,library ,edition  ,,the ,,complete     
,,works ,,of ,,john ,,ruskin  ,,stones  
,,of ,,venice ,,volume ,,iii  ,,giotto  
,,lectures ,,on ,,architecture          
,,harbours ,,of ,,england ,a ,,joy      
,,forever  ,,national ,,library         
,,association ,,new ,,york ,,chicago    
,,the ,,complete ,,works ,,of ,,john    
,,ruskin  ,,volume ,x  ,,giotto ,,and   
,,his ,,works ,,lectures ,,on           
,,architecture ,,the ,,harbors ,,of     
,,england ,,political ,,economy ,,of    
,,art 7,a ,,joy ,,forever7     ,,the    
,,harbors ,,of ,,england4               
,,contents4                             
,,page    ,,the ,,harbors ,,of ,,england
    #a       ,i4 ,,dover                
#cd      ,,ii4 ,,ramsgate           #cf 
,,iii4 ,,plymouth           #ch         
,,iv4 ,,catwater           #dj       ,v4
 ,,sheerness          #da      ,,vi4    
,,margate            #dc     ,,vii4     
,,portsmouth         #df    ,,viii4     
,,falmouth           #di      ,,ix4     
,,sidmouth           #ea       ,x4      

,,whitby             #eb      ,,xi4     
,,deal               #ed     ,,xii4     
,,scarborough        #ef     ,,editor',s
 ,,preface4   ,turner's ,harbors of     
,england1 as it is generally called1 is 
a book which1 for various reasons1 has  
never received from readers of ,mr4     
,ruskin's writings the attention it     
deserves4 ,true1 it has always been     
sought after by connoisseurs1 and       
collectors never fail with their eleven 
or twelve guineas whenever a set of     
,artist's ,proofs of the ,first ,edition
 of #ahef comes into the market4 ,but to
 the ,general ,reader the book with its 
twelve exquisitely delicate             
mezzotints--four of which ,mr4 ,ruskin  
has declared to be among the very finest
 executed by ,turner from his marine    
subjects--is practically unknown4  ,the 
primary reason for this neglect is not  
far to seek4 ,since #ahgg no new edition
 of the work has been published1 and    
thus it has gradually passed from public
 knowledge1 though still regarded with  

lively interest by those to whom ,mr4   
,ruskin's words--particularly words     
written in further unfolding of the     
subtleties of ,turner's art--at all     
times appeal so strongly4  ,in his own  
preface ,mr4 ,ruskin has told us all    
that in #ahef it was necessary to know  
of the genesis of the ,harbors4 ,that   
account may now be supplemented with the
 following additional facts4 ,in #ahbf  
,turner 7in conjunction with ,lupton1   
the engraver7 projected and commenced a 
serial publication entitled ,the ,ports 
of ,england4 ,but both artist and       
engraver lacked the opportunity required
 to carry the undertaking to a          
successful conclusion1 and three numbers
 only were completed4 ,each of these    
contained two engravings4 ,part ,i41    
introducing ,scarborough and ,whitby1   
duly appeared in #ahbf2 ,part ,,ii41    
with ,dover and ,ramsgate1 in #ahbg2 and
 in #ahbh ,part ,,iii41 containing      
,sheerness and ,portsmouth1 closed the  
series4,a ,twenty-eight years afterwards

 7that is1 in #ahef1 five years after   
,turner's death7 these six plates1      
together with six new ones1 were        
published by ,messrs4 ,e4 ,gambart      
,co41 at whose invitation ,mr4 ,ruskin  
consented to write the essay on         
,turner's marine painting which         
accompanied them4 ,the book1 a handsome 
folio1 appears to have been immediately 
successful1 for in the following year a 
second edition was called for4 ,this was
 a precise reprint of the #ahef edition2
 but1 unhappily1 the delicate plates    
already began to exhibit signs of wear4 
,the copyright 7which had not been      
retained by ,mr4 ,ruskin1 but remained  
the property of ,messrs4 ,e4 ,gambart   
,co47 then passed to ,messrs4 ,day      
,son1 who1 after producing the third    
edition of #ahei1 in turn disposed of it
 to ,mr4 ,t4 ,j4 ,allman4 ,allman issued
 a fourth edition in #ahgb1 and then    
parted with his rights to ,messrs4      
,smith1 ,elder  ,co41 who in #ahgg      
brought out the fifth1 and1 until now1  

last edition4 ,since that date the work 
has been out of print1 and has remained 
practically inaccessible to the ordinary
 reader4      ,a ,to ornament the covers
 of these parts1 ,turner designed a     
vignette1 which was printed upon the    
center of the front wrapper of     each4
 ,as ,the ,ports of ,england is an      
exceptionally scarce book1 and     as   
the vignette can be obtained in no other
 form1 a facsimile of it     is here    
given4 ,the original drawing was        
presented by ,mr4 ,ruskin to     the    
,fitz-,william ,museum1 at ,cambridge1  
where it may now be seen4  ,it is matter
 for congratulation that at length means
 have been found to bring ,the ,harbors 
of ,england once more into currency1 and
 to issue the book through ,mr4 ,george 
,allen at a price which will place it   
within the reach of the reading public  
at large4  ,the last edition of #ahgg1  
with its worn and retouched plates1,b   
was published at twenty-five shillings2 
less than a third of that sum will      

suffice to procure a copy of this new   
issue in which the prints 7save for     
their reduced size7 more nearly approach
 the clearness and beauty of the        
originals of #ahef than any of the three
 editions which have immediately        
preceded it4      ,b ,by this time      
7#ahgg7 the plates had become           
considerably worn1 and     were         
accordingly retouched by ,mr4 ,chas4 ,a4
 ,tomkins4 ,but such     retouching     
proved worse than useless4 ,the delicacy
 of the finer work     had entirely     
vanished1 and the plates remained but a 
ghost of their     former selves1 such  
as no one would recognize as doing      
justice to     ,turner4 ,the fifth is   
unquestionably the least satisfactory of
 the     five original editions         
containing ,lupton's engravings4  ,i    
have before me the following interesting
 letter addressed by ,mr4 ,ruskin's     
father to ,mr4 ,w4 ,smith ,williams1 for
 many years literary adviser to ,messrs4
 ,smith1 ,elder  ,co43--                

,,chamouni1 ,august #dth1 #ahef4        
,,my ,,dear ,,sir1--,i hear that in ,the
 ,athenum of #bfth ,july there is      a
 good article on my son's ,harbors of   
,england1 and ,i should be      greatly 
obliged by ,mr4 ,gordon ,smith sending  
me that number4444       ,the history of
 this book1 ,i believe1 ,i told you4    
,gambart1 the      ,french publisher and
 picture dealer1 said some #ah months   
ago that      he was going to put out   
#ab ,turner plates1 never published1 of 
,english ,harbors1 and he would give my 
son two good ,turner drawings      for a
 few pages of text to illustrate them4,c
 ,john agreed1 and      wrote the text1 
when poorly in the spring of #ahee1 at  
,tunbridge      ,wells2 and it seems the
 work has just come out4 ,it was in my  
opinion an extremely well done thing1   
and more likely1 as far as it      went1
 if not to be extremely popular1 at     
least to be received      without cavil 
than anything he had written4 ,if there 
is a very      favorable review in ,the 

,athenum 444 it may tend to disarm the  
critics1 and partly influence opinion of
 his larger works4444--,with      our   
united kind regards1       ,yours very  
truly1      ,,john ,,james ,,ruskin4    
,c ,mr4 ,e4 ,gambart 7who is still      
living7 states that1 to the best of     
his recollection1 he paid ,mr4 ,ruskin  
#aej guineas for his work4     ,probably
 this was the price originally agreed   
upon1 the two ,turner     drawings being
 ultimately accepted as a more welcome  
and appropriate     form of             
remuneration4  ,in all save one         
particular the ,text here given follows 
precisely that of the previous issues4  
,it has been the good fortune of the    
present ,editor to be able to restore a 
characteristic passage suppressed from  
motives of prudence when the work was   
originally planned4,d ,the proof-sheets 
of the first edition1 worked upon by    
,mr4 ,ruskin1 were given by him to his  
old nurse ,anne4,e ,she1 fortunately1   
carefully preserved them1 and in turn   

gave them to ,mr4 ,allen1 some ten years
 before he became ,mr4 ,ruskin's        
publisher4 ,these proofs had been       
submitted as they came from the press to
 ,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,harrison 7well known to  
readers of ,on the ,old ,road1 etc41 as 
,my ,first ,editor71 who marked them    
freely with notes and suggestions4 ,to  
one passage he appears to have taken so 
decided an objection that its author was
 prevailed upon to delete it4 ,but1     
whilst deferring thus to the judgment of
 others1 and consenting to remove a     
sentence which he doubtless regarded    
with particular satisfaction as         
expressing a decided opinion upon a     
favorite picture1 ,mr4 ,ruskin indulged 
in one of those pleasantries which now  
and again we observe in his informal    
letters1 though seldom1 if ever1 in his 
serious writings4 ,in the margin1 below 
the canceled passage1 he wrote boldly3  
,sacrificed to the ,muse of ,prudence4  
,j4 ,r4,f      ,d ,see post1 p4 #ai4    
,e ,see ,prterita4 ,she died ,march     

#cjth1 #ahga4      ,f ,the accompanying 
illustration is a facsimile of the      
portion of     the proof-sheet described
 above--slightly reduced to fit the     
smaller     page4  ,that ,mr4 ,harrison 
was justified in raising objection to   
this moderate estimate of ,turner's     
picture will1 ,i think1 be readily      
allowed4 ,in those days ,mr4 ,ruskin's  
influence was1 comparatively speaking1  
small2 and the expression of an opinion 
which heaped praise upon the single     
painting of a partially understood      
painter at the expense of a great and   
popular institution would only have     
served to arouse opposition1 and        
possibly to attract ridicule4 ,it is    
different to-day4 ,we know the keen     
enthusiasm of the author of ,the ,seven 
,lamps1 and have seen again and again   
how he expresses himself in terms of    
somewhat exaggerated admiration when    
writing of a painter whom he            
appreciates1 or a picture that he loves4
 ,to us this enthusiasm is an attractive

 characteristic4 ,it has never been     
permitted to distort the vision or cloud
 the critical faculty2 and we follow the
 teaching of the ,master all the more   
closely because we feel his fervor1 and 
know how completely he becomes possessed
 with a subject which appeals to his    
imagination or his heart4 ,i have       
therefore not scrupled to revive the    
words which he consented to immolate at 
the shrine of ,prudence4  ,it is not my 
province here to enter into any         
criticism of the pages which follow2    
but1 for the benefit of those who are   
not versed in the minuti of ,shelleyan  
topics1 a word may be said regarding    
,mr4 ,ruskin's reference,g to the poet  
who met his death in the ,bay of        
,spezzia4 ,the ,don ,juan was no        
traitorous craft4 ,fuller and more      
authentic information is to hand now    
than the meager facts at the disposal of
 a writer in #ahef2 and we know that the
 greed of man1 and not the lack of      
sea-worthiness in his tiny vessel1      

caused ,percy ,shelley to           444 
,suffer a sea change     ,into something
 rich and strange4      ,g ,see post1 p4
 #c4  ,there is1 unhappily1 no longer   
any room for doubt that the ,don ,juan  
was willfully run down by a felucca     
whose crew coveted the considerable sum 
of money they believed ,byron to have   
placed on board1 and cared nothing for  
the sacrifice of human life in their    
eagerness to seize the gold4  ,the      
twelve engravings1 to which reference   
has already been made1 have been        
reproduced by the photogravure process  
from a selected set of early examples2  
and1 in addition1 the plates so prepared
 have been carefully worked upon by ,mr4
 ,allen himself4 ,it will thus be       
apparent that everything possible has   
been done to produce a worthy edition of
 a worthy book1 and to place in the     
hands of the public what to the present 
generation of readers is tantamount to a
 new work from a pen which--alas6--has  
now for so long a time been still4      

,,thomas ,j4 ,,wise4     ,,author',s    
,,original ,,preface4   ,among the many 
peculiarities which distinguished the   
late ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner from other     
landscape painters1 not the least       
notable1 in my apprehension1 were his   
earnest desire to arrange his works in  
connected groups1 and his evident       
intention1 with respect to each drawing1
 that it should be considered as        
expressing part of a continuous system  
of thought4 ,the practical result of    
this feeling was that he commenced many 
series of drawings1--and1 if any        
accident interfered with the            
continuation of the work1 hastily       
concluded them1--under titles           
representing rather the relation which  
the executed designs bore to the        
materials accumulated in his own mind1  
than the position which they could      
justifiably claim when contemplated by  
others4 ,the ,river ,scenery was closed 
without a single drawing of a rapidly   
running stream2 and the prints of his   

annual tours were assembled1 under the  
title of the ,rivers of ,france1 without
 including a single illustration either 
of the ,rhone or the ,garonne4  ,the    
title under which the following plates  
are now presented to the public1 is     
retained merely out of respect to this  
habit of ,turner's4 ,under that title he
 commenced the publication1 and executed
 the vignette for its title-page1       
intending doubtless to make it worthy of
 taking rank with1 if not far above1 the
 consistent and extensive series of the 
,southern ,coast1 executed in his       
earlier years4 ,but procrastination and 
accident equally interfered with his    
purpose4 ,the excellent engraver ,mr4   
,lupton1 in co-operation with whom the  
work was undertaken1 was unfortunately  
also a man of genius1 and seems to have 
been just as capricious as ,turner      
himself in the application of his powers
 to the matter in hand4 ,had one of the 
parties in the arrangement been a mere  
plodding man of business1 the work would

 have proceeded2 but between the two men
 of talent it came very naturally to a  
stand4 ,they petted each other by       
reciprocal indulgence of delay2 and at  
,turner's death1 the series1 so         
magnificently announced under the title 
of the ,harbors of ,england1 consisted  
only of twelve plates1 all the less     
worthy of their high-sounding title in  
that1 while they included illustrations 
of some of the least important of the   
watering-places1 they did not include   
any illustration whatever of such       
harbors of ,england as ,liverpool1      
,shields1 ,yarmouth1 or ,bristol4 ,such 
as they were1 however1 ,i was requested 
to undertake their illustration4 ,as the
 offer was made at a moment when much   
nonsense1 in various forms1 was being   
written about ,turner and his works2 and
 among the twelve plates there were     
four,h which ,i considered among the    
very finest that had been executed from 
his marine subjects1 ,i accepted the    
trust2 partly to prevent the really     

valuable series of engravings from being
 treated with injustice1 and partly     
because there were several features in  
them by which ,i could render more      
intelligible some remarks ,i wished to  
make on ,turner's marine painting in    
general4      ,h ,portsmouth1           
,sheerness1 ,scarborough1 and ,whitby4  
,these remarks1 therefore1 ,i have      
thrown together1 in a connected form2   
less with a view to the illustration of 
these particular plates1 than of the    
general system of ship-painting which   
was characteristic of the great artist4 
,i have afterwards separately noted the 
points which seemed to me most deserving
 of attention in the plates themselves4 
,of archological information the reader 
will find none4 ,the designs themselves 
are1 in most instances1 little more than
 spirited sea-pieces1 with such         
indistinct suggestion of local features 
in the distance as may justify the name 
given to the subject2 but even when1 as 
in the case of the ,dover and           

