UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 A N 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 DRAMATIC CHARACTER 
 
 Sir JOHN 
 
 O F 
 
 4* 
 
 I am not John of Gaunt your Grandfather, but yet 
 no COWA&P, Hal. 
 
 LONDON'. 
 
 PRINTED TOR T. D A V I E S, IN RUSSEL-STXEET, 
 COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 MDCCLXXVII,
 
 i "7 
 
 I PREFACE, 
 
 T-osB 
 H E following fheets Were writ- 
 ten in confequenee of a friendly con- 
 5 verfation, turning by fdme chance 
 V 3 tapon the Character of FAL STAFF, 
 wherein the Writer, rhaintaining 
 x contrary to the general Opinion, 
 r that, this Character was not intended 
 <T to be fhewn as a Coward, he was 
 challenged to deliver arid fuppoft 
 that Opinion from the Prefs, with 
 an engagement, now he fears for- 
 gotten, for it was three years ago, 
 that he fhould be anfwered thro' the 
 A
 
 feme channel : Thus ftimulated, 
 thefe papers were almoll wholly- 
 written in a very ihort time, but 
 not without thofe attentions, whe- 
 ther fuccefsful or not, which feemed 
 neceflary to carry them beyond 
 the Prefs into the hands of the 
 Public. From the influence of 
 the foregoing circumftances it is, 
 that the Writer has generally af- 
 fumed rather the chara&er and 
 tone of an Advocate than of an 
 Inquirer ; though if he had not 
 firft inquired and been convinced, 
 he fhould never have attempted to 
 
 have
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 have amufed either himfelf or others 
 with the fubje&. The impulfe of 
 the occafion, however, being pafled, 
 the papers were thrown by, and 
 almoft forgotten : But having been 
 looked into of late by fome friends, 
 who obferving that the Writer had 
 not enlarged fo far for the fake 
 of FALSTAFF alone, but that the 
 Argument was made fubfervient to 
 Critical arnufement^ perfuaded him 
 to revife and convey it to the 
 Prefs. This has been accordingly 
 done, though he fears fomething 
 too haftily, as he found it proper 
 2 to
 
 C 4 ) 
 
 to add, while the papers were in 
 the courfe of printing, fome con?- 
 fiderations on the Whole Chara&er 
 of FAL STAFF ; which ought to 
 have been accompanied by a 
 flight reform of a few preceding 
 paflages, which may feem, in con- 
 fequence of this addition, to conr 
 tain too favourable a reprefentation 
 of his Morals. 
 
 The vindication of FALSTAFF'S 
 Courage is truly no otherwife the 
 object than fome old fantaftic Oak, 
 or grotefque Rock, may be the 
 object of a morning's ride ; yet 
 
 being
 
 < 5 ) 
 
 being propofed as fuch, may ferve 
 to limit the diftance, and fliape 
 the courfe: The real objeQ: is Ex- 
 ercife, and the Delight which a 
 rich, beautiful, pi&urefque, and 
 perhaps unknown Country, may 
 excite from every fide. Such an 
 Exercife may admit of fome little 
 excurfion, keeping however the Road 
 in view ; but feems to exclude 
 every appearance of labour and of 
 toil. Under the impreffion of fuch 
 Feelings the Writer has endea- 
 voured to preferve to his Text a 
 certain lightnefs of air, and chear- 
 
 fulnefs
 
 fulnefs of tone ; but is fenfible 
 however that the manner of dif- 
 cuffion does not every where, par- 
 ticularly near the commencement, 
 fufficiently correfpond with his de- 
 fign. If the Book fhall be fortu- 
 nate enough to obtain another Im* 
 preflion, a reparation may be made ; 
 and fuch of the heavier parts as 
 cannot be wholly difpenfed with, 
 fink to their more proper (ration, * 
 a Note. 
 
 He is fearful likewife that he 
 
 may have erred in the other ex-r 
 
 ^ 
 
 treme ; and that having thought 
 
 himfeff
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 himfelf intitled> even in argument, 
 to a certain degree of playful dif* 
 cuflion, may have pu&ed it, in a 
 few places, even to levity. This 
 error might be yet more eafily re- 
 formed than the other. The^Book 
 is perhaps, as it ftands, too bulky 
 for the fubje& ; but if the Reader 
 knew how many pieffing confide- 
 rations, as it grew into fize, the 
 Author refifted, which yet feemed 
 intitled to be heard, he would the 
 more readily excufe him. 
 
