiding the  
whole movement1 and gradually           
manifesting itself in each of the       
passing forms1 which are used up as  the
 raw material of new acquirement2 and   
yet no passing form completely          
expresses the ideal4    ,nor is it      
difficult to say what that ideal of     
knowledge is1 although we  cannot define
 it in any adequate manner4 ,we know    
that the end of  morality is the summum 
bonum1 although we cannot1 as long as we
 are  progressive1 define its whole     
content1 or find it fully realized in   
any  action4 ,every failure brings new  
truth1 every higher grade of moral      
character reveals some new height of    
goodness to be scaled2 the moral  ideal 
acquires definiteness and content as    
humanity moves upwards4 ,and  yet the   
ideal is not entirely unknown even at   
the first2 even to the  most ignorant1  

it presents itself as a criterion which 
enables him to  distinguish between     
right and wrong1 evil and goodness1 and 
which guides  his practical life4 ,the  
same truth holds with regard to         
knowledge4 ,its  growth receives its    
impulse from1 and is directed and       
determined by1  what is conceived as the
 real world of facts4 ,this truth1      
namely1 that  the ideal knowledge is    
knowledge of reality1 the most          
subjective  philosopher cannot but      
acknowledge4 ,it is implied in his      
condemnation of  knowledge as merely    
phenomenal1 that there is possible a    
knowledge of  real being4 ,that thought 
and reality can be brought together1 or 
rather1  that they are always together1 
is presupposed in all knowledge and in  
all experience4 ,the effort to know is  
the effort to explain the  relation of  
thought and reality1 not to create it4  
,the ideal of perfect  knowledge is     
present from the first2 it generates the
 effort1 directs  it1 distinguishes     

between truth and error4 ,and that which
 man ever aims  at1 whether in the      
ordinary activities of daily thought1 or
 through the  patient labour of         
scientific investigation1 or in the     
reflective  self-torture of philosophic 
thought1 is to know the world as it is4 
,no  failure damps the ardour of this   
endeavour4 ,relativists1 phenomenalists1
  agnostics1 sceptics1 ,kantians or     
,neo-,kantians--all the crowd of        
thinkers  who cry down the human        
intellect1 and draw a charmed circle    
around  reality so as to make it        
unapproachable to the mind of man--ply  
this  useless labour4 ,they are seeking 
to penetrate beneath the shows of sense 
and the outer husk of phenomena to the  
truth1 which is the meeting-point  of   
knowledge and reality2 they are         
endeavouring to translate into an       
intellectual possession the powers that 
play within and around them2 or1  in    
other words1 to make these powers       
express themselves in their  thoughts1  

and supply the content of their         
spiritual life4 ,the irony1  latent in  
their endeavour1 gives them no pause2   
they are in some way  content to pursue 
what they call phantoms1 and to try to  
satisfy their  thirst with the waters of
 a mirage4 ,this comes from the presence
 of the  ideal within them1 that is1 of 
the implicit unity of reality and       
thought1 which seeks for explicit and   
complete manifestation in  knowledge4   
,the reality is present in them as      
thinking activity1 working  towards     
complete revelation of itself by means  
of knowledge4 ,and its  presence is     
real1 although the process is never     
complete4    ,in knowledge1 as in       
morals1 it is necessary to remember both
 of the  truths implied in the pursuit  
of an ideal--that a growing thing not   
only  always fails to attain1 but also  
always succeeds4 ,the distinction       
between truth and error in knowledge is 
present at every stage in the  effort to
 attain truth1 as the distinction       

between right and wrong is  present in  
every phase of the moral life4 ,it is   
the source of the  intellectual effort4 
,but that distinction cannot be drawn   
except by  reference to a criterion of  
truth1 which condemns our actual        
knowledge2  as it is the absolute good1 
which condemns the present character4   
,the  ideal may be indefinite1 and its  
content confused and poor2 but it is    
always sufficient for its purpose1      
always better than the actual           
achievement4 ,and1 in this sense1       
reality1 the truth1 the veritable being 
of things1 is always reached by the     
poorest knowledge4 ,as there is no      
starved and distorted sapling which is  
not the embodiment of the  principle of 
natural life1 so the meanest character  
is the product of an  ideal of goodness1
 and the most confused opinion of       
ignorant mankind is  an expression of   
the reality of things4 ,without it there
 would not be  even the semblance of    
knowledge1 not even error and untruth4  

,those who1 like ,browning1 make a      
division between man's thought and real 
things1 and regard the sphere of        
knowledge as touching at no point the   
sphere of actual existence1 are         
attributing to the bare human intellect 
much more power than it has4 ,they      
regard mind as creating its phenomenal  
knowledge1 or the apparent world4 ,for1 
having separated mind from  reality1 it 
is evident that they cannot avail       
themselves of any doctrine  of          
sensations or impressions as a medium   
between them1 or postulate any  other   
form of connection or means of          
communication4 ,connection of any  kind 
must1 in the end1 imply some community  
of nature1 and must put the  unity of   
thought and being--here denied--beneath 
their difference4  ,hence1 the world of 
phenomena which we know1 and which as   
known1 does  not seem to consist of     
realities1 must be the product of the   
unaided  human mind4 ,the intellect1    
isolated from all real being1 has       

manufactured the apparent universe1 in  
all its endless wealth4 ,it is a        
creative intellect1 although it can only
 create illusions4 ,it evolves  all its 
products from itself4    ,but thought1  
set to revolve upon its own axis in an  
empty region1 can  produce nothing1 not 
even illusions4 ,and1 indeed1 those who 
deny that it  is possible for thought   
and reality to meet in a unity1 have1   
notwithstanding1 to bring over something
 to the aid of thought4 ,there  must be 
some effluence from the world of        
reality1 some manifestations of  the    
thing 7though they are not the reality  
of the thing1 nor any part of  the      
reality1 nor connected with the         
reality67 to assist the mind and  supply
 it with data4 ,the phenomenal world is 
a hybrid1 generated by  thought and     
something--which yet is not reality2 for
 the real world is  a world of things in
 themselves1 altogether beyond thought4 
,by bringing  in these data1 it is      
virtually admitted that the human mind  

reaches down  into itself in vain for a 
world1 even for a phenomenal one4       
,thought apart from things is quite     
empty1 just as things apart from        
thought are blind4 ,such thought and    
such reality are mere abstractions1     
hypostasized by false metaphysics2 they 
are elements of truth rent  asunder1 and
 destroyed in the rending4 ,the         
dependence of the  intelligence of man  
upon reality is direct and complete4    
,the foolishest  dream1 that ever played
 out its panorama beneath a night-cap1  
came  through the gates of the senses   
from the actual world4 ,man is limited  
to  his material in all that he knows1  
just as he is ruled by the laws of      
thought4 ,he cannot go one step beyond  
it4 ,to transcend experience is         
impossible4 ,we have no wings to sustain
 us in an empty region1 and no  need of 
any4 ,it is as impossible for man to    
create new ideas1 as it is  for him to  
create new atoms4 ,our thought is       
essentially connected with  reality4    

,there is no mauvais pas from thought to
 things4 ,we do not  need to leap out of
 ourselves in order to get into the     
world4 ,we are in  it from the first1   
both as physical and moral agents1 and  
as thinking  beings4 ,our thoughts are  
expressions of the real nature of       
things1 so  far as they go4 ,they may be
 and are imperfect2 they may be and are 
confused and inadequate1 and express    
only the superficial aspects and  not   
the inmost fibres2 still1 they are what 
they are1 in virtue of  the reality1    
which finds itself interpreted in them4 
,severed from that  reality1 they would 
be nothing4    ,thus1 the distinction   
between thought and reality is a        
distinction  within a deeper unity4 ,and
 that unity must not be regarded as     
something  additional to both1 or as a  
third something4 ,it is their unity4 ,it
 is  both reality and thought3 it is    
existing thought1 or reality knowing    
itself and existing through its         
knowledge of self2 it is                

self-consciousness4 ,the distinguished  
elements have no existence or  meaning  
except in their unity4 ,like the actual 
and ideal1 they have  significance and  
being1 only in their reference to each  
other4    ,there is one more difficulty 
connected with this matter which ,i must
  touch upon1 although the discussion   
may already be regarded as prolix4  ,it 
is acknowledged by every one that the   
knowledge of the individual1  and his   
apparent world of realities1 grow pari  
passu4 ,beyond his  sphere of knowledge 
there is no reality for him1 not even   
apparent  reality4 ,but1 on the other   
hand1 the real world of existing things 
exists all the same whether he knows it 
or not4 ,it did not begin to be  with   
any knowledge he may have of it1 it does
 not cease to be with his  extinction1  
and it is not in any way affected by his
 valid1 or invalid1  reconstruction of  
it in thought4 ,the world which depends 
on his thought  is his world1 and not   
the world of really existing things4    

,and this is  true alike of every       
individual4 ,the world is independent of
 all human  minds4 ,it existed before   
them1 and will1 very possibly1 exist    
after  them4 ,can we not1 therefore1    
conclude that the real world is         
independent  of thought1 and that it    
exists without relation to it8    ,a    
short reference to the moral            
consciousness may suggest the answer to 
this difficulty4 ,in morality 7as also  
is the case in knowledge7 the  moral    
ideal1 or the objective law of goodness1
 grows in richness and  fulness of      
content with the individual who         
apprehends it4 ,his moral  world is the 
counterpart of his moral growth as a    
character4 ,goodness  for him directly  
depends upon his recognition of it4     
,animals1  presumably1 have no moral    
ideal1 because they have not the power  
to  constitute it4 ,in morals1 as in    
knowledge1 the mind of man constructs   
its own world4 ,and yet1 in both alike1 
the world of truth or of goodness       

exists all the same whether the         
individual knows it or not4 ,he does not
  call the moral law into being1 but    
finds it without1 and then realizes  it 
in his own life4 ,the moral law does not
 vanish and reappear with its           
recognition by mankind4 ,it is not      
subject to the chances and changes of   
its life1 but a good in itself that is  
eternal4    ,is it therefore independent
 of all intelligence8 ,can goodness be  
anything but the law of a self-conscious
 being8 ,is it the quality or  motive or
 ideal of a mere thing8 ,manifestly not4
 ,its relation to  self-consciousness is
 essential4 ,with the extinction of     
self-consciousness all moral goodness is
 extinguished4    ,the same holds true  
of reality4 ,the question of the reality
 or unreality  of things cannot arise   
except in an intelligence4 ,animals have
 neither  illusions nor truths--unless  
they are self-conscious4 ,the reality1  
which  man sets over against his own    
inadequate knowledge1 is posited by him2

  and it has no meaning whatsoever      
except in this contrast4 ,and to        
endeavour to conceive a reality which no
 one knows1 is to assert a  relative    
term without its correlative1 which is  
absurd2 it is to posit  an ideal which  
is opposed to nothing actual4    ,in    
this view1 so commonly held in our day1 
that knowledge is subjective  and       
reality unknowable1 we have another     
example of the falseness and            
inconsistency of abstract thinking4 ,if 
this error be committed1 there is  no   
fundamental gain in saying with ,kant1  
that things are relative to the  thought
 of all1 instead of asserting1 with     
,berkeley or ,browning1 that  they are  
relative to the thought of each4 ,the   
final result is the same4  ,things as   
known1 are reduced into mere creations  
of thought2 things as  they are1 are    
regarded as not thoughts1 and as        
partaking in no way of  the nature of   
thought4 ,and yet reality is virtually  
assumed to be  given at the beginning of

 knowledge2 for the sensations are      
supposed to  be emanations from it1 or  
roused in consciousness by it4 ,these   
sensations1 it is said1 man does not    
make1 but receives1 and receives  from  
the concealed reality4 ,they flow from  
it1 and are the  manifestations of its  
activity4 ,then1 in the next moment1    
reality is  regarded as not given in any
 way1 but as something to be discovered 
by  the effort of thought2 for we always
 strive to know things1 and not         
phantoms4 ,lastly1 the knowledge thus   
acquired being regarded as  imperfect1  
and experience showing to us continually
 that every object  has more in it than 
we know1 the reality is pronounced to be
 unknowable1  and all knowledge is      
regarded as failure1 as acquaintance    
with mere  phantoms4 ,thus1 in thought1 
as in morality1 the ideal is present at 
the  beginning1 it is an effort after   
explicit realization1 and its process   
is never complete4    ,now1 all these   
aspects of the ideal of knowledge1 that 

is1 of reality1  are held by the        
unsophisticated intelligence of man2 and
 abstract  philosophy is not capable of 
finally getting rid of any one of them4 
,it1  too1 holds them alternately4 ,its 
denial of the possibility of knowing    
reality is refuted by its own           
starting-point2 for it begins with a    
given  something1 regarded as real1 and 
its very effort to know is an attempt   
to know that reality by thinking4 ,but  
it forgets these facts1 when it is      
discovered that knowledge at the best is
 incomplete4 ,it is thus tossed  from   
assertion to denial1 and from denial to 
assertion2 from one  abstract or        
one-sided view of reality1 to the other4
    ,when these different aspects of    
truth are grasped together from the     
point of view of evolution1 there seems 
to be a way of escaping the             
difficulties to which they give rise4   
,for the ideal must be present at  the  
beginning1 and cannot be present in its 
fulness till the process is  complete4  