,portsmouth1 there is something         
approaching topographical detail1 ,i    
have not considered it necessary to lead
 the reader into inquiries which        
certainly ,turner himself never thought 
of2 nor do ,i suppose it would          
materially add to the interest of these 
cloud distances or rolling seas1 if ,i  
had the time--which ,i have not--to     
collect the most complete information   
respecting the raising of ,prospect     
,rows1 and the establishment of         
circulating libraries4  ,,denmark       
,,hill4 #ahef4     ,,the ,,harbors ,,of 
,,england4   ,of all things1 living or  
lifeless1 upon this strange earth1 there
 is but one which1 having reached the   
mid-term of appointed human endurance on
 it1 ,i still regard with unmitigated   
amazement4 ,i know1 indeed1 that all    
around me is wonderful--but ,i cannot   
answer it with wonder3--a dark veil1    
with the foolish words1 ,,nature ,,of   
,,things1 upon it1 casts its deadening  
folds between me and their dazzling     

strangeness4 ,flowers open1 and stars   
rise1 and it seems to me they could have
 done no less4 ,the mystery of distant  
mountain-blue only makes me reflect that
 the earth is of necessity              
mountainous2--the sea-wave breaks at my 
feet1 and ,i do not see how it should   
have remained unbroken4 ,but one object 
there is still1 which ,i never pass     
without the renewed wonder of childhood1
 and that is the bow of a ,boat4 ,not of
 a racing-wherry1 or revenue cutter1 or 
clipper yacht2 but the blunt head of a  
common1 bluff1 undecked sea-boat1 lying 
aside in its furrow of beach sand4 ,the 
sum of ,navigation is in that4 ,you may 
magnify it or decorate as you will3 you 
do not add to the wonder of it4         
,lengthen it into hatchet-like edge of  
iron1--strengthen it with complex       
tracery of ribs of oak1--carve it and   
gild it till a column of light moves    
beneath it on the sea1--you have made no
 more of it than it was at first4 ,that 
rude simplicity of bent plank1 that can 

breast its way through the death that is
 in the deep sea1 has in it the soul of 
shipping4 ,beyond this1 we may have more
 work1 more men1 more money2 we cannot  
have more miracle4  ,for there is1      
first1 an infinite strangeness in the   
perfection of the thing1 as work of     
human hands4 ,i know nothing else that  
man does1 which is perfect1 but that4   
,all his other doings have some sign of 
weakness1 affectation1 or ignorance in  
them4 ,they are overfinished or         
underfinished2 they do not quite answer 
their end1 or they show a mean vanity in
 answering it too well4  ,but the boat's
 bow is navely perfect3 complete without
 an effort4 ,the man who made it knew   
not he was making anything beautiful1 as
 he bent its planks into those          
mysterious1 ever-changing curves4 ,it   
grows under his hand into the image of a
 sea-shell2 the seal1 as it were1 of the
 flowing of the great tides and streams 
of ocean stamped on its delicate        
rounding4 ,he leaves it when all is     

done1 without a boast4 ,it is simple    
work1 but it will keep out water4 ,and  
every plank thence-forward is a ,fate1  
and has men's lives wreathed in the     
knots of it1 as the cloth-yard shaft had
 their deaths in its plumes4  ,then1    
also1 it is wonderful on account of the 
greatness of the thing accomplished4 ,no
 other work of human hands ever gained  
so much4 ,steam-engines and telegraphs  
indeed help us to fetch1 and carry1 and 
talk2 they lift weights for us1 and     
bring messages1 with less trouble than  
would have been needed otherwise2 this  
saving of trouble1 however1 does not    
constitute a new faculty1 it only       
enhances the powers we already possess4 
,but in that bow of the boat is the gift
 of another world4 ,without it1 what    
prison wall would be so strong as that  
white and wailing fringe of sea4 ,what  
maimed creatures were we all1 chained to
 our rocks1 ,andromeda-like1 or         
wandering by the endless shores2 wasting
 our incommunicable strength1 and pining

 in hopeless watch of unconquerable     
waves8 ,the nails that fasten together  
the planks of the boat's bow are the    
rivets of the fellowship of the world4  
,their iron does more than draw         
lightning out of heaven1 it leads love  
round the earth4  ,then also1 it is     
wonderful on account of the greatness of
 the enemy that it does battle with4 ,to
 lift dead weight2 to overcome length of
 languid space2 to multiply or          
systematize a given force2 this we may  
see done by the bar1 or beam1 or wheel1 
without wonder4 ,but to war with that   
living fury of waters1 to bare its      
breast1 moment after moment1 against the
 unwearied enmity of ocean1--the subtle1
 fitful1 implacable smiting of the black
 waves1 provoking each other on1        
endlessly1 all the infinite march of the
 ,atlantic rolling on behind them to    
their help1--and still to strike them   
back into a wreath of smoke and futile  
foam1 and win its way against them1 and 
keep its charge of life from them2--does

 any other soulless thing do as much as 
this8  ,i should not have talked of this
 feeling of mine about a boat1 if ,i had
 thought it was mine only2 but ,i       
believe it to be common to all of us who
 are not seamen4 ,with the seaman1      
wonder changes into fellowship and close
 affection2 but to all landsmen1 from   
youth upwards1 the boat remains a piece 
of enchantment2 at least unless we      
entangle our vanity in it1 and refine it
 away into mere lath1 giving up all its 
protective nobleness for pace4 ,with    
those in whose eyes the perfection of a 
boat is swift fragility1 ,i have no     
sympathy4 ,the glory of a boat is1 first
 its steadiness of poise--its assured   
standing on the clear softness of the   
abyss2 and1 after that1 so much capacity
 of progress by oar or sail as shall be 
consistent with this defiance of the    
treachery of the sea4 ,and1 this being  
understood1 it is very notable how      
commonly the poets1 creating for        
themselves an ideal of motion1 fasten   

upon the charm of a boat4 ,they do not  
usually express any desire for wings1   
or1 if they do1 it is only in some vague
 and half-unintended phrase1 such as    
flit or soar1 involving wingedness4     
,seriously1 they are evidently content  
to let the wings belong to ,horse1 or   
,muse1 or ,angel1 rather than to        
themselves2 but they all1 somehow or    
other1 express an honest wish for a     
,spiritual ,boat4 ,i will not dwell on  
poor ,shelley's paper navies1 and seas  
of quicksilver1 lest we should begin to 
think evil of boats in general because  
of that traitorous one in ,spezzia ,bay2
 but it is a triumph to find the        
pastorally minded ,wordsworth imagine no
 other way of visiting the stars than in
 a boat no bigger than the crescent     
moon2,i and to find ,tennyson--although 
his boating1 in an ordinary way1 has a  
very marshy and punt-like character--at 
last1 in his highest inspiration1 enter 
in where the wind began to sweep a music
 out of sheet and shroud4,j ,but the    

chief triumph of all is in ,dante4 ,he  
had known all manner of traveling2 had  
been borne through vacancy on the       
shoulders of chimeras1 and lifted       
through upper heaven in the grasp of its
 spirits2 but yet ,i do not remember    
that he ever expresses any positive wish
 on such matters1 except for a boat4    
,i ,prologue to ,peter ,bell4      ,j   
,in ,memoriam1 ci4      ,guido1 ,i wish 
that ,lapo1 thou1 and ,i1       ,led by 
some strong enchantment1 might ascend   
,a magic ship1 whose charmed sails      
should fly       ,with winds at will    
where'er our thoughts might wend1       
,so that no change nor any evil chance  
,should mar our joyous voyage2 but it   
might be       ,that even satiety should
 still enhance       ,between our souls 
their strict community3     ,and that   
the bounteous wizard then would place   
,vanna and ,bice1 and our ,lapo's love1 
,companions of our wandering1 and would 
grace     ,with passionate talk1        
wherever we might rove1     ,our time1  

and each were as content and free       
,as ,i believe that thou and ,i should  
be4  ,and of all the descriptions of    
motion in the ,divina ,commedia1 ,i do  
not think there is another quite so fine
 as that in which ,dante has glorified  
the old fable of ,charon by giving a    
boat also to the bright sea which       
surrounds the mountain of ,purgatory1   
bearing the redeemed souls to their     
place of trial2 only an angel is now the
 pilot1 and there is no stroke of       
laboring oar1 for his wings are the     
sails4                            ,my   
preceptor silent yet     ,stood1 while  
the brightness that we first discerned  
,opened the form of wings3 then1 when he
 knew     ,the pilot1 cried aloud1      
',down1 down2 bend low     ,thy knees2  
behold ,god's angel3 fold thy hands3    
,now shalt thou see true ministers      
indeed4     ,lo6 how all human means he 
sets at nought2     ,so that nor oar he 
needs1 nor other sail     ,except his   
wings1 between such distant shores4     

,lo6 how straight up to heaven he holds 
them reared1     ,winnowing the air with
 those eternal plumes1     ,that not    
like mortal hairs fall off or change4'  
,as more and more toward us came1 more  
bright     ,appeared the bird of ,god1  
nor could the eye     ,endure his       
splendor near3 ,i mine bent down4       
,he drove ashore in a small bark so     
swift     ,and light1 that in its course
 no wave it drank4     ,the heavenly    
steersman at the prow was seen1         
,visibly written blessed in his looks4  
,within1 a hundred spirits and more     
there sat4  ,i have given this passage  
at length1 because it seems to me that  
,dante's most inventive adaptation of   
the fable of ,charon to ,heaven has not 
been regarded with the interest that it 
really deserves2 and because1 also1 it  
is a description that should be         
remembered by every traveler when first 
he sees the white fork of the felucca   
sail shining on the ,southern ,sea4 ,not
 that ,dante had ever seen such sails2,k

 his thought was utterly irrespective of
 the form of canvas in any ship of the  
period2 but it is well to be able to    
attach this happy image to those felucca
 sails1 as they now float white and soft
 above the blue glowing of the bays of  
,adria4 ,nor are other images wanting in
 them4 ,seen far away on the horizon1   
the ,neapolitan felucca has all the     
aspect of some strange bird stooping out
 of the air and just striking the water 
with its claws2 while the ,venetian1    
when its painted sails are at full swell
 in sunshine1 is as beautiful as a      
butterfly with its wings half-closed4,l 
,there is something also in them that   
might remind us of the variegated and   
spotted angel wings of ,orcagna1 only   
the ,venetian sail never looks majestic2
 it is too quaint and strange1 yet with 
no peacock's pride or vulgar            
gayety1--nothing of ,milton's ,dalilah3 
,so bedecked1 ornate and gay     ,like a
 stately ship     ,of ,tarsus1 bound for
 the ,isles     ,of ,javan or ,gadire   

,with all her bravery on and tackle     
trim1     ,sails filled and streamers   
waving4  ,that description could only   
have been written in a time of vulgar   
women and vulgar vessels4 ,the utmost   
vanity of dress in a woman of the       
fourteenth century would have given no  
image of sails filled or streamers      
waving2 nor does the look or action of a
 really stately ship ever suggest any   
image of the motion of a weak or vain   
woman4 ,the beauties of the ,court of   
,charles ,,ii41 and the gilded galleys  
of the ,thames1 might fitly be compared2
 but the pomp of the ,venetian          
fisher-boat is like neither4 ,the sail  
seems dyed in its fullness by the       
sunshine1 as the rainbow dyes a cloud2  
the rich stains upon it fade and        
reappear1 as its folds swell or fall2   
worn with the ,adrian storms1 its rough 
woof has a kind of noble dimness upon   
it1 and its colors seem as grave1       
inherent1 and free from vanity as the   
spots of the leopard1 or veins of the   

seashell4      ,k ,i am not quite sure  
of this1 not having studied with any    
care     the forms of medival shipping2 
but in all the ,,mss4 ,i have examined  
the sails of the shipping represented   
are square4      ,l ,it is not a little 
strange that in all the innumerable     
paintings     of ,venice1 old and       
modern1 no notice whatever had been     
taken of     these sails1 though they   
are exactly the most striking features  
of     the marine scenery around the    
city1 until ,turner fastened upon them1 
painting one important picture1 ,the    
,sun of ,venice1 entirely in     their  
illustration4  ,yet1 in speaking of     
poets' love of boats1 ,i ought to have  
limited the love to modern poets2       
,dante1 in this respect1 as in nearly   
every other1 being far in advance of his
 age4 ,it is not often that ,i          
congratulate myself upon the days in    
which ,i happen to live2 but ,i do so in
 this respect1 that1 compared with every
 other period of the world1 this        

nineteenth century 7or rather1 the      
period between #agej and #ahej7 may not 
improperly be called the ,age of ,boats2
 while the classic and chivalric times1 
in which boats were partly dreaded1     
partly despised1 may respectively be    
characterized1 with regard to their     
means of locomotion1 as the ,age of     
,chariots1 and the ,age of ,horses4     
,for1 whatever perfection and costliness
 there may be in the present            
decorations1 harnessing1 and horsing of 
any ,english or ,parisian wheel         
equipage1 ,i apprehend that we can from 
none of them form any high ideal of     
wheel conveyance2 and that unless we had
 seen an ,egyptian king bending his bow 
with his horses at the gallop1 or a     
,greek knight leaning with his poised   
lance over the shoulder of his          
charioteer1 we have no right to consider
 ourselves as thoroughly knowing what   
the word chariot1 in its noblest        
acceptation1 means4  ,so1 also1 though  
much chivalry is yet left in us1 and we 

