The Man Of Feeling — Henry Mackenzie

Mackenzie s hugely popular novel of 1771 is the foremost work of the sentimental movement in which sentiment and sensibility were allied with true virtue and sensitivity is the mark of the man of feeling The hero Harley is followed in a series of episodes demonstrating his benevolence in an uncaring world he assists the down trodden loses his love and fails to achieve worldly success The novel asks a series of vital questions what morality is possible in a complex commercial world Does trying to maintain it make you a saint or a fool Is sentiment merely a luxury for the leisured classes This edition reprints Brian Vickers s authoritative text with a new introduction that discusses the novel in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment and European sentimentalism