 The whole is a mere Experiment, 
 and the Writer considers it as fuch ; 
 
 It
 
 It may have the advantages, but 
 it is likewife attended with all the 
 difficulties and dangers, of No-* 
 velty. 
 
 O N
 
 O N T H E 
 
 Dramatic Chara&er 
 
 O F 
 
 Sir JOHN FALSTAFF. 
 
 X H E ideas which I have formed concerning 
 the Courage and Military Character of the Dra- 
 matic Sir John Falftaf, are fo different from thofe 
 which I find generally to prevail in the world, 
 that I fliall take the liberty of Hating my fenti- 
 ments on the fubjedt ; in hope that fome perfon 
 as unengaged as myfelf, will either correct and 
 reform my error in this refpect ; or, joining him- 
 lelf to my opinion, redeem me from, what I may 
 call, the reproach of fingularity. 
 
 B I am
 
 I am to avow then, that I do not clearly dif- 
 cern that Sir John Faljlaff deferves to bear the 
 character fo generally given him of an abfolute 
 Coward ; or, in other words, that I do not con- 
 ceive Shake/pear e ever meant to make Cowardice 
 an eflential part of his conflitution. 
 
 I know how univerfally the contrary opinion 
 prevails ; and I know what refped: and deference 
 are due to the public voice. But if to the avowal 
 of this fingularity, I add all the reafons that have 
 led me to it, and acknowledge myfelf to be wholly 
 in the judgment of the public, I fhall hope to 
 avoid the cenfure of too much forvvardnefs or 
 indecorum. 
 
 It mult, in the firft place, be admitted that the 
 appearances in this cafe are fingularly fcrong and 
 linking ; and fo they had need be, to become the 
 ground of fo general a cenfure. We fee this ex- 
 traordinary Character, almoft in the firft moment 
 of our acquaintance with him, involved in cir- 
 
 cumftanccsr
 
 ( 3 \ 
 
 tumftances of apparent dilhonour ; and \ve hear 
 him familiarly called Coward by his moil intimate 
 companions. We fee him, on occalion of the 
 robbery at Gads^Hill, in the very act of running 
 away from the Prince- and Poms ; and we behold 
 him, on another of more honourable obligation, - 
 in open day light, in battle, and acting in his 
 profemon as a Soldier, efcaping from Douglas 
 even out of the world as it were; counterfeiting 
 death, and deferting his very exiftence ; and we 
 find him on the former occaiion, betrayed into 
 thofe lies and braggadoclocs, which are the ufual 
 concomitants of Cowardice in Military men, and 
 pretenders to valour. Thefe are not only in them- 
 felves ftrong circumflances, but they are more- 
 over thruft forward, preft upon our notice as the 
 fubjecl of our mirth, as the great bufincfs of the 
 fcene : No wonder, therefore, that the word 
 Jhould go forth that Falftaff is exhibited as a 
 character of Cowardice and difhonour. 
 
 What there is to the contrary of this, it is my 
 
 bufmefs to difcover. Much, I think, will prefently 
 
 B 2 appear;
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 appear j but it lies fo difperfed, is fo latent, and 
 fo purpofely obfcured, that the reader muft have 
 fome patience whilft I colled; it into one body, 
 and make it the objeft of a fteady and regular 
 contemplation. 
 
 But what have we to do, may my readers ex- 
 claim, with principles Jo latent, fo obfcured ? In 
 Dramatic compofition the Impreffion is the Faff ; 
 and the Writer, who, meaning to imprefs one 
 thing, has imprefled another, is unworthy of 
 obfervation. 
 
 It is a very unpleafant thing to have, in the firft 
 fetting out, fo many and fo ftrong prejudices to 
 contend with. All that one can do in fuch 
 cafe, is, to pray the reader to have a little pati- 
 ence in the commencement ; and to referve his 
 ccnfure, if it muft pafs, for the conclufion. Under 
 his gracious allowance, therefore, I prefume to 
 declare it, as my opinion, that Cowardice is not 
 the IffffrefjOf/, which the whole character QiFaljlaff 
 