,english still know several things about
 horses1 ,i believe that if we had seen 
,charlemagne and ,roland ride out       
hunting from ,aix1 or ,coeur de ,lion   
trot into camp on a sunny evening at    
,ascalon1 or a ,florentine lady canter  
down the ,val d',arno in ,dante's time1 
with her hawk on her wrist1 we should   
have had some other ideas even about    
horses than the best we can have now4   
,but most assuredly1 nothing that ever  
swung at the quay sides of ,carthage1 or
 glowed with crusaders' shields above   
the bays of ,syria1 could give to any   
contemporary human creature such an idea
 of the meaning of the word ,boat1 as   
may be now gained by any mortal happy   
enough to behold as much as a ,newcastle
 collier beating against the wind4 ,in  
the classical period1 indeed1 there was 
some importance given to shipping as the
 means of locking a battle-field        
together on the waves2 but in the       
chivalric period1 the whole mind of man 
is withdrawn from the sea1 regarding it 

merely as a treacherous impediment1 over
 which it was necessary sometimes to    
find conveyance1 but from which the     
thoughts were always turned impatiently1
 fixing themselves in green fields1 and 
pleasures that may be enjoyed by        
land--the very supremacy of the horse   
necessitating the scorn of the sea1     
which would not be trodden by hoofs4    
,it is very interesting to note how     
repugnant every oceanic idea appears to 
be to the whole nature of our principal 
,english medival poet1 ,chaucer4 ,read  
first the ,man of ,lawe's ,tale1 in     
which the ,lady ,constance is           
continually floated up and down the     
,mediterranean1 and the ,german ,ocean1 
in a ship by herself2 carried from      
,syria all the way to ,northumberland1  
and there wrecked upon the coast2 thence
 yet again driven up and down among the 
waves for five years1 she and her child2
 and yet1 all this while1 ,chaucer does 
not let fall a single word descriptive  
of the sea1 or express any emotion      

whatever about it1 or about the ship4   
,he simply tells us the lady sailed here
 and was wrecked there2 but neither he  
nor his audience appear to be capable of
 receiving any sensation1 but one of    
simple aversion1 from waves1 ships1 or  
sands4 ,compare with his absolutely     
apathetic recital1 the description by a 
modern poet of the sailing of a vessel1 
charged with the fate of another        
,constance3      ,it curled not ,tweed  
alone1 that breeze--     ,for far upon  
,northumbrian seas       ,it freshly    
blew1 and strong2     ,where from high  
,whitby's cloistered pile1     ,bound to
 ,st4 ,cuthbert's holy isle1       ,it  
bore a bark along4     ,upon the gale   
she stooped her side1     ,and bounded  
o'er the swelling tide       ,as she    
were dancing home4     ,the merry seamen
 laughed to see     ,their gallant ship 
so lustily       ,furrow the green sea  
foam4  ,now just as ,scott enjoys this  
sea breeze1 so does ,chaucer the soft   
air of the woods2 the moment the older  

poet lands1 he is himself again1 his    
poverty of language in speaking of the  
ship is not because he despises         
description1 but because he has nothing 
to describe4 ,hear him upon the ground  
in ,spring3      ,these woodes else     
recoveren greene1     ,that drie in     
winter ben to sene1     ,and the erth   
waxeth proud withall1     ,for sweet    
dewes that on it fall1     ,and the     
poore estate forget1     ,in which that 
winter had it set3     ,and then becomes
 the ground so proude1     ,that it wol 
have a newe shroude1     ,and maketh so 
queint his robe and faire1     ,that it 
had hewes an hundred paire1     ,of     
grasse and floures1 of ,inde and ,pers1 
,and many hewes full divers3     ,that  
is the robe ,i mean ywis     ,through   
which the ground to praisen is4  ,in    
like manner1 wherever throughout his    
poems we find ,chaucer enthusiastic1 it 
is on a sunny day in the good           
green-wood1 but the slightest approach  
to the sea-shore makes him shiver2 and  

his antipathy finds at last positive    
expression1 and becomes the principal   
foundation of the ,frankeleine's ,tale1 
in which a lady1 waiting for her        
husband's return in a castle by the sea1
 behaves and expresses herself as       
follows3--        ,another time wold she
 sit and thinke1     ,and cast her eyen 
dounward fro the brinke2     ,but whan  
she saw the grisly rockes blake1        
,for veray fere so wold hire herte quake
     ,that on hire feet she might hire  
not sustene     ,than wold she sit adoun
 upon the grene1     ,and pitously into 
the see behold1     ,and say right thus1
 with careful sighes cold4              
',eterne ,god1 that thurgh thy purveance
     ,ledest this world by certain      
governance1     ,in idel1 as men sain1  
ye nothing make4     ,but1 lord1 thise  
grisly fendly rockes blake1     ,that   
semen rather a foule confusion     ,of  
werk1 than any faire creation     ,of   
swiche a parfit wise ,god and stable1   
,why han ye wrought this werk           

unresonable8'  ,the desire to have the  
rocks out of her way is indeed severely 
punished in the sequel of the tale2 but 
it is not the less characteristic of the
 age1 and well worth meditating upon1 in
 comparison with the feelings of an     
unsophisticated modern ,french or       
,english girl among the black rocks of  
,dieppe or ,ramsgate4  ,on the other    
hand1 much might be said about that     
peculiar love of green fields and birds 
in the ,middle ,ages2 and of all with   
which it is connected1 purity and health
 in manners and heart1 as opposed to the
 too frequent condition of the modern   
mind--        ,as for the birds in the  
thicket1     ,thrush or ousel in leafy  
niche1     ,linnet or finch--she was far
 too rich     ,to care for a morning    
concert to which       ,she was welcome1
 without a ticket4,m      ,m ,thomas    
,hood4  ,but this would lead us far     
afield1 and the main fact ,i have to    
point out to the reader is the          
transition of human grace and strength  

from the exercises of the land to those 
of the sea in the course of the last    
three centuries4  ,down to ,elizabeth's 
time chivalry lasted2 and grace of dress
 and mien1 and all else that was        
connected with chivalry4 ,then came the 
ages which1 when they have taken their  
due place in the depths of the past1    
will be1 by a wise and clear-sighted    
futurity1 perhaps well comprehended     
under a common name1 as the ages of     
,starch2 periods of general stiffening  
and bluish-whitening1 with a prevailing 
washerwoman's taste in everything2      
involving a change of steel armor into  
cambric2 of natural hair into peruke2 of
 natural walking into that which will   
disarrange no wristbands2 of plain      
language into quips and embroideries2   
and of human life in general1 from a    
green race-course1 where to be defeated 
was at worst only to fall behind and    
recover breath1 into a slippery pole1 to
 be climbed with toil and contortion1   
and in clinging to which1 each man's    

foot is on his neighbor's head4  ,but1  
meanwhile1 the marine deities were      
incorruptible4 ,it was not possible to  
starch the sea2 and precisely as the    
stiffness fastened upon men1 it vanished
 from ships4 ,what had once been a mere 
raft1 with rows of formal benches1      
pushed along by laborious flap of oars1 
and with infinite fluttering of flags   
and swelling of poops above1 gradually  
began to lean more heavily into the deep
 water1 to sustain a gloomy weight of   
guns1 to draw back its spider-like      
feebleness of limb1 and open its bosom  
to the wind1 and finally darkened down  
from all its painted vanities into the  
long1 low hull1 familiar with the       
overflying foam2 that has no other pride
 but in its daily duty and victory2     
while1 through all these changes1 it    
gained continually in grace1 strength1  
audacity1 and beauty1 until at last it  
has reached such a pitch of all these1  
that there is not1 except the very      
loveliest creatures of the living world1

 anything in nature so absolutely       
notable1 bewitching1 and1 according to  
its means and measure1 heart-occupying1 
as a well-handled ship under sail in a  
stormy day4 ,any ship1 from lowest to   
proudest1 has due place in that         
architecture of the sea2 beautiful1 not 
so much in this or that piece of it1 as 
in the unity of all1 from cottage to    
cathedral1 into their great buoyant     
dynasty4 ,yet1 among them1 the          
fisher-boat1 corresponding to the       
cottage on the land 7only far more      
sublime than a cottage ever can be71 is 
on the whole the thing most venerable4  
,i doubt if ever academic grove were    
half so fit for profitable meditation as
 the little strip of shingle between two
 black1 steep1 overhanging sides of     
stranded fishing-boats4 ,the clear1     
heavy water-edge of ocean rising and    
falling close to their bows1 in that    
unaccountable way which the sea has     
always in calm weather1 turning the     
pebbles over and over as if with a rake1

 to look for something1 and then        
stopping a moment down at the bottom of 
the bank1 and coming up again with a    
little run and clash1 throwing a foot's 
depth of salt crystal in an instant     
between you and the round stone you were
 going to take in your hand2 sighing1   
all the while1 as if it would infinitely
 rather be doing something else4 ,and   
the dark flanks of the fishing-boats all
 aslope above1 in their shining         
quietness1 hot in the morning sun1 rusty
 and seamed with square patches of plank
 nailed over their rents2 just rough    
enough to let the little flat-footed    
fisher-children haul or twist themselves
 up to the gunwales1 and drop back again
 along some stray rope2 just round      
enough to remind us1 in their broad and 
gradual curves1 of the sweep of the     
green surges they know so well1 and of  
the hours when those old sides of seared
 timber1 all ashine with the sea1 plunge
 and dip into the deep green purity of  
the mounded waves more joyfully than a  

deer lies down among the grass of       
spring1 the soft white cloud of foam    
opening momentarily at the bows1 and    
fading or flying high into the breeze   
where the sea-gulls toss and            
shriek1--the joy and beauty of it1 all  
the while1 so mingled with the sense of 
unfathomable danger1 and the human      
effort and sorrow going on perpetually  
from age to age1 waves rolling forever1 
and winds moaning forever1 and faithful 
hearts trusting and sickening forever1  
and brave lives dashed away about the   
rattling beach like weeds forever2 and  
still at the helm of every lonely boat1 
through starless night and hopeless     
dawn1 ,his hand1 who spread the fisher's
 net over the dust of the ,sidonian     
palaces1 and gave into the fisher's hand
 the keys of the kingdom of heaven4     
,next after the fishing-boat--which1 as 
,i said1 in the architecture of the sea 
represents the cottage1 more especially 
the pastoral or agricultural cottage1   
watchful over some pathless domain of   

moorland or arable1 as the fishing-boat 
swims1 humbly in the midst of the broad 
green fields and hills of ocean1 out of 
which it has to win such fruit as they  
can give1 and to compass with net or    
drag such flocks as it may find1--next  
to this ocean-cottage ranks in interest1
 it seems to me1 the small1             
over-wrought1 under-crewed1 ill-caulked 
merchant brig or schooner2 the kind of  
ship which first shows its couple of    
thin masts over the low fields or       
marshes as we near any third-rate       
sea-port2 and which is sure somewhere to
 stud the great space of glittering     
water1 seen from any sea-cliff1 with its
 four or five square-set sails4 ,of the 
larger and more polite tribes of        
merchant vessels1 three-masted1 and     
passenger-carrying1 ,i have nothing to  
say1 feeling in general little sympathy 
with people who want to go anywhere2 nor
 caring much about anything1 which in   
the essence of it expresses a desire to 
get to other sides of the world2 but    

only for homely and stay-at-home ships1 
that live their life and die their death
 about ,english rocks4 ,neither have ,i 
any interest in the higher branches of  
commerce1 such as traffic with spice    
islands1 and porterage of painted       
tea-chests or carved ivory2 for all this
 seems to me to fall under the head of  
commerce of the drawing-room2 costly1   
but not venerable4 ,i respect in the    
merchant service only those ships that  
carry coals1 herrings1 salt1 timber1    
iron1 and such other commodities1 and   
that have disagreeable odor1 and        
unwashed decks4 ,but there are few      
things more impressive to me than one of
 these ships lying up against some      
lonely quay in a black sea-fog1 with the
 furrow traced under its tawny keel far 
in the harbor slime4 ,the noble misery  
that there is in it1 the might of its   
rent and strained unseemliness1 its     
wave-worn melancholy1 resting there for 
a little while in the comfortless ebb1  
unpitied1 and claiming no pity2 still   

less honored1 least of all conscious of 
any claim to honor2 casting and craning 
by due balance whatever is in its hold  
up to the pier1 in quiet truth of time2 
spinning of wheel1 and slackening of    
rope1 and swinging of spade1 in as      
accurate cadence as a waltz music2 one  
or two of its crew1 perhaps1 away       
forward1 and a hungry boy and yelping   
dog eagerly interested in something from
 which a blue dull smoke rises out of   
pot or pan2 but dark-browed and silent1 
their limbs slack1 like the ropes above 
them1 entangled as they are in those    
inextricable meshes about the patched   
knots and heaps of ill-reefed sable     
sail4 ,what a majestic sense of service 
in all that languor6 the rest of human  
limbs and hearts1 at utter need1 not in 
sweet meadows or soft air1 but in harbor
 slime and biting fog2 so drawing their 
breath once more1 to go out again1      
without lament1 from between the two    
skeletons of pier-heads1 vocal with wash
 of under wave1 into the gray troughs of

 tumbling brine2 there1 as they can1    
with slacked rope1 and patched sail1 and
 leaky hull1 again to roll and stagger  
far away amidst the wind and salt sleet1
 from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn1    
winning day by day their daily bread2   
and for last reward1 when their old     
hands1 on some winter night1 lose       
feeling along the frozen ropes1 and     
their old eyes miss mark of the         
lighthouse quenched in foam1 the so-long
 impossible ,rest1 that shall hunger no 
more1 neither thirst any more1--their   
eyes and mouths filled with the brown   
sea-sand4  ,after these most venerable1 
to my mind1 of all ships1 properly so   
styled1 ,i find nothing of comparable   
interest in any floating fabric until we
 come to the great achievement of the   
#aith century4 ,for one thing this      
century will in after ages be considered
 to have done in a superb manner1 and   
one thing1 ,i think1 only4 ,it has not  
distinguished itself in political       
spheres2 still less in artistical4 ,it  

has produced no golden age by its       
,reason2 neither does it appear eminent 
for the constancy of its ,faith4 ,its   
telescopes and telegraphs would be      
creditable to it1 if it had not in their
 pursuit forgotten in great part how to 
see clearly with its eyes1 and to talk  
honestly with its tongue4 ,its natural  
history might have been creditable to it
 also1 if it could have conquered its   
habit of considering natural history to 
be mainly the art of writing ,latin     
names on white tickets4 ,but1 as it is1 
none of these things will be hereafter  
considered to have been got on with by  
us as well as might be2 whereas it will 
always be said of us1 with unabated     
reverence1  ,,they ,,built ,,ships ,,of 
,,the ,,line4  ,take it all in all1 a   
,ship of the ,line is the most honorable
 thing that man1 as a gregarious animal1
 has ever produced4 ,by himself1        
unhelped1 he can do better things than  
ships of the line2 he can make poems and
 pictures1 and other such concentrations

 of what is best in him4 ,but as a being
 living in flocks1 and hammering out1   
with alternate strokes and mutual       
agreement1 what is necessary for him in 
those flocks1 to get or produce1 the    
ship of the line is his first work4     
,into that he has put as much of his    
human patience1 common sense1           
forethought1 experimental philosophy1   
self-control1 habits of order and       
obedience1 thoroughly wrought handwork1 
defiance of brute elements1 careless    
courage1 careful patriotism1 and calm   
expectation of the judgment of ,god1 as 
can well be put into a space of #cjj    
feet long by #hj broad4 ,and ,i am      
thankful to have lived in an age when ,i
 could see this thing so done4          
,considering1 then1 our shipping1 under 
the three principal types of            
fishing-boat1 collier1 and ship of the  
line1 as the great glory of this age2   
and the ,new ,forest of mast and yard   
that follows the windings of the        
,thames1 to be1 take it all in all1 a   

