BROWNING. 567 BROWNING. Taking up the study of the classics in the orig- inal, she read widely in Greek literature, nor was she less acquainted with that of her own country-. In 1826 she published anonymously An Essay on Mind and Other Foenis, giving evidence of un- usual powers. In 1S32 the family removed to Sidmouth, and three years later to London, where Miss Barrett established her reputation by The Seraphim and Other Poems (1838). The burst- ing of a blood-vessel in the lungs, added to the shock caused by the death, in 1840, of a favorite brother, endangered her life, and for seven years she Avas confined to her room ; but even here she resumed her labors, and in 1S44 published Poems, including "The Cry of the Children," and '■Lady Geraldine's Courtship." in which she praised Robert Browning's verse. On May 20, 1845, she first met that distinguished poet, and on Sep- tember 12, 1846, they were married against her father's wishes. Proceeding to Italy, they made Florence their home, and there in 1849 a son was born, Robert 'iedemann Barrett, now knoAvn as an artist and a poet. In 1850 appeared a collected edition of Mrs. Browning's poems, with revisions and omissions, containing also a new translation of the Prometheus Bound, and in 1856 Aurora Leigh, a romance, partly auto- biographical, in blank verse. Casa Guidi ^yin- dows (1851) and Poems Before Congress (1860), were inspired by her ardent sympathy with the movement to free Italy. By this time her health had hegun to fail, and on .June 20, 1861, she passed peacefully away. In 1862 Mr. Browning published a volume of verses by his wife, Last Poems; in 1863 her Greek Christian Poets and the English Poets, essays and translations orig- inally written for the Athencvum, and in 1866 Selections From the Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Broirnirtg (2d series, 1880). The married life of these brilliant poets was singularly happy. and their mutual influence is clearly seen in their verse, ilrs. Browning was slight in figure, had brilliant eyes, and an expressive face, was deeply spiritual, as all her writings show, fascinating in conversation, and erudite without being pe- dantic. Composing with great ease, she often eraploved false metres and fell into affecta- tions, but it was well said of her that her diction was at times sublime, and always musical and beautiful." The Sonnets From the Portuguese, so called, written after her engagement to Mr. Browning (privately printed in 1847 and in- cluded in the volume of 1850), are unrivaled, of their kind, in the English language. Consult: Ingram, KlizahetU Barrett Broirning (Boston, 1888) ; Bayne. Two Great Englishwomen (Lon- don, 1881 )": Letters of E. B. Browning, edited by Kenyon (London and New York, 1897) ; Letters of If. Browning and E. Barrett (London and Xew York, 1890) ; and Letters to R. H. Home, edited by Stoddard (Xew York, 1877). BROWNING, Orville Hickmax (1810-811. An American politician. He was born in Ken- tucky, but removed to Illinois, and helped Abraham Lincoln organize the Republican Party in that State. He served in both Houses of the State Legislature, was United States Senator (1861-63), Secretary of the Interior (1866-68), and acting Attornev-General of the United States (1868-69). BROWNING, Oscar (1837—). An English author, born in London. He was educated at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, gradu- ating in 1860 with classical honors. From 1860 to 1875 he was a master at Eton, then returned to Cambridge, where he has since been lecturer in history and political science. As principal of the University Training College for teachers he has also performed valu.able service. He was, twice defeated as a Liberal candidate for Parlia- .' nient. Of his numerous publications in history, biography, and education, may be cited: The Netherlands in the Sixteenth Century (1860); Thirty Years' 'War (1870); Modern England ( 1879) ; History of Educational Theories (1881) ; History of England, in 4 vols. (1800); Life of George Eliot (1890) ; Goethe: Life and Works (1891) ; Life of Peter the Great (1898) ; Wars of the yinetcenth Century (1899). BROWNING, Robert (1812-1889). An Eng- lish poet, distinguished for his original and subtle thought. He was born in Camberwell. a suburb of London, May 7, 1812. His father, Rob- ert, was a clerk in the Bank of England, and his mothei-, Sarah Anne, the daughter of a Hamburg shipowner named Wiedemann, settled in Dundee. The father was a good classical scholar, a lover of old books, and a ready versifier. The mother, who had some musical talent, was of an exalted and lovely character. Both parents were Dis- senters ; and Browning never quite escaped from the consequences of his early religious training, although in one direction he permitted himself great breadth of speculation. Cardinal Wise- man, indeed, reviewing Men and Women in 1856, detected "beneath the surface an under- current of thought that is by no means incon- sistent with our religion." The future poet had a happy childhood, encouraged b' his father and mother in his refined tastes, and learning less from his school than from them and from the books they placed in his way. Among these was Pope's Iliad, which he read and liked at the age of eight. But his first master was really Byron, under whose influence he had written by 1824 enough poems to form a volume. Fortu- nately, this failed to find a publisher, for the next year the works of Shelley and Keats came into his hands, and, by revealing the possibilities of poetry, dissipated his youthful ideals and quickened his own development. After leaving school. Browning studied under a tutor, then attended a few lectures at University College, London, deciding to complete his education by travel on the Continent and a more intimate ac- quaintance with foreign literature. His sym- pathetic father had left him free to choose his life work, and although he was at this time known as an artist and musician lather than a writer, evidently he had long felt a stronger inclination in the direction of authorship : and an early desire to produce a series of monodramatic epics illustrating the life of typical souls now revived itself urgently. Early in .January. 1833, be put forth anonymously his first book. Pauline, written the year before; a poem immature as a w hole, but " abounding in passages of great beauty. He spent the winter of 1833-34 in Rus- sia. In 1835 he published a metaphysical drama, entitled Paracelsus, which was hailed by John Forster (q.v. ) as a work of genius, and secured for Browning the friendship of Macready the actor, to whom he dedicated the historical drama Strafford (1837). From this time on until his marriage Browning lived mostly in London and
