that lighteth every man, or that which has been given to mankind in spoken or written words, by The WORD that was in the beginning. In the ‘Death in the Desert’, in like manner, we have another school of thought analyzed with a corresponding subtlety. . . . The ‘Death in the Dessert’ is worth studying in its bearing upon the mythical school of interpretation, and as a protest, we would fain hope, from Mr. Browning’s own mind against the thought that because the love of God has been revealed in Christ, and has taught us the greatness of all true human love, therefore, “‘We ourselves make the love, and Christ was not.’ “In one remarkable passage at the close of ‘The Legend of Pornic’, Mr. Browning, speaking apparently in his own person, proclaims his belief in one great Christian doctrine, which all pantheistic and atheistic systems formally repudiate, and which many semi-Christian thinkers implicitly reject:-- “‘The candid incline to surmise of late That the Christian faith may be false, I find, For our ‘Essays and Reviews’ *1* debate Begins to tell on the public mind, And Colenso’s*2* words have weight. “‘I still, to suppose it true, for my part, See reasons and reasons: this, to begin-- ‘Tis the faith that launched point-blank her dart At the head of a lie,--taught Original Sin, The Corruption of Man’s Heart.’” -- *1* A volume which appeared in 1860, made up of essays and reviews, the several authors having “written in entire independence of each other, and without concert or comparison”. These essays and reviews offset the extreme high church doctrine of the Tracts for the Times. *2* John W. Colenso, Bishop of Natal, in South Africa; he published works questioning the inspiration and historical accuracy of certain parts of the Bible, among which was ‘The Pentateuch, and the Book of Joshua critically examined’. -- Holy-Cross Day. On which the Jews were forced to attend an annual Christian sermon in Rome. The argument is sufficiently shown by what is prefixed to this poem. The ‘Diary by the Bishop’s Secretary, 1600’, is presumably imaginary. Saul. This is, in every respect, one of Browning’s grandest poems; and in all that is included in the idea of EXPRESSION, is quite perfect. The portion of Scripture which is the germ of the poem, and it is only the germ, is contained in the First Book of Samuel 16:14-23.