ential characters of organic beauty. Until,
however, I can enter into the discussion of the nature of beauty,
the only advice I can safely give the young painter, is to keep
clear of clover-fields and parks, and to hold to the unpenetrated
forest and the unfurrowed hill. There he will find that every
influence is noble, even when destructive--that decay itself is
beautiful,--and that, in the elaborate and lovely composition of all
things, if at first sight it seems less studied than the works of
men, the appearance of Art is only prevented by the presence of
Power.

"Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her: 'tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead
From joy to joy; for she can so inform
The mind that is within us, so impress
With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men
Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
Is full of blessings."

WORDSWORTH.

[81] It has been hinted, in some of the reviews of the Second Volume
of this work, that the writer's respect for Turner has diminished
since the above passage was written. He would, indeed, have been
deserving of little attention if, with the boldness manifested on
the preceding pages, he had advanced opinions based on so shallow
foundation as that the course of three years could effect
modification of them. He was justified by the sudden accession of
power which the great artist exhibited at the period when this
volume was first published, as well as by the low standard of the
criticism to which he was subjected, in claiming, with respect to
his then works, a submission of judgment, greater indeed than may
generally be accorded to even the highest human intellect, yet not
greater than such a master might legitimately claim from such
critics; and the cause of the peculiar form of advocacy into which
the preceding chapters necessarily fell, has been already stated
more than once. In the following sections it became necessary, as
they treated a subject of intricate relations, and peculiar
difficulty, to obtain a