That success attended these exertions, it is unnecessary to add. The works contained in the volume to which this brief notice of their author is prefixed, sufficiently testify the result; but, in tracing the history of such persons as have risen to any eminence, in whatever may have been their pursuit, we generally find that much as our interest may have been excited by descriptions of the early indications of genius, or the various apparently trifling circumstances which have tended to aid its development, or the obstacles which so frequently beset its path, much of that interest fades away when the subject of it has realized our expectations, by overcoming those obstacles; whether, in tracing the fortunes of an imaginary being, or a character of real life, the years of prosperity are slightly passed over, and the Biographer feels at a loss to say more, than that his hero was successful, was eminent, was rich, or was happy. Thus, in the present instance, the interest which is excited by the remainder of Mr. Repton's memoranda, arises less from any account of himself, than from the observations he has made on others; and, in attempting to trace his professional career, the task of selection and curtailment becomes more difficult.
