t nor foam, nor express any concern about the matter, but
clear it in a smooth dome of water, without apparent exertion, coming
down again as smoothly on the other side; the whole surface of the surge
being drawn into parallel lines by its extreme velocity, but foamless,
except in places where the form of the bed opposes itself at some direct
angle to such a line of fall, and causes a breaker; so that the whole
river has the appearance of a deep and raging sea, with this only
difference, that the torrent-waves always break backwards, and sea-waves
forwards. Thus, then, in the water which has gained an impetus, we have
the most exquisite arrangements of curved lines, perpetually changing
from convex to concave, and _vice versa_, following every swell and
hollow of the bed with their modulating grace, and all in unison of
motion, presenting perhaps the most beautiful series of inorganic forms
which nature can possibly produce; for the sea runs too much into
similar and concave curves with sharp edges, but every motion of the
torrent is united, and all its curves are modifications of beautiful
line.

Sec. 25. Turner's careful choice of the historical truth.

Sec. 26. His exquisite drawing of the continuous torrent in the Llanthony
Abbey.

We see, therefore, why Turner seizes on these curved lines of the
torrent, not only as being among the most beautiful forms of nature, but
because they are an instant expression of the utmost power and velocity,
and tell us how the torrent has been flowing before we see it. For the
leap and splash might be seen in the sudden freakishness of a quiet
stream, or the fall of a rivulet over a mill-dam; but the undulating
line is the _exclusive_ attribute of the mountain-torrent,[67] whose
fall and fury have made the valleys echo for miles; and thus the moment
we see one of its curves over a stone in the foreground, we know how far
it has come, and how fiercely. And in the drawing we have been speaking
of, the lower fall of the Tees, in the foreground of the Killiecrankie
and Rhymer's Glen, and of the St. Maurice, in Rogers's Italy, we shall
find the most exquisite instances of the use of such lines; but the most
perfect of all in the Llanthony Abbey, which may be considered as the
standard of torrent-drawing. The chief light of the picture here falls
upon the surface of the stream, swelled by recent rain, and its mighty
waves come rolling down close to the spectator, green and clea