 is
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 ' is calculated to make on the minds of an unpre- 
 judiced audience ; tho' there be, I confeis, a 
 great deal of fomething in the compofition likely 
 enough to puzzle, and confequently to miflead 
 the Understanding. The reader will perceive 
 that I diftinguiih between mental Imprejjions y and 
 the Under/landing. I^wiih to avoid every thing 
 that looks like fubtlcty and refinement ; but this 
 is a diftinction, which we all comprehend. 
 There are none of us unconfcious of certain feel- 
 ings or fenfations of mind, which do. not feem 
 to havepaffed thro' the Understanding; the effects, 
 I fuppofe, of fome fecret influences from without, 
 acting upon a certain mental fenfe, and producing 
 feelings and paflions in juSt correfpondence to 
 the force and variety of thofe influences on the 
 one hand, and to the quicknefs of our fenfibility 
 qn the other. Be the caufe, however, what it may, 
 the fact is undoubtedly fo ; which is all I am 
 concerned in. And it is equally a fact, which 
 every man's experience may avouch, that the 
 Understanding and thofe feelings are frequently 
 B 3 at
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 i at variance. The latter often arifc from the moft 
 ruinute circumftances, and frequently from fuch 
 as the Understanding cannot eStimate, or even re- 
 cognize ; whereas the Understanding delights in 
 
 1 abftraction, and in general propofitions ; which, 
 however true confidered as fuch, are very Sel- 
 dom, I had like to have Said never, perfectly ap- 
 plicable to any particular cafe. And hence, 
 among other caufes, it is, that we often condemn 
 or applaud characters and adions on the credit 
 of fome logical procef?, while our hearts revolt, 
 and would fain lead us to a very different con- 
 clufion, 
 
 The Understanding feems for the moSt part 
 to take cognizance of attions only, and from thefe 
 to infer mo fives and character; but the fenfe we 
 have been fpeaking of proceeds in a contrary 
 courfe; and determines of aft ions from certain 
 fa'fi pi'ini'iplcs of cbarafter, which feern wholly out 
 of the reach of the Underitanding. We cannot 
 indeed do otherwife than admit that there mufl 
 
 be
 
 (' 7 ) 
 
 be diftinct principles of character in every dif- 
 tinct individual : The manifeft variety even in 
 the minds of infants will oblige us to this. But 
 what are thefe firft principles of character ? 
 Not the objects, I am perfuaded, of the Under- 
 ilanding; and yet we take as flrong Iinpreffions 
 of them as if we could compare and afTort them' 
 in a fyllogifm. We often love or hate at firft 
 light ; and indeed, in general, diflike or approve 
 l)y foine fecret reference to thefe principles ; and 
 we judge even of conduct, not from any idea 
 of abflract good or evil in the nature of actions, 
 but by refering thofe actions to a fuppofed original 
 character in the man himfelf. I do not mean 
 that we talk thus; we could not indeed, if we 
 would, explain ourfelves in detail on this head ; 
 we can neither account for Impreffions and paf- 
 fions, nor communicate them to others by words: 
 Tones and looks will fometimes convey thepa/fion 
 ftrangely, but the Impreffion is incommunicable. 
 The famecaufes may produce it indeed at the fame 
 time in many, but it is the feparate poffeffion of 
 B 4 each,
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 each, and not in its nature transferable : It is an 
 imperfect fort of inftindt, and proportionally 
 dumb. We might indeed, if we chofe it, can- 
 didly confefs to one another, that we are greatly 
 fvvayed by thefe feelings, and are by no means fo 
 rational in all points as we could wifti; but this 
 would be a betraying of the interefts of that high 
 faculty, the Undcrftandmg, which we fo value 
 ourfelves upon, and which we more peculiarly 
 call our own. This, we think, mufl not be; 
 and fo we huddle up the matter, concealing 
 it as much as poiiible, both from ourfelves and 
 others. In Books indeed, wherein character, 
 motive, and adtion, are all alike fubjedted to the 
 Underftanding, it is generally a very clear cafe ; 
 and we make decifions compounded of them 
 all : And thus we are willing to approve ofCandide, 
 tho 1 he kills my Lord the Inquifitor, and runs 
 thro* the body the Baron of Tkunder-ten-tronchk 
 the fon of his patron, and the brother of his 
 beloved Cunegonde : But in real life, I believe, 
 my Lords the Judges would be apt to inform the 
 
 Gentlemen
 
 C 9 ) 
 
 Gentlemen of tie Jury, that my Lor d tie Inqvifltor 
 was ill killed', as Candlde did not proceed on the 
 urgency of the moment, but on the fpeculation 
 only of future evil. And indeed this clear per- 
 ception, in Novels and Plays, of the union of 
 character and action not feen in nature, is the 
 principal defect of fuch competitions, and what 
 renders them but ill pictures of human life, and 
 wretched guides of conduct. 
 