more majestic scene1 ,i don't say merely
 than any of our streets or palaces as  
they now are1 but even than the best    
that streets and palaces can generally  
be2 it has often been a matter of       
serious thought to me how far this      
chiefly substantial thing done by the   
nation ought to be represented by the   
art of the nation2 how far our great    
artists ought seriously to devote       
themselves to such perfect painting of  
our ships as should reveal to later     
generations--lost perhaps in clouds of  
steam and floating troughs of ashes--the
 aspect of an ancient ship of battle    
under sail4  ,to which1 ,i fear1 the    
answer must be sternly this3 ,that no   
great art ever was1 or can be1 employed 
in the careful imitation of the work of 
man as its principal subject4 ,that is  
to say1 art will not bear to be         
reduplicated4 ,a ship is a noble thing1 
and a cathedral a noble thing1 but a    
painted ship or a painted cathedral is  
not a noble thing4 ,art which           

reduplicates art is necessarily         
second-rate art4 ,i know no principle   
more irrefragably authoritative than    
that which ,i had long ago occasion to  
express3 ,all noble art is the          
expression of man's delight in ,god's   
work2 not in his own4  ,how6 it will be 
asked1 ,are ,stanfield1 ,isabey1 and    
,prout necessarily artists of the second
 order because they paint ships and     
buildings instead of trees and clouds8  
,yes1 necessarily of the second order2  
so far as they paint ships rather than  
sea1 and so far as they paint buildings 
rather than the natural light1 and      
color1 and work of years upon those     
buildings4 ,for1 in this respect1 a     
ruined building is a noble subject1 just
 as far as man's work has therein been  
subdued by nature's2 and ,stanfield's   
chief dignity is his being a painter    
less of shipping than of the seal of    
time or decay upon shipping4,n ,for a   
wrecked ship1 or shattered boat1 is a   
noble subject1 while a ship in full     

sail1 or a perfect boat1 is an ignoble  
one2 not merely because the one is by   
reason of its ruin more picturesque than
 the other1 but because it is a nobler  
act in man to meditate upon ,fate as it 
conquers his work1 than upon that work  
itself4      ,n ,as in the very         
beautiful picture of this year's        
,academy1 ,the     ,abandoned4          
,shipping1 therefore1 in its perfection1
 never can become the subject of noble  
art2 and that just because to represent 
it in its perfection would tax the      
powers of art to the utmost4 ,if a great
 painter could rest in drawing a ship1  
as he can rest in drawing a piece of    
drapery1 we might sometimes see vessels 
introduced by the noblest workmen1 and  
treated by them with as much delight as 
they would show in scattering luster    
over an embroidered dress1 or knitting  
the links of a coat of mail4 ,but ships 
cannot be drawn at times of rest4 ,more 
complicated in their anatomy than the   
human frame itself1 so far as that frame

 is outwardly discernible2 liable to all
 kinds of strange accidental variety in 
position and movement1 yet in each      
position subject to imperative laws     
which can only be followed by unerring  
knowledge2 and involving1 in the        
roundings and foldings of sail and hull1
 delicacies of drawing greater than     
exist in any other inorganic object1    
except perhaps a snow wreath1,o--they   
present1 irrespective of sea or sky1 or 
anything else around them1 difficulties 
which could only be vanquished by       
draughtsmanship quite accomplished      
enough to render even the subtlest lines
 of the human face and form4 ,but the   
artist who has once attained such skill 
as this will not devote it to the       
drawing of ships4 ,he who can paint the 
face of ,st4 ,paul will not elaborate   
the parting timbers of the vessel in    
which he is wrecked2 and he who can     
represent the astonishment of the       
apostles at the miraculous draught will 
not be solicitous about accurately      

showing that their boat is overloaded4  
,o ,the catenary and other curves of    
tension which a sail assumes     under  
the united influence of the wind1 its   
own weight1 and the     particular      
tensions of the various ropes by which  
it is attached1 or     against which it 
presses1 show at any moment complexities
 of     arrangement to which fidelity1  
except after the study of a lifetime1   
is impossible4  ,what6 it will perhaps  
be replied1 have1 then1 ships never been
 painted perfectly yet1 even by the men 
who have devoted most attention to them8
 ,assuredly not4 ,a ship never yet has  
been painted at all1 in any other sense 
than men have been painted in           
,landscapes with figures4 ,things have  
been painted which have a general effect
 of ships1 just as things have been     
painted which have a general effect of  
shepherds or banditti2 but the best     
average ship-painting no more reaches   
the truth of ships than the equestrian  
troops in one of ,van der ,meulen's     

battle-pieces express the higher truths 
of humanity4  ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4 
,take a single instance4 ,i do not know 
any work in which1 on the whole1 there  
is a more unaffected love of ships for  
their own sake1 and a fresher feeling of
 sea breeze always blowing1 than        
,stanfield's ,coast ,scenery4 ,now1 let 
the reader take up that book1 and look  
through all the plates of it at the way 
in which the most important parts of a  
ship's skeleton are drawn1 those most   
wonderful junctions of mast with mast1  
corresponding to the knee or hip in the 
human frame1 technically known as ,tops4
 ,under its very simplest form1 in one  
of those poor collier brigs1 which ,i   
have above endeavored to recommend to   
the readers affection1 the junction of  
the top-gallant-mast with the topmast1  
when the sail is reefed1 will present   
itself under no less complex and        
mysterious form than this in ,fig4 #a1 a
 horned knot of seven separate pieces of
 timber1 irrespective of the two masts  

and the yard2 the whole balanced and    
involved in an apparently inextricable  
web of chain and rope1 consisting of at 
least sixteen ropes about the           
top-gallant-mast1 and some twenty-five  
crossing each other in every imaginable 
degree of slackness and slope about the 
topmast4 ,two-thirds of these ropes are 
omitted in the cut1 because ,i could not
 draw them without taking more time and 
pains than the point to be illustrated  
was worth2 the thing1 as it is1 being   
drawn quite well enough to give some    
idea of the facts of it4 ,well1 take up 
,stanfield's ,coast ,scenery1 and look  
through it in search of tops1 and you   
will invariably find them represented as
 in ,fig4 #b1 or even with fewer lines2 
the example ,fig4 #b being one of the   
tops of the frigate running into        
,portsmouth harbor1 magnified to about  
twice its size in the plate4            
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4  ,well1 but it
 was impossible to do more on so small a
 scale4 ,by no means3 but take what     

scale you choose1 of ,stanfield's or any
 other marine painter's most elaborate  
painting1 and let me magnify the study  
of the real top in proportion1 and the  
deficiency of detail will always be     
found equally great3 ,i mean in the work
 of the higher artists1 for there are of
 course many efforts at greater accuracy
 of delineation by those painters of    
ships who are to the higher marine      
painter what botanical draughtsmen are  
to the landscapists2 but just as in the 
botanical engraving the spirit and life 
of the plant are always lost1 so in the 
technical ship-painting the life of the 
ship is always lost1 without1 as far as 
,i can see1 attaining1 even by this     
sacrifice1 anything like completeness of
 mechanical delineation4 ,at least1 ,i  
never saw the ship drawn yet which gave 
me the slightest idea of the            
entanglement of real rigging4           
,respecting this lower kind of          
ship-painting1 it is always matter of   
wonder to me that it satisfies sailors4 

,some years ago ,i happened to stand    
longer than pleased my pensioner guide  
before ,turner's ,battle of ,trafalgar1 
at ,greenwich ,hospital2 a picture      
which1 at a moderate estimate1 is simply
 worth all the rest of the              
hospital--ground--walls--pictures and   
models put together4 ,my guide1         
supposing me to be detained by indignant
 wonder at seeing it in so good a place1
 assented to my supposed1 sentiments by 
muttering in a low voice3 ,well1 sir1 it
 is a shame that that thing should be   
there4 ,we ought to 'a 'ad a ,uggins2   
that's sartain4 ,i was not surprised    
that my sailor friend should be         
disgusted at seeing the ,victory lifted 
nearly right out of the water1 and all  
the sails of the fleet blowing about to 
that extent that the crews might as well
 have tried to reef as many             
thunder-clouds4 ,but ,i was surprised at
 his perfect repose of respectful faith 
in ,uggins1 who appeared to             
me--unfortunate landsman as ,i was--to  

give no more idea of the look of a ship 
of the line going through the sea1 than 
might be obtained from seeing one of the
 correct models at the top of the hall  
floated in a fishpond4  ,leaving1       
however1 the sailor to his enjoyment1 on
 such grounds as it may be1 of this     
model drawing1 and being prepared to    
find only a vague and hasty shadowing   
forth of shipping in the works of       
artists proper1 we will glance briefly  
at the different stages of excellence   
which such shadowing forth has reached1 
and note in their consecutive changes   
the feelings with which shipping has    
been regarded at different periods of   
art4  #a4 ,medival ,period4 ,the vessel 
is regarded merely as a sort of         
sea-carriage1 and painted only so far as
 it is necessary for complete display of
 the groups of soldiers or saints on the
 deck3 a great deal of quaint shipping1 
richly hung with shields1 and gorgeous  
with banners1 is1 however1 thus         
incidently represented in #aeth-century 

manuscripts1 embedded in curly green    
waves of sea full of long fish2 and     
although there is never the slightest   
expression of real sea character1 of    
motion1 gloom1 or spray1 there is more  
real interest of marine detail and      
incident than in many later             
compositions4  #b4 ,early ,venetian     
,period4 ,a great deal of tolerably     
careful boat-drawing occurs in the      
pictures of ,carpaccio and ,gentile     
,bellini1 deserving separate mention    
among the marine schools1 in            
confirmation of what has been stated    
above1 that the drawing of boats is more
 difficult than that of the human form4 
,for1 long after all the perspectives   
and fore-shortenings of the human body  
were completely understood1 as well as  
those of architecture1 it remained      
utterly beyond the power of the artists 
of the time to draw a boat with even    
tolerable truth4 ,boats are always      
tilted up on end1 or too long1 or too   
short1 or too high in the water4        

,generally they appear to be regarded   
with no interest whatever1 and are      
painted merely where they are matters of
 necessity4 ,this is perfectly natural3 
we pronounce that there is romance in   
the ,venetian conveyance by oars1 merely
 because we ourselves are in the habit  
of being dragged by horses4 ,a          
,venetian1 on the other hand1 sees      
vulgarity in a gondola1 and thinks the  
only true romance is in a hackney coach4
 ,and thus1 it was no more likely that a
 painter in the days of ,venetian power 
should pay much attention to the        
shipping in the ,grand ,canal than that 
an ,english artist should at present    
concentrate the brightest rays of his   
genius on a cab-stand4  #c4 ,late       
,venetian ,period4 ,deserving mention   
only for its notably negative character4
 ,none of the great ,venetian painters1 
,tintoret1 ,titian1 ,veronese1 ,bellini1
 ,giorgione1 ,bonifazio1 ever introduce 
a ship if they can help it4 ,they       
delight in ponderous architecture1 in   

grass1 flowers1 blue mountains1 skies1  
clouds1 and gay dresses2 nothing comes  
amiss to them but ships and the sea4    
,when they are forced to introduce      
these1 they represent merely a          
dark-green plain1 with reddish galleys  
spotted about it here and there1 looking
 much like small models of shipping     
pinned on a green board4 ,in their      
marine battles1 there is seldom anything
 discernible except long rows of scarlet
 oars1 and men in armor falling         
helplessly through them4  #d4 ,late     
,roman ,period4 ,that is to say1 the    
time of the beginning of the            
,renaissance landscape by the ,caracci1 
,claude1 and ,salvator4 ,first1 in their
 landscapes1 shipping begins to assume  
something like independent character1   
and to be introduced for the sake of its
 picturesque interest2 although what    
interest could be taken by any healthy  
human creature in such vessels as were  
then painted has always remained a      
mystery to me4 ,the ships of ,claude1   

having hulls of a shape something       
between a cocoa-nut and a high-heeled   
shoe1 balanced on their keels on the top
 of the water1 with some scaffolding and
 cross-sticks above1 and a flag at the  
top of every stick1 form perhaps the    
purest exhibition of human inanity and  
fatuity which the arts have yet         
produced4 ,the harbors also1 in which   
these model navies ride1 are worthy of  
all observation for the intensity of the
 false taste which1 endeavoring to unite
 in them the characters of              
pleasure-ground and port1 destroys the  
veracity of both4 ,there are many inlets
 of the ,italian seas where sweet       
gardens and regular terraces descend to 
the water's edge2 but these are not the 
spots where merchant vessels anchor1 or 
where bales are disembarked4 ,on the    
other hand1 there are many busy quays   
and noisy arsenals upon the shores of   
,italy2 but ,queen's palaces are not    
built upon the quays1 nor are the docks 
in any wise adorned with conservatories 

or ruins4 ,it was reserved for the      
genius of ,claude to combine the        
luxurious with the lucrative1 and rise  
to a commercial ideal1 in which cables  
are fastened to temple pillars1 and     
lighthouses adorned with rows of        
beaupots4 ,it seems strange also that   
any power which ,salvator showed in the 
treatment of other subjects utterly     
deserts him when he approaches the sea4 
,though always coarse1 false1 and       
vulgar1 he has at least energy1 and some
 degree of invention1 as long as he     
remains on land2 his terrestrial        
atrocities are animated1 and his        
rock-born fancies formidable4 ,but the  
sea air seems to dim his sight and      
paralyze his hand4 ,his love of darkness
 and destruction1 far from seeking      
sympathy in the rage of ocean1          
disappears as he approaches the beach2  
after having tortured the innocence of  
trees into demoniac convulsions1 and    
shattered the loveliness of purple hills
 into colorless dislocation1 he         

approaches the real wrath and           
restlessness of ocean without either    
admiration or dismay1 and appears to    
feel nothing at its shore except a      
meager interest in bathers1 fishermen1  
and gentlemen in court dress bargaining 
for state cabins4 ,of all the pictures  
by men who bear the reputation of great 
masters which ,i have ever seen in my   
life 7except only some by ,domenichino71
 the two large ,marines in the ,pitti   
,palace1 attributed to ,salvator1 are1  
on the whole1 the most vapid and vile   
examples of human want of understanding4
 ,in the folly of ,claude there is still
 a gleam of grace and innocence2 there  
is refreshment in his childishness1 and 
tenderness in his inability4 ,but the   
folly of ,salvator is disgusting in its 
very nothingness3 it is like the vacuity
 of a plague-room in an hospital1 shut  
up in uncleansed silence1 emptied of    
pain and motion1 but not of infection4  
#e4 ,dutch ,period4 ,although in        
artistical qualities lower than is      

easily by language expressible1 the     
,italian marine painting usually conveys
 an idea of three facts about the       
sea1--that it is green1 that it is deep1
 and that the sun shines on it4 ,the    
dark plain which stands for far away    
,adriatic with the ,venetians1 and the  
glinting swells of tamed wave which lap 
about the quays of ,claude1 agree in    
giving the general impression that the  
ocean consists of pure water1 and is    
open to the pure sky4 ,but the ,dutch   
painters1 while they attain considerably
 greater dexterity than the ,italian in 
mere delineation of nautical incident1  
were by nature precluded from ever      
becoming aware of these common facts2   
and having1 in reality1 never in all    
their lives seen the sea1 but only a    
shallow mixture of sea-water and sand2  
and also never in all their lives seen  
the sky1 but only a lower element       
between them and it1 composed of marsh  
exhalation and fog-bank2 they are not to
 be with too great severity reproached  