,what is here required is to lift our   
theory of man's knowledge  to the level 
of our theory of his moral life1 and to 
treat it frankly as  the process whereby
 reality manifests itself in the mind of
 man4 ,in that  way1 we shall avoid the 
absurdities of both of the abstract     
schools of  philosophy1 to both of which
 alike the native intelligence of man   
gives  the lie4 ,we shall say neither   
that man knows nothing1 nor that he     
knows  all2 we shall regard his         
knowledge1 neither as purely phenomenal 
and out  of all contact with reality1   
nor as an actual identification with the
  real being of things in all their     
complex variety4 ,for1 in morality1 we  
do not say either that the individual is
 absolutely evil1 because his  actions  
never realize the supreme ideal of      
goodness2 nor1 that he is at  the last  
term of development1 and taking the     
place of ,god1 because he  lives as ever
 in his great ,taskmaster's eye4 ,just  
as every moral  action1 however good1   

leaves something still to be            
desiderated1  something that may become 
a stepping-stone for new movement       
towards the  ideal which it has failed  
to actualize2 so all our knowledge of an
  object leaves something over that we  
have not apprehended1 which is  truer   
and more real than anything we know1 and
 which in all future  effort we strive  
to master4 ,and1 just as the very       
effort1 to be good  derives its impulse 
and direction from the ideal of goodness
 which is  present1 and striving for    
realization2 so the effort to know      
derives its  impulse and direction from 
the reality which is present1 and       
striving  for complete realization in   
the thought of man4 ,we know reality    
confusedly from the first2 and it is    
because we have attained so much        
knowledge1 that we strive for greater   
clearness and fulness4 ,it is by        
planting his foot on the world that man 
travels4 ,it is by opposing his  power  
to the given reality that his knowledge 

grows4    ,when once we recognize that  
reality is the ideal of knowledge1 we   
are  able to acknowledge all the truth  
that is in the doctrine of the          
phenomenalists1 without falling into    
their errors and contradictions4 ,we    
may go as far as the poet in confessing 
intellectual impotence1 and  roundly    
call the knowledge of man lacquered     
ignorance4 ,earth's least  atom does    
veritably remain an enigma4 ,man is     
actually flung back into  his           
circumscribed sphere by every fact2 and 
he will continue to be so  flung to the 
end of time4 ,he will never know        
reality1 nor be able to  hold up in his 
hand the very heart of the simplest     
thing in the world4  ,for the world is  
an organic totality1 and its simplest   
thing will not be  seen1 through and    
through1 till everything is known1 till 
every fact and  event is related to     
every other under principles which are  
universal3  just as goodness cannot be  
fully achieved in any act1 till the     

agent is  in all ways lifted to the     
level of absolute goodness4 ,physics    
cannot  reveal the forces which keep a  
stone in its place on the earth1 till it
  has traced the forces that maintain   
the starry systems in their course4  ,no
 fact can be thoroughly known1 i4e41    
known in its reality1 till the  light of
 the universe has been focussed upon it3
 and1 on the other hand1  to know any   
subject through and through would be to 
explain all being4  ,the highest law and
 the essence of the simple fact1 the    
universal and  the particular1 can only 
be known together1 in and through one   
another4  ,reality in the least atom    
will be known1 only when knowledge has  
completed its work1 and the universe has
 become a transparent sphere1           
penetrated in every direction by the    
shafts of intelligence4    ,but this is 
only half the truth4 ,if knowledge is   
never complete1 it is  always           
completing2 if reality is never known1  
it is ever being  known2 if the ideal is

 never actual1 it is always being       
actualized4  ,the complete failure of   
knowledge is as impossible as its       
complete  success4 ,it is at no time    
severed from reality2 it is never its   
mere  adumbration1 nor are its contents 
mere phenomena4 ,on the contrary1 it is 
reality partially revealed1 the ideal   
incompletely actualized4 ,our very      
errors are the working of reality within
 us1 and apart from it they  would be   
impossible4 ,the process towards truth  
by man is the process of  truth in man2 
the movement of knowledge towards       
reality is the movement  of reality into
 knowledge4 ,a purely subjective        
consciousness which knows1  such as the 
poet tried to describe1 is a            
self-contradiction3 it would be  a      
consciousness at once related1 and not  
related1 to the actual world4  ,but man 
has no need to relate himself to the    
world4 ,he is already  related1 and his 
task is to understand that relation1 or1
 in other words1  to make both its terms

 intelligible4 ,man has no need to go   
out from  himself to facts2 his relation
 to facts is prior to his distinction   
from  them4 ,the truth is that he cannot
 entirely lift himself away from them1  
nor suspend his thoughts in the void4   
,in his inmost being he is  creation's  
voice1 and in his knowledge he          
confusedly murmurs its deep  thoughts4  
,browning was aware of this truth in its
 application to man's moral  nature4 ,in
 speaking of the principle of love1 he  
was not tempted to  apply fixed         
alternatives4 ,on the contrary1 he      
detected in the poorest  love that was  
ever offered the veritable presence of  
that which is  perfect and complete1    
though never completely actualized4 ,his
 interest  in the moral development of  
man1 and his penetrative moral insight1 
acting upon1 and guided by the truths of
 the ,christian religion1 warned  him1  
on this side1 against the absolute      
separation of the ideal and  actual1 the
 divine and human4 ,human love1 however 

poor in quality and  limited in range1  
was to him ,god's love in man4 ,it was a
 wave breaking  in the individual of    
that ,first ,love1 which is ever flowing
 back through  the life of humanity to  
its primal source4 ,to him all moral    
endeavour is  the process of this       
,primal ,love2 and every man1 as he     
consciously  identifies himself with it1
 may use the language of ,scripture1 and
 say1  ,it is not ,i that live1 but     
,christ lives in me4    ,but1 on the    
side of knowledge1 he was neither so    
deeply interested1 nor  had he so good a
 guide to lean upon4 ,ignorant1         
according to all  appearances1 of the   
philosophy which has made the ,christian
 maxim1 ,die  to live1--which primarily 
is only a principle of morality--the    
basis of  its theory of knowledge1 he   
exaggerated the failure of science to   
reach  the whole truth as to any        
particular object1 into a qualitative   
discrepancy between knowledge and truth4
 ,because knowledge is never  complete1 

it is always mere lacquered ignorance2  
and man's apparent  intellectual        
victories are only conquests in a land  
of unrealities1 or  mere phenomena4 ,he 
occupies in regard to knowledge1 a      
position strictly  analogous to that of 
,carlyle1 in regard to morality2 his    
intellectual  pessimism is the          
counterpart of the moral pessimism of   
his predecessor1  and it springs from   
the same error4 ,he forgot that the     
ideal without is  also the power within1
 which makes for its own manifestation  
in the mind  of man4    ,he opposed the 
intellect to the world1 as ,carlyle     
opposed the weakness  of man to the law 
of duty2 and he neglected the fact that 
the world was  there for him1 only      
because he knew it1 just as ,carlyle    
neglected the  fact that the duty was   
without1 only because it was recognized 
within4  ,he strained the difference    
between the ideal and actual into an    
absolute  distinction2 and1 as ,carlyle 
condemned man to strive for a goodness  

which he could never achieve1 so        
,browning condemns him to pursue a truth
  which he can never attain4 ,in both1  
the failure is regarded as absolute4    
,there is no good in us1 has for its    
counterpart ,there is no truth in  us4  
,both the moralist and the poet dwell on
 the negative relation of  the ideal and
 actual1 and forget that the negative   
has no meaning1  except as the          
expression of a deeper affirmative4     
,carlyle had to learn  that we know our 
moral imperfection1 only because we are 
conscious of a  better within us2 and   
,browning had to learn that we are aware
 of our  ignorance1 only because we have
 the consciousness of fuller truth with 
which we contrast our knowledge4        
,browning1 indeed1 knew that the        
consciousness of evil was itself        
evidence of the presence of good1 that  
perfection means death1 and progress is 
life1 on the side of morals2 but  he has
 missed the corresponding truth on the  
side of knowledge4 ,if he  acknowledges 

that the highest revealed itself to man1
 on the practical  side1 as love2 he    
does not see that it has also manifested
 itself to  man1 on the theoretical     
side1 as reason4 ,the self-communication
 of the  ,infinite is incomplete love is
 a quality of ,god1 intelligence a      
quality  of man2 hence1 on one side1    
there is no limit to achievement1 but on
 the  other there is impotence4 ,human  
nature is absolutely divided against    
itself2 and the division1 as we have    
already seen1 is not between flesh  and 
spirit1 but between a love which is     
,god's own and perfect1 and an          
intelligence which is merely man's and  
altogether weak and deceptive4    ,this 
is what makes ,browning think it        
impossible to re-establish faith in     
,god1 except by turning his back on     
knowledge2 but whether it is possible   
for him to appeal to the moral          
consciousness1 we shall inquire in the  
next chapter4          ,,chapter ,x4    
,,the ,,heart ,,and ,,the               

,,head4--,,love ,,and ,,reason4         
,and though all the winds of doctrine   
were let loose to      play upon the    
earth1 so truth be in the field1 we do  
injuriously by licensing and prohibiting
 to misdoubt her      strength4 ,let her
 and falsehood grapple2 who ever knew   
truth put to the worse1 in a free and   
open encounter4,a    ,footnote ,a3      
,milton's ,areopagitica4    ,it has been
 shown that ,browning appeals1 in       
defence of his optimistic  faith1 from  
the intellect to the heart4 ,his theory 
rests on three main                     
assumptions3--namely 7#a7 that knowledge
 of the true nature of things is        
impossible to man1 and that1 therefore1 
it is necessary to find other  and      
better evidence than the intellect can  
give for the victory of good  over evil2
 7#b7 that the failure of knowledge is a
 necessary condition of  the moral life1
 inasmuch as certain knowledge would    
render all moral  effort either futile  
or needless2 7#c7 that after the failure

 of  knowledge there still remains      
possible a faith of the heart1 which can
  furnish a sufficient objective basis  
to morality and religion4 ,the first  of
 these assumptions ,i endeavoured to    
deal with in the last chapter4 ,i  now  
turn to the remaining two4              
,demonstrative1 or certain1 or absolute 
knowledge of the actual nature of       
things would1 ,browning asserts1 destroy
 the very possibility of a moral        
life4,a ,for such knowledge would show  
either that evil is evil1 or that  evil 
is good2 and1 in both cases alike1 the  
benevolent activity of love  would be   
futile4 ,in the first case1 it would be 
thwarted and arrested by  despair2 for1 
if evil be evil1 it must remain evil for
 aught that man  can do4 ,man cannot    
effect a change in the nature of things1
 nor create a  good in a world dominated
 by evil4 ,in the second case1 the      
saving effect  of moral love would be   
unnecessary2 for1 if evil be only       
seeming1 then  all things are perfect   

and complete1 and there is no need of   
interference4 ,it is necessary1         
therefore1 that man should be in a      
permanent state of doubt as to the real 
existence of evil2 and1 whether  evil   
does exist or not1 it must seem1 and    
only seem to exist to man1 in  order    
that he may devote himself to the       
service of good4,b    ,footnote ,a3 ,see
 ,chapter ,,viii41 p4 #bee4    ,footnote
 ,b3 ,ibid4    ,now1 if this view of the
 poet be taken in the strict sense in   
which he  uses it in this argument1 it  
admits of a very easy refutation4 ,it   
takes  us beyond the bounds of all      
possible human experience1 into an      
imaginary  region1 as to which all      
assertions are equally valueless4 ,it is
  impossible to conceive how the conduct
 of a being who is moral would be       
affected by absolute knowledge2 or1     
indeed1 to conceive the existence of    
such a being4 ,for morality1 as the poet
 insists1 is a process in which  an     
ideal is gradually realized through     

conflict with the actual--an  actual    
which it both produces and transmutes at
 every stage of the  progress4 ,but     
complete knowledge would be above all   
process4 ,hence we  would have1 on      
,browning's hypothesis1 to conceive of a
 being in whom  perfect knowledge was   
combined with an undeveloped will4 ,a   
being so  constituted would be an       
agglomerate of utterly disparate        
elements1 the  interaction of which in a
 single character it would be impossible
 to  make intelligible4    ,but1 setting
 aside this point1 there is a curious   
flaw in ,browning's  argument1 which    
indicates that he had not distinguished 
between two  forms of optimism which are
 essentially different from each        
other1--namely1 the pantheistic and the 
,christian4    ,to know that evil is    
only apparent1 that pain is only        
pleasure's mask1  that all forms of     
wickedness and misery are only illusions
 of an  incomplete intelligence1 would1 
he argues1 arrest all moral action and  

stultify love4 ,for love--which         
necessarily implies need in its         
object--is the principle of all right   
action4 ,in this he argues justly1  for 
the moral life is essentially a conflict
 and progress2 and1 in a  world in which
 white ruled unchecked along the line1  
there would be  neither the need of     
conflict nor the possibility of         
progress4 ,and1 on  the other hand1 if  
the good were merely a phantom1 and evil
 the reality1  the same destruction of  
moral activity would follow4 ,white may 
not  triumph1 in this absolute manner1  
nor may we clean abolish1 once and      
evermore1 white's faintest trace4 ,there
 must be the constant shade  cast on    
life's shine4    ,all this is true2 but 
the admission of it in no way militates 
against  the conception of absolutely   
valid knowledge2 nor is it any proof    
that  we need live in the twilight of   
perpetual doubt1 in order to be moral4  
,for the knowledge1 of which ,browning  
speaks1 would be knowledge of a  state  

of things in which morality would be    
really impossible2 that is1  it would be
 knowledge of a world in which all was  
evil or all was good4  ,on the other    
hand1 valid knowledge of a world in     
which good and evil are  in conflict1   
and in which the former is realized     
through victory over  the latter1 would 
not destroy morality4 ,what is          
inconsistent with the  moral life is the
 conception of a world where there is no
 movement from  evil to good1 no        
evolution of character1 but merely the  
stand-still life  of ,rephan4 ,but      
absolutely certain knowledge that the   
good is at issue  with sin in the world1
 that there is no way of attaining      
goodness except  through conflict with  
evil1 and that moral life1 as the poet  
so  frequently insists1 is a process    
which converts all actual attainment    
into a dead self1 from which we can rise
 to higher things--a self1  therefore1  
which is relatively evil--would1 and    
does1 inspire morality4  ,it is the     

