The contempt which Coriolanus
expresses for the opinion and applause of the vulgar, for "the
voices of the greasyheaded multitude," suited well with that disdain
for low company with which I had been first inspired by the fable of
the Lion and the Cub.* It is probable that I understood the speeches
of Coriolanus but imperfectly; yet I know that I sympathised with my
mother's admiration, my young spirit was touched by his noble
character, by his generosity, and, above all, by his filial piety
and his gratitude to his mother.' He mentions also that 'some traits
in the history of Cyrus, which was read to me, seized my
imagination, and, next to Joseph in the Old Testament, Cyrus became
the favourite of my childhood. My sister and I used to amuse
ourselves with playing Cyrus at the court of his grandfather
Astyages. At the great Persian feasts, I was, like young Cyrus, to
set an example of temperance, to eat nothing but watercresses, to
drink nothing but water, and to reprove the cupbearer for making the
king, my grandfather, drunk. To this day I remember the taste of
those water-cresses; and for those who love to trace the characters
of men in the sports of children, I may mention that my character
for sobriety, if not for water-drinking, has continued through
life.
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