Small habits, well pursued, betimes
May reach the dignity of crimes;
And who a juster claim preferred
Than one who always broke his word?”
The death of Garrick may be considered an era in the life of Miss More. His wit, his gayety, his intelligence, added to his admiration of her genius, and the warmth of his friendship for her, formed the strongest spell that held her in subjection to the fascinations of brilliant society and town life. The early feeling which prompted the infant wish for “a cottage too low for a clock” was still fresh in her bosom. The country, with its green pastures and still waters, still retained its charms for her. “I have naturally,” she writes, “but a small appetite for grandeur, which is always satisfied, even to indigestion, before I leave town; and I require a long abstinence to get any relish for it again.” After the death of her friend, she carried into execution the resolution she had long cherished, of passing a portion of her time in retirement in the country. With this view, she possessed herself of a little secluded spot, which had acquired the name of “Cowslip Green,” near Bristol.
Still, however, her sensibility to kindness would not let her withhold herself entirely from her London friends; her annual visits to Mrs. Garrick brought her back into contact with the world and its crowded resorts.
From her earliest acquaintance with society, she had seen with sorrow the levity of manners, the indifference to religion, and the total disregard of the Sabbath, which prevailed in its higher circles. Not content with holding herself uncontaminated, she felt it to be her duty to make an effort for a reformation, and with this end she published “Thoughts on the Importance of the Manners of the Great to General Society.” To 150 appreciate the value of the effort, we must remember that these “Thoughts” were not the animadversions of a recluse, but of one who was flattered, admired, and courted, by the very people whom she was about to reprove; that the step might probably exclude her from those circles in which she had hitherto been so caressed. But the happiness of her friends was dearer to her than their favor. That the probable consequences did not ensue, does not diminish her merit. This work and the one which speedily followed it, “An Essay on the Religion of the Fashionable World,” were popular beyond hope, and the wish of Bishop Porteus, “that it might be placed in the hands of every person of condition,” was almost realized. It is unnecessary to dwell on these works; they are too well known; they established her reputation as a great moral writer, possessing a masterly command of language, and devoting a keen wit and a lively fancy to the best and noblest of purposes.—After giving one extract from the most vigorous of her poems, “Slavery,” written to aid the efforts which Clarkson and Wilberforce were making in behalf of the African slave, and in which she heartily sympathized, we will pass on to new scenes, in which Miss More’s benevolent spirit exhibits itself in a yet more active manner.
“O thou sad spirit, whose preposterous yoke
The great deliverer, death, at length has broke!