for the dullness of their records of the
 nautical enterprise of ,holland4 ,we   
only are to be reproached1 who1 familiar
 with the ,atlantic1 are yet ready to   
accept with faith1 as types of sea1 the 
small waves en papillote1 and           
peruke-like puffs of farinaceous foam1  
which were the delight of ,backhuysen   
and his compeers4 ,if one could but     
arrest the connoisseurs in the fact of  
looking at them with belief1 and1       
magically introducing the image of a    
true sea-wave1 let it roll up to them   
through the room1--one massive fathom's 
height and rood's breadth of brine1     
passing them by but once1--dividing1    
,red ,sea-like1 on right hand and       
left1--but at least setting close before
 their eyes1 for once in inevitable     
truth1 what a sea-wave really is2 its   
green mountainous giddiness of wrath1   
its overwhelming crest--heavy as iron1  
fitful as flame1 clashing against the   
sky in long cloven edge1--its furrowed  
flanks1 all ghastly clear1 deep in      

transparent death1 but all laced across 
with lurid nets of spume1 and tearing   
open into meshed interstices their      
churned veil of silver fury1 showing    
still the calm gray abyss below2 that   
has no fury and no voice1 but is as a   
grave always open1 which the green      
sighing mounds do but hide for an       
instant as they pass4 ,would they1      
shuddering back from this wave of the   
true1 implacable sea1 turn forthwith to 
the papillotes8 ,it might be so4 ,it is 
what we are all doing1 more or less1    
continually4  ,well1 let the waves go   
their way2 it is not of them that we    
have here to reason2 but be it          
remembered1 that men who cannot enter   
into the ,mind of the ,sea1 cannot for  
the same reason enter into the ,mind of 
,ships1 in their contention with it2 and
 the fluttering1 tottering1 high-pooped1
 flag-beset fleets of these ,dutch      
painters have only this much superiority
 over the caricatures of the ,italians1 
that they indeed appear in some degree  

to have been studied from the           
high-pooped and flag-beset nature which 
was in that age visible1 while the      
,claude and ,salvator ships are ideals  
of the studio4 ,but the effort is wholly
 unsuccessful4 ,any one who has ever    
attempted to sketch a vessel in motion  
knows that he might as easily attempt to
 sketch a bird on the wing1 or a trout  
on the dart4 ,ships can only be drawn1  
as animals must be1 by the high instinct
 of momentary perception1 which rarely  
developed itself in any ,dutch painter1 
and least of all in their painters of   
marine4 ,and thus the awkward forms of  
shipping1 the shallow impurity of the   
sea1 and the cold incapacity of the     
painter1 joining in disadvantageous     
influence over them1 the ,dutch marine  
paintings may be simply1 but            
circumstantially1 described as the      
misrepresentation of undeveloped        
shipping in a discolored sea by         
distempered painters4 ,an exception     
ought to be made in favor of the boats  

of ,cuyp1 which are generally well      
floated in calm and sunny water2 and1   
though rather punts or tubs than boats1 
have in them some elements of a slow1   
warm1 square-sailed1 sleepy             
grandeur--respectable always1 when      
compared either with the flickering     
follies of ,backhuysen1 or the          
monstrous1 unmanly1 and  fortiori1      
unsailorly absurdities of metaphysical  
vessels1 puffed on their way by         
corpulent genii1 or pushed by           
protuberant dolphins1 which ,rubens and 
the other so-called historical painters 
of his time were accustomed to introduce
 in the mythology of their              
court-adulation2 that marvelous ,faith  
of the #ahth century1 which will one    
day1 and that not far off1 be known for 
a thing more truly disgraceful to human 
nature than the ,polynesian's dance     
round his feather idol1 or ,egyptian's  
worship of the food he fattened on4     
,from ,salvator and ,domenichino it is  
possible to turn in a proud indignation1

 knowing that theirs are no fair        
examples of the human mind2 but it is   
with humbled and woful anger that we    
must trace the degradation of the       
intellect of ,rubens in his pictures of 
the life of ,mary of ,medicis4,p      ,p
 ,the town of ,lyons1 seated upon a     
chariot drawn by two lions1     lifts   
its eyes towards heaven1 and admires    
there--'les nouveaux                    
,epoux1'--represented in the character  
of ,jupiter and ,juno4--,notice     des 
,tableaux du ,muse ,imprial1 #bnde      
partie1 ,paris1 #ahed1 p4 #bce4         
,the ,queen upon her throne holds with  
one hand the scepter1 in the     other  
the balance4 ,minerva and ,cupid are at 
her sides4 ,abundance and               
,prosperity distribute metals1 laurels1 
'et d'autres rcompenses1' to     the    
,genii of the ,fine ,arts4 ,time1       
crowned with the productions of     the 
seasons1 leads ,france to the--,age of  
,gold6--p4 #bci4      ,so thought the   
,queen1 and ,rubens1 and the ,court4    

,time himself1     crowned with the     
productions of the seasons1 was1        
meanwhile1 as     ,thomas ,carlyle would
 have told us1 quite of another opinion4
      ,with view of arrival at ,golden  
,age all the sooner1 the ,court         
determine to go by water2 and ,marie de 
,medicis gives to her son the           
government of the state1 under the      
emblem of a vessel1 of which he         
holds the rudder4      ,this piece of   
royal pilotage1 being on the whole the  
most     characteristic example ,i      
remember of the ,mythological marine    
above     alluded to1 is accordingly    
recommended to the reader's serious     
attention4  #f4 ,modern ,period4 ,the   
gradual appreciation of the true        
character both of shipping and the      
ocean1 in the works of the painters of  
the last half century1 is part of that  
successful study of other elements of   
landscape1 of which ,i have long labored
 at a consistent investigation1 now     
partly laid before the public2 ,i shall 

not1 therefore1 here enter into any     
general inquiry respecting modern       
sea-painting1 but limit myself to a     
notice of the particular feelings which 
influenced ,turner in his marine        
studies1 so far as they are shown in the
 series of plates which have now been   
trusted to me for illustration4  ,among 
the earliest sketches from nature which 
,turner appears to have made1 in pencil 
and ,indian ink1 when a boy of twelve or
 fourteen1 it is very singular how large
 a proportion consists of careful       
studies of stranded boats4 ,now1 after  
some fifteen years of conscientious     
labor1 with the single view of acquiring
 knowledge of the ends and powers of    
art1 ,i have come to one conclusion1    
which at the beginning of those fifteen 
years would have been very astonishing  
to myself--that1 of all our modern      
school of landscape painters1 next to   
,turner1 and before the rise of the     
,pre-,raphaelites1 the man whose works  
are on the whole most valuable1 and show

 the highest intellect1 is ,samuel      
,prout4 ,it is very notable that also in
 ,prout's early studies1 shipping       
subjects took not merely a prominent1   
but ,i think even a principal1 place4   
,the reason of this is very evident3    
both ,turner and ,prout had in them an  
untaught1 inherent perception of what   
was great and pictorial4 ,they could not
 find it in the buildings or in the     
scenes immediately around them4 ,but    
they saw some element of real power in  
the boats4 ,prout afterwards found      
material suited to his genius in other  
directions1 and left his first love2 but
 ,turner retained the early affection to
 the close of his life1 and the last oil
 picture which he painted1 before his   
noble hand forgot its cunning1 was the  
,wreck-buoy4 ,the last thoroughly       
perfect picture he ever painted1 was the
 ,old ,tmraire4  ,the studies which he  
was able to make from nature in his     
early years1 are chiefly of             
fishing-boats1 barges1 and other minor  

marine still life2 and his better       
acquaintance with this kind of shipping 
than with the larger kind is very marked
 in the ,liber ,studiorum1 in which     
there are five careful studies of       
fishing-boats under various             
circumstances2 namely1 ,calais ,harbor1 
,sir ,john ,mildmay's ,picture1 ,flint  
,castle1 ,marine ,dabblers1 and the     
,calm2 while of other shipping1 there   
are only two subjects1 both exceedingly 
unsatisfactory4  ,turner1 however1      
deemed it necessary to his reputation at
 that period that he should paint       
pictures in the style of ,vandevelde2   
and1 in order to render the resemblance 
more complete1 he appears to have made  
careful drawings of the different parts 
of old ,dutch shipping4 ,i found a large
 number of such drawings among the      
contents of his neglected portfolios at 
his death2 some were clearly not by his 
own hand1 others appeared to be         
transcripts by him from prints or       
earlier drawings2 the quantity          

altogether was very great1 and the      
evidence of his prolonged attention to  
the subject more distinct than with     
respect to any other element of         
landscape4 ,of plants1 rocks1 or        
architecture1 there were very few       
careful pieces of anatomical study4 ,but
 several drawers were entirely filled   
with these memoranda of shipping4  ,in  
executing the series of drawings for the
 work known as the ,southern ,coast1    
,turner appears to have gained many     
ideas about shipping1 which1 once       
received1 he laid up by him for use in  
after years4 ,the evidence of this      
laying by of thought in his mind1 as it 
were in reserve1 until he had power to  
express it1 is curious and complete     
throughout his life2 and although the   
,southern ,coast drawings are for the   
most part quiet in feeling1 and         
remarkably simple in their mode of      
execution1 ,i believe it was in the     
watch over the ,cornish and ,dorsetshire
 coast1 which the making of those       

drawings involved1 that he received all 
his noblest ideas about sea and ships4  
,of one thing ,i am certain2 ,turner    
never drew anything that could be seen1 
without having seen it4 ,that is to say1
 though he would draw ,jerusalem from   
some one else's sketch1 it would be1    
nevertheless1 entirely from his own     
experience of ruined walls3 and though  
he would draw ancient shipping 7for an  
imitation of ,vandevelde1 or a vignette 
to the voyage of ,columbus7 from such   
data as he could get about things which 
he could no more see with his own eyes1 
yet when1 of his own free will1 in the  
subject of ,ilfracombe1 he1 in the year 
#ahah1 introduces a shipwreck1 ,i am    
perfectly certain that1 before the year 
#ahah1 he had seen a shipwreck1 and1    
moreover1 one of that horrible kind--a  
ship dashed to pieces in deep water1 at 
the foot of an inaccessible cliff4      
,having once seen this1 ,i perceive1    
also1 that the image of it could not be 
effaced from his mind4 ,it taught him   

two great facts1 which he never         
afterwards forgot2 namely1 that both    
ships and sea were things that broke to 
pieces4 ,he never afterwards painted a  
ship quite in fair order4 ,there is     
invariably a feeling about his vessels  
of strange awe and danger2 the sails are
 in some way loosening1 or flapping as  
if in fear2 the swing of the hull1      
majestic as it may be1 seems more at the
 mercy of the sea than in triumph over  
it2 the ship never looks gay1 never     
proud1 only warlike and enduring4 ,the  
motto he chose1 in the ,catalogue of the
 ,academy1 for the most cheerful marine 
he ever painted1 the ,sun of ,venice    
going to ,sea1 marked the uppermost     
feeling in his mind3      ,nor heeds the
 ,demon that in grim repose     ,expects
 his evening prey4  ,i notice above the 
subject of his last marine picture1 the 
,wreck-buoy1 and ,i am well persuaded   
that from that year #ahah1 when first he
 saw a ship rent asunder1 he never      
beheld one at sea1 without1 in his      

mind's eye1 at the same instant1 seeing 
her skeleton4  ,but he had seen more    
than the death of the ship4 ,he had seen
 the sea feed her white flames on souls 
of men2 and heard what a storm-gust     
sounded like1 that had taken up with it1
 in its swirl of a moment1 the last     
breaths of a ship's crew4 ,he never     
forgot either the sight or the sound4   
,among the last plates prepared by his  
own hand for the ,liber ,studiorum1 7all
 of them1 as was likely from his        
advanced knowledge1 finer than any      
previous pieces of the series1 and most 
of them unfortunately never published1  
being retained beside him for some last 
touch--forever delayed17 perhaps the    
most important is one of the body of a  
drowned sailor1 dashed against a        
vertical rock in the jaws of one        
merciless1 immeasurable wave4 ,he       
repeated the same idea1 though more     
feebly expressed1 later in life1 in a   
small drawing of ,grandville1 on the    
coast of ,france4 ,the sailor clinging  

to the boat in the marvelous drawing of 
,dunbar is another reminiscence of the  
same kind4 ,he hardly ever painted a    
steep rocky coast without some fragment 
of a devoured ship1 grinding in the     
blanched teeth of the surges1--just     
enough left to be a token of utter      
destruction4 ,of his two most important 
paintings of definite shipwreck ,i shall
 speak presently4  ,i said that at this 
period he first was assured of another  
fact1 namely1 that the ,sea also was a  
thing that broke to pieces4 ,the sea up 
to that time had been generally regarded
 by painters as a liquidly composed1    
level-seeking consistent thing1 with a  
smooth surface1 rising to a water-mark  
on sides of ships2 in which ships were  
scientifically to be embedded1 and      
wetted1 up to said water-mark1 and to   
remain dry above the same4 ,but ,turner 
found during his ,southern ,coast tour  
that the sea was not this3 that it was1 
on the contrary1 a very incalculable and
 unhorizontal thing1 setting its water  

mark sometimes on the highest heavens1  
as well as on sides of ships2--very     
breakable into pieces2 half of a wave   
separable from the other half1 and on   
the instant carriageable miles          
inland2--not in any wise limiting itself
 to a state of apparent liquidity1 but  
now striking like a steel gauntlet1 and 
now becoming a cloud1 and vanishing1 no 
eye could tell whither2 one moment a    
flint cave1 the next a marble pillar1   
the next a mere white fleece thickening 
the thundery rain4 ,he never forgot     
those facts2 never afterwards was able  
to recover the idea of positive         
distinction between sea and sky1 or sea 
and land4 ,steel gauntlet1 black rock1  
white cloud1 and men and masts gnashed  
to pieces and disappearing in a few     
breaths and splinters among them2--a    
little blood on the rock angle1 like red
 sea-weed1 sponged away by the next     
splash of the foam1 and the glistering  
granite and green water all pure again  
in vacant wrath4 ,so stayed by him1     

