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Untitled Article
that , the citizens , — the plebeians ,, —also are capable of being stirred to noble deeds . He is all along conscious that there is much good and many high qualities in the plebeians , and he is impatient that they should so frequently obscure them by apparent cowardice and imbecility . His conviction is shown in the
following words : 'If any such be here , ( As it were sin to doubt , ) that love this painting Wherein you see me smeared ; if any fear Lesser his person than an ill report ; If any think brave death outweighs bad life , And that his country ' s dearer than himself ; Let him , alone , or so many , so minded , Wave thus , to express his disposition , And follow Marcius '
{ They all shout and wave their swords . Are not these the words of a noble man , a noble-minded man , who loves the welfare of his fellows , or what seems to him their welfare , better than he loves himself ? There is neither plebeian nor patrician in the tone of his words . He is but a man , speaking to his fellow-men , to urge them onwards to honour . In scene the eighth the last fight takes place , and Marcius meets with Aufidius . His greeting is short but expressive :
'I'll fight with none but tliee ; for I do hate thee Worse than a promise-breaker . Here is an indication of genuine nobility . A promise-breaker is a bargain-breaker , and the breach of a bargain is one of the highest crimes which can be committed in social life , for it undermines all confidence , and tends to root out every element of order , and make men barbarians . A bargain is a compact , and the chief element of social life is compact . When a compact is broken ,
even in a trifling matter , it begets a feeling of insecurity in all compacts , and then men cease to make them , and regard each other with constant suspicion ; all ties of kindred , all feelings oi affection , are broken up , and human beings become beasts oi prey ; worse than beasts of prey , for they only prey upon other species , but human beings prey on each other , like a species ot cannibals . Marcius knew all this , and therefore did he select a
promise-breaker as a standard of abhorrence . The . brave warrior , having driven off the boaster Aufidius , and the Volsces who came to his aid , follows hotly after them . The ninth scene again presents the Roman camp , with the victorious Romans , and Marcius wounded amongst them . Titus Lartius speaks some few words in his praise , but the noble Marcius , modest as he in brave , like all truly good men , stops him thus ;
* Fray now no more ; my mother , Who has a charter to ' extol her blood ,
Untitled Article
134 Coriolanus no Aristocrat .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1834, page 134, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2630/page/50/
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