Heine，aladoftwelve，wasalreadyenamouredofthegreatNapoleoniclegend。
TheforemostliterarycriticofthecenturywasrunningaboutthesandsofBoulogne，orperhapswanderingoftenalongtherampartsoftheoldtown，introspectiveeventhen，withsomethingofthatrareandinsatiablecuriositywhichweallnowrecogniseassodistinctiveofSainte-Beuve。Again，thegreatestcreativeliteraryartistofthecentury，inproseatanyrate，wasleadinganapparentlysomewhatindolentschoolboylifeatTours，undreamfulyetofenormousdebts，colossalundertakings，giganticfailures，andthe`ComedieHumaine’。Inart，SirHenryRaeburn，WilliamBlake，Flaxman，Canova，Thorwaldsen，Crome，SirThomasLawrence，Constable，SirDavidWilkie，andTurnerwereintheexerciseoftheirhappiestfaculties：
aswere，intheusageoftheirs，Beethoven，Weber，Schubert，Spohr，Donizetti，andBellini。
ItisnotinadvisedlythatImakethisspecificationofgreatnames，ofmenwhowereborncoincidentallywith，orwereinthebroadersensecontemporariesofRobertBrowning。Thereisnosuchthingasafortuitousbirth。Creationdoesnotoccurspontaneously，asinthatdrawingofDavidScott’swherefromthefootprintoftheOmnipotentspringhumanspiritsandfierystars。Literallyindeed，asagreatFrenchwriterhasindicated，amanisthechildofhistime。
Itisamatteroftencommenteduponbystudentsofliterature，thatgreatmendonotappearatthebeginning，butratherattheacmeofaperiod。