deification of evil not negated or      
overcome1 of evil as it is  in itself   
and apart from all process1 which       
destroys morality4 ,and the  same is    
equally true of a pantheistic optimism1 
which asserts that all  things are good4
 ,but it is not true of a ,christian    
optimism1 which  asserts that all things
 are working together for good4 ,for    
such  optimism implies that the process 
of negating or overcoming evil is       
essential to the attainment of goodness2
 it does not imply that evil1 as  evil1 
is ever good4 ,evil is unreal1 only in  
the sense that it cannot  withstand the 
power which is set against it4 ,it is   
not mere semblance1  a mere negation or 
absence of being2 it is opposed to the  
good1 and its  opposition can be        
overcome1 only by the moral effort which
 it calls  forth4 ,an optimistic faith  
of this kind can find room for morality2
 and1  indeed1 it furnishes it with the 
religious basis it needs4 ,browning1    
however1 has confused these two forms of

 optimism2 and1 therefore1 he  has been 
driven to condemn knowledge1 because he 
knew no alternative but  that of either 
making evil eternally real1 or making it
 absolutely  unreal4 ,a third           
alternative1 however1 is supplied by the
 conception of  moral evolution4        
,knowledge of the conditions on which   
good can be  attained--a knowledge that 
amounts to conviction--is the spring of 
all  moral effort2 whereas an attitude  
of permanent doubt as to the            
distinction between good and evil would 
paralyse it4 ,such a doubt must  be     
solved before man can act at all1 or    
choose one end rather than  another4    
,all action implies belief1 and the     
ardour and vigour of moral  action can  
only come from a belief which is        
whole-hearted4    ,the further          
assertion1 which the poet makes in ,la  
,saisiaz1 and repeats  elsewhere1 that  
sure knowledge of the consequences that 
follow good and  evil actions would     
necessarily lead to the choice of good  

and the  avoidance of evil1 and destroy 
morality by destroying liberty of       
choice1  raises the whole question of   
the relation of knowledge and conduct1  
and  cannot be adequately discussed     
here4 ,it may be said1 however1 that it 
rests upon a confusion between two forms
 of necessity3 namely1 natural  and     
spiritual necessity4 ,in asserting that 
knowledge of the consequences  of evil  
would determine human action in a       
necessary way1 the poet  virtually      
treats man as if he were a natural      
being4 ,but the assumption  that man is 
responsible and liable to punishment1   
involves that he is  capable of         
withstanding all such determination4    
,and knowledge does not  and cannot lead
 to such necessary determination4       
,reason brings freedom2  for reason     
constitutes the ends of action4    ,it  
is the constant desire of the good to   
attain to such a convincing  knowledge  
of the worth and dignity of the moral   
law that they shall be  able to make    

themselves its devoted instruments4     
,their desire is that  the good shall   
supplant in them all motives that       
conflict against it1  and be the inner  
principle1 or necessity1 of all their   
actions4 ,such  complete devotion to the
 good is expressed1 for instance1 in the
 words  of the ,hebrew ,psalmist3 ,thy  
testimonies have ,i taken as an heritage
 for  ever2 for they are the rejoicing  
of my heart4 ,i have inclined mine heart
  to perform ,thy statutes alway1 even  
unto the end4 ,i hate vain thoughts1    
but ,thy law do ,i love4 ,nevertheless  
,i live1 said the ,christian  apostle1  
yet not ,i1 but ,christ liveth in me2   
and the life which ,i now  live in the  
flesh ,i live by the faith of the ,son  
of ,god4 ,in these words  there is      
expressed that highest form of the moral
 life1 in which the  individual is so   
identified in desire with his ideal1    
that he lives only  to actualize it in  
his character4 ,the natural self is     
represented as  dead1 and the victory of

 the new principle is viewed as         
complete4 ,this  full obedience to the  
ideal is the service of a necessity2 but
 the  necessity is within1 and the      
service is1 therefore1 perfect freedom4 
,the  authority of the law is absolute1 
but the law is self-imposed4 ,the whole 
man is convinced of its goodness4 ,he   
has acquired something even fuller  than
 a mere intellectual demonstration of   
it2 for his knowledge has  ripened into 
wisdom1 possessed his sympathies1 and   
become a disposition  of his heart4 ,and
 the fulness and certainty of his       
knowledge1 so far  from rendering       
morality impossible1 is its very        
perfection4 ,to bring  about such a     
knowledge of the good of goodness and   
the evil of evil1 as  will engender love
 of the former and hatred of the latter1
 is the aim of  all moral education4    
,thus1 the history of human life1 in so 
far as it is  progressive1 may be       
concentrated in the saying that it is   
the ascent  from the power of a         

necessity which is natural1 to the power
 of a  necessity which is moral4 ,and   
this latter necessity can come only     
through fuller and more convincing      
knowledge of the law that rules the     
world1 and is also the inner principle  
of man's nature4    ,there remains now  
the third element in ,browning's        
view1--namely1 that  the faith in the   
good1 implied in morality and religion1 
can be firmly  established1 after       
knowledge has turned out deceptive1 upon
 the  individual's consciousness of the 
power of love within himself4 ,in other 
words1 ,i must now try to estimate the  
value of ,browning's appeal from  the   
intellect to the heart4    ,before doing
 so1 however1 it may be well to repeat  
once more that  ,browning's condemnation
 of knowledge1 in his philosophical     
poems1 is not  partial or hesitating4   
,on the contrary1 he confines it        
definitely to the  individual's         
consciousness of his own inner states4  
,myself ,i solely recognize4    ,they1  

too1 may recognize themselves1 not me1  
,for aught ,i know or care4,a           
,footnote ,a3 ,a ,bean-,stripe4 ,see    
also ,la ,saisiaz4    ,nor does         
,browning endeavour to correct this     
limited testimony of the  intellect as  
to its own states1 by bringing in the   
miraculous aid of  revelation1 or by    
postulating an unerring moral faculty4  
,he does not  assume an intuitive power 
of knowing right from wrong2 but he     
maintains  that ignorance enwraps man's 
moral sense4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,see    
,chapter ,,viii4    ,and1 not only are  
we unable to know the rule of right and 
wrong in  details1 but we cannot know   
whether there is right or wrong4 ,at    
times  the poet seems inclined to say   
that evil is a phenomenon conjured up by
  the frail intelligence of man4        
,man's fancy makes the fault6    ,man1  
with the narrow mind1 must cram inside  
,his finite ,god's infinitude1--earth's 
vault    ,he bids comprise the heavenly 
far and wide1    ,since ,man may claim a

 right to understand    ,what passes    
understanding4,a    ,footnote ,a3       
,bernard de ,mandeville4    ,god's ways 
are past finding out4 ,nay1 ,god        
,himself is unknown4 ,at times1  indeed1
 the power to love within man seems to  
the poet to be a clue to  the nature of 
the ,power without1 and ,god is all but 
revealed in this  surpassing emotion of 
the human heart4 ,but1 when             
philosophizing1 he  withdraws even this 
amount of knowledge4 ,he is             
,assured that1 whatsoe'er the quality   
,of love's cause1 save that love was    
caused thereby1    ,this--nigh upon     
revealment as it seemed    ,a minute    
since--defies thy longing looks1        
,withdrawn into the unknowable once     
more4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,a ,pillar at  
,sebzevar4    ,thus--to sum up          
,browning's view of knowledge--we are   
ignorant of the  world2 we do not know  
even whether it is good1 or evil1 or    
only their  semblance1 that is presented
 to us in human life2 and we know       

nothing of  ,god1 except that ,he is the
 cause of love in man4 ,what greater    
depth of  agnosticism is possible8      
,when the doctrine is put in this bald  
form1 the moral and religious           
consciousness of man1 on behalf of which
 the theory was invented1  revolts      
against it4    ,nevertheless1 the       
distinction made by ,browning between   
the intellectual  and emotional elements
 of human life is very common in        
religious  thought4 ,it is not often1   
indeed1 that either the worth of love1  
or the  weakness of knowledge receives  
such emphatic expression as that which  
is  given to them by the poet2 but the  
same general idea of their relation  is 
often expressed1 and still more often   
implied4 ,browning differs from  our    
ordinary teachers mainly in the boldness
 of his affirmatives and  negatives4    
,they1 too1 regard the intellect as     
merely human1 and the  emotion of love  
as divine4 ,they1 too1 shrink from      
identifying the reason  of man with the 

reason of ,god2 even though they may    
recognize that  morality and religion   
must postulate some kind of unity       
between ,god and  man4 ,they1 too1      
conceive that human knowledge differs in
 nature from  that of ,god1 while they  
maintain that human goodness is the same
 in  nature with that of ,god1 though   
different in degree and fulness4 ,there 
are two kinds of knowledge1 but there is
 only one kind of justice1 or  mercy1 or
 loving-kindness4 ,man must be content  
with a semblance of a  knowledge of     
truth2 but a semblance of goodness1     
would be intolerable4  ,god really      
reveals ,himself to man in morality and 
religion1 and ,he  communicates to man  
nothing less than the divine love4 ,but 
there is no  such close connection on   
the side of reason4 ,the religious life 
of man  is a divine principle1 the      
indwelling of ,god in him2 but there is 
a  final and fatal defect in man's      
knowledge4 ,the divine love's           
manifestation of itself is ever         

incomplete1 it is true1 even in the best
  of men2 but there is no defect in its 
nature4    ,as a consequence of this    
doctrine1 few religious opinions are    
more  common at the present day1 than   
that it is necessary to appeal1 on all  
the high concerns of man's moral and    
religious life1 from the intellect  to  
the heart4 ,where we cannot know1 we may
 still feel2 and the religious  man may 
have1 in his own feeling of the divine1 
a more intimate  conviction of the      
reality of that in which he trusts1 than
 could be  produced by any intellectual 
process4                  ,enough to    
say1 ',i feel    ,love's sure effect1   
and1 being loved1 must love    ,the love
 its cause behind1--,i can and do4',a   
,footnote ,a3 ,a ,piller at ,sebzevar4  
,reason1 in trying to scale the heights 
of truth1 falls-back1 impotent  and     
broken1 into doubt and despair2 not by  
that way can we come to that  which is  
best and highest4      ,i found ,him not
 in world or sun1      ,or eagle's wing1

 or insect's eye2      ,nor thro' the   
questions men may try1    ,the petty    
cobwebs we have spun4,b    ,footnote ,b3
 ,in ,memoriam4    ,but there is another
 way to find ,god and to conquer doubt4 
,if e'er when faith had fall'n asleep1  
,i heard a voice 'believe no more1'     
,and heard an ever-breaking-shore       
,that tumbled in the ,godless deep2     
,a warmth within the breast would melt  
,the freezing reason's colder part1     
,and like a man in wrath the heart      
,stood up and answer'd ',i have felt4',a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,in ,memoriam4        
,what1 then1 ,i have now to ask1 is the 
meaning and value of this appeal  to    
emotion8 ,can love1 or emotion in any of
 its forms1 reveal truths to  man which 
his intellect cannot discover8 ,if so1  
how8 ,if not1 how shall  we account for 
the general conviction of good men that 
it can8 ,we have1  in a word1 either to 
justify the appeal to the heart1 by     
explaining how  the heart may utter     
truths that are hidden from reason2 or  

else to  account for the illusion1 by   
which religious emotion seems to reveal 
such truths4    ,the first requirement  
is shown to be unreasonable by the very 
terms in  which it is made4 ,the        
intuitive insight of faith1 the         
immediate  conviction of the heart1     
cannot render1 and must not try to      
render1 any  account of itself4 ,proof  
is a process2 but there is no process in
 this  direct conviction of truth4 ,its 
assertion is just the denial of process2
  it is a repudiation of all            
connections2 in such a faith of feeling 
there  are no cob-web lines relating    
fact to fact1 which doubt could break4  
,feeling is the immediate unity of the  
subject and object4 ,i am pained1       
because ,i cannot rid myself of an      
element which is already within me2 ,i  
am lifted into the emotion of pleasure1 
or happiness1 or bliss1 by the          
consciousness that ,i am already at one 
with an object that fulfils my  longings
 and satisfies my needs4 ,hence1 there  

seems to be ground for  saying that1 in 
this instance1 the witness cannot lie2  
for it cannot go  before the fact1 as it
 is itself the effect of the fact4 ,if  
the emotion  is pleasurable it is the   
consciousness of the unity within2 if it
 is  painful1 of the disunity4 ,in      
feeling1 ,i am absolutely with myself2  
and  there seems1 therefore1 to be no   
need of attempting to justify1 by means 
of reason1 a faith in ,god which        
manifests itself in emotion4 ,the       
emotion  itself is its own sufficient   
witness1 a direct result of the intimate
  union of man with the object of       
devotion4 ,nay1 we may go further1 and  
say that the demand is an unjust one1   
which betrays ignorance of the  true    
nature of moral intuition and religious 
feeling4    ,i am not concerned to deny 
the truth that lies in the view here    
stated2  and no advocate of the dignity 
of human reason1 or of the worth of     
human  knowledge1 is called upon to deny
 it4 ,there is a sense in which the     

conviction of faith or feeling is more  
intimate and strong than any  process of
 proof4 ,but this does not in any wise  
justify the contention  of those who    
maintain that we can feel what we do not
 in any sense know1  or that the heart  
can testify to that of which the        
intellect is  absolutely silent4        
,so let us say--not ',since we know1 we 
love1'    ,but rather1 ',since we love1 
we know enough4',a    ,footnote ,a3 ,a  
,pillar at ,sebzevar4    ,in these two  
lines there are combined the truth ,i   
would acknowledge1 and  the error ,i    
would confute4 ,love is1 in one way1    
sufficient knowledge2  or1 rather1 it is
 the direct testimony of that completest
 knowledge1 in  which subject and object
 interpenetrate4 ,for1 where love is1   
all foreign  elements have been         
eliminated4 ,there is not one and one   
with a shadowy  third2 but the object is
 brought within the self as constituting
 part  of its very life4 ,this is       
involved in all the great forms of human

