'Turner was busy one morning in the bedroom at Maiden Lane, working at some drawings for one of Britton's patrons—I think for the Earl of Essex. Suddenly the door opens and Britton enters, nominally to inquire how the drawings progressed, really to spy out all he could of Turner's professional secrets. In an instant Turner covered up his drawings, and ran to stop the crafty intruder's entrance.
'"I've come to see the drawings for the Earl."
'"You shan't see 'em," said Turner.
'"Is that the answer I am to take back to his lord-ship?"
'"Yes; and mind the next time you come through the shop, and not up the back way. I allow no one to come here "; and so shutting the door on sly Britton, Turner returned to growl at him over his work.'
The Inventory shows that Turner was hard at work at this early age. In Sketch-Book No. II., dated 1789, twenty-five leaves are drawn on; No. III. contains five drawings, and includes his 'First View of Oxford,' signed and dated 1789. In Sketch-Book No. IV. there is a pencil outline of 'Wanstead New Church,' against the belfry of which he has written the word 'Ionic.' As I have said, these Sketch-Books might also be called general-utility books. Thus, in Sketch-Book No. V., containing drawings probably made in the Royal Academy Schools, on the back of a black-and-white chalk of the 'Belvedere Apollo' are these notes, showing that his busy brain was already beginning to consider etching, and that he was already indifferent to spelling:—
1 Get an Etching Ground, 26.
2 Heat the Back of P.
3 Rub it over with the Ball.
4 Dab it over with the Dabber of
'Well Hot. {
5 Smoke it over with Wax Tapur
6 Put some ... at back of Palte (? Plate)
7 Re ... of Wax.
Turpentine Varnish and Lamp black.'
About this time Turner began to study oil painting, receiving instruction from no less a person than Sir Joshua Reynolds. Little did Sir Joshua think, when he laid down the brush in 1789, that among the young men in his studio, and perhaps working on his pictures under his superintendence, was a youth whose name was to become as famous as the name of Reynolds.
We can tell exactly what degree of accomplishment Turner had reached at the age of fifteen, as the first drawing he sent to the Royal Academy, the year being 1790, the locality Somerset House, a view of 'The Archbishop's Palace, Lambeth,' is in a state of perfect preservation in the collection of Mr. W. G. Rawlinson. He does not yet show any originality. It is one of the tinted architectural drawings of the period, but the work is conscientious, the drawing firm, and the reflected lights on the houses well rendered. Here, too, are the Turner figures, taller than life, a little grotesque, but accurate as regards the costumes.
He must have been a merry, attractive boy when in congenial company: he did not lack friends. There was Mr. Narraway, whom he visited at Bristol, and the house of Mr. W. H. Wells, the artist, was open to him, where he was a constant and welcome inmate. Mrs. Wheeler has recorded the following charming reminiscences of Turner at this period:—
'In early life my father's house was his second home, a haven of rest from many domestic trials too sacred to touch upon. Turner loved my father with a son's affection; and to me he was as an elder brother. Many are the times I have gone out sketching with him. I remember his scrambling up a tree to obtain a better view, and then he made a coloured sketch, I handing up his colours as he wanted them.... Oh! what a different man would Turner have been if all the good and kindly feelings of his great mind had been called into action; but they lay dormant, and were known to so very few. He was by nature suspicious, and no tender hand had wiped away early prejudices, the inevitable consequence of a defective education. Of all the light-hearted merry creatures I ever knew, Turner was the most so; and the laughter and fun that abounded when he was an inmate of our cottage was inconceivable, particularly with the juvenile members of the family.'
That is a happy glimpse of Turner the boy, and with that I leave his boyhood. He has just had a drawing exhibited at the Royal Academy; he is advancing towards proficiency in water-colour, his first and his last love; but not yet has he reached the 'golden simplicity' that Girtin realised, nor the 'silver sweetness' of Cozens.