John Forster of abhorrence of the Roman Catholic faith on the grounds of the then recent publication of this poem, containing, as was alleged, a portrait of a sophistical and self-indulgent priest, intended as a satire on Cardinal Wiseman, Browning met the charge with what would appear to have been genuine astonishment; and, whilst admitting his intention of employing the Cardinal as a model, concluded, "But I do not consider it a satire, there is nothing hostile about it." And, looked at more closely, it is questionable whether much of the alleged hostility is to be detected. At least our feelings towards the Bishop contain no element of either aversion or contempt as we conclude our study of his defence! The external indications of identity are scattered, as if incidentally, throughout the poem, according to the method habitual to Browning. (1) Cardinal in 1850, Wiseman had been already consecrated bishop in 1840, and sent to England as Vicar Apostolic of the Central District in conjunction with Bishop Walsh. The year of his appointment as Cardinal was also the date of the papal bull assigning territorial titles to Roman Catholic bishops in England, a measure, rightly or wrongly, attributed popularly to the influence of Wiseman. His episcopal title from 1840 had been that of "Melipotamus in _partibus infidelium_," hence Sylvester Blougram, styled _in partibus Episcopus, nec non_--(the deuce knows what It's changed to by our novel hierarchy). (ll. 972-974.) (2) The reference in lines 957-960 to the Bishop's influence in the literary world, in particular with the editors of Reviews, "whether here, in Dublin or New York," recalls the fact that _The Dublin Review_ had been founded by Cardinal Wiseman in 1836. (3) Again, in the opening lines, the allusion to Augustus Welby Pugin, the genius of ecclesiastical architecture of the last century. When Wiseman, in 1840, became President of Oscott College, Pugin was alarmed for the results of his influence in architectural matters; since the Cardinal's tastes had been formed in Rome, whilst the design of Pugin included a Gothic revival in ecclesiastical architecture and vestments, as well as the universal adoption of Gregorian chants in the services of the Church. In spite, however, of the architect's fears, and some preliminary collisions, the two men subsequently succeeded in preserving amicable relations. Hence the Bishop's tolerant, but half-satirical comment, We ought to have our Abbey back, you see. It's different, preaching in basilicas, And doing duty in some masterpiece Like this of brother Pugin's, bless his heart! I doubt if they're half-baked, those chalk rosettes, Ciphers and stucco-twiddlings everywhere. (ll. 3-8.)