These are a few of the points suggested by a comparison of the preliminary designs for the _Liber_ plates with the finished engravings. But to get any good out of it every student must take the trouble to make these comparisons for himself. Should my remarks succeed in inducing even a few adventurous spirits to make such an experiment, I shall feel satisfied that I have done something towards spreading an intelligent interest in the marvellous process of artistic creation. Perhaps, too, some day in the future, the authorities of the National Gallery may see their way towards the display of these drawings so that such a process of intelligent study may be performed without the inconvenience which the present arrangement entails. It is probably not necessary to have the whole series of drawings on exhibition at the same time, but if those that are exhibited could be accompanied by the finished engravings, and, where possible, by one or two proofs of the unfinished states, I believe the gain to the public would be considerable. CHAPTER VII THE SPLENDOUR OF SUCCESS, OR ‘WHAT YOU WILL’--1813-1830 A survey of the ground we have covered--The training of Turner’s sympathies by the poets--The limits of artistic beauty--and of a merely ‘musical’ education--Turner unlike Wordsworth--the predominantly sensuous bent of his genius--The parting of the ways--The dependence of art upon society--Turner ‘the fashion’--The influence of the Academy--The Italian visit in 1819--Turner’s Italian sketches--Their beauty and uselessness--The Naturalistic fallacy--Turner’s work for the engravers--The _Southern Coast_ series--‘Watchet’ and ‘Boscastle’--Whitaker’s _History of Richmondshire_--‘Hornby Castle’ and ‘Heysham’--Scott’s _Provincial Antiquities_--‘Edinburgh, from the Calton Hill’--‘Rochester,’ in the _Rivers of England_ series--_England and Wales_--‘Bolton Abbey’ and ‘Colchester’--‘Stamford’--‘Tynemouth.’ We have now followed the development of Turner’s mind from boyhood to youth and well into manhood. We have watched the architectural and topographical draughtsman develop into an artist under the guidance of his admiration for Wilson. Then the mind of the painter of the sublime, of the picturesque in general, struck its unseen roots deeper into the interests and sympathies of the people amongst whom he lived. In the hour of national danger his heart beat high with courage and determination. His pictures of the sea are like war songs; they strike the Dorian note, they represent the tone of mind of a brave man who faces wounds and death and all contingencies with unflinching endurance. Then the mind of the laureate of a nation in arms takes a still wider sweep. It embraces humanity and animate and inanimate nature in one glance, and finds the soul of good in all things. The Dorian harmonies give place to the Phrygian. In all this Turner’s attitude seems entirely passive or receptive.