forever1 the ,image of the ,sea4  ,one  
effect of this revelation of the nature 
of ocean to him was not a little        
singular4 ,it seemed that ever          
afterwards his appreciation of the      
calmness of water was deepened by what  
he had witnessed of its frenzy1 and a   
certain class of entirely tame subjects 
were treated by him even with increased 
affection after he had seen the full    
manifestation of sublimity4 ,he had     
always a great regard for canal boats1  
and instead of sacrificing these old1   
and one would have thought              
unentertaining1 friends to the deities  
of ,storm1 he seems to have returned    
with a lulling pleasure from the foam   
and danger of the beach to the sedgy    
bank and stealthy barge of the lowland  
river4 ,thenceforward his work which    
introduces shipping is divided into two 
classes2 one embodying the poetry of    
silence and calmness1 the other of      
turbulence and wrath4 ,of intermediate  
conditions he gives few examples2 if he 

lets the wind down upon the sea at all1 
it is nearly always violent1 and though 
the waves may not be running high1 the  
foam is torn off them in a way which    
shows they will soon run higher4 ,on the
 other hand1 nothing is so perfectly    
calm as ,turner's calmness4 ,to the     
canal barges of ,england he soon added  
other types of languid motion2 the      
broad-ruddered barks of the ,loire1 the 
drooping sails of ,seine1 the arcaded   
barks of the ,italian lakes slumbering  
on expanse of mountain-guarded wave1 the
 dreamy prows of pausing gondolas on    
lagoons at moon-rise2 in each and all   
commanding an intensity of calm1 chiefly
 because he never admitted an instant's 
rigidity4 ,the surface of quiet water   
with other painters becomes ,,fixed4    
,with ,turner it looks as if a fairy's  
breath would stir it1 but the fairy's   
breath is not there4 ,so also his boats 
are intensely motionless1 because       
intensely capable of motion4 ,no other  
painter ever floated a boat quite       

rightly2 all other boats stand on the   
water1 or are fastened in it2 only his  
float in it4 ,it is very difficult to   
trace the reasons of this1 for the      
rightness of the placing on the water   
depends on such subtle curves and       
shadows in the floating object and its  
reflection1 that in most cases the      
question of entirely right or entirely  
wrong resolves itself into the          
estimation of an hair3 and what makes   
the matter more difficult still1 is1    
that sometimes we may see a boat drawn  
with the most studied correctness in    
every part1 which yet will not swim2 and
 sometimes we may find one drawn with   
many easily ascertainable errors1 which 
yet swims well enough2 so that the      
drawing of boats is something like the  
building of them1 one may set off their 
lines by the most authentic rules1 and  
yet never be sure they will sail well4  
,it is1 however1 to be observed that    
,turner seemed1 in those southern coast 
storms1 to have been somewhat too       

strongly impressed by the disappearance 
of smaller crafts in surf1 and was wont 
afterwards to give an uncomfortable     
aspect even to his gentlest seas1 by    
burying his boats too deeply4 ,when he  
erred1 in this or other matters1 it was 
not from want of pains1 for of all      
accessories to landscape1 ships were    
throughout his life those which he      
studied with the greatest care4 ,his    
figures1 whatever their merit or        
demerit1 are certainly never the beloved
 part of his work2 and though the       
architecture was in his early drawings  
careful1 and continued to be so down to 
the ,hakewell's ,italy series1 it soon  
became mannered and false whenever it   
was principal4 ,he would indeed draw a  
ruined tower1 or a distant town1        
incomparably better than any one else1  
and a staircase or a bit of balustrade  
very carefully2 but his temples and     
cathedrals showed great ignorance of    
detail1 and want of understanding of    
their character4 ,but ,i am aware of no 

painting from the beginning of his life 
to its close1 containing modern shipping
 as its principal subject1 in which he  
did not put forth his full strength1 and
 pour out his knowledge of detail with a
 joy which renders those works1 as a    
series1 among the most valuable he ever 
produced4 ,take for instance3    #a4    
,lord ,yarborough's ,shipwreck4   #b4   
,the ,trafalgar1 at ,greenwich          
,hospital4   #c4 ,the ,trafalgar1 in his
 own gallery4   #d4 ,the ,pas de        
,calais4   #e4 ,the ,large ,cologne4    
#f4 ,the ,havre4   #g4 ,the ,old        
,tmraire4  ,i know no fourteen pictures 
by ,turner for which these seven might  
be wisely changed2 and in all of these  
the shipping is thoroughly principal1   
and studied from existing ships4 ,a     
large number of inferior works were1    
however1 also produced by him in        
imitation of ,vandevelde1 representing  
old ,dutch shipping2 in these the       
shipping is scattered1 scudding and     
distant1 the sea gray and lightly       

broken4 ,such pictures are1 generally   
speaking1 among those of least value    
which he has produced4 ,two very        
important ones1 however1 belong to the  
imitative school3 ,lord ,ellesmere's1   
founded on ,vandevelde2 and the ,dort1  
at ,farnley1 on ,cuyp4 ,the latter1 as  
founded on the better master1 is the    
better picture1 but still possesses few 
of the true ,turner qualities1 except   
his peculiar calmness1 in which respect 
it is unrivaled2 and if joined with     
,lord ,yarborough's ,shipwreck1 the two 
may be considered as the principal      
symbols1 in ,turner's early oil         
paintings1 of his two strengths in      
,terror and ,repose4 ,among his         
drawings1 shipping1 as the principal    
subject1 does not always constitute a   
work of the first class2 nor does it so 
often occur4 ,for the difficulty1 in a  
drawing1 of getting good color is so    
much less1 and that of getting good form
 so much greater1 than in oil1 that     
,turner naturally threw his elaborate   

studies of ship form into oil1 and made 
his noblest work in drawing rich in hues
 of landscape4 ,yet the ,cowes1         
,devonport1 and ,gosport1 from the      
,england and ,wales 7the ,saltash is an 
inferior work71 united with two drawings
 of this series1 ,portsmouth and        
,sheerness1 and two from ,farnley1 one  
of the wreck of an ,indiaman1 and the   
other of a ship of the line taking      
stores1 would form a series1 not indeed 
as attractive at first sight as many    
others1 but embracing perhaps more of   
,turner's peculiar1 unexampled1 and     
unapproachable gifts than any other     
group of drawings which could be        
selected1 the choice being confined to  
one class of subject4  ,i have only to  
state1 in conclusion1 that these twelve 
drawings of the ,harbors of ,england are
 more representable by engraving than   
most of his works4 ,few parts of them   
are brilliant in color2 they were       
executed chiefly in brown and blue1 and 
with more direct reference to the future

 engraving than was common with ,turner4
 ,they are also small in size1 generally
 of the exact dimensions of the plate1  
and therefore the lines of the          
compositions are not spoiled by         
contraction2 while finally1 the touch of
 the painter's hand upon the            
wave-surface is far better imitated by  
mezzotint engraving than by any of the  
ordinary expedients of line4 ,take them 
all in all1 they form the most valuable 
series of marine studies which have as  
yet been published from his works2 and  
,i hope that they may be of some use    
hereafter in recalling the ordinary     
aspect of our ,english seas1 at the     
exact period when the nation had done   
its utmost in the wooden and woven      
strength of ships1 and had most         
perfectly fulfilled the old and noble   
prophecy--                  ,they shall 
ride                 ,over ocean wide1  
,with hempen bridle1 and horse of tree4 
,thomas of ,ercildoune4                 
,i4--,,dover4  ,illustration3 ,,dover4  

,this port has some right to take       
precedence of others1 as being that     
assuredly which first exercises the     
hospitality of ,england to the majority 
of strangers who set foot on her shores4
 ,i place it first therefore among our  
present subjects2 though the drawing    
itself1 and chiefly on account of its   
manifestation of ,turner's faulty habit 
of local exaggeration1 deserves no such 
pre-eminence4 ,he always painted1 not   
the place itself1 but his impression of 
it1 and this on steady principle2       
leaving to inferior artists the task of 
topographical detail2 and he was right  
in this principle1 as ,i have shown     
elsewhere1 when the impression was a    
genuine one2 but in the present case it 
is not so4 ,he has lost the real        
character of ,dover ,cliffs by making   
the town at their feet three times lower
 in proportionate height than it really 
is2 nor is he to be justified in giving 
the barracks1 which appear on the left  
hand1 more the air of a hospice on the  

top of an ,alpine precipice1 than of an 
establishment which1 out of ,snargate   
street1 can be reached1 without drawing 
breath1 by a winding stair of some #agj 
steps2 making the slope beside them more
 like the side of ,skiddaw than what it 
really is1 the earthwork of an          
unimportant battery4  ,this design is   
also remarkable as an instance of that  
restlessness which was above noticed    
even in ,turner's least stormy seas4    
,there is nothing tremendous here in    
scale of wave1 but the whole surface is 
fretted and disquieted by torturing     
wind2 an effect which was always        
increased during the progress of the    
subjects1 by ,turner's habit of         
scratching out small sparkling lights1  
in order to make the plate bright1 or   
lively4,q ,in a general way the         
engravers used to like this1 and1 as far
 as they were able1 would tempt ,turner 
farther into the practice1 which was    
precisely equivalent to that of         
supplying the place of healthy and      

heart-whole cheerfulness by             
dram-drinking4      ,q ,see the farther 
explanation of this practice in the     
notice of     the subject of            
,portsmouth4  ,the two sea-gulls in the 
front of the picture were additions of  
this kind1 and are very injurious1      
confusing the organization and          
concealing the power of the sea4 ,the   
merits of the drawing are1 however1     
still great as a piece of composition4  
,the left-hand side is most interesting1
 and characteristic of ,turner3 no other
 artist would have put the round pier so
 exactly under the round cliff4 ,it is  
under it so accurately1 that if the     
nearly vertical falling line of that    
cliff be continued1 it strikes the      
sea-base of the pier to a hair's        
breadth4 ,but ,turner knew better than  
any man the value of echo1 as well as of
 contrast1--of repetition1 as well as of
 opposition4 ,the round pier repeats the
 line of the main cliff1 and then the   
sail repeats the diagonal shadow which  

crosses it1 and emerges above it just as
 the embankment does above the cliff    
brow4 ,lower1 come the opposing curves  
in the two boats1 the whole forming one 
group of sequent lines up the whole side
 of the picture4 ,the rest of the       
composition is more commonplace than is 
usual with the great master2 but there  
are beautiful transitions of light and  
shade between the sails of the little   
fishing-boat1 the brig behind her1 and  
the cliffs4 ,note how dexterously the   
two front sails,r of the brig are       
brought on the top of the white sail of 
the fishing-boat to help to detach it   
from the white cliffs4      ,r ,i think 
,i shall be generally more intelligible 
by explaining     what ,i mean in this  
way1 and run less chance of making      
myself     ridiculous in the eyes of    
sensible people1 than by displaying the 
very small nautical knowledge ,i        
possess4 ,my sailor friends will        
perhaps be gracious enough to believe   
that ,i could call these     sails by   

their right names if ,i liked4          
,,ii4--,,ramsgate4  ,illustration3      
,,ramsgate4   ,this1 though less        
attractive1 at first sight1 than the    
former plate1 is a better example of the
 master1 and far truer and nobler as a  
piece of thought4 ,the lifting of the   
brig on the wave is very daring2 just   
one of the things which is seen in every
 gale1 but which no other painter than  
,turner ever represented2 and the lurid 
transparency of the dark sky1 and wild  
expression of wind in the fluttering of 
the falling sails of the vessel running 
into the harbor1 are as fine as anything
 of the kind he has done4 ,there is     
great grace in the drawing of this      
latter vessel3 note the delicate switch 
forward of her upper mast4  ,there is a 
very singular point connected with the  
composition of this drawing1 proving it 
7as from internal evidence was most     
likely7 to be a record of a thing       
actually seen4 ,three years before the  
date of this engraving ,turner had made 

a drawing of ,ramsgate for the ,southern
 ,coast series4 ,that drawing represents
 the same day1 the same moment1 and the 
same ships1 from a different point of   
view4 ,it supposes the spectator placed 
in a boat some distance out at sea1     
beyond the fishing-boats on the left in 
the present plate1 and looking towards  
the town1 or into the harbor4 ,the brig1
 which is near us here1 is then1 of     
course1 in the distance on the right2   
the schooner entering the harbor1 and1  
in both plates1 lowering her            
fore-topsail1 is1 of course1 seen       
foreshortened2 the fishing-boats only   
are a little different in position and  
set of sail4 ,the sky is precisely the  
same1 only a dark piece of it1 which is 
too far to the right to be included in  
this view1 enters into the wider        
distance of the other1 and the town1 of 
course1 becomes a more important object4
  ,the persistence in one conception    
furnishes evidence of the very highest  
imaginative power4 ,on a common mind1   

what it has seen is so feebly impressed1
 that it mixes other ideas with it      
immediately2 forgets it--modifies       
it--adorns it1--does anything but keep  
hold of it4 ,but when ,turner had once  
seen that stormy hour at ,ramsgate      
harbor-mouth1 he never quitted his grasp
 of it4 ,he had seen the two vessels2   
one go in1 the other out4 ,he could have
 only seen them at that one moment--from
 one point2 but the impression on his   
imagination is so strong1 that he is    
able to handle it three years           
afterwards1 as if it were a real thing1 
and turn it round on the table of his   
brain1 and look at it from the other    
corner4 ,he will see the brig near1     
instead of far off3 set the whole sea   
and sky so many points round to the     
south1 and see how they look1 so4 ,i    
never traced power of this kind in any  
other man4     ,,iii4--,,plymouth4      
,illustration3 ,,plymouth4   ,the       
drawing for this plate is one of        
,turner's most remarkable1 though not   

most meritorious1 works3 it contains the
 brightest rainbow he ever painted1 to  
my knowledge2 not the best1 but the most
 dazzling4 ,it has been much modified in
 the plate4 ,it is very like one of     
,turner's pieces of caprice to introduce
 a rainbow at all as a principal feature
 in such a scene2 for it is not through 
the colors of the iris that we generally
 expect to be shown eighteen-pounder    
batteries and ninety-gun ships4         
,whether he meant the dark cloud        
7intensely dark blue in the original    
drawing71 with the sunshine pursuing it 
back into distance2 and the rainbow1    
with its base set on a ship of battle1  
to be together types of war and peace1  
and of the one as the foundation of the 
other1 ,i leave it to the reader to     
decide4 ,my own impression is1 that     
although ,turner might have some askance
 symbolism in his mind1 the present     
design is1 like the former one1 in many 
points a simple reminiscence of a seen  
fact4,s      ,s ,i have discovered1     

since this was written1 that the design 
was     made from a vigorous and        
interesting sketch by ,mr4 ,s4 ,cousins1
 in     which the rainbow and most of   
the ships are already in their places4  
,turner was1 therefore1 in this case1 as
 ,i have found him in several     other 
instances1 realizing1 not a fact seen by
 himself1 but a fact     as he supposed 
it to have been seen by another4        
,however1 whether reminiscent or        
symbolic1 the design is1 to my mind1 an 
exceedingly unsatisfactory one1 owing to
 its total want of principal subject4   
,the fort ceases to be of importance    
because of the bank and tower in front  
of it2 the ships1 necessarily for the   
effect1 but fatally for themselves1 are 
confused1 and incompletely drawn1 except
 the little sloop1 which looks paltry   
and like a toy2 and the foreground      
objects are1 for work of ,turner1       
curiously ungraceful and uninteresting4 
,it is possible1 however1 that to some  
minds the fresh and dewy space of       

