THE BROWNINGS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1342, 20 January 1912, Page 9

THE BROWNINGS.

Many are the interesting anecdotes •which may ba culled from the pages of |Miss Lilian Whiting's new book, "Tho ißrownings: Their Lifo and -Art." Sho jbrings evidence to show what the liter-/ airy world thought of "Sonlello" on its ' Ifirst appearanco:—"The imnenctrablc naituro .qt tho intricacies of *Uie work -has fcoen tho theme, of.many anecdotes. T®3> jnyson thuf-mere "werp_only 0™ (lines fn it—ilio opening and the closing >01103 —which he jii«lorstoqd,.nn<r.'Tliey fj.ro tboth lies,' lie feelingly auiieii. Dougiaa IJerrpld'tackled *it" v.'hen' ho was jiisfc-io-IcbTei'ing frqin'an/illness, and despairingly set dtfvyii. liis inability to comprehend it 'to tho'probability that his mind was inirtjaiTed by disease; and thrusting . tho tlxiok into .the Hands' of his wife lie en(treatcd her to Toad it at 'once, lie watckcd her breathlessly, and when she exclaimed, 'I don't know what this.means; it is gibberish,' Jerrold exclaimed, •"Thank God, X am idiot.'

"Still another . edifying -testimony to ■tho general inability to understand ''Bordello ' is given by n French critic, Odysso liarot, who quotes a passage where the poet says, 'God.gavo man tivo faculties,' and adds, '!'wish, while lie was about it, Go:l had supplied another—namely, the power of understanding Mr Browning/ Mrs. Carjylo declared tlmt she read 'bordello' twice, but was unable to discover whether tho title referred to 'a man, a city, or a tree,' and other- equally great yor.sona.g33 confessed themselves equally baffled.;' In his latter days, when both name and famo were his, tho great seats oflearning wero eager to shower laurels on 'Browning. Oxford, which had previously .conferred tho honorary degree of M.A. ■flsain honoured Browning in 1882, with jthe degreo of D.C.L. "I never saw my '! father happier than 011 this occasion,'" J Mr. Barrett Browning said to tho writer iof this volume when questioned regarding it; and another observer who was pTesent speaks of Browning's distinction ail his red Oxford gown, his" shoulders ithrown back, and his swift, light step. ■One of the humours of the occasion was ith© dangling of a red cotton nightcap over his head b ; y ono of the undergraduates,, who was in danger of a not illimeritcd rebuke, ibut Browning interceded■with tho vice-chancellor not to be too hard "on tho harmless drolleries of tho young man." It was in this Oxford gown, holding in-his hand "the sqira-o old yellow book," which inspired '"Hie Ring and the Book," that Robert Barrett Browning painted the portrait of his father, which lie presented to Oxford, and which now hangs, a treasured posecssion, 111 Balliol Ilail.

_ , On> of the 1 very pleasant interludes !m. Mr. Browning's lifo came in tho reiceipt of_ a letter from Professor Mas=on «f(the University of 1-Jcl in burgh, inviting the poet to bo his guest the week of the :coming Tercentenary Celebration of the • University (ISB-H. . . . The week was ;a most enjoyable or.c to Mr. Browning. ' J'ecpptions and dinners made up a round festivity,, and when he was asked by Ins hostess if ho objected to all the adulation lio received, lie replied, 'Object to •it. ' No; I havo waited forty vears lor at, and now—l like it.'" ' •