  thought--in science and art1 no less  
than in morality and religion4 ,it  is  
the truth that we love1 and only that1  
which is altogether ours4 ,by  means of 
love the poet is      ,made one with    
,nature4 ,there is heard    ,his voice  
in all her music1 from the moan    ,of  
thunder to the song of night's sweet    
bird 2    and it is because he is made  
one with her that he is able to reveal  
her  inmost secrets4 ,man1 said ,fichte1
 can will nothing but what he loves2    
his love is the sole and at the same    
time the infallible spring of his       
volition1 and of all his life's striving
 and movement4 ,it is only when  we have
 identified ourselves with an ideal1 and
 made its realization our  own interest1
 that we strive to attain it4 ,love is  
revelation in  knowledge1 inspiration in
 art1 motive in morality1 and the       
fulness of  religious joy4    ,but1     
although in this sense love is greater  
than knowledge1 it is a  grave error to 
separate it from knowledge4 ,in the life

 of man at least1  the separation of the
 emotional and intellectual elements    
extinguishes  both4 ,we cannot know that
 in which we have no interest4 ,the very
 effort  to comprehend an object rests  
on interest1 or the feeling of ourselves
  in it2 so that knowledge1 as well as  
morality1 may be said to begin in  love4
 ,we cannot know except we love2 but1 on
 the other hand1 we cannot  love that   
which we do not in some degree know4    
,wherever the frontiers of  knowledge   
may be it is certain that there is      
nothing beyond them which  can either   
arouse feeling1 or be a steadying centre
 for it4 ,emotion is  like a climbing   
plant4 ,it clings to the tree of        
knowledge1 adding beauty  to its        
strength4 ,but1 without knowledge1 it is
 impossible for man4 ,there  is no      
feeling which is not also incipient     
knowledge2 for feeling is only  the     
subjective side of knowledge--that face 
of the known fact which is  turned      
inwards4    ,if1 therefore1 the poet's  

agnosticism were taken literally1 and1  
in his  philosophical poems he obviously
 means it to be taken literally1 it     
would lead to a denial of the very      
principles of religion and morality1    
which it was meant to support4 ,his     
appeal to love would then1 strictly     
speaking1 be an appeal to the love of   
nothing known1 or knowable2 and  such   
love is impossible4 ,for love1 if it is 
to be distinguished from the  organic1  
impulse of beast towards beast1 must    
have an object4 ,a mere  instinctive    
activity of benevolence in man1 by means
 of which he  lightened the sorrows of  
his brethren1 if not informed with      
knowledge1  would have no more moral    
worth than the grateful warmth of the   
sun4 ,such  love as this there may be in
 the animal creation4 ,if the bird is   
not  rational1 we may say that it builds
 its nest and lines it for its brood1   
pines for its partner and loves it1 at  
the bidding of the returning  spring1 in
 much the same way as the meadows burst 

into flower4 ,without  knowledge1 the   
whole process is merely a natural one2  
or1 if it be more1  it is so only in so 
far as the life of emotion can be       
regarded as a  foretaste of the life of 
thought4 ,but such a natural process is 
not  possible to man4 ,every activity in
 him is relative to his                 
self-consciousness1 and takes a new     
character from that relation4 ,his  love
 at the best and worst is the love of   
something that he knows1 and  in which  
he seeks to find himself made rich with 
new sufficiency4 ,thus  love can not    
ally itself with ignorance4 ,it is1     
indeed1 an impulse  pressing for the    
closer communion of the lover with the  
object of his  love4          ,like two 
meteors of expanding flame1    ,those   
spheres instinct with it become the     
same1    ,touch1 mingle1 are            
transfigured2 ever still    ,burning1   
yet ever inconsumable2    ,in one       
another's substance finding food4,a     
,footnote ,a3 ,shelley's ,epipsychidion4

    ,but1 for a being such as ,browning 
describes1 who is shut up within the    
blind walls of his own self1 the        
self-transcending impulse of love would 
be impossible4 ,if man's inner          
consciousness is to be conceived as a   
dark  room shutting out the world1 upon 
whose shadowy phenomena the candle of   
introspection throws a dim and uncertain
 light1 then he can have no  interest   
outside of himself2 nor can he ever take
 that first step in  goodness1 which    
carries him beyond his narrow           
individuality to seek and  find a larger
 self in others4 ,morality1 even in its 
lowest form1 implies  knowledge1 and    
knowledge of something better than those
 apparent  other mortals4 ,with the     
first dawn of the moral life comes the  
consciousness of an ideal1 which is not 
actual2 and such a break with  the      
natural is not possible except to him   
who has known a better and  desired it4 
,the ethical endeavour of man is the    
attempt to convert ideas  into          

actuality2 and all his activity as moral
 agent takes place within  the sphere   
that is illumined by the light of       
knowledge4 ,if knowledge  breaks down1  
there is no law of action which he can  
obey4 ,the moral law  that must be      
apprehended1 and whose authority must be
 recognized by man1  either sinks out of
 being or becomes an illusive phantom1  
if man is  doomed to ignorance or false 
knowledge4 ,to extinguish truth is to   
extinguish goodness4    ,in like manner1
 religion1 which the poet would fain    
defend for man by  means of agnosticism1
 becomes impossible1 if knowledge be    
denied4  ,religion is not blind emotion2
 nor can mere feeling1 however ecstatic1
  ascend to ,god4 ,animals feel1 but    
they are not1 and cannot be1            
religious--unless they can know4 ,the   
love of ,god implies knowledge4 ,i  know
 ,him whom ,i have believed is the      
language of religion4 ,for what is      
religion but a conscious identification 
of the self with ,one who is  known to  

fulfil its needs and satisfy its        
aspirations8 ,agnosticism is  thus      
directly destructive of it4 ,we cannot1 
indeed1 prove ,god as the  conclusion of
 a syllogism1 for ,he is the primary    
hypothesis of all  proof4 ,but1         
nevertheless1 we cannot reach ,him      
without knowledge4 ,emotion  reveals no 
object1 but is consequent upon the      
revelation of it2 feeling  yields no    
truth1 but is the witness of the worth  
of a truth for the  individual4 ,if man 
were shut up to mere feeling1 even the  
awe of the  devout agnostic would be    
impossible4 ,for the ,unknowable cannot 
generate  any emotion4 ,it appears to do
 so1 only because the ,unknowable of the
  agnostic is not altogether unknown to 
him2 but is a vast1 abysmal  ,something1
 that has occupied with its shadowy     
presence the field of  his imagination4 
,it is paganism stricken with the       
plague1 and philosophy  afflicted with  
blindness1 that build altars to an      
unknown ,god4 ,the  highest and the     

strongest faith1 the deepest trust and  
the most loving1  come with the fullest 
knowledge4 ,indeed1 the distinction     
between the awe  of the agnostic1 which 
is the lowest form of religion1 and that
 highest  form in which perfect love    
casteth out fear1 springs from the      
fuller  knowledge of the nature of the  
object of warship1 which the latter     
implies4 ,thus1 religion and morality   
grow with the growth of knowledge2  and 
neither has a worse enemy than          
ignorance4 ,the human spirit cannot     
grow in a one-sided manner4 ,devotion to
 great moral ends is possible1  only    
through the deepening and widening of   
man's knowledge of the nature  of the   
world4 ,those who know ,god best1 render
 unto ,him the purest  service4    ,so  
evident is this1 that it seems at first 
sight to be difficult to  account for   
that antagonism to the intellect and    
distrust of its  deliverances1 which are
 so emphatically expressed in the       
writings of  ,browning1 and which are   

marked characteristics of the ordinary  
religious  opinion of our day4 ,on      
closer examination1 however1 we shall   
discover  that it is not pure emotion1  
or mere feeling1 whose authority is set 
above that of reason1 but rather the    
emotion which is the result of          
knowledge4 ,the appeal of the religious 
man from the doubts and  difficulties1  
which reason levels against the faith1  
is really an  appeal to the character   
that lies behind the emotion4 ,the      
conviction of  the heart1 that refuses  
to yield to the arguments of the        
understanding1  is not mere feeling2    
but1 rather1 the complex experience of  
the past  life1 that manifests itself in
 feeling4 ,when an individual1 clinging 
to  his moral or religious faith1 says1 
,i have felt it1 he opposes to the      
doubt1 not his feeling as such1 but his 
personality in all the wealth of  its   
experience4 ,the appeal to the heart is 
the appeal to the unproved1  but not1   
therefore1 unauthorized1 testimony of   

the best men at their  best moments1    
when their vision of truth is clearest4 
,no one pretends  that the loud and     
empty voice of untrained passion and    
prejudice has  any authority in matters 
of moral and religious faith2 though1 in
 such  cases1 feeling may lack neither  
depth nor intensity4 ,if the feelings   
of the good man were dissociated from   
his character1 and stripped bare  of all
 the significance they obtain therefrom1
 their worthlessness would  become      
apparent4 ,the profound error of        
condemning knowledge in order to  honour
 feeling1 is hidden only by the fact    
that the feeling is already  informed   
and inspired with knowledge4 ,religious 
agnosticism1 like all  other forms of   
the theory of nescience1 derives its    
plausibility from  the adventitious help
 it purloins from the knowledge which it
 condemns4    ,that it is to such       
feeling that ,browning really appeals   
against  knowledge becomes abundantly   
evident1 when we bear in mind that he   

always calls it love4 ,for love in man  
is never ignorant4 ,it knows its        
object1 and is a conscious              
identification of the self with it4 ,and
 to  ,browning1 the object of love1 when
 love is at its best--of that love by   
means of which he refutes intellectual  
pessimism--is mankind4 ,the revolt  of  
the heart against all evil is a desire  
for the good of all men4 ,in  other     
words1 his refuge against the assailing 
doubts which spring from  the intellect1
 is in the moral consciousness4 ,but    
that consciousness is  no mere emotion2 
it is a consciousness which knows the   
highest good1 and  moves in sympathy    
with it4 ,it is our maturest wisdom2 for
 it is the  manifestation of the        
presence and activity of the ideal1 the 
fullest  knowledge and the surest4      
,compared with this1 the emotion linked 
to  ignorance1 of which the poet speaks 
in his philosophic theory1 is a very    
poor thing4 ,it is poorer than the      
lowest human love4    ,now1 if this     

higher interpretation of the term heart 
be accepted1 it  is easily seen why its 
authority should seem higher than that  
of reason2  and particularly1 if it be  
remembered that1 while the heart is thus
  widened to take in all direct         
consciousness of the ideal1 the reason  
is reduced to the power of reflection1  
or mental analysis4 ,the heart1  in this
 sense1 is the intensest unity of the   
complex experiences of a  whole life1   
while the reason is taken merely as a   
faculty which  invents arguments1 and   
provides grounds and evidences2 it is   
what is  called1 in the language of     
,german philosophy1 the understanding4  
,now1  in this sense1 the understanding 
has1 at best1 only a borrowed           
authority4 ,it is the faculty of rules  
rather than of principles4 ,it is  ever 
dogmatic1 assertive1 repellent1 hard2   
and it always advances its  forces in   
single line4 ,its logic never convinced 
any one of truth or  error1 unless1     
beneath the arguments which it advanced1

 there lay some  deeper principle of    
concord4 ,thus1 the opposition between  
faith and  reason1 rightly interpreted1 
is that between a concrete experience1  
instinct with life and conviction1 and a
 mechanical arrangement of  abstract    
arguments4 ,the quarrel of the heart is 
not with reason1 but  with reasons4     
,evidences of ,christianity8 said       
,coleridge2 ,i am weary  of the word4   
,it is this weariness of evidence1 of   
the endless arguments  pro and con1     
which has caused so many to distrust    
reason and  knowledge1 and which has    
sometimes driven believers to the       
dangerous  expedient of making their    
faith dogmatic and absolute4 ,nor have  
the  opponents of the faith been slow to
 seize the opportunity thus offered     
them4 ,from the moment that a religion  
solicits the aid of philosophy1  its    
ruin is inevitable1 said ,heine4 ,in the
 attempt at defence1 it  prates itself  
into destruction4 ,religion1 like every 
absolutism1 must  not seek to justify   

itself4 ,prometheus is bound to the rock
 by a silent  force4 ,yea1 ,aeschylus   
permits not personified power to utter a
 single  word4 ,it must remain mute4    
,the moment that a religion ventures to 
print  a catechism supported by         
arguments1 the moment that a political  
absolutism publishes an official        
newspaper1 both are near their end4 ,but
  therein consists our triumph3 we have 
brought our adversaries to speech1  and 
they must reckon with us4,a ,but1 we may
 answer1 religion is not  an absolutism2
 and1 therefore1 it is not near its end 
when it ventures  to justify itself4 ,on
 the contrary1 no spiritual power1 be it
 moral or  religious1 can maintain its  
authority1 if it assumes a despotic     
attitude2 for the human spirit          
inevitably moves towards freedom1 and   
that movement is the deepest necessity  
of its nature1 which it cannot  escape4 
,religion1 on the ground of its         
sanctity1 and law1 on the ground  of its
 majesty1 often resist the sifting of   

their claims4 ,but in so  doing1 they   
inevitably awake a not unjust suspicion 
that their claims  are ill-founded4     
,they can command the unfeigned homage  
of man1 only when  they have shown      
themselves able to stand the test of    
free inquiry4    ,footnote ,a3 ,religion
 and ,philosophy in ,germany4    ,and if
 it is an error to suppose1 with        
,browning1 that the primary truths  of  
the moral and religious consciousness   
belong to a region which is  higher than
 knowledge1 and can1 from that side1 be 
neither assailed nor  defended2 it is   
also an error to suppose that reason is 
essentially  antagonistic to them4 ,the 
facts of morality and religion are      
precisely  the richest facts of         
knowledge2 and that faith is the most   
secure which  is most completely        
illumined by reason4 ,religion at its   
best is not a  dogmatic despotism1 nor  
is reason a merely critical and         
destructive  faculty4 ,if reason is     
loyal to the truth of religion on which 