darkness1 so animated with latent human 
power1 may give a sensation of great    
pleasure1 and at all events the design  
is worth study on account of its very   
strangeness4     ,,iv4--,,catwater4     
,illustration3 ,,catwater4   ,i have    
placed in the middle of the series those
 pictures which ,i think least          
interesting1 though the want of interest
 is owing more to the monotony of their 
character than to any real deficiency in
 their subjects4 ,if1 after             
contemplating paintings of arid deserts 
or glowing sunsets1 we had come suddenly
 upon this breezy entrance to the       
crowded cove of ,plymouth1 it would have
 gladdened our hearts to purpose2 but   
having already been at sea for some     
time1 there is little in this drawing to
 produce renewal of pleasurable         
impression3 only one useful thought may 
be gathered from the very feeling of    
monotony4 ,at the time when ,turner     
executed these drawings1 his portfolios 
were full of the most magnificent       

subjects--coast and inland1--gathered   
from all the noblest scenery of ,france 
and ,italy4 ,he was ready to realize    
these sketches for any one who would    
have asked it of him1 but no consistent 
effort was ever made to call forth his  
powers2 and the only means by which it  
was thought that the public patronage   
could be secured for a work of this     
kind1 was by keeping familiar names     
before the eye1 and awakening the       
so-called patriotic1 but in reality     
narrow and selfish1 associations        
belonging to well-known towns or        
watering-places4 ,it is to be hoped1    
that when a great landscape painter     
appears among us again1 we may know     
better how to employ him1 and set him to
 paint for us things which are less     
easily seen1 and which are somewhat     
better worth seeing1 than the mists of  
the ,catwater1 or terraces of ,margate4 
,v4--,,sheerness4  ,illustration3       
,,sheerness4   ,i look upon this as one 
of the noblest sea-pieces which ,turner 

ever produced4 ,it has not his usual    
fault of over-crowding or over-glitter2 
the objects in it are few and noble1 and
 the space infinite4 ,the sky is quite  
one of his best3 not violently black1   
but full of gloom and power2 the        
complicated roundings of its volumes    
behind the sloop's mast1 and downwards  
to the left1 have been rendered by the  
engraver with notable success2 and the  
dim light entering along the horizon1   
full of rain1 behind the ship of war1 is
 true and grand in the highest degree4  
,by comparing it with the extreme       
darkness of the skies in the ,plymouth1 
,dover1 and ,ramsgate1 the reader will  
see how much more majesty there is in   
moderation than in extravagance1 and how
 much more darkness1 as far as sky is   
concerned1 there is in gray than in     
black4 ,it is not that the ,plymouth and
 ,dover skies are false1--such          
impenetrable forms of thunder-cloud are 
amongst the commonest phenomena of      
storm2 but they have more of spent flash

 and past shower in them than the less  
passionate1 but more truly stormy and   
threatening1 volumes of the sky here4   
,the ,plymouth storm will very          
thoroughly wet the sails1 and wash the  
decks1 of the ships at anchor1 but will 
send nothing to the bottom4 ,for these  
pale and lurid masses1 there is no      
saying what evil they may have in their 
thoughts1 or what they may have to      
answer for before night4 ,the ship of   
war in the distance is one of many      
instances of ,turner's dislike to draw  
complete rigging2 and this not only     
because he chose to give an idea of his 
ships having seen rough service1 and    
being crippled2 but also because in     
men-of-war he liked the mass of the hull
 to be increased in apparent weight and 
size by want of upper spars4 ,all       
artists of any rank share this last     
feeling4 ,stanfield never makes a       
careful study of a hull without shaking 
some or all of its masts out of it      
first1 if possible4 ,see1 in the ,coast 

,scenery1 ,portsmouth harbor1 ,falmouth1
 ,hamoaze1 and ,rye old harbors2 and    
compare1 among ,turner's works1 the near
 hulls in the ,devonport1 ,saltash1 and 
,castle ,upnor1 and distance of         
,gosport4 ,the fact is1 partly that the 
precision of line in the complete spars 
of a man-of-war is too formal to come   
well into pictorial arrangements1 and   
partly that the chief glory of a ship of
 the line is in its aspect of being one 
that hath had losses4  ,the subtle      
varieties of curve in the drawing of the
 sails of the near sloop are altogether 
exquisite2 as well as the contrast of   
her black and glistering side with those
 sails1 and with the sea4 ,examine the  
wayward and delicate play of the dancing
 waves along her flank1 and between her 
and the brig in ballast1 plunging slowly
 before the wind2 ,i have not often seen
 anything so perfect in fancy1 or in    
execution of engraving4  ,the heaving   
and black buoy in the near sea is one of
 ,turner's echoes1 repeating1 with      

slight change1 the head of the sloop    
with its flash of luster4 ,the chief aim
 of this buoy is1 however1 to give      
comparative lightness to the shadowed   
part of the sea1 which is1 indeed1      
somewhat overcharged in darkness1 and   
would have been felt to be so1 but for  
this contrasting mass4 ,hide it with the
 hand1 and this will be immediately     
felt4 ,there is only one other of       
,turner's works which1 in its way1 can  
be matched with this drawing1 namely1   
the ,mouth of the ,humber in the ,river 
,scenery4 ,the latter is1 on the whole1 
the finer picture2 but this by much the 
more interesting in the shipping4       
,,vi4--,,margate4  ,illustration3       
,,margate4   ,this plate is not1 at     
first sight1 one of the most striking of
 the series2 but it is very beautiful1  
and highly characteristic of ,turner4,t 
,first1 in its choice of subjects3 for  
it seems very notably capricious in a   
painter eminently capable of rendering  
scenes of sublimity and mystery1 to     

devote himself to the delineation of one
 of the most prosaic of ,english        
watering-places--not once or twice1 but 
in a series of elaborate drawings1 of   
which this is the fourth4 ,the first    
appeared in the ,southern ,coast series1
 and was followed by an elaborate       
drawing on a large scale1 with a        
beautiful sunrise2 then came another    
careful and very beautiful drawing in   
the ,england and ,wales series2 and     
finally this1 which is a sort of        
poetical abstract of the first4 ,now1 if
 we enumerate the ,english ports one by 
one1 from ,berwick to ,whitehaven1 round
 the island1 there will hardly be found 
another so utterly devoid of all        
picturesque or romantic interest as     
,margate4 ,nearly all have some steep   
eminence of down or cliff1 some pretty  
retiring dingle1 some roughness of old  
harbor or straggling fisher-hamlet1 some
 fragment of castle or abbey on the     
heights above1 capable of becoming a    
leading point in a picture2 but ,margate

 is simply a mass of modern parades and 
streets1 with a little bit of chalk     
cliff1 an orderly pier1 and some        
bathing-machines4 ,turner never         
conceives it as anything else2 and yet  
for the sake of this simple vision1     
again and again he quits all higher     
thoughts4 ,the beautiful bays of        
,northern ,devon and ,cornwall he never 
painted but once1 and that very         
imperfectly4 ,the finest subjects of the
 ,southern ,coast series--the ,minehead1
 ,clovelly1 ,ilfracombe1 ,watchet1 ,east
 and ,west ,looe1 ,tintagel1            
,boscastle--he never touched again2 but 
he repeated ,ramsgate1 ,deal1 ,dover1   
and ,margate1 ,i know not how often4    
,t ,it was left unfinished at his death1
 and ,i would not allow it to     be    
touched afterwards1 desiring that the   
series should remain as far     as      
possible in an authentic state4         
,whether his desire for popularity1     
which1 in spite of his occasional rough 
defiances of public opinion1 was always 

great1 led him to the selection of those
 subjects which he thought might meet   
with most acceptance from a large class 
of the ,london public1 or whether he had
 himself more pleasurable associations  
connected with these places than with   
others1 ,i know not2 but the fact of the
 choice itself is a very mournful one1  
considered with respect to the future   
interests of art4 ,there is only this   
one point to be remembered1 as tending  
to lessen our regret1 that it is        
possible ,turner might have felt the    
necessity of compelling himself         
sometimes to dwell on the most familiar 
and prosaic scenery1 in order to prevent
 his becoming so much accustomed to that
 of a higher class as to diminish his   
enthusiasm in its presence4 ,into this  
probability ,i shall have occasion to   
examine at greater length hereafter4    
,the plate of ,margate now before us is 
nearly as complete a duplicate of the   
,southern ,coast view as the previous   
plate is of that of ,ramsgate2 with this

 difference1 that the position of the   
spectator is here the same1 but the     
class of ship is altered1 though the    
ship remains precisely in the same spot4
 ,a piece of old wreck1 which was rather
 an important object to the left of the 
other drawing1 is here removed4 ,the    
figures are employed in the same manner 
in both designs4  ,the details of the   
houses of the town are executed in the  
original drawing with a precision which 
adds almost painfully to their natural  
formality4 ,it is certainly provoking to
 find the great painter1 who often only 
deigns to bestow on some ,rhenish       
fortress or ,french city1 crested with  
,gothic towers1 a few misty and         
indistinguishable touches of his brush1 
setting himself to indicate1 with       
unerring toil1 every separate square    
window in the parades1 hotels1 and      
circulating libraries of an ,english    
bathing-place4  ,the whole of the       
drawing is well executed1 and free from 
fault or affectation1 except perhaps in 

the somewhat confused curlings of the   
near sea4 ,i had much rather have seen  
it breaking in the usual straightforward
 way4 ,the brilliant white of the piece 
of chalk cliff is evidently one of the  
principal aims of the composition4 ,in  
the drawing the sea is throughout of a  
dark fresh blue1 the sky grayish blue1  
and the grass on the top of the cliffs a
 little sunburnt1 the cliffs themselves 
being left in the almost untouched white
 of the paper4     ,,vii4--,,portsmouth4
  ,illustration3 ,,portsmouth4   ,this  
beautiful drawing is a third recurrence 
by ,turner to his earliest impression of
 ,portsmouth1 given in the ,southern    
,coast series4 ,the buildings introduced
 differ only by a slight turn of the    
spectator towards the right2 the buoy is
 in the same spot2 the man-of-war's boat
 nearly so2 the sloop exactly so1 but on
 a different tack2 and the man-of-war1  
which is far off to the left at anchor  
in the ,southern ,coast view1 is here   
nearer1 and getting up her anchor4  ,the

 idea had previously passed through one 
phase of greater change1 in his drawing 
of ,gosport for the ,england1 in which1 
while the sky of the ,southern ,coast   
view was almost cloud for cloud         
retained1 the interest of the distant   
ships of the line had been divided with 
a collier brig and a fast-sailing boat4 
,in the present view he returns to his  
early thought1 dwelling1 however1 now   
with chief insistence on the ship of the
 line1 which is certainly the most      
majestic of all that he has introduced  
in his drawings4  ,it is also a very    
curious instance of that habit of       
,turner's before referred to 7p4 #bg71  
of never painting a ship quite in good  
order4 ,on showing this plate the other 
day to a naval officer1 he complained of
 it1 first that the jib,u would not be  
wanted with the wind blowing out of     
harbor1 and1 secondly1 that a man-of-war
 would never have her foretop-gallant   
sail set1 and her main and mizzen       
top-gallants furled3--all the men would 

be on the yards at once4      ,u ,the   
sail seen1 edge on1 like a white sword1 
at the head of the     ship4  ,i believe
 this criticism to be perfectly just1   
though it has happened to me1 very      
singularly1 whenever ,i have had the    
opportunity of making complete inquiry  
into any technical matter of this kind1 
respecting which some professional      
person had blamed ,turner1 that ,i have 
always found1 in the end1 ,turner was   
right1 and the professional critic      
wrong1 owing to some want of allowance  
for possible accidents1 and for         
necessary modes of pictorial            
representation4 ,still1 this cannot be  
the case in every instance2 and         
supposing my sailor informant to be     
perfectly right in the present one1 the 
disorderliness of the way in which this 
ship is represented as setting her      
sails1 gives us farther proof of the    
imperative instinct in the artist's     
mind1 refusing to contemplate a ship1   
even in her proudest moments1 but as in 

some way over-mastered by the strengths 
of chance and storm4  ,the wave on the  
left hand beneath the buoy1 presents a  
most interesting example of the way in  
which ,turner used to spoil his work by 
retouching4 ,all his truly fine drawings
 are either done quickly1 or at all     
events straight forward1 without        
alteration3 he never1 as far as ,i have 
examined his works hitherto1 altered but
 to destroy4 ,when he saw a plate look  
somewhat dead or heavy1 as1 compared    
with the drawing1 it was almost sure at 
first to do1 he used to scratch out     
little lights all over it1 and make it  
sparkling2 a process in which the       
engravers almost unanimously            
delighted1,v and over the impossibility 
of which they now mourn1 declaring it to
 be hopeless to engrave after ,turner1  
since he cannot now scratch their plates
 for them4 ,it is quite true that these 
small lights were always placed         
beautifully2 and though the plate1 after
 its touching1 generally looked as if   

ingeniously salted out of her           
dredging-box by an artistical cook1 the 
salting was done with a spirit which no 
one else can now imitate4 ,but the      
original power of the work was forever  
destroyed4 ,if the reader will look     
carefully beneath the white touches on  
the left in this sea1 he will discern   
dimly the form of a round nodding hollow
 breaker4 ,this in the early state of   
the plate is a gaunt1 dark1 angry wave1 
rising at the shoal indicated by the    
buoy2--,mr4 ,lupton has fac-similed with
 so singular skill the scratches of the 
penknife by which ,turner afterwards    
disguised this breaker1 and spoiled his 
picture1 that the plate in its present  
state is almost as interesting as the   
touched proof itself2 interesting1      
however1 only as a warning to all       
artists never to lose hold of their     
first conception4 ,they may tire even of
 what is exquisitely right1 as they work
 it out1 and their only safety is in the
 self-denial of calm completion4      ,v

