Mackechnie. — On Broio?iing's Vision of Life. 371 



is truly divine. As we gaze upon the wondrous beauty of the 

 world, with all its fair and glorious forms, and realise the 

 marvellous simplicity of the laws which sustain and govern 

 the universe, we can understand in part the pride and joy 

 of Aprile, the poet, in " Paracelsus," when he exultantly 



exclaims — 



God is the perfect poet, 

 Who in creation acts His own conceptions. 



I am tempted to place before you to-night Browning's 

 vision or view of life by two considerations — first, because 

 I believe his writings are but little known here ; and, 

 secondly, because it is alleged they have proved a source 

 of comfort and consolation to many persons depressed by 

 the trials of this life and the uncertamty attending the life to 

 come. The few minutes at my disposal will enable me only 

 to give a bare and, I fear, most imperfect outline of those 

 views ; but I shall endeavour to emphasize the salient points 

 presented by the leading ideas by a line or two from his own 

 poems, assuming always that they are personal as well as 

 poetical utterances. 



" Man," says Browning, " is a being created for two lives 

 — a finite life and an infinite life ; and to live wisely we must 

 take due account of both, neglecting neither the one nor the 

 other." The concerns of this life, " since flesh must live," 

 necessarily claim a portion of our time and attention, but to 

 occupy our entire earthly life in accumulating material wealth, 

 and to be content with the pleasures and enjoyments of a 

 mere animal existence, is, in his estimation and from his point 

 of view, strange and unaccountable. A man by the develop- 

 ment of the brute instinct of cunning within him may suc- 

 ceed in some ignoble pursuit, for every energy of his being 

 is enlisted in gaining what he desires. 



The low man seeks a little thing to do, 

 Sees it and does it. 



He is capable of better things, but he does not desire them. 

 He dwells on no elevating thought, makes no effort to rise in 

 the scale of being, and has his rew^ard. In the utmost con- 

 tentment of heart he lives on in spiritual sloth and indolence 



left in 



God's contempt apart, with ghastly smooth liffe. 



On the other hand, the man who seeks life plainly in its two- 

 fold capacity, who, moved by a spiritual ambition, strives to 

 •elevate himself to a higher level in the scale of being and pre- 

 pare his soul for the approaching change, frequently fails. 



This high man, with a great thing to pursue, 

 Dies ere he knows it. 



This is not failure. Browning contends, but only apparent 