it is  exercised1 it will reach beneath 
all the conflict and clamour of         
disputation1 to the principle of unity1 
on which1 as we have seen1 both  reason 
and religion rest4    ,the faith to     
which religious spirits appeal against  
all the attacks of  doubt1 the love of  
,browning1 is really implicit reason2 it
 is  abbreviated or concentrated        
knowledge2 it is the manifold           
experiences  of life focussed into an   
intense unity4 ,and1 on the other hand1 
the  reason which they condemn is what  
,carlyle calls the logic-chopping       
faculty4 ,in taking the side of faith   
when troubled with difficulties  which  
they cannot lay1 they are really        
defending the cause of reason  against  
that of the understanding4 ,for it is   
quite true that the  understanding1 that
 is1 the reason as reflective or        
critical1 can never  bring about either 
a moral or religious life4 ,it cannot   
create a  religion1 any more than       
physiology can produce men4 ,the        

reflection which  brings doubt is always
 secondary2 it can only exercise itself 
on a given  material4 ,as ,hegel        
frequently pointed out1 it is not the   
function of  moral philosophy to create 
or to institute a morality or religion1 
but  to understand them4 ,the facts must
 first be given2 they must be actual    
experiences of the human spirit4 ,moral 
philosophy and theology differ  from the
 moral or religious life1 in the same   
way as geology differs  from the earth1 
or astronomy from the heavenly bodies4  
,the latter are  facts2 the former are  
theories about the facts4 ,religion is  
an attitude  of the human spirit towards
 the highest2 morality is the           
realization of  character2 and these are
 not to be confused with their          
reflective  interpretations4 ,much of   
the difficulty in these matters comes   
from the  lack of a clear distinction   
between beliefs and creeds4    ,further1
 not only are the utterances of the     
heart prior to the  deliverances of the 

intellect in this sense1 but it may also
 be admitted  that the latter can never 
do full justice to the contents of the  
former4  ,so rich is character in       
content and so complex is spiritual     
life1 that  we can never1 by means of   
reflection1 lift into clear             
consciousness all  the elements that    
enter into it4 ,into the organism of our
 experience1  which is our faith1 there 
is continually absorbed the subtle      
influences  of our complex natural and  
social environment4 ,we grow by means of
 them1  as the plant grows by feeding on
 the soil and the sunshine and dew4 ,it 
is as impossible for us to set forth1   
one by one1 the truths and errors  which
 we have thus worked into our mental and
 moral life1 as it is to  keep a        
reckoning of the physical atoms with    
which the natural life  builds up the   
body4 ,hence1 every attempt to justify  
these truths seems  inadequate2 and the 
defence which the understanding sets up 
for the  faith1 always seems partial and

 cold4 ,who ever fully expressed his    
deepest convictions8 ,the consciousness 
of the dignity of the moral law         
affected ,kant like the view of the     
starry firmament1 and generated a       
feeling of the sublime which words could
 not express2 and the religious  ecstasy
 of the saints cannot be confined within
 the channels of speech1  but floods the
 soul with overmastering power1         
possessing all its  faculties4 ,in this 
respect1 it will always remain true that
 the greatest  facts of human experience
 reach beyond all knowledge4 ,nay1 we   
may add  further1 that in this respect  
the simplest of these facts passes all  
understanding4 ,still1 as we have       
already seen1 it is reason that         
constitutes them2 that which is         
presented to reason for explanation1 in 
knowledge and morality and religion1 is 
itself the product of reason4  ,reason  
is the power which1 by interaction with 
our environment1 has  generated the     
whole of our experience4 ,and1 just as  

natural science  interprets the         
phenomena given to it by ordinary       
opinion1 i4e41  interprets and purifies 
a lower form of knowledge by converting 
it into  a higher2 so the task of reason
 when it is exercised upon morality and 
religion1 is simply to evolve1 and      
amplify the meaning of its own          
products4 ,the movement from morality   
and religion to moral philosophy  and   
the philosophy of religion1 is thus a   
movement from reason to  reason1 from   
the implicit to the explicit1 from the  
germ to the  developed fulness of life  
and structure4 ,in this matter1 as in   
all  others wherein the human spirit is 
concerned1 that which is first by       
nature is last in genesis--,greek3 nika 
d' ho prtos kai teleutaios  dramn4 ,the 
whole history of the moral and religious
 experience of  mankind is comprised in 
the statement1 that the implicit reason 
which we  call faith is ever developing 
towards full consciousness of itself2   
and that1 at its first beginning1 and   

throughout the whole ascending  process 
of this development1 the highest is     
present in it as a  self-manifesting    
power4    ,but this process from the    
almost instinctive intuitions of the    
heart  towards the morality and religion
 of freedom1 being a process of         
evolution1 necessarily involves         
conflict4 ,there are men1 it is true1   
the  unity of whose moral and religious 
faith is never completely broken by     
doubt2 just as there are men who are not
 forced by the contradictions in  the   
first interpretation of the world by    
ordinary experience to attempt  to      
re-interpret it by means of science and 
philosophy4    ,throughout their lives  
they may say like ,pompilia--           
,i know the right place by foot's feel1 
,i took it and tread firm there2        
wherefore change8,a    ,footnote ,a3    
,the ,ring and the ,book--,the ,pope1   
#ahhf-ahhg4    ,jean ,paul ,richter said
 that he knew another way of being      
happy1 beside  that of soaring away so  

far above the clouds of life1 that its  
miseries  looked small1 and the whole   
external world shrunk into a little     
child's  garden4 ,it was1 ,simply to    
sink down into this little garden2 and  
there  to nestle yourself so snugly1 so 
homewise1 in some furrow1 that in       
looking out from your warm lark-nest1   
you likewise can discern no  wolf-dens1 
charnel-houses1 or thunder-rods1 but    
only blades and ears1  every one of     
which1 for the nest-bird1 is a tree1 and
 a sun-screen1 and  rain-screen4 ,there 
is a similar way of being good1 with a  
goodness  which1 though limited1 is pure
 and perfect in nature4 ,nay1 we may    
even  admit that such lives are         
frequently the most complete and        
beautiful1  just as the fairest flowers 
grow1 not on the tallest trees1 but on  
the  fragile plants at their foot4      
,nevertheless1 even in the case of those
  persons who have never broken from the
 traditional faith of the past1 or  felt
 it to be inadequate1 that faith has    

been silently reconstructed in  a new   
synthesis of knowledge4 ,spiritual life 
cannot come by inheritance2  but every  
individual must acquire a faith for     
himself1 and turn his  spiritual        
environment into personal experience4 ,a
 man may be a heretic  in the truth1    
said ,milton1 and if he believe things  
only because his  pastor says so1 or the
 assembly so determines1 without knowing
 other  reason1 though his belief be    
true1 yet the very truth he holds       
becomes  his heresy4 ,it is truth to    
another but tradition to him2 it is a   
creed  and not a conviction4 ,browning  
fully recognizes the need of this       
conflict--      ,is it not this ignoble 
confidence1    ,cowardly hardihood1 that
 dulls and damps1    ,makes the old     
heroism impossible8,a    ,footnote ,a3  
,the ,ring and the ,book--,the ,pope1   
#ahdh-ahej4    asks the ,pope4 ,the     
stream of truth when it ceases to flow  
onward1  becomes a malarious swamp4     
,movement is the law of life2 and       

knowledge of  the principles of morality
 and religion1 as of all other          
principles1  must1 in order to grow1 be 
felt from time to time as inadequate and
  untrue4 ,there are men and ages whose 
mission is--                      to    
shake    ,this torpor of assurance from 
our creed1    ,re-introduce the doubt   
discarded1 bring    ,that formidable    
danger back1 we drove    ,long ago to   
the distance and the dark4,b            
,footnote ,b3 ,ibid41 #ahec-ahef4       
,such a spirit of criticism seems to    
many to exercise a merely  destructive  
power1 and those who have not felt the  
inadequacy of the  inherited faith      
defend themselves against it1 as the    
enemy of their  lives4 ,but no logic1 or
 assailing doubt1 could have power      
against the  testimony of the heart1    
unless it was rooted in deeper and truer
  principles than those which it        
attacked4 ,nothing can overpower truth  
except a larger truth2 and1 in such a   
conflict1 the truth in the old  view    

will ultimately take the side of the    
new1 and find its subordinate  position 
within it4 ,it has happened1 not        
infrequently1 as in the case of  the    
,encyclopdists1 that the explicit truths
 of reason were more  abstract1 that is1
 less true1 than the implicit faith     
which they  assailed4 ,the central      
truths of religion have often proved    
themselves to  possess some stubborn1   
though semi-articulate power1 which     
could  ultimately overcome or           
subordinate the more partial and        
explicit truths  of abstract science4   
,it is this that gives plausibility to  
the idea1  that the testimony of the    
heart is more reliable than that of the 
intellect4 ,but1 in this case also1 it  
was really reason that triumphed4  ,it  
was the truth which proved itself to be 
immortal1 and not any mere  emotion4    
,the insurrection of the intellect      
against the heart is quelled1  only when
 the untruth1 or abstract character1 of 
the principle of the  assailants has    

been made manifest1 and when the old    
faith has yielded up  its unjust gains1 
and proved its vitality and strength by 
absorbing the  truth that gave vigour to
 the attack4 ,just as in morality it is 
the  ideal1 or the unity of the whole   
moral life1 that breaks up into         
differences1 so also here it is the     
implicit faith which1 as it grows1      
breaks forth into doubts4 ,in both cases
 alike1 the negative movement  which    
induces despair1 is only a phase of a   
positive process--the  process of reason
 towards a fuller1 a more articulate and
 complex1  realization of itself4       
,hence it follows that the value and    
strength of a faith corresponds         
accurately to the doubts it has         
overcome4 ,those who never went forth to
  battle cannot come home heroes4 ,it is
 only when the earthquake has tried  the
 towers1 and destroyed the sense of     
security1 that      ,man stands out     
again1 pale1 resolute1    ,prepared to  
die1--that is1 alive at last4    ,as we 

broke up that old faith of the world1   
,have we1 next age1 to break up this the
 new--    ,faith1 in the thing1 grown   
faith in the report--    ,whence need to
 bravely disbelieve report    ,through  
increased faith i' the thing reports    
belie8,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and
 the ,book--,the ,pope1 #ahfb-ahfh4     
,well knows he who uses to consider1    
that our faith and knowledge thrive  by 
exercise1 as well as our limbs and      
complexion4    ,it was1 thus1 ,i        
conclude1 a deep speculative error into 
which ,browning  fell1 when1 in order to
 substantiate his optimistic faith1 he  
stigmatized human knowledge as merely   
apparent4 ,knowledge does not fail1     
except in the sense in which morality   
also fails2 it does not at any  time    
attain to the ultimate truth1 any more  
than the moral life is in  any of its   
activities,b a complete embodiment of   
the absolute good4 ,it  is not given to 
man1 who is essentially progressive1 to 
reach the  ultimate term of development4

 ,for there is no ultimate term3 life   
never  stands still4 ,but1 for the same 
reason1 there is no ultimate failure4   
,the whole history of man is a history  
of growth4 ,if1 however1 knowledge  did 
fail1 then morality too must fail2 and  
the appeal which the poet  makes from   
the intellect to the heart1 would be an 
appeal to mere  emotion4 ,finally1 even 
if we take a generous view of the poet's
 meaning1  and put out of consideration 
the theory he expresses when he is      
deliberately philosophizing1 there is   
still no appeal from the reason to  an  
alien and higher authority4 ,the appeal 
to the heart is1 at best1  only an      
appeal from the understanding to the    
reason1 from a conscious  logic to the  
more concrete fact constituted by       
reason1 which reflection  has failed to 
comprehend in its completeness2 at its  
worst1 it is an  appeal from truth to   
prejudice1 from belief to dogma4        
,footnote ,b3 ,see ,chapter ,,ix41 p4   
#bia4    ,and in both cases alike1 the  

appeal is futile2 for1 whether the heart
  be wiser than the head1 or not1       
whether the faith which is assailed be  
richer or poorer1 truer or more false1  
than the logic which is directed        
against it1 an appeal to the heart      
cannot any longer restore the unity  of 
the broken life4 ,once reflection has   
set in1 there is no way of  turning away
 its destructive might1 except by deeper
 reflection4 ,the  implicit faith of the
 heart must become the explicit faith of
 reason4  ,there is no final and        
satisfactory issue from such an endless 
internal  debate and conflict1 until the
 'heart' has learnt to speak the        
language  of the head--i4e41 until the  
permanent principles1 which underlay and
  gave strength to faith1 have been     
brought into the light of distinct      
consciousness4,a    ,footnote ,a3       
,caird's ,comte4    ,i conclude1        
therefore1 that the poet was right in   
saying that1 in order  to comprehend    
human character1      ,i needs must     

blend the quality of man    ,with       
quality of ,god1 and so assist    ,mere 
human sight to understand my ,life4,a   
,footnote ,a3 ,a                        
,bean-,stripe--,ferishtah's ,fancies4   
,but it was a profound error1 which     
contained in it the destruction of      
morality and religion1 as well as of    
knowledge1 to make the quality of  ,god 
a love that excludes reason1 and the    
quality of man an intellect  incapable  
of knowing truth4 ,such in-congruous    
elements could never be  combined into  
the unity of a character4 ,a love that  
was mere emotion  could not yield a     
motive for morality1 or a principle of  
religion4 ,a  philosophy of life which  
is based on agnosticism is an explicit  
self-contradiction1 which can help no   
one4 ,we must appeal from ,browning  the
 philosopher to ,browning the poet4     
,,chapter ,,xi4    ,,conclusion4        
,well1 ,i can fancy how he did it all1  
,pouring his soul1 with kings and popes 
to see1    ,reaching1 that heaven might 