 ,not1 let me say with all due honor to 
him1 the careful and     skillful       
engraver of these plates1 who has been  
much more tormented     than helped by  
,turner's alterations4                  
,,viii4--,,falmouth4  ,illustration3    
,,falmouth4   ,this is one of the most  
beautiful and best-finished plates of   
the series1 and ,turner has taken great 
pains with the drawing2 but it is sadly 
open to the same charges which were     
brought against the ,dover1 of an       
attempt to reach a false sublimity by   
magnifying things in themselves         
insignificant4 ,the fact is that        
,turner1 when he prepared these         
drawings1 had been newly inspired by the
 scenery of the ,continent2 and with his
 mind entirely occupied by the ruined   
towers of the ,rhine1 he found himself  
called upon to return to the formal     
embrasures and unappalling elevations of
 ,english forts and hills4 ,but it was  
impossible for him to recover the       
simplicity and narrowness of conception 

in which he had executed the drawing of 
the ,southern ,coast1 or to regain the  
innocence of delight with which he had  
once assisted gravely at the drying of  
clothes over the limekiln at ,comb      
,martin1 or penciled the woodland       
outlines of the banks of ,dartmouth     
,cove4 ,in certain fits of prosaic      
humorism1 he would1 as we have seen1    
condemn himself to delineation of the   
parades of a watering-place2 but the    
moment he permitted himself to be       
enthusiastic1 vaster imaginations       
crowded in upon him3 to modify his old  
conception in the least1 was to         
exaggerate it2 the mount of ,pendennis  
is lifted into rivalship with           
,ehrenbreitstein1 and hardworked        
,falmouth glitters along the distant    
bay1 like the gay magnificence of       
,resina or ,sorrento4  ,this effort at  
sublimity is all the more to be         
regretted1 because it never succeeds    
completely4 ,shade1 or magnify1 or      
mystify as he may1 even ,turner cannot  

make the minute neatness of the ,english
 fort appeal to us as forcibly as the   
remnants of ,gothic wall and tower that 
crown the ,continental crags2 and invest
 them as he may with smoke or sunbeam1  
the details of our little mounded hills 
will not take the rank of cliffs of     
,alp1 or promontories of ,apennine2 and 
we lose the ,english simplicity1 without
 gaining the ,continental nobleness4  ,i
 have also a prejudice against this     
picture for being disagreeably noisy4   
,wherever there is something serious to 
be done1 as in a battle piece1 the noise
 becomes an element of the sublimity2   
but to have great guns going off in     
every direction beneath one's feet on   
the right1 and all round the other side 
of the castle1 and from the deck of the 
ship of the line1 and from the battery  
far down the cove1 and from the fort on 
the top of the hill1 and all for        
nothing1 is to my mind eminently        
troublesome4  ,the drawing of the       
different wreaths and depths of smoke1  

and the explosive look of the flash on  
the right1 are1 however1 very wonderful 
and peculiarly ,turneresque2 the sky is 
also beautiful in form1 and the         
foreground1 in which we find his old    
regard for washerwomen has not quite    
deserted him1 singularly skillful4 ,it  
is curious how formal the whole picture 
becomes if this figure and the gray     
stones beside it are hidden with the    
hand4     ,,ix4--,,sidmouth4            
,illustration3 ,,sidmouth4   ,this      
drawing has always been interesting to  
me among ,turner's sea pieces1 on       
account of the noble gathering together 
of the great wave on the left1--the back
 of a breaker1 just heaving itself up1  
and provoking itself into passion1      
before its leap and roar against the    
beach4 ,but the enjoyment of these      
designs is much interfered with by their
 monotony3 it is seriously to be        
regretted that in all but one the view  
is taken from the sea2 for the spectator
 is necessarily tired by the perpetual  

rush and sparkle of water1 and ceases to
 be impressed by it4 ,it would be felt1 
if this plate were seen alone1 that     
there are few marine paintings in which 
the weight and heaping of the sea are   
given so faithfully4  ,for the rest it  
is perhaps more to be regretted that we 
are kept to our sea-level at ,sidmouth  
than at any other of the localities     
illustrated4 ,what claim the pretty     
little village has to be considered as a
 port of ,england1 ,i know not2 but if  
it was to be so ranked1 a far more      
interesting study of it might have been 
made from the heights above the town1   
whence the ranges of dark-red sandstone 
cliffs stretching to the southwest are  
singularly bold and varied4 ,the        
detached fragment of sandstone which    
forms the principal object in ,turner's 
view has long ago fallen1 and even while
 it stood could hardly have been worth  
the honor of so careful illustration4   
,x4--,,whitby4  ,illustration3 ,,whitby4
   ,as an expression of the general     

spirit of ,english coast scenery1 this  
plate must be considered the principal  
one of the series4 ,like all the rest1  
it is a little too grand for its        
subject2 but the exaggerations of space 
and size are more allowable here than in
 the others1 as partly necessary to     
convey the feeling of danger conquered  
by activity and commerce1 which         
characterizes all our northerly ,eastern
 coast4 ,there are cliffs more terrible1
 and winds more wild1 on other shores2  
but nowhere else do so many white sails 
lean against the bleak wind1 and glide  
across the cliff shadows4 ,nor do ,i    
know many other memorials of monastic   
life so striking as the abbey on that   
dark headland4 ,we are apt in our       
journeys through lowland ,england1 to   
watch with some secret contempt the     
general pleasantness of the vales in    
which our abbeys were founded1 without  
taking any pains to inquire into the    
particular circumstances which directed 
or compelled the choice of the monks1   

and without reflecting that1 if the     
choice were a selfish one1 the          
selfishness is that of the ,english     
lowlander turning monk1 not that of     
monachism2 since1 if we examine the     
sites of the ,swiss monasteries and     
convents1 we shall always find the snow 
lying round them in ,july2 and it must  
have been cold meditating in these      
cloisters of ,st4 ,hilda's when the     
winter wind set from the east4 ,it is   
long since ,i was at ,whitby1 and ,i am 
not sure whether ,turner is right in    
giving so monotonous and severe         
verticality to the cliff above which the
 abbey stands2 but ,i believe it must   
have some steep places about it1 since  
the tradition which1 in nearly all parts
 of the island where fossil ammonites   
are found1 is sure to be current        
respecting them1 takes quite an original
 form at ,whitby1 owing to the steepness
 of this rock4 ,in general1 the saint of
 the locality has simply turned all the 
serpents to stone2 but at ,whitby1 ,st4 

,hilda drove them over the cliff1 and   
the serpents1 before being petrified1   
had all their heads broken off by the   
fall6     ,,xi4--,,deal4  ,illustration3
 ,,deal4   ,i have had occasion1,w      
elsewhere1 to consider at some length1  
the peculiar love of the ,english for   
neatness and minuteness3 but ,i have    
only considered1 without accounting for1
 or coming to any conclusion about it2  
and1 the more ,i think of it1 the more  
it puzzles me to understand what there  
can be in our great national mind which 
delights to such an extent in brass     
plates1 red bricks1 square curbstones1  
and fresh green paint1 all on the       
tiniest possible scale4 ,the other day  
,i was dining in a respectable ,english 
,inn and ,posting-house1 not ten miles  
from ,london1 and1 measuring the room   
after dinner1 ,i found it exactly twice 
and a quarter the height of my umbrella4
 ,it was a highly comfortable room1 and 
associated1 in the proper ,english      
manner1 with outdoor sports and         

pastimes1 by a portrait of ,jack ,hall1 
fisherman of ,eton1 and of ,mr4 ,c4     
,davis on his favorite mare2 but why all
 this hunting and fishing enthusiasm    
should like to reduce itself1 at home1  
into twice and a quarter the height of  
an umbrella1 ,i could not in any wise   
then1 nor have ,i at any other time been
 able to ascertain4      ,w ,modern     
,painters1 vol4 iv4 chap4 #a4  ,perhaps 
the town of ,deal involves as much of   
this question in its aspect and         
reputation1 as any other place in ,her  
,majesty's dominions3 or at least it    
seemed so to me1 coming to it as ,i did1
 after having been accustomed to the    
boat-life at ,venice1 where the heavy   
craft1 massy in build and massy in sail1
 and disorderly in aquatic economy1     
reach with their mast-vanes only to the 
first stories of the huge marble palaces
 they anchor among4 ,it was very strange
 to me1 after this1 knowing that        
whatever was brave and strong in the    
,english sailor was concentrated in our 

,deal boatmen1 to walk along that trim  
strip of conventional beach1 which the  
sea itself seems to wash in a methodical
 manner1 one shingle-step at a time2 and
 by its thin toy-like boats1 each with  
its head to sea1 at regular intervals1  
looking like things that one would give 
a clever boy to play with in a pond1    
when first he got past petticoats2 and  
the row of lath cots behind1 all        
tidiness and telegraph1 looking as if   
the whole business of the human race on 
earth was to know what o'clock it was1  
and when it would be high water1--only  
some slight weakness in favor of grog   
being indicated here and there by a     
hospitable-looking open door1 a gay     
bow-window1 and a sign intimating that  
it is a sailor's duty to be not only    
accurate1 but jolly4  ,turner was always
 fond of this neat1 courageous1         
benevolent1 merry1 methodical ,deal4 ,he
 painted it very early1 in the ,southern
 ,coast series1 insisting on one of the 
tavern windows as the principal subject1

 with a flash of forked lightning       
streaming beyond it out at sea like a   
narrow flag4 ,he has the same           
association in his mind in the present  
plate2 disorder and distress among the  
ships on the left1 with the boat going  
out to help them2 and the precision of  
the little town stretching in sunshine  
along the beach4                        
,,xii4--,,scarborough4  ,illustration3  
,,scarborough4   ,i have put this plate 
last in the series1 thinking that the   
reader will be glad to rest in its      
morning quietness1 after so much tossing
 among the troubled foam4 ,i said in the
 course of the introduction1 that       
nothing is so perfectly calm as         
,turner's calmness2 and ,i know very few
 better examples of this calmness than  
the plate before us1 uniting1 as it     
does1 the glittering of the morning     
clouds1 and trembling of the sea1 with  
an infinitude of peace in both4 ,there  
are one or two points of interest in the
 artifices by which the intense effect  

of calm is produced4 ,much is owing1 in 
the first place1 to the amount of       
absolute gloom obtained by the local    
blackness of the boats on the beach2    
like a piece of the midnight left       
unbroken by the dawn4 ,but more is owing
 to the treatment of the distant harbor 
mouth4 ,in general1 throughout nature1  
,reflection and ,repetition are peaceful
 things2 that is to say1 the image of   
any object1 seen in calm water1 gives us
 an impression of quietness1 not merely 
because we know the water must be quiet 
in order to be reflective2 but because  
the fact of the repetition of this form 
is lulling to us in its monotony1 and   
associated more or less with an idea of 
quiet succession1 or reproduction1 in   
events or things throughout             
nature3--that one day should be like    
another day1 one town the image of      
another town1 or one history the        
repetition of another history1 being    
more or less results of quietness1 while
 dissimilarity and non-succession are   

also1 more or less1 results of          
interference and disquietude4 ,and thus1
 though an echo actually increases the  
quantity of sound heard1 its repetition 
of the notes or syllables of sound1     
gives an idea of calmness attainable in 
no other way2 hence the feeling of calm 
given to a landscape by the notes of the
 cuckoo4 ,understanding this1 observe   
the anxious doubling of every object by 
a visible echo or shadow throughout this
 picture4 ,the grandest feature of it is
 the steep distant cliff2 and therefore 
the dualism is more marked here than    
elsewhere2 the two promontories or      
cliffs1 and two piers below them1 being 
arranged so that the one looks almost   
like the shadow of the other1 cast      
irregularly on mist4 ,in all            
probability1 the more distant pier would
 in reality1 unless it is very greatly  
higher than the near one1 have been     
lowered by perspective so as not to     
continue in the same longitudinal line  
at the top1--but ,turner will not have  

it so2 he reduces them to exactly the   
same level1 so that the one looks like  
the phantom of the other2 and so of the 
cliffs above4  ,then observe1 each pier 
has1 just below the head of it1 in a    
vertical line1 another important object1
 one a buoy1 and the other a stooping   
figure4 ,these carry on the double group
 in the calmest way1 obeying the general
 law of vertical reflection1 and throw  
down two long shadows on the near beach4
 ,the intenseness of the parallelism    
would catch the eye in a moment1 but for
 the lighthouse1 which breaks the group 
and prevents the artifice from being too
 open4 ,next come the two heads of      
boats1 with their two bowsprits1 and the
 two masts of the one farthest off1 all 
monotonously double1 but for the        
diagonal mast of the nearer one1 which  
again hides the artifice4 ,next1 put    
your finger over the white central      
figure1 and follow the minor incidents  
round the beach2 first1 under the       
lighthouse1 a stick1 with its echo below

 a little to the right2 above1 a black  
stone1 and its echo to the right2 under 
the white figure1 another stick1 with   
its echo to the left2 then a starfish1,x
 and a white spot its echo to the left2 
then a dog1 and a basket to double its  
light2 above1 a fisherman1 and his wife 
for an echo2 above them1 two lines of   
curved shingle2 above them1 two small   
black figures2 above them1 two          
unfinished ships1 and two forked masts2 
above the forked masts1 a house with two
 gables1 and its echo exactly over it in
 two gables more2 next to the right1 two
 fishing-boats with sails down2 farther 
on1 two fishing-boats with sails up1    
each with its little white reflection   
below2 then two larger ships1 which1    
lest his trick should be found out1     
,turner puts a dim third between2 then  
below1 two fat colliers1 leaning away   
from each other1 and two thinner        
colliers1 leaning towards each other2   
and now at last1 having doubled         
everything all round the beach1 he gives

 one strong single stroke to gather all 
together1 places his solitary central   
white figure1 and the ,calm is complete4
      ,x ,i have mentioned elsewhere    
that ,turner was fond of this subject   
of ,scarborough1 and that there are four
 drawings of it by him1 if     not more1
 under different effects1 having this   
much common to the     four1 that there 
is always a starfish on the beach4  ,it 
is also to be noticed1 that not only the
 definite repetition has a power of     
expressing serenity1 but even the slight
 sense of confusion induced by the      
continual doubling is useful2 it makes  
us feel not well awake1 drowsy1 and as  
if we were out too early1 and had to rub
 our eyes yet a little1 before we could 
make out whether there were really two  
boats or one4  ,i do not mean that every
 means which we may possibly take to    
enable ourselves to see things double1  
will be always the most likely to insure
 the ultimate tranquillity of the scene1
 neither that any such artifice as this 

would be of avail1 without the tender   
and loving drawing of the things        
themselves1 and of the light that bathes
 them2 nevertheless the highest art is  
full of these little cunnings1 and it is
 only by the help of them that it can   
succeed in at all equaling the force of 
the natural impression4  ,one great     
monotony1 that of the successive sigh   
and vanishing of the slow waves upon the
 sand1 no art can render to us4 ,perhaps
 the silence of early light1 even on the
 field dew consecrate of the grass      
itself1 is not so tender as the lisp of 
the sweet belled lips of the clear waves
 in their following patience4 ,we will  
leave the shore as their silver fringes 
fade upon it1 desiring thus1 as far as  
may be1 to remember the sea4 ,we have   
regarded it perhaps too often as an     
enemy to be subdued2 let us1 at least   
this once1 accept from it1 and from the 
soft light beyond the cliffs above1 the 
image of the state of a perfect ,human  
,spirit1--      ,the memory1 like a     

cloudless air1     ,the conscience1 like
 a sea at rest4                         
----------------------------------------
----------------------    ,transcriber's
 ,note                                  
,there was one instance each of         
'sea-shell' and 'seashell'4       ,these
 have not been changed4                 
,one instance of the 'oe' ligature has  
been transcribed as        oe4          
----------------------------------------
----------------------