Henry Mackenzie

Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831), Scottish novelist, was born at Edinburgh in August 1745. His father, Joshua Mackenzie, was a physician, and his mother, Margaret Rose, belonged to an old Nairnshire family. Mackenzie was educated at the high school and the University of Edinburgh, and was then articled to George Inglis of Redhall, who was attorney for the crown in the management of exchequer business. In 1765 he was sent to London to pursue his legal studies, and on his return to Edinburgh became partner with Inglis, whom he later succeeded as attorney for the crown.

His first and most famous book, The Man of Feeling, was published anonymously in 1771, and met with instant success. The "Man of Feeling" is a weak creature, dominated by a futile benevolence, who goes to London and falls into the hands of people who exploit his innocence. In 1773 Mackenzie published a second novel, The Man of the World, the hero of which was as consistently bad as the "Man of Feeling" had been "constantly obedient to his moral sense," as Sir Walter Scott says.

The first of his dramatic pieces, The Prince of Tunis, was produced in Edinburgh in 1773 with some success. The others were failures. At Edinburgh, Mackenzie belonged to a literary club at the meetings of which papers were read to those present. This led to the establishment of a weekly periodical called the Mirror (January 23, 1779 - May 27, 1780), of which Mackenzie was editor and chief contributor. It was followed in 1785 by a similar paper, the Lounger, which ran for nearly two years and contained one of the earliest tributes to Robert Burns. Mackenzie was an ardent Tory, and wrote many tracts intended to counteract the doctrines of the French Revolution. Most of these remained anonymous, but he acknowledged his 'Review of the Principal Proceedings of the Parliament' of 1784, a defence of the policy of William Pitt, written at the desire of Henry Dundas. He was rewarded (1804) by the office of comptroller of the taxes for Scotland. In 1776 Mackenzie married Penuel, daughter of Sir Ludovick Grant of Grant.

He was, in his later years, a notable figure in Edinburgh society. He was nicknamed the "man of feeling," but he was in reality a hard-headed man of affairs with a kindly heart. Some of his literary reminiscences were embodied in his Account of the Life and Writings of John Home, Esq. (1822). He also wrote a Life of Doctor Blacklock, prefixed to the 1793 edition of the poet's works. He died on the 14th of January 1831.

In 1807 The Works of Henry Mackenzie were published surreptitiously, and he then himself superintended the publication of his Works (8 vols., 1808). There is a criticism of his work in the Prefatory Memoir prefixed by Sir Walter Scott to an edition of his novels in Ballantyne's Novelist's Library (vol. v., 1823).