so replenish him1    ,above and through 
his art--for it gives way2    ,that arm 
is wrongly put--and there again--    ,a 
fault to pardon in the drawing's lines1 
,its body1 so to speak3 its soul is     
right1    ,he means right--that1 a child
 may understand4,a    ,footnote ,a3     
,andrea del ,sarto4    ,i have tried to 
show that ,browning's theory of life1 in
 so far as it is  expressed in his      
philosophical poems1 rests on           
agnosticism2 and that  such a theory is 
inconsistent with the moral and         
religious interests of  man4 ,the idea  
that truth is unattainable was          
represented by ,browning as  a bulwark  
of the faith1 but it proved on          
examination to be treacherous4  ,his    
optimism was found to have no better    
foundation than personal  conviction1   
which any one was free to deny1 and     
which the poet could in  no wise prove4 
,the evidence of the heart1 to which he 
appealed1 was the  evidence of an       
emotion severed from intelligence1 and1 

therefore1  without any content         
whatsoever4 ,the faith1 which he        
professed1 was not  the faith that      
anticipates and invites proof1 but a    
faith which is  incapable of proof4 ,in 
casting doubt upon the validity of      
knowledge1 he  degraded the whole       
spiritual nature of man2 for a love that
 is ignorant  of its object is a blind  
impulse1 and a moral consciousness that 
does  not know the law is an impossible 
phantom--a self-contradiction4    ,but1 
although ,browning's explicitly         
philosophical theory of life fails1     
there appears in his earlier poems1     
where his poetical freedom was not  yet 
trammelled1 nor his moral enthusiasm    
restrained by the stubborn  difficulties
 of reflective thought1 a far truer and 
richer view4 ,in this  period of pure   
poetry1 his conception of man was less  
abstract than in  his later works1 and  
his inspiration was more direct and     
full4 ,the  poet's dialectical ingenuity
 increased with the growth of his       

reflective  tendencies2 but his relation
 to the great principles of spiritual   
life  seemed to become less intimate1   
and his expression of them more halting4
  ,what we find in his earlier works are
 vigorous ethical convictions1 a        
glowing optimistic faith1 achieving     
their fitting expression in  impassioned
 poetry2 what we find in his later works
 are arguments1  which1 however richly  
adorned with poetic metaphors1 have lost
 the  completeness and energy of life4  
,his poetic fancies are like chaplets   
which crown the dead4 ,lovers of the    
poet1 who seek in his poems for         
inspiring expressions of their hope and 
faith1 will always do well in  turning  
from his militant metaphysics to his    
art4    ,in his case1 as in that of many
 others1 spiritual experience was far   
richer than the theory which professed  
to explain it4 ,the task of  lifting his
 moral convictions into the clear light 
of conscious  philosophy was beyond his 
power4 ,the theory of the failure of    

knowledge1  which he seems to have      
adopted far too easily from the current 
doctrine  of the schools1 was           
fundamentally inconsistent with his     
generous belief  in the moral progress  
of man2 and it maimed the expression of 
that  belief4 ,the result of his work as
 a philosopher is a confession of       
complete ignorance and the helpless     
asseveration of a purely dogmatic       
faith4    ,the fundamental error of the 
poet's philosophy lies1 ,i believe1 in  
that  severance of feeling and          
intelligence1 love and reason1 which    
finds  expression in ,la ,saisiaz1      
,ferishtah's ,fancies1 ,the ,parleyings1
 and  ,asolando4 ,such an absolute      
division is not to be found in          
,christmas-,eve and ,easter-,day1 ,rabbi
 ,ben ,ezra1 ,a ,death in the  ,desert1 
or in ,the ,ring and the ,book2 nor even
 in ,fifine at the  ,fair4 ,in these    
works we are not perplexed by the       
strange combination of  a nature whose  
principle is love1 and which is capable 

of infinite  progress1 with an          
intelligence whose best efforts end in  
ignorance4  ,rather1 the spirit of man  
is regarded as one1 in all its          
manifestations2  and1 therefore1 as     
progressive on all sides of its         
activity4 ,the  widening of his         
knowledge1 which is brought about by    
increasing  experience1 is parallel with
 the deepening and purifying of his     
moral  life4 ,in all ,browning's works1 
indeed1 with the possible exception of  
,paracelsus1 love is conceived as having
 a place and function of  supreme       
importance in the development of the    
soul4 ,its divine origin and  destiny   
are never obscured2 but knowledge is    
regarded as merely human1  and1         
therefore1 as falling short of the      
truth4 ,in ,easter-,day it is           
definitely contrasted with love1 and    
shown to be incapable of satisfying  the
 deepest wants of man4 ,it is1 at the   
best1 only a means to the higher        
purposes of moral activity1 and1 except 

in the ,grammarian's ,funeral1  it is   
nowhere regarded as in itself a worthy  
end4      ',tis one thing to know1 and  
another to practise4    ,and thence ,i  
conclude that the real ,god-function    
,is to furnish a motive and injunction  
,for practising what we know already4,a 
,footnote ,a3 ,christmas-,eve and       
,easter-,day4    ,even here1 there is   
implied that the motive comes otherwise 
than by  knowledge2 still1 taking these 
earlier poems as a whole1 we may say    
that  in them knowledge is regarded as  
means to morality and not as in any     
sense contrasted with or destructive of 
it4 ,man's motives are rational         
motives2 the ends he seeks are ends     
conceived and even constituted by  his  
intelligence1 and not purposes blindly  
followed as by instinct and  impulse4   
,why live1    ,except for love--how     
love1 unless they know8,b    ,footnote  
,b3 ,the ,ring and the ,book--,the      
,pope1 #acbg-acbh4    asks the ,pope4   
,moral progress is not secured apart    

from1 or in spite of  knowledge4 ,we are
 not exhorted to reject the verdict of  
the latter as  illusive1 in order to    
confide in a faith which not only fails 
to receive  support from the defective  
intelligence1 but maintains its own     
integrity  only by repudiating the      
testimony of the reason4 ,in the        
distinction  between knowledge as means 
and love as end1 it is easy1 indeed1 to 
detect a tendency to degrade the former 
into a mere temporary expedient1        
whereby moral ends may be served4 ,the  
poet speaks of such knowledge as  is    
possible to man4 ,the attitude he       
assumes towards it is apologetic1  and  
betrays a keen consciousness of its     
limitation1 and particularly of  its    
utter inadequacy to represent the       
infinite4 ,in the speech of the         
,pope---which can scarcely be regarded  
otherwise than as the poet's own        
maturest utterance on the great moral   
and religious questions raised by  the  
tragedy of ,pompilia's death--we find   

this view vividly expressed3--      ,o  
,thou--as represented here to me    ,in 
such conception as my soul allows1--    
,under ,thy measureless1 my atom        
width6--    ,man's mind1 what is it but 
a convex glass    ,wherein are gathered 
all the scattered points    ,picked out 
of the immensity of sky1    ,to reunite 
there1 be our heaven for earth1    ,our 
known unknown1 our ,god revealed to     
man8,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and  
the ,book--,the ,pope1 #acjh-acae4      
,god is appreciable in ,his absolute    
immensity solely by ,himself1 while1  by
 the little mind of man1 ,he is reduced 
to littleness that suits man's  faculty4
 ,in these words1 and others that might 
be quoted1 the poet  shows that he is   
profoundly impressed with the           
distinction between human  knowledge1   
and that knowledge which is adequate to 
the whole nature and  extent of being4  
,and in ,christmas-,eve he repudiates   
with a touch of  scorn1 the absolute    
idealism1 which is supposed to identify 

altogether  human reason with divine    
reason2 and he commends the ,german     
critic for  not making                  
,the important stumble    ,of adding1   
he1 the sage and humble1    ,was also   
one with the ,creator4,a    ,footnote   
,a3 ,christmas-,eve4    ,nowhere in     
,browning1 unless we except ,paracelsus1
 is there any sign of  an inclination to
 treat man's knowledge in the same      
spirit as he deals  with man's          
love--namely1 as a direct emanation from
 the inmost nature of  ,god1 a divine   
element that completes and crowns man's 
life on earth4 ,on  the contrary1 he    
shows a persistent tendency to treat    
love as a power  higher in nature than  
reason1 and to give to it a supreme     
place in the  formation of character2   
and1 as he grows older1 that tendency   
grows in  strength4 ,the philosophical  
poems1 in which love is made all in all1
 and  knowledge is reduced to nescience 
follow by logical evolution from        
principles1 the influence of which we   

can detect even in his earlier  works4  
,still1 in the latter1 these principles 
are only latent1 and are  far from      
holding undisputed sway4 ,browning was1 
at first1 restrained  from exclusive    
devotion to abstract views1 by the      
suggestions which the  artistic spirit  
receives through its immediate contact  
with the facts of  life4 ,that contact  
it is very difficult for philosophy to  
maintain as it  pursues its effort after
 universal truth4 ,philosophy is obliged
 to  analyze in order to define1 and1 in
 that process1 it is apt to lose        
something of that completeness of       
representation1 which belongs to art4   
,for art is always engaged in presenting
 the universal in the form of a         
particular object of beauty4 ,its       
product is a known unknown1 but the     
unknown is the unexhausted reality of a 
fact of intuition4 ,nor can  analysis   
ever exhaust it2 theory can never catch 
up art1 or explain all  that is in it4  
,on similar grounds1 it may be shown    

that it is impossible  for reason to lay
 bare all the elements that enter into  
its first  complex product1 which we    
call faith4 ,in religion1 as in art1 man
 is  aware of more than he knows2 his   
articulate logic cannot do justice to   
all the truths of the heart4 ,the       
supplementary reflux of light of        
philosophy cannot illustrate all the    
inferior grades of knowledge4 ,man  will
 never completely understand himself4   
,i knew1 ,i felt1 7perception           
unexpressed1    ,uncomprehended by our  
narrow thought1    ,but somehow felt and
 known in every shift    ,and change in 
the spirit1--nay1 in every pore    ,of  
the body1 even17--what ,god is1 what we 
are1    ,what life is--how ,god tastes  
an infinite joy    ,in infinite         
ways--one everlasting bliss1    ,from   
whom all being emanates1 all power      
,proceeds4,a    ,footnote ,a3           
,paracelsus4    ,i believe that it is   
possible1 by the help of the intuitions 
of  ,browning's highest artistic period1

 to bring together again the elements   
of his broken faith1 and to find in them
 suggestions of a truer  philosophy of  
life than anything which the poet       
himself achieved4  ,perhaps1 indeed1 it 
is not easy1 nor altogether fair1 to    
press the  passionate utterances of his 
religious rapture into the service of   
metaphysics1 and to treat the unmeasured
 language of emotion as the  expression 
of a definite doctrine4 ,nevertheless1  
rather than set forth a  new defence of 
the faith1 which his agnosticism left   
exposed to the  assaults of doubt and   
denial1 it is better to make ,browning  
correct his  own errors1 and to appeal  
from the metaphysician to the poet1 from
 the  sobriety of the logical           
understanding to the inspiration of     
poetry4    ,i have already indicated    
what seems to me to be the defective    
element in  the poet's philosophy of    
life4 ,his theory of knowledge is in    
need of  revision2 and what he asserts  
of human love1 should be applied point  

by  point to human reason4 ,as man is   
ideally united with the absolute on the 
side of moral emotion 7if the phrase may
 be pardoned71 so he is ideally  united 
with the absolute on the side of the    
intellect4 ,as there is no  difference  
of nature between ,god's goodness and   
man's goodness1 so  there is no         
difference of nature between ,god's     
truth and man's truth4  ,there are not  
two kinds of righteousness or mercy2    
there are not two  kinds of truth4      
,human nature is not cut in two with a  
hatchet1 as the  poet implies that it   
is4 ,there is in man a lower and a      
higher element1  ever at war with each  
other2 still he is not a mixture1 or    
agglomerate1  of the finite and the     
infinite4 ,a love perfect in nature     
cannot be  linked to an intelligence    
imperfect in nature2 if it were1 the    
love  would be either a blind impulse or
 an erring one4 ,both morality and      
religion demand the presence in man of a
 perfect ideal1 which is at war  with   

his imperfections2 but an ideal is      
possible1 only to a being  endowed with 
a capacity for knowing the truth4 ,in   
degrading human  knowledge1 the poet is 
disloyal to the fundamental principle of
 the  ,christian faith which he         
professed--that ,god can and does       
manifest  himself in man4    ,on the    
other hand1 we are not to take the unity
 of man with ,god1 of  man's moral ideal
 with the ,all-perfect1 as implying1 on 
the moral side1  an absolute            
identification of the finite with the   
infinite2 nor can we  do so on the side 
of knowledge4 ,man's moral life and     
rational activity  in knowledge are the 
process of the highest4 ,but man is     
neither first1  nor last2 he is not the 
original author of his love1 any more   
than of  his reason2 he is not the      
divine principle of the whole to which  
he  belongs1 although he is potentially 
in harmony with it4 ,both sides of  his 
being are equally touched with          
imperfection--his love1 no less than    

his reason4 ,perfect love would imply   
perfect wisdom1 as perfect wisdom1      
perfect love4 ,but absolute terms are   
not applicable to man1 who is ever  on  
the way to goodness and truth1          
progressively manifesting the power  of 
the ideal that dwells in him1 and whose 
very life is conflict and  acquirement4 
,ah1 but a man's reach should exceed his
 grasp1    ,or what's a heaven for8 ,all
 is silver-grey    ,placid and perfect  
with my art3 the worse4,a    ,footnote  
,a3 ,andrea del ,sarto4    ,hardly any  
conception is more prominent in         
,browning's writings than  this1 of     
endless progress towards an infinite    
ideal2 although he  occasionally        
manifests a desire to have done with    
effort4                ,when a soul has 
seen      ,by the means of ,evil that   
,good is best1    ,and1 through earth   
and its noise1 what is heaven's         
serene1--      ,when our faith in the   
same has stood the test--    ,why1 the  
child grown man1 you burn the rod1      

