On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
will not last long . Another gives money in charity , and it may be with various motives . It may be ostentation , in the hope that people will administer to vanity by talking about it . It may also be in the spirit of bargain-making , i . e . the desire of buying
a large pennyworth of what is called gratitude , and being ever disappointed in the amount , be it great or small . One who confers a favour in this spirit , perhaps giving away that which he cares not for , and which is no sacrifice to him , is usually an everlasting talker about ingratitude . Or it may be solely to obtain that sweetest of all rewards—self-approbation , connected with promoting the happiness of a fellow-creature . Or it may be , in the spirit of some Catholics , and Protestants also , who atone for a life of roguery by giving a small per-centage on their robberies to the poor , by way of quieting their consciences . Or it may be
merely with the desire to get rid of importunity , and thus attain quiet . Another may give away honours , but it is in the hope of obtaining attached retainers . Candidates at modern elections give away their money to purchase irresponsible power over their fellow-creatures ; and , stranger still , those very fellow-creatures will call them generous for it . But whatever may be given , it is
certain that the giver must have a motive for the gift , and whenever his self-gratification is in unison with the welfare of others , it is praiseworthy . Even when a public man is cheered by a crowd , the cheers are given , either because they hope for benefits through his agency , or because they feel pleasure in his oratory . Our friend , the poor fuller , hoped for the gain of good
government and good times under the consulship of Coriolanus , with plenty of work and good pay for it ; thinking that a man who had fought well , must necessarily legislate well . But Coriolanus (misunderstands him in the blindness of his impatience , and catching at the word gain , ' at once treats him with the scorn which would be due to a mercenary elector :
' Well , then , I pray , your price o' the consulship ?' The honest fuller , in the fulness of his heart , makes answer , ' The price is , sir , to ask it kindly . ' (4 Kindly ! ' ejaculates the noble Roman , and his thoughts turn to his poor host' of XDorioli , who used him * kindly . ' The fuller , in his rough way , has claimed sympathy by the phrase ' kindly ;'
but Coriolanus has mistaken him , and supposes it to mean a demand for base submission to the unthinking populace , a bowing of the head , to sue as a fawner for that office , whose duties , being honestly discharged , would have made him the benefactor of the people . His voice now loses the tones of indignation , and he scoffs in plain terms at those whom he despises : 4 Kindly ! Sir , I pray , let me ha 'it : I have wounds to show you /
Untitled Article
Coriolanus no Aristocrat . 197
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1834, page 197, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2631/page/37/
-