Hast thou e’er felt a father’s warm embrace?
Hast thou e’er seen a father’s flowing tears,
And known that thou couldst wipe those tears away?
If thou hast felt, and hast resisted these,
Then thou may’st curse my weakness; but if not,
Thou canst not pity, for thou canst not judge.”
Encouraged by the success of “Percy,” and urged by Garrick, Miss More composed a second tragedy, called the “Fatal Falsehood.” The whole was completed, and four acts had been revised by Garrick, when death deprived her of that warm and disinterested friend. Miss More pays the following tribute to his memory: “I never can cease to remember with affection and gratitude so warm, steady, and disinterested a friend; I can most truly bear this testimony to his memory, that I never witnessed, in any family, more decorum, propriety, and regularity, than in his; where I never saw a card, or ever met—except in one instance—a person of his own profession at his table. All his pursuits and tastes were so decidedly intellectual, that it made the society and the conversation which was always to be found in his circle, interesting and delightful.”
The success of the “Fatal Falsehood” was great, but not equal to that of “Percy.” We must content ourselves with making one extract, in which she characterizes “Honor,” as it is technically called:—
“Honor! O yes, I know him. ’Tis a phantom,