,the uses of labour are surely done1    
,there remaineth a rest for the people  
of ,god1      ,and ,i have had troubles 
enough1 for one4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,old
 ,pictures in ,florence4    ,it is the  
sense of endless onward movement1 the   
outlook towards an  immortal course1 the
 life after life in unlimited series1   
which is so  inspiring in his early     
poetry4 ,he conceives that we are here1 
on this  lower earth1 just to learn one 
form1 the elementary lesson and alphabet
  of goodness1 namely1 the uses of the  
flesh3 in other lives1 other            
achievements4 ,the separation of the    
soul from its instrument has very       
little significance to the poet2 for it 
does not arrest the course of  moral    
development4      ,no work begun shall  
ever pause for death4    ,the spirit    
pursues its lone way1 on other          
adventures brave and new1  but ever     
towards a good which is complete4       
,delayed it may be for more lives yet1  
,through worlds ,i shall traverse1 not a

 few3    ,much is to learn1 much to     
forget      ,ere the time be come for   
taking you4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,evelyn  
,hope4    ,still the time will come when
 the awakened need shall be satisfied2  
for  the need was created in order to be
 satisfied4      ,wherefore did ,i      
contrive for thee that ear    ,hungry   
for music1 and direct thine eye    ,to  
where ,i hold a seven-stringed          
instrument1    ,unless ,i meant thee to 
beseech me play8,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,two
 ,camels4    ,the movement onward is    
thus a movement in knowledge1 as well as
 in every  other form of good4 ,the     
lover of ,evelyn ,hope1 looking back in 
imagination on the course he has        
travelled on earth and after1           
exclaims--      ,i have lived 7,i shall 
say7 so much since then1      ,given up 
myself so many times1    ,gained me the 
gains of various men1      ,ransacked   
the ages1 spoiled the climes4,c         
,footnote ,c3 ,evelyn ,hope4    ,in     
these earlier poems1 there is not1 as in

 the later ones1 a maimed1 or           
one-sided1 evolution--a progress towards
 perfect love on the side of the  heart1
 and towards an illusive ideal on the   
side of the intellect4  ,knowledge1 too1
 has its value1 and he who lived to     
settle ,hoti's  business1 properly based
 ,oun1 and who gave us the doctrine of  
the  enclitic ,de1 was1 to the poet1    
,still loftier than the world suspects1 
,living and dying4      ,here's the     
top-peak2 the multitude below           
,live1 for they can1 there3    ,this man
 decided not to ,live but ,know--       
,bury this man there8    ,here--here's  
his place1 where meteors shoot1 clouds  
form1      ,lightnings are loosened1    
,stars come and go4,a    ,footnote ,a3  
,a ,grammarian's ,funeral4    ,no human 
effort goes to waste1 no gift is        
delusive2 but every gift and  every     
effort has its proper place as a stage  
in the endless process4 ,the  soul bears
 in it all its conquests4      ,there   
shall never be one lost good6 ,what was1

 shall live as before2      ,the evil is
 null1 is nought1 is silence implying   
sound2    ,what was good1 shall be good1
 with1 for evil1 so much good more2     
,on the earth the broken arcs2 in the   
heaven1 a perfect round4,b    ,footnote 
,b3 ,abt ,vogler4    ,the apparent      
failure of knowledge1 like every        
apparent failure1 is a  triumph's       
evidence for the fulness of the days4   
,the doubts that  knowledge brings1     
instead of implying a defective         
intelligence doomed to  spend itself on 
phantom phenomena1 sting to progress    
towards the truth4  ,he bids us ,learn1 
nor account the pang2 dare1 never grudge
 the throe4      ,rather ,i prize the   
doubt    ,low kinds exist without1      
,finished and finite clods1 untroubled  
by a spark4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,rabbi   
,ben ,ezra4    ,similarly1 defects in   
art1 like defects in character1 contain 
the  promise of further achievement4    
,are they perfect of lineament1 perfect 
of stature8      ,in both1 of such lower

 types are we    ,precisely because of  
our wider nature2      ,for time1       
their's--ours1 for eternity4            
,to-day's brief passion limits their    
range2      ,it seethes with the morrow 
for us and more4    ,they are           
perfect--how else8 ,they shall never    
change3      ,we are faulty--why not8   
,we have time in store4,b    ,footnote  
,b3 ,old ,pictures in ,florence4        
,prior to the period when a sceptical   
philosophy came down like a blight1  and
 destroyed the bloom of his art and     
faith1 he thus recognized that  growing 
knowledge was an essential condition of 
growing goodness4  ,pompilia shone with 
a glory that mere knowledge could not   
give 7if there  were such a thing as    
mere knowledge74                        
,everywhere    ,i see in the world the  
intellect of man1    ,that sword1 the   
energy his subtle spear1    ,the        
knowledge which defends him like a      
shield--    ,everywhere2 but they make  
not up1 ,i think1    ,the marvel of a   

soul like thine1 earth's flower    ,she 
holds up to the softened gaze of ,god4,a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and the    
,book--,the ,pope1 #ajac-ajai4    ,but  
yet she recognized with patient pain the
 loss she had sustained for  want of    
knowledge4      ,the saints must bear   
with me1 impute the fault    ,to a soul 
i' the bud1 so starved by ignorance1    
,stinted of warmth1 it will not blow    
this year    ,nor recognize the orb     
which ,spring-flowers know4,b           
,footnote ,b3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,pompilia1 #aeae-aeah4           
,further on in the ,pope's soliloquy1   
the poet shows that1 at that time1  he  
fully recognized the risk of entrusting 
the spiritual interests of  man to the  
enthusiasm of elevated feeling1 or to   
the mere intuitions of  a noble heart4  
,such intuitions will sometimes guide a 
man happily1 as in  the case of         
,caponsacchi3                  ,since   
ourselves allow    ,he has danced1 in   
gaiety of heart1 i' the main    ,the    

right step through the maze we bade him 
foot4,c    ,footnote ,c3 ,the ,ring and 
the ,book--,the ,pope1 #aiae-aiag4      
,but1 on the other hand1 such impulses1 
not instructed by knowledge of  the     
truth1 and made steadfast to the laws of
 the higher life by a  reasoned         
conviction1 lead man rightly only by    
accident4 ,in such a career  there is no
 guarantee of constancy2 other impulses 
might lead to other  ways of life4      
,but if his heart had prompted to break 
loose    ,and mar the measure8 ,why1 we 
must submit1    ,and thank the chance   
that brought him safe so far4    ,will  
he repeat the prodigy8 ,perhaps4    ,can
 he teach others how to quit themselves1
    ,show why this step was right while 
that were wrong8    ,how should he8     
',ask your hearts as ,i asked mine1     
,and get discreetly through the morrice 
too2    ,if your hearts misdirect       
you1--quit the stage1    ,and make      
amends1--be there amends to make4',a    
,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and the        

,book--,the ,pope1 #aiaf-aibg4    ,if   
the heart proved to ,caponsacchi a guide
 to all that is good and  glorious1 the 
,abate1 second in the suite1 puts in the
 testimony of  another experience3 ,his 
heart answered to another tune4      ,i 
have my taste too1 and tread no such    
step6    ,you choose the glorious life1 
and may for me6    ,i like the lowest of
 life's appetites1--    ,so you         
judge--but the very truth of joy    ,to 
my own apprehension which decides4,b    
,footnote ,b3 ,ibid41 #aicb-aicf4       
,mere emotion is thus an insecure guide 
to conduct1 for its authority can  be   
equally cited in support of every course
 of life4 ,no one can say to  his       
neighbour1 ,thou art wrong4 ,every      
impulse is right to the  individual who 
has it1 and so long as he has it4 ,de   
gustibus non  disputandum4 ,without a   
universal criterion there is no praise  
or blame4      ,call me knave and you   
get yourself called fool6    ,i live for
 greed1 ambition1 lust1 revenge2        

,attain these ends by force1 guile3     
hypocrite1    ,to-day1 perchance        
to-morrow recognized    ,the rational   
man1 the type of common-sense4,c        
,footnote ,c3 ,ibid41 #aicg-aida4       
,this poem which1 both in its moral     
wisdom and artistic worth1 marks the    
high tide of ,browning's poetic insight1
 while he is not as yet concerned  with 
the defence of any theory or the        
discussion of any abstract  question1   
contrasts strongly with the later poems1
 where knowledge is  dissembling        
ignorance1 faith is blind trust1 and    
love is a mere impulse  of the heart4   
,having failed to meet the difficulties 
of reflection1 the  poet turned upon the
 intellect4 ,knowledge becomes to him an
 offence1 and  to save his faith he     
plucked out his right eye and entered   
into the  kingdom maimed4 ,in ,rabbi    
,ben ,ezra the ascent into another life 
is  triumphant1 like that of a conqueror
 bearing with him the spoils of  earth2 
but in the later poems he escapes with a

 bare belief1 and the  loss of all his  
rich possessions of knowledge1 like a   
shipwrecked  mariner whose goods have   
been thrown overboard4 ,his philosophy  
was a  treacherous ally to his faith4   
,but there is another consideration     
which shows that the poet1 as artist1   
recognized the need of giving to reason 
a larger function than seems to  be     
possible according to the theory in his 
later works4 ,in the early  poems there 
is no hint of the doctrine that         
demonstrative knowledge of  the good1   
and of the necessity of its law1 would  
destroy freedom4 ,on the  contrary1     
there are suggestions which point to the
 opposite doctrine1  according to which 
knowledge is the condition of freedom4  
,while in his later poems the poet      
speaks of love as an impulse--either    
blind or bound to erring knowledge--and 
of the heart as made to love1 in  his   
earlier ones he seems to treat man as   
free to work out his own  purposes1 and 
act out his own ideals4 ,browning here  

finds himself able  to maintain the     
dependence of man upon ,god without     
destroying morality4  ,he regards man's 
impulses not as blind instincts1 but as 
falling  within his rational nature1 and
 constituting the forms of its          
activity4 ,he recognizes the distinction
 between a mere impulse1 in the  sense  
of a tendency to act1 which is directed 
by a foreign power1 and an  impulse     
informed1 that is1 directed by reason4  
,according to this view1  it is reason  
which at once gives man the independence
 of foreign  authority1 which is implied
 in morality1 and constitutes that      
affinity  between man and ,god1 which is
 implied by religion4 ,no doubt1 the    
impulse  to know1 like the impulse to   
love1 was put into man3 his whole nature
 is  a gift1 and he is therefore1 in    
this sense1 completely dependent upon   
,god--,god's all1 man's nought4 ,but1 on
 the other hand1 it is a  rational      
nature which has been put into him1 and 
not an irrational  impulse4 ,or1 rather1

 the impulse that constitutes his life  
as man1 is  the self-evolving activity  
of reason4      ,who speaks of man1     
then1 must not sever    ,man's very     
elements from man4,a    ,footnote ,a3   
,christmas-,eve4    ,however the        
rational nature of man has come to be1  
whether by emanation  or creation1 it   
necessarily brings freedom with it1 and 
all its risks  and possibilities4 ,it is
 of the very essence of reason that it  
should  find its law within itself4     
,god's all1 man's nought3    ,but also1 
,god1 whose pleasure brought    ,man    
into being1 stands away    ,as it were a
 hand-breadth off1 to give    ,room for 
the newly-made to live1    ,and look at 
,him from a place apart1    ,and use his
 gifts of brain and heart1    ,given1   
indeed1 but to keep for ever4,a         
,footnote ,a3 ,christmas-,eve4    ,thus1
 while insisting on the absolute        
priority of ,god1 and the original      
receptivity of man2 while recognizing   
that love1 reason1 and every inner      

power and outer opportunity are lent to 
man1 ,browning does not forget  what    
these powers are4 ,man can only act as  
man2 he must obey his nature1  as the   
stock or stone or plant obeys its       
nature4 ,but to act as man is to  act   
freely1 and man's nature is not that of 
a stock or stone4 ,he is  rational1 and 
cannot but be rational4 ,hence he can   
neither be ruled1 as  dead matter is    
ruled1 by natural law2 nor live1 like a 
bird1 the life of  innocent impulse or  
instinct4 ,he is placed1 from the very  
first1 on the  table land whence life   
upsprings aspiring to be immortality4   
,he is a  spirit1--responsible because  
he is free1 and free because he is      
rational4      ,man1 therefore1 stands  
on his own stock    ,of love and power  
as a pin-point rock1    ,and1 looks to  
,god who ordained divorce    ,of the    
rock from ,his boundless continent4,b   
,footnote ,b3 ,ibid4    ,the divorce is 
real1 although ordained1 but it is      
possible only in so  far as man1 by     

means of reason1 constitutes his own    
ends of action4  ,impulse cannot bring  
it about4 ,it is reason that enables man
 to free  himself from the despotic     
authority of outer law1 to relate       
himself to  an inner law1 and by        
reconciling inner and outer to attain to
 goodness4  ,thus reason is the source  
of all morality4 ,and it also is the    
principle  of religion1 for it implies  
the highest and fullest manifestation of
 the  absolute4    ,although the first  
aspect of self-consciousness is its     
independence1  which is1 in turn1 the   
first condition of morality1 still this 
is only  the first aspect4 ,the rational
 being plants himself on his own        
individuality1 stands aloof and alone in
 the rights of his freedom1 in  order   
that he may set out from thence to take 
possession1 by means of  knowledge and  
action1 of the world in which he is     
placed4 ,reason is  potentially         
absolute1 capable of finding itself     
everywhere4 ,so that in  it man is      

