In the successive monologues of his poem, Browning is endeavouring to depict the various strange ways in which a fact gets itself presented to the world.

In every question there are partisans who bring cogent and convincing arguments for the right side; there are also partisans who bring cogent and convincing arguments for the wrong side.

But over and above these, there does exist in every great controversy a class of more or less official partisans who are continually engaged in defending each cause by entirely inappropriate arguments.

They do not know the real good that can be said for the good cause, nor the real good that can be said for the bad one.

They are represented by the animated, learned, eloquent, ingenious, and entirely futile and impertinent arguments of Juris Doctor Bottinius and Dominus Hyacinthus de Archangelis.