!--pausing, taps discreet;
And then, to give herself a countenance,
Before she comes upon the pair inside,
Loud--the oft-quoted, long-laughed-over line--
"'_Hail, calm acclivity, salubrious spot!_'
Open the door!"

No: let the curtain fall!

CHAPTER V

RELIGIOUS THOUGHT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

In "Bishop Blougram's Apology" and "Christmas-Eve and Easter Day,"
Browning has covered the main tendencies in religious thought of the
nineteenth century in England; and possibly "Caliban" might be included
as representative of Calvinistic survivals of the century.

The two most strongly marked of these tendencies have been shown in the
Tractarian Movement which took Anglican in the direction of High
Churchism and Catholicism, and in the Scientific Movement which led in
the direction of Agnosticism.

The battle between the Church of Rome and the Church of England was
waged the latter part of the first half of the century, and the greater
battle between science and religion came on in its full strength the
middle of the century when the influence of Spencer, Darwin, Tyndall,
Huxley and other men of science began to make itself felt, as well as
that of such critics of historical Christianity as Strauss in Germany
and Renan in France. The influence of the dissenting bodies,--the
Presbyterians and the Methodists--also became a power during the
century. Broadly speaking, it may be said that the development has been
in the direction of the utmost freedom of conscience in the matter of
religion, though the struggles of humanity to arrive there even during
this century are distressing to look back upon; and occasionally one is
held up even in America to-day by the ghost of religious persecution.

It is an open secret that in Bishop Blougram, Browning meant to portray
Cardinal Wiseman, whose connection with the Tractarian Movement is of
great interest in the history of this movement. Browning enjoyed hugely
the joke that Cardinal Wiseman himself reviewed the poem. The Cardinal
praised it as a poem, though he did not consider the attitude of a
priest of Rome to be properly interpreted. A comparison of the poem with
opinions expressed by the Cardinal as well as a glimpse into his
activities will show how far Browning has done him justice.

It is well to remember at the outset that the poet's own view is neither
that of Blougram nor of the literary man Gigadibs, with whom Blougram