honour-clothed and glory-crowned4       
,this is the honour1--that no thing ,i  
know1    ,feel or conceive1 but ,i can  
make my own    ,somehow1 by use of hand1
 or head1 or heart4,a    ,footnote ,a3  
,prince ,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,man1
 by his knowledge1 overcomes the        
resistance and hostility of the  world  
without him1 or rather1 discovers that  
there is not hostility1 but  affinity   
between it and himself4      ,this is   
the glory1--that in all conceived1      
,or felt or known1 ,i recognize a mind  
,not mine but like mine1--for the double
 joy1--    ,making all things for me and
 me for ,him4,a    ,footnote ,a3 ,prince
 ,hohenstiel-,schwangau4    ,that which 
is finite is hemmed in by other things1 
as well as determined  by them2 but the 
infinite is all-inclusive4 ,there exists
 for it no other  thing to limit or     
determine it4 ,there is nothing finally 
alien or  foreign to reason4 ,freedom   
and infinitude1 self-determination and  
absoluteness1 imply each other4 ,in so  

far as man is free1 he is lifted  above 
the finite4 ,it was ,god's plan to make 
man on ,his own image3--            ,to 
create man and then leave him    ,able1 
,his own word saith1 to grieve ,him1    
,but able to glorify ,him too1    ,as a 
mere machine could never do1    ,that   
prayed or praised1 all unaware    ,of   
its fitness for aught but praise or     
prayer1    ,made perfect as a thing of  
course4,b    ,footnote ,b3              
,christmas-,eve4    ,man must find his  
law within himself1 be the source of his
 own activity1  not passive or          
receptive1 but outgoing and effective4  
,rejoice we are allied    ,to ,that     
which doth provide    ,and not partake1 
effect and not receive6    ,a spark     
disturbs our clod2    ,nearer we hold of
 ,god    ,who gives1 than of ,his tribes
 that take1 ,i must believe4,c          
,footnote ,c3 ,rabbi ,ben ,ezra4        
,this near affinity between the divine  
and human is just what ,browning  seems 
to repudiate in his later poems1 when he

 speaks as if the  absolute1 in order to
 maintain its own supremacy over man1   
had to stint  its gifts and endow him   
only with a defective reason4 ,in the   
earlier  period of the poet there is far
 less timidity4 ,he then saw that the   
greater the gift1 the greater the       
,giver2 that only spirit can reveal     
spirit2 that ,god is glorified in man1  
and that love is at its fullest  only   
when it gives itself4    ,in insisting  
on such identity of the human spirit    
with the divine1 our  poet does not at  
any time run the risk of forgetting that
 the identity  is not absolute4         
,absolute identity would be pantheism1  
which leaves ,god  lonely and loveless1 
and extinguishes man1 as well as his    
morality4      ,man is not ,god1 but    
hath ,god's end to serve1    ,a ,master 
to obey1 a course to take1    ,somewhat 
to cast off1 somewhat to become4,a      
,footnote ,a3 ,a ,death in the ,desert4 
,man1 at best1 only moves towards his   
ideal3 ,god is conceived as the         

ever-existing ideal4 ,god1 in short1 is 
the term which signifies for us  the    
,being who is eternally all in all1 and 
who1 therefore1 is hidden  from us who  
are only moving towards perfection1 in  
the excess of the  brightness of ,his   
own glory4 ,nevertheless1 as ,browning  
recognizes1 the  grandeur of ,god's     
perfection is just ,his outflowing love4
 ,and that love  is never complete in   
its manifestation1 till it has given    
itself4 ,man's  life1 as spirit1 is thus
 one in nature with that of the         
absolute4 ,but  the unity is not        
complete1 because man is only           
potentially perfect4 ,he  is the process
 of the ideal2 his life is the divine   
activity within  him4 ,still1 it is also
 man's activity4 ,for the process1 being
 the  process of spirit1 is a free      
process--one in which man himself       
energizes2 so that1 in doing ,god's     
will1 he is doing his own highest  will1
 and1 in obeying the law of his own     
deepest nature1 he is obeying  ,god4    

,the unity of divine and human within   
the spiritual life of man is a  real    
unity1 just because man is free2 the    
identity manifests itself  through the  
difference1 and the difference is       
possible through the  unity4    ,thus1  
in the light of an ideal which is moral1
 and therefore perfect--an  ideal       
gradually realizing itself in a process 
which is endless--the poet  is able to  
maintain at once the community between  
man and ,god1 which is  necessary to    
religion1 and their independence1 which 
is necessary to  morality4 ,the         
conception of ,god as giving1 which is  
the main doctrine of  ,christianity1 and
 of man as akin with ,god1 is applied by
 him to the  whole spiritual nature of  
man1 and not merely to his emotion4 ,the
  process of evolution is thus a process
 towards truth1 as well as  goodness2 in
 fact1 goodness and truth are known as  
inseparable4  ,knowledge1 too1 is a     
,divine endowment4 ,what gift of man is 
not from ,god  descended8 ,what gift of 

,god can be deceptive8      ,take all in
 a word3 the truth in ,god's breast     
,lies trace for trace upon ours         
impressed3    ,though ,he is so bright  
and we so dim1    ,we are made in ,his  
image to witness ,him4,a    ,footnote   
,a3 ,christmas-,eve4    ,the ,pope      
recognizes clearly the inadequacy of    
human knowledge2 but he  also recognizes
 that it has a ,divine source4      ,yet
 my poor spark had for its source1 the  
sun2    ,thither ,i sent the great looks
 which compel    ,light from its fount3 
all that ,i do and am    ,comes from the
 truth1 or seen or else surmised1       
,remembered or divined1 as mere man     
may4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,the ,ring and  
the ,book--,the ,pope1 #abhe-abhi4      
,the last words indicate a suspicion of 
a certain defect in knowledge1  which is
 not recognized in human love2          
nevertheless1 in these earlier  poems1  
the poet does not analyze human nature  
into a finite and  infinite1 or seek to 
dispose of his difficulties by the      

deceptive  solvent of a dualistic       
agnosticism4 ,he treats spirit as a     
unity1 and  refuses to set love and     
reason against each other4 ,man's life1 
for the  poet1 and not merely man's     
love1 begins with ,god1 and returns back
 to  ,god in the rapt recognition of    
,god's perfect being by reason1 and in  
the  identification of man's purposes   
with ,his by means of will and love4    
,what is left for us1 save1 in growth   
,of soul1 to rise up1 far past both1    
,from the gift looking to the giver1    
,and from the cistern to the river1     
,and from the finite to infinity    ,and
 from man's dust to ,god's divinity8,c  
,footnote ,c3 ,christmas-,eve4    ,it is
 this movement of the absolute in man1  
this aspiration towards the  full       
knowledge and perfect goodness which can
 never be completely  attained1 that    
constitutes man4      ,man1 therefore1  
thus conditioned1 must expect    ,he    
could not1 what he knows now1 know at   
first3    ,what he considers that he    

knows to-day1    ,come but to-morrow1 he
 will find mis-known2    ,getting       
increase of knowledge1 since he learns  
,because he lives1 which is to be a man1
    ,set to instruct himself by his past
 self3    ,first1 like the brute1       
obliged by facts to learn1    ,next1 as 
man may1 obliged by his own mind1       
,bent1 habit1 nature1 knowledge turned  
to law4    ,god's gift was that man     
shall conceive of truth    ,and yearn to
 gain it1 catching at mistake1    ,as   
midway help till he reach fact indeed8,a
    ,footnote ,a3 ,a ,death in the      
,desert4    ,progress1 the poet says1 is
 man's distinctive mark alone4 ,the     
endlessness of the progress1 the fact   
that every truth known to-day  seems    
misknown to-morrow1 that every ideal    
once achieved only points to  another   
and becomes itself a stepping stone1    
does not1 as in his later  days1 bring  
despair to him4 ,for the consciousness  
of failure is possible  in knowledge1 as
 in morality1 only because there has    

come a fuller  light4 ,browning does    
not1 as yet1 dwell exclusively on the   
negative  element in progress1 or forget
 that it is possible only through a     
deeper  positive4 ,he does not think    
that1 because we turn our backs on what 
we  have gained1 we are therefore not   
going forward2 nay1 he asserts the      
contrary4 ,failure1 even the failure of 
knowledge1 is triumph's evidence  in    
these earlier days2 and complete        
failure1 the unchecked rule of evil  in 
any form1 is therefore impossible4 ,we  
deny      ,recognized truths1 obedient  
to some truth    ,unrecognized yet1 but 
perceptible1--    ,correct the portrait 
by the living face1    ,man's ,god1 by  
,god's ,god in the mind of man4,a       
,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,the ,pope1 #ahga-ahgd4    ,thus 
the poet ever returns to the conception 
of ,god in the mind of man4  ,god is the
 beginning and the end2 and man is the  
self-conscious worker  of ,god's will1  
the free process whereby the last which 

is first1 returns  to itself4 ,the      
process1 the growth1 is man's life and  
being2 and it  falls within the ideal1  
which is eternal and all in all4 ,the   
spiritual  life of man1 which is both   
intellectual and moral1 is a dying into 
the  eternal1 not to cease to be in it1 
but to live in it more fully2 for       
spirits necessarily commune4 ,he dies to
 the temporal interests and  narrow ends
 of the exclusive self1 and lives an    
ever-expanding life in  the life of     
others1 manifesting more and more that  
spiritual principle  which is the life  
of ,god1 who lives and loves in all     
things4 ,god is a  being in whom we     
exist2 with whom we are in principle    
one2 with whom the  human spirit is     
identical1 in the sense that ,he is all 
which the human  spirit is capable of   
becoming4,b    ,footnote ,b3 ,green's   
,prolegomena to ,ethics1 p4 #aih4       
,from this point of view1 and in so far 
as ,browning is loyal to the  conception
 of the community of the divine and     

human1 he is able to  maintain his faith
 in ,god1 not in spite of knowledge1 but
 through the  very movement of knowledge
 within him4 ,he is not obliged1 as in  
his  later works1 to look for proofs1   
either in nature1 or elsewhere2 nor to  
argue from the emotion of love in man1  
to a cause of that emotion4 ,he  needs  
no syllogistic process to arrive at     
,god2 for the very activity of  his own 
spirit as intelligence1 as the reason   
which thinks and acts1 is  the activity 
of ,god within him4 ,scepticism1 is     
impossible1 for the very  act of        
doubting is the activity of reason1 and 
a profession of the  knowledge of the   
truth4                                  
,i    ,put no such dreadful question to 
myself1    ,within whose circle of      
experience burns    ,the central truth1 
,power1 ,wisdom1 ,goodness1--,god3    ,i
 must outlive a thing ere know it dead3 
,when ,i outlive the faith there is a   
sun1    ,when ,i lie1 ashes to the very 
soul1--    ,someone1 not ,i1 must wail  

above the heap1    ',he died in dark    
whence never morn arose4',a    ,footnote
 ,a3 ,the ,ring and the ,book--,the     
,pope1 #afca-afci4    ,and this view of 
,god as immanent in man's experience    
also forecloses all  possibility of     
failure4 ,beneath the failure1 the      
possibility of which is  involved in a  
moral life1 lies the divine element1    
working through  contradiction to its   
own fulfilment4 ,failure is necessary   
for man1  because he grows3 but1 for the
 same reason1 the failure is not final4 
,thus1 the poet1 instead of denying the 
evidence of his intellect as to  the    
existence of evil1 or casting doubt on  
the distinction between right  and      
wrong1 or reducing the chequered course 
of human history into a  phantasmagoria 
of mere mental appearances1 can regard  
the conflict  between good and evil as  
real and earnest4 ,he can look evil in  
the face1  recognize its stubborn       
resistance to the good1 and still regard
 the  victory of the latter as sure and 

complete4 ,he has not to reduce it into 
a phantom1 or mere appearance1 in order 
to give it a place within the  divine   
order4 ,he sees the night1 but he also  
sees the day succeed it4  ,man falls    
into sin1 but he cannot rest in it4 ,it 
is contradictory to his  nature1 he     
cannot content himself with it1 and he  
is driven through it4  ,mephistopheles  
promised more than he could perform1    
when he undertook to  make ,faust       
declare himself satisfied4 ,there is not
 within the kingdom of  evil what will  
satisfy the spirit of man1 whose last   
law is goodness1  whose nature1 however 
obscured1 is ,god's gift of ,himself4   
,while ,i see day succeed the deepest   
night--    ,how can ,i speak but as ,i  
know8--my speech    ,must be1 throughout
 the darkness4 ,it will end3    ',the   
light that did burn1 will burn6' ,clouds
 obscure--    ,but for which obscuration
 all were bright8    ,too hastily       
concluded6 ,sun--suffused1    ,a cloud  
may soothe the eye made blind by        

blaze1--    ,better the very clarity of 
heaven3    ,the soft streaks are the    
beautiful and dear4    ,what but the    
weakness in a faith supplies    ,the    
incentive to humanity1 no strength      
,absolute1 irresistible1 comports8      
,how can man love but what he yearns to 
help8    ,and that which men think      
weakness within strength1    ,but angels
 know for strength and stronger yet--   
,what were it else but the first things 
made new1    ,but repetition of the     
miracle1    ,the divine instance of     
self-sacrifice    ,that never ends and  
aye begins for man8    ,so1 never ,i    
miss footing in the maze1    ,no1--,i   
have light nor fear the dark at all4,a  
,footnote ,a3 ,the ,ring and the        
,book--,the ,pope1 #afdj-affj4          
,illustration