 But if there was one man in the world, who 
 could make a more perfect draught of real na- 
 ture, and fleal fuch Impreffions on his audience, 
 without their fpecial notice, as Ihould keep their 
 hold in fpite of any error of their Underftanding, 
 and mould thereupon venture to introduce an 
 apparent incongruity of character and action, for 
 ends which I mail prefently endeavour to ex- 
 plain ; fuch an imitation would be worth our 
 niceft curiofity and attention. But in fuch a cafe 
 as this, the reader might expect that he mould 
 find us all talking the language of the Under- 
 ftanding
 
 {landing only ; that is, cenfuring the action with 
 very little confcientious inveftigation even of 
 that ; and transferring the cenfure, in every odi- 
 ous colour, to the ator himfelf ; how much fo- 
 ever our hearts and affedlions might fecretly 
 revolt : For as to the Imprejfion, we have already 
 obferved that it has no tongue ; nor is its 
 operation and influence likely to be made the 
 fubjedt of conference and communication. 
 
 It is not to the Courage only of Falftaff that we 
 think thefe obfervations will apply : No part 
 whatever of his character feems to be fully fettled 
 in ' our minds ; at leaft there is fomething 
 ftrangely incongruous in our difcourfe and 
 affedions concerning him. We all like Old Jack ; 
 yet, by fome ftrange perverfe fate, we all abufe 
 him, and deny him the poffeffion of any one 
 fingle goodjor refpeftable quality. There is 
 fomething extraordinary in this : It muft be a 
 ftrange art in Sbakefpeare which can draw our 
 liking and good will towards fo offenfive an objed:. 
 He has wit, it will be faid ; chearfulnefs and hu- 
 mour of the moil charadteriftic and captivating 
 
 fort.
 
 ( " j 
 
 fort. And is this enough ? Is the humour and 
 gaiety of vice fo very captivating ? Is the wit, 
 charadteriftic of bafenefs and every ill quality 
 capable of attaching the heart and winning the 
 affections ? Or does not the apparency of fuch 
 humour, and the flafhes of fuch wit, by more 
 ftrongly difclofing the deformity of character, 
 but the more effectually excite our hatred and 
 contempt of the man ? And yet this is not our feel- 
 ing of Falftafs character. When he has ceafed to 
 amufe us, we find no emotions of difguft ; we 
 can fcarcely forgive the ingratitude of the Prince 
 in the new-born virtue of the King, and we curfe 
 the feverity of that poetic juflice which configns 
 our old good-natured delightful companion to the 
 cuftody of the warden, and the difhonours of the 
 Fleet. 
 
 I am willing, however, to admit that if a Dra- 
 matic writer will but preferve to any character 
 the qualities of a ftrong mind, particularly Cou- 
 rage and ability,* that it will be afterwards no 
 very difficult taik (as I may have occafion to ex- 
 plain)
 
 plain) to difcharge that difguft which arifes from 
 vicious manners ; and even to attach us (if fuch 
 character Ihould contain any quality productive 
 of chearfulnefs and laughter) to the caufe and 
 fubject of our -mirth with fome degree of af- 
 fection. 
 
 But the queftion which I am to confkler is of 
 a very different nature : It is a queftion of fad:, 
 and concerning a quality which forms the bafis of 
 every refpedable character; a quality which 
 is the very eflence of a Military man ; and which 
 is held up to us, in alrrroft every Comic incident 
 of the Play, as the fubject of our obfervation. 
 It is ftrange then that it Ihould now be a queftion, 
 whether Falftqff is, or is not a man of Courage ; 
 and whether we do in fad: contemn him for the 
 want, or refpect him for the polTeffion of that 
 quality : And yet I believe the reader will find 
 that he has by no means decided this queftion, 
 even, for himfelf. If then it ihould turn out, 
 that this difficulty has arifcn out of the Art of 
 
 Skakcffeare
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 Shakefpeare, who has contrived to make fecret Im- 
 preffions upon us of Courage, and to preferve 
 thofe Impreffions in favour of a character which 
 was to be held up for fport and, laughter on ac- 
 count of actions of apparent Cowardice and dif- 
 honour, we ihall have lefs occafion to wonder, as 
 Sbakefpeare is a Name which contains All of Dra- 
 matic artifice and genius, 
 
 If in this place the reader fhall peeviihly and 
 prematurely object that the obfervations . and dif- 
 tinctions I have laboured to eftablifh, are wholly 
 unapplicable ; he being himfelf unconfcious of 
 ever having received any fuch Impreffion ; what 
 can be done in fo nice a cafe, but to refer him 
 to the following pages ; by the number of which 
 he may judge how very much I refpect his 
 objection, and by the variety of thofe proofs, 
 which I ihall employ to induce him to part with 
 it ; and to recognize in its Head certain feelings, 
 concealed and covered over perhaps, but not era- 
 zed, by time, reafoning, and authority. 
 
