INTRODUCTION LIFE OF MRS. BROWNING Her ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING was born March 6, 1806, at Kelloe, Durham County, England. She was the eldest child of Edward Moulton Barrett and Mary GrahamClarke, and she had two sisters and eight brothers. father's family had lived in Jamaica, and he inherited a large estate there from his maternal grandfather. The child's only education was gained from her father's generous library. She learned a little Greek from her brother's tutor, and during her whole life that language was her favorite study. When she was fifteen, she received an injury to her spine while attempting to saddle her own pony. This confined her to her bed for many months, and made her a ready victim to the pulmonary disease from which she afterwards suffered, and of which she finally died. A prisoner in her room, she began to write verse as her one relief from solitude and depression. În 1832, on account of financial losses, the family left the beautiful country-place in Herefordshire, and in 1838 they settled in Wimpole St., London. The climate was very unfavorable for Elizabeth, and in the autumn of that year she went with her favorite brother, Edward, to Torquay, in the hope that she might be benefited by the change. There she remained for three years, and there she passed through a tragic experience. Her brother one day joined a sailing party. Night fell and the boat did not return. Hour after hour added to the fear lest disaster had overtaken the young men. The fear was justified by the event, but it was three days before the discovery of Edward Barrett's body put an end to the suspense. For months his devoted sister lingered between life and death. At last she recovered strength enough to be taken back to London, where she resumed the narrow and painful life of an invalid. On January 10, 1845, Robert Browning wrote to Elizabeth Barrett for the first time. She replied to the letter next day, thanking him for his praise of her poems, and thus began the daily interchange of letters which was to continue without interruption until it ended in the marriage of the writers in Marylebone Church on September 12, 1846. Mr. Barrett had a violent prejudice against marriage for his children, and his consent to Elizabeth's wedding was never obtained, nor did he ever forgive it. This estrangement was a lasting grief to her. The couple went at once to Italy. Change of climate, aided by Mrs. Browning's radiant happiness, proved a better cure for the delicate lungs than all the London doctors. The invalid entered upon fifteen years of comparative health. The Brownings lived chiefly in Florence, at Casa Guidi. There, in 1849, their only son, Robert Wiederman Barrett Browning, was born. Occasional journeys were made to France and England, but Mrs. Browning always returned to Italy the worse for exposure to harsher climates. She became intensely interested in the Italian struggle for liberty, and she worked for its success from 1847 until her death. She had a genius for friendship, and she gathered about her as friends many of the most attractive men and women of her time. Her passionate grief for the loss of her brother, and |