BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, AND CRITICAL PREFACE ΤΟ THE MIRROR. THE MIRROR was originated in Edinburgh by a select society of gentlemen, who sheltered themselves from all discovery during its publication, under a veil of the most impenetrable mystery. At the head of these memorable associates, and the only one among them who had ever yet been before the world as an author, stood the celebrated HENRY MACKENZIE, now more familiarly and honourably known by the appellation of the Man of Feeling. He had for his coadjutors Mr. R. CULLEN, Mr. MACLEOD BANNATYNE, Mr. GEORGE OGILVY, Mr. ALEXANDER ABERCROMBY, Mr. W. CRAIG, and Mr. GEORGE HOME; all of them either immediately practising, or connected with, the profession of the law. Among these a vacancy occurred, soon after their organization as a Club, by the premature death of Mr. GEORGE OGILVY, whose great b XXXIV. abilities and superior genius, no doubt, would have much augmented the treasures of this collection. He died before the publication of the second number, without ever having contributed to the MIRROR. Mr. MACKENZIE, upon whom the responsible conduct of the work devolved, and who alone had any communication with the Editor, held at that time a situation in the Exchequer-office in Scotland. The other members of the society remained altogether unknown, even to their printer. The idea of publishing a periodical paper in Edinburgh,' says Mr. MACKENZIE, in the last number of the MIRROR, 'took its rise in a company of gentlemen, whom particular circumstances of connexion brought frequently together. Their discourse often turned upon subjects of manners, of taste, and of literature. By one of those accidental resolutions, of which the origin cannot easily be traced, it was determined to put their thoughts into writing, and to read them for the entertainment of each other. Their essays assumed the form, and, soon after, some one gave them the name, of a periodical publication: the writers of it were naturally associated, and their meetings increased the importance, as well as the number, of their productions. Cultivating letters in the midst of business, composition was to them an amusement only; that amusement was heightened by the audience which this society afforded; the idea of publication |