31 JULY 1830, Page 18

GEORGE ROMNEY.*

To a son, the task of writing the biography of his father cannot but be a grateful one ; and if that father be a man of genius, the labour of love becomes a public duty. We cannot wonder, there- fore, that our author, living in the classic retirement of a country clergyman, should in his study view the works and character of his father in a much stronger light than the world now views them ; nor are we surprised that he should have aggrandized his name and fame, and have considered many particulars interesting which are in themselves unimportant, and bear but lightly on the subject. We have accordingly a goodly quarto, swollen with tri- butary verses and trivial letters, and all the etceteras which belong rather to family memorials than the history of mankind. The pur- pose with which Mr: ROMNEY has undertaken his task of record- ing the habits and pursuits of his talented father is twofold,—first, to vindicate his private character from the insinuations of. Mr. HAYLEY ; and next, to support his claims to fame as a painter, in despite of the disparaging opinions of Firma and Sir JosntrA: REYNOLDS. We have neither space nor inclination to enter into disputes of this nature. ROMNEY'S fame is quite independent of his son's or our opinion, and it will hardly be injured even by the grudging criticism of his contemporaries. But we must confess that there is nothing in the present work to contravene the fact, that ROMNEY left his wife in the country to pursue his art in London ; nor does his son offer any good or sufficient reason for his having done so. On the other hand, HAYLEY'S calumnies have not been proved, any more than they are now disproved ; the question therefore—and we repeat, it is one of little consequence • Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney: By the Rev. Jobs Bow. my, S.D. 'London, MO. in the view of the world---remaina much as it did. With regard to the more interesting question as - to' his fame as a painter, the judgment of the son is partial, and his view of the motives of REYNOLDS and FUSEL! exaggerated. ROMNEY painted better poetical pictures than Sir JOSHUA; but we cannot concede that his portraits excel those of REYNOLDS, or that he was equal to that distinguished portrait-painter in this branch of art. There is little information respecting ROMNEY, of interest or value, that is new in the present work. Its materials in this respect might have been employed to better purpose by ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, in his Lives of I he Painters; and all that is important in the work will doubtless find its way into that popular and delightful series of biographies. The volume before us indeed is rather adapted to the use of the biographer than to the public perusal.