Session, with the unanimous approbation of his profession and his country.

In 1777, or 1778, a society of gentlemen,' of Edinburgh, were accustomed at their meetings to read short essays of their composition, in the manner of the Spectator, and Mr Mackenzie being admitted a member, after hearing several of them read, suggested the advantage of giving greater variety to their compositions, by admitting some of a lighter kind, descriptive of common life and manners; and he exhibited some specimens of the kind in his own writing. From this arose the Mirror,2 a well-known periodical publication, to which Mr Mackenzie performed the office of editor, and was also the principal contributor. The success of the Mirror naturally led Mr Mackenzie and his friends to undertake the Lounger, upon the same plan, which was not less read, admired, and generally circulated.

3

When the Royal Society of Edinburgh was instituted, Mr Mackenzie became one of its most active members, and he has occasionally enriched

[This society comprised, besides Mr Mackenzie, and Mr (afterwards Lord) Craig, who also was a frequent contributor to the Mirror and Lounger-Mr Cullen, afterwards Lord Cullen; Mr Macleod Bannatyne, afterwards Lord Bannatyne, and created a Baronet on his retirement from the bench; George Hume, afterwards Lord Wedderburn; and some others, all, except Mr Mackenzie, connected with the bar. To the periodical papers of this club, articles were likewise contributed by Lord Hailes, Henry the Historian, Professor Richardson of Glasgow, and Mr David Hume, afterwards Baron of the Exchequer.]

2 Begun the 23d January, 1779; ended 27th May, 1780. 3 Begun 6th February, 1785; ended 6th January, 1787.

the volumes of its Transactions by his valuable communications; particularly by an elegant tribute to the memory of his friend, Judge Abercromby, and a memoir on German Tragedy. He is one of the original members of the Highland Society; and by him have been published the volumes of their Transactions, to which he has prefixed an account of the Institution and principal proceedings of the Society, and an interesting account of Gaelic poetry.

In the year 1792, he was one of those literary men who contributed some little occasional tracts to disabuse the lower orders of the people, led astray at that time by the prevailing frenzy of the French Revolution. In 1793, he wrote the Life of Dr Blacklock, at the request of his widow, prefixed to a quarto edition of that blind poet's works. His intimacy with Blacklock gave him an opportunity of knowing the habits of his life, the bent of his mind, and the feelings peculiar to the privation of sight, under which that amiable and interesting poet laboured.

The literary society of Edinburgh, in the latter part of last century, whose intimacy he enjoyed, is described in his Life of John Home, which he read to the Royal Society in 1812, and, as a sort of Supplement to that Life, he then added some Critical Essays, chiefly on Dramatic Poetry, which have not been published. He has since contributed to the Society a curious Essay on Dreaming, which was heard with much interest.

In 1808, Mr Mackenzie published a complete edition of his works, in eight volumes octavo; including a tragedy, The Spanish Father, and a

comedy, The White Hypocrite, which last was once performed at the Theatre-Royal, CoventGarden. The tragedy had never been represented, in consequence of Mr Garrick's opinion, that the catastrophe was of too shocking a kind for the modern stage; though he owned the merit of the poetry, the force of some of the scenes, and the scope for fine action in the character of Alphonso, the leading person of the drama. In this edition also

is given a carefully corrected copy of the tragedy of The Prince of Tunis, which had been represented at Edinburgh, in 1763, with great success.'

Among the prose compositions of Mr Mackenzie, is a political tract, An Account of the Proceedings of the Parliament of 1784, which he was induced to write at the persuasion of his old and steady friend, Mr Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville. It introduced him to the countenance and regard of Mr Pitt, who revised the work with particular care and attention, and made several corrections in it with his own hand. Some years after, Mr Mackenzie was appointed, on the recommendation of Lord Melville and the Right Hon. George Rose, also his particular friend, to the office of Comptroller of the Taxes for Scotland, an appointment of very considerable labour and responsibility, and in discharging which this fanciful and ingenious author has shown his power of entering

1

[Mr Mackenzie's Account of the Life and Writings of Home was published in a separate volume, and at the same time prefixed to an edition-" The Works of John Home, Esq., now first collected," &c. 3 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh: Constable and Co. 1822.]

into and discussing the most dry and complicated details, when such labour became a matter of duty.

The time, we hope, is yet distant, when, speaking of this author as of those with whom his genius ranks him, a biographer may with delicacy trace his personal character and peculiarities, or record the manner in which he has discharged the duties of a citizen. When that hour shall arrive, we trust few of his own contemporaries will be left to mourn him; but we can anticipate the sorrow of a later generation, when deprived of the wit which enlivened their hours of enjoyment, the benevolence which directed and encouraged their studies, and the wisdom which instructed them in their duties to society. It is enough to say here, that Mr Mackenzie survives, venerable and venerated, as the last link of the chain which connects the Scottish literature of the present age with the period when there were giants in the land-the days of Robertson, and Hume, and Smith, and Home, and Clerk, and Fergusson; and that the remembrance of an era so interesting could not have been intrusted to a sounder judgment, a more correct taste, or a more tenacious memory. It is much to be wished, that Mr Mackenzie, taking a wider view of his earlier years than in the Life of Home, would place on a more permanent record some of the anecdotes and recollections with which he delights society. We are about to measure his

[See an interesting account of this work, with much of additional information regarding Scottish characters, and manners of the period to which it relates, from the pen of Sir

capacity for the task by a singular standard, but it belongs to Mr Mackenzie's character. He has, we believe, shot game of every description which Scotland contains (deer, and probably grouse excepted), on the very grounds at present occupied by the extensive and splendid streets of the New Town of Edinburgh; has sought for hares and wild-ducks, where there are now palaces, churches, and assembly-rooms; and has witnessed moral revolutions as surprising as this extraordinary change of local circumstances. These mutations in manners and in morals have been gradual indeed in their progress, but most important in their results, and they have been introduced into Scotland within the last half century. Every sketch of them, or of the circumstances by which they were produced, from the pen of so intelligent an observer, and whose opportunities of observation have been so extensive, would, however slight and detached, rival in utility and amusement any work of the present time.

As an author, Mr Mackenzie has shown talents both for poetry and the drama. Indeed we are of opinion, that no man can succeed perfectly in the line of fictitious composition, without most of the

Walter Scott, in the Quarterly Review, No. lxxi, June 1827, and which will be given in an after volume of the present series. Sir Walter says, "It is to this distinguished circle, or, at least, to the greater part of its members, that Mr Mackenzie introduces his readers; and that they must indeed be void of curiosity who do not desire to know something more of such men, than can be found in their works, and especially when the communication is made by a contemporary so well entitled to ask, and so well qualified to command attention."]