4 h 14 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your greatest strength is a tender heart—and the world keeps making you pay for it?
In Henry Mackenzie's The Man of Feeling, Harley is a shy young gentleman who cannot turn away from suffering. His affairs take him to London, where he hopes to secure land to help his modest estate. Among people of influence, beggars and cheats, his trust and generosity face tests he scarcely knows how to meet.
The story reaches you as fragments of a damaged manuscript, with missing pages shaping its short scenes. Harley encounters Edwards, an old soldier worn down by hardship, and loves the kind Miss Walton in silence. Through these tender connections, Mackenzie explores sensibility: the belief that deep feeling for others reveals a person's worth. But is feeling enough?
What you’ll discover
- Kindness under pressure Follow a trusting man whose impulse to help exposes him to a harder world.
- A tale in fragments Enter a story framed by a chance discovery, where missing pages leave gaps between scenes.
- An old soldier's friendship Meet Edwards, whose account of loss and hardship draws Harley into a bond of sympathy.
- Love held in silence Discover Harley's quiet love for Miss Walton, a gentle woman who shares his kindness.
- The limits of feeling Consider whether a generous response to suffering can sustain a person among cheats and indifference.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy gentle stories of good-hearted people, vivid pictures of eighteenth-century London, and moral tales told with warmth, wit and a ready tear.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A curate's torn papers tell Harley's story
- Harley is shy, poor in cunning, and rich in kindness
- London tests his trust in strangers
- Bedlam and a bitter philosopher show two views
- A good heart can be cheated and still be right
- A road home brings old Edwards back into view
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- HarleyA shy young country gentleman of small means who weeps at every sorrow and cannot refuse anyone in need.
- Miss WaltonThe gentle, pale daughter of Harley's neighbor, kind to the poor and the woman Harley quietly loves.
- EdwardsAn old soldier and former farmer, ruined by a harsh steward, who hopes to end his days with his son.
- Miss AtkinsAn officer's daughter, raised on novels, who is cast out by a seducer and begs Harley for help.
- Mrs. MargeryHarley's thrifty, proud aunt, devoted to family trees, old customs and her nephew's comfort.
- PeterThe faithful family servant who weeps at Harley's departure and fears London is a dreadful place.
- Ben SiltonA gentle old man in a funny wig whom Harley meets on the stagecoach and likes at once.
- The curateThe talkative country clergyman who owns Harley's papers and has used many of them as gun wadding.
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L’uomo di sentimento
by Henry Mackenzie · 1771
A shy gentleman walks into London with a kind heart and a letter, and some strangers take advantage of his trust.
Medium level2–5 hours to readItaliano
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In short
Why would a man give money to a stranger who has just admitted to lying? In The Man of Feeling, Henry Mackenzie follows Harley, a shy country gentleman who weeps at every sorrow and trusts every honest-looking face.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A curate's torn papers tell Harley's story
The book opens on a hunting trip. The narrator and a curate chase birds across stubble, miss them, and stop to rest beside an old house. The curate says a strange man named Harley once lived there, and that he still owns a bundle of the man's papers.
Those papers are in poor shape. The curate has used many pages as gun wadding, so chapters skip ahead and some are gone for good. The narrator reads what is left and finds small episodes with little plot but plenty of feeling. He admits that if a famous name had stood on the title page, he would probably have wept.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 6 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1771
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 2 h 45 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Mackenzie, Henry. The Man of Feeling. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-of-feeling.
Mackenzie, H. (2026). The man of feeling. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-of-feeling (Original work published 1771)
Mackenzie, Henry. The Man of Feeling. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-of-feeling.
@book{mackenzie2026man,
author = {Mackenzie, Henry},
title = {The Man of Feeling},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-of-feeling},
note = {First published 1771}
}
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What is The Man of Feeling about?
It follows Harley, a shy and generous country gentleman, as he goes to London to seek a lease, meets beggars, swindlers and sufferers, and returns home, always moved by the sorrows of others.
What does sensibility mean in this novel?
Sensibility means a quick, tender response to the feelings of others. Harley weeps easily and acts on his pity, and Mackenzie treats this trait as both a weakness in the world and a virtue.
Why is the story told as torn papers?
A landlord brings papers about Harley to a curate, who uses many pages as gun wadding. The narrator reads what is left, so the book arrives as fragments and short episodes rather than a smooth plot.
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