That Mr. Repton's professional life was one of unmixed enjoyment and uninterrupted success, might, perhaps, be imagined by any one who only perused the letters of flattering commendation which he was daily in the habit of receiving; of these many have been carefully preserved, as gratifying testimonials, from persons whose names alone are sufficient to render their words of praise invaluable.
But that there were also vexations and disappointments attendant on his profession, as there must be on every other pursuit in life, is evident, from such remarks as are interspersed in his notes. We extract the following, in explanation of our meaning:-"In short, of many hundred plans, digested with care, thought, and attention, few were ever so carried into execution, that I could be pleased with my own works." And again: "Like every pursuit of an active mind, mine has been of more use to others than to myself. At the end of a very few years I had reached the top of my ladder, which I had, in a great measure, reared up myself; and being conspicuously placed on its summit, it is natural to expect that I should become the mark for envy and rivalship. I saw myself attacked in the public papers for blunders at places I had never visited, or for absurdities introduced before I visited them; and I heard opinions quoted as mine, which I had never advanced, and was blamed for errors which I had never advised." * * * * "The established professor in every art is seldom contradicted, while present to defend the propriety of his plans; but taste, as it is called, is so universal, that every one sets up for a connoisseur, and each is so jealous of his own opinion, that the greater the number who canvassed my plans, the greater was the departure from them, since every one boasted of a little taste of his own." * * * * "Whatever have been the causes, I found all my plans counteracted at Harewood; and years have elapsed since I have seen that place, but I have heard that my design for the magnificent arch at the entrance-a design on which I had been complimented and flattered by the 'immortal Pitt'-has been adopted only in the general outline; the columns, instead of being detached, are sunk, half buried in a wall, and mounted on pedestals; while the whole building is placed very differently from what I intended it. Instead of being at the end of the village of Harewood, it is removed to an unmeaning distance, isolated and detached, without any relation to the house or village. This vindication I am called on to assert, in consequence of many of my plans having been misunderstood and misrepresented."