 In
 
 C 14 ) 
 
 In tli mean while, it may not perhaps be 1 
 cafy for him to refolve how it comes about, 
 that, whilfl we look upon Falflaf as a character 
 of the like nature with that of Parolles or of Bo- 
 badily we ihould prefcrve for him a great degree 
 of refpect and good-will, and yet feel the higheft 
 difdain and contempt of the others, tho* they are 
 all involved in fimilar fituations. The reader, 
 I believe, would wonder extremely to find either 
 Parolles or Bobadil poflefs himfeif in danger : 
 What then can be the caufe that we are not at 
 all furprizcd at the gaiety and eafe of Fal/lqff un 
 der the moft trying circumflances ; and that 
 we never think of charging Shakefpeare \\ ith de- 
 parting, on this account, from the truth and co* 
 herence of character ? Perhaps, after all, the 
 real character of Falftqff may be different from 
 his apparent one ; and poffibly this difference 
 between reality and appearance, whilil it accounts 
 at once for our liking and our cenfure, may be 
 the true point of humour in the character, and 
 the fource of all our laughter and delight. We 
 
 may
 
 ( '5 ) 
 
 may chance tp find, if we will but examine a 
 little into the nature of thofe circumftances 
 which have accidentally involved him, that he 
 was intended to be drawn as a character of much 
 Natural courage and refolution ; and be obliged 
 thereupon to repeal thofe deciiions, which may 
 have been made upon the credit of fome general 
 tho' unapplicable propositions ; the common 
 fource of error in other and higher matters. A 
 little reflection may perhaps bring us round again 
 to the point of our departure, and unite our Un- 
 derftandings to our inftinct. Let us then for a 
 moment fufpend at leaft our decifions,a"nd candidly 
 and coolly inquire if Sir John Faljlaff be, indeed, 
 what he has fo- often been called by critic and 
 commentator, male and female, a Conftitut'wnal 
 Coward. 
 
 It will fcarcely be poffible to confider the Cou- 
 rage of Falftaffzs wholly detached from his other 
 qualities : But I write not profeflbdly of any part 
 of his character, but what is included under the 
 
 term
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 term, Courage ; however I may incidentally 
 throw fome lights on the whole. The reader 
 will not need to be told that this Inquiry will 
 refolve itfelf of courfe into a Critique on the ge- 
 nius, the arts, and the conduct of Shakefpeare : 
 For what is Falftaff, what Lear, what Hamlet, or 
 Othello, but different modifications of Skakejpeare's 
 thought ? It is true that this Inquiry is narrowed 
 almoft to a fingle point : But general criticifm 
 is as uninftruclive as it is eafy : Sbakefpeare de- 
 ferves to be coniidcred in detail ; a talk hitherto 
 unattempted. 
 
 It may be proper, in the firft place, to take a 
 fliort view of all the parts of Fa/ftaff's Character, 
 and then proceed to difcover, if we can, what 
 Imprejfions, as to Courage or Cowardice, he had 
 made on the perfons of the Drama : After which 
 we will examine, in courfe, fuch evidence, either of 
 perfons or facts, as are relative to the matter ; and 
 account as we may for thofe appearances, which 
 feem to have led to the opinion of his Conftituti- 
 onal Cowardice
 
 ( -7 ) 
 
 The fcene of the robbery, and the difgraced 
 attending it, which ftand firft in the Play, and 
 introduce us to the knowledge of Falftaff, I lhall 
 beg leave (as I think this fcene to have been the 
 fource of much unreafonble prejudice) to referve 
 till we are more fully acquainted with the whole 
 character of Falflaff, and I ftiall therefore hope 
 that the reader will not for a time advert to itj 
 or to the jefts of the Prince or of Poins in confe- 
 iquence of that unlucky adventure; 
 
