Verulam, in the
annals of the light of England.

Yes: beside Shakespeare and Verulam, a third star in that central
constellation, round which, in the astronomy of intellect, all other
stars make their circuit. By Shakespeare, humanity was unsealed to you;
by Verulam the _principles_ of nature; and by Turner, her _aspect_. All
these were sent to unlock one of the gates of light, and to unlock it
for the first time. But of all the three, though not the greatest,
Turner was the most unprecedented in his work. Bacon did what Aristotle
had attempted; Shakespeare did perfectly what AEschylus did partially;
but none before Turner had lifted the veil from the face of nature; the
majesty of the hills and forests had received no interpretation, and the
clouds passed unrecorded from the face of the heaven which they
adorned, and of the earth to which they ministered.

102. And now let me tell you something of his personal character. You
have heard him spoken of as ill-natured, and jealous of his brother
artists. I will tell you how jealous he was. I knew him for ten years,
and during that time had much familiar intercourse with him. I _never
once_ heard him say an unkind thing of a brother artist, and _I never
once heard him find a fault_ with another man's work. I could say this
of _no other_ artist whom I have ever known.

But I will add a piece of evidence on this matter of peculiar force.
Probably many here have read a book which has been lately published, to
my mind one of extreme interest and value, the life of the unhappy
artist, Benjamin Haydon. Whatever may have been his faults, I believe no
person can read his journal without coming to the conclusion that his
heart was honest, and that he does not _willfully_ misrepresent any
fact, or any person. Even supposing otherwise, the expression I am going
to quote to you would have all the more force, because, as you know,
Haydon passed his whole life in war with the Royal Academy, of which
Turner was one of the most influential members. Yet in the midst of one
of his most violent expressions of exultation at one of his victories
over the Academy, he draws back suddenly with these words:--"But Turner
behaved well, and did me justice."

103. I will give you however besides, two plain facts illustrative of
Turner's "jealousy."

You have, perhaps not many of you, heard of a painter of the name of
Bird: I do not myself know his works, but Turner saw some merit in them:
and wh