ched the enormous sum of 600 guineas. The
prices of his more finished oil paintings have ranged in the last few
years from 700 to 1,200 or 1,400 guineas. All his works may now be said to
have acquired triple or quadruple the value originally paid for them. Mr.
Turner undoubtedly realized a very large fortune, and great curiosity will
be felt to ascertain the posthumous use he has made of it. His personal
habits were peculiar, and even penurious, but in all that related to his
art he was generous to munificence; and we are not without hope that his
last intentions were for the benefit of the nation, and the preservation
of his own fame. He was never married, he was not known to have any
relations, and his wants were limited to the strictest simplicity. The
only ornaments of his house in Queen Anne-street were the pictures by his
own hand, which he had constantly refused to part with at any price, among
which the "Rise and Fall of Carthage" and the "Crossing the Brook," rank
among the choicest specimens of his finest manner.

"Mr. Turner seldom took much part in society, and only displayed in the
closest intimacy the shrewdness of his observation and the playfulness of
his wit. Every where he kept back much of what was in him, and while the
keenest intelligence, mingled with a strong tinge of satire, animated his
brisk countenance, it seemed to amuse him to be but half understood. His
nearest social ties were those formed in the Royal Academy, of which he
was by far the oldest member, and to whose interests he was most warmly
attached. He filled at one time the chair of Professor of Perspective, but
without conspicuous success, and that science has since been taught in the
Academy by means better suited to promote it than a course of lectures. In
the composition and execution of his works, Mr. Turner was jealously
sensitive of all interference or supervision. He loved to deal in the
secrets and mysteries of his art, and many of his peculiar effects are
produced by means which it would not be easy to discover or to imitate.

"We hope that the Society of Arts or the British Gallery will take an
early opportunity of commemorating the genius of this great artist, and of
reminding the public of the prodigious range of his pencil, by forming a
general exhibition of his principal works, if, indeed, they are not
permanently gathered in a nobler repository. Such an exhibition will serve
far better than any observations of ours to d