 In drawing out the parts of Faljlaff's character; ' 
 with which I ihall begin this Inquiry; I fhall 
 take the liberty of putting Conflitutional bravery 
 into his compofition ; but the reader will be 
 pleafed to cohfider what I fhall fay in that refpet 
 as fpoken hypothetically for the prefent, to be 
 retained, or difcharged out of it, as he Ihall 
 finally determine; 
 
 To me then it appears that the leading quality 
 
 in Falftqfs character, and that from which all 
 
 Uie reft take their colour, is a high degree of wit 
 
 and
 
 ( -8 ) 
 
 and humour, accompanied with great natural 
 vigour and alacrity of mind. This quality fo ac- 
 companied, led him probably very early into 
 life, and made him highly acceptable to fociety ; 
 fo acceptable, as to make it feem unneceffary for 
 him to acquire any other virtue. Hence, perhaps, 
 his continued debaucheries and diffipations of 
 every kind* He feems, by nature, to have had 
 a mind free of malice or any evil principle ; but 
 he never took the trouble of acquiring any good 
 one. He found himfelf efteemed and beloved 
 with all his faults ; nay for his faults, which were 
 all connected with humour, and for the mofl part, 
 grew out of it. As he had, pofiibly, no vices but 
 iuch as he thought might be openly profeffetf, 
 ^b he appeared more diflblute thro* oflentation. 
 To the character of wit and humour, to which 
 all his other qualities feem to have conformed 
 themfelves, he appears to have added a very ne- 
 ceffary fupport, that of the profeffion of a Soldier. 
 He had from nature, as I prefume to fay, a fpirit 
 of boldnefs and enterpi ife ; which in a Military
 
 4 ( '9 ) 
 
 - 
 
 age, tho* employment was only occafional, kept 
 him always above contempt, fecured him an ho- 
 nourable reception among the Great, and fuited 
 belt both with his particular mode of humour 
 and of vice. Thus living continually in fociety, 
 nay even in Taverns, and indulging himfelf, and 
 being indulged by others $ in every debauchery ; 
 drinking, whoring; gluttony, and eafe ; afluming 
 a liberty of fiction, neceflary perhaps to his wit, 
 and often falling into falfity and lies, he feems to 
 have fet, by degrees, allfober reputation at defiance; 
 and finding eternal refdurces in his wit, he bor- 
 rows, fhifts, defrauds, and even robs, without dif* 
 honour. Laughter and approbation attend his 
 greateft excefles ; and being governed vifibly by 
 no fettled bad principle or ill defign, fun and hu- 
 mour account for and cover all. By degrees, 
 however, and thro* indulgence, he acquires bad 
 nabits, becomes an hurnourift, grows enormoufly 
 corpulent, and falls into the infirmities of age ; 
 yet never quits, all the time, one fingle levity or 
 Vice of youth, or lofes any of that chearfulnefs of 
 C 2 mind,
 
 mmd, which had enabled him to pafs thro' th& 
 courfe with eafe to himfelf and delight to others; 
 and thus, at laft, mixing youth and age, enter- 
 prize and corpulency,- wit and folly, poverty and 
 expence, title and buffoonery, innocence as to 
 purpofe, and wickednefs as to practice ; neither 
 incurring hatred by bad principle, or contempt 
 by Cowardice, yet involved in circumftanccs pro- 
 ductive of imputation in both ; a butt and a wit, 
 a humourifl and a man of humour, a touchftone 
 and a laughing flock, a jefter and a jell, has Sir 
 John Faljhff, taken at that period of his life in 
 which we fee him, become the mod perfect Co- 
 \ mic character that perhaps ever was exhibited* 
 
 It may not poffibly be wholly amifs to remark- 
 in this place, that if Sir John Faljttiff had poflefled 
 any of that Cardinal quality, Prudence, alike the 
 guardian of virtue and the protector of vice ; 
 that quality, from the pofleffion or the abfence 
 of which, the character and fate of men in this 
 life take, I think, their colour, and not from real 
 vice or virtue ; if he had confidered his wit not as 
 principal but accejary only ; as the inftrument of 
 /... power.
 
 power, and not as power itfelf; if he had had much 
 bafenefs to hide, if he had had lefs of what may 
 be called mellowncfs or good humour, or lefs of 
 health and fpirit ; if he had fpurred and rode the 
 world with his wit, inftead of fuffering the world, 
 boys and all, to ride him ; he might, without 
 ; any other eflential change, have been the adrni-? 
 ration and not the jeft of mankind : -Or if he 
 had lived in our day, and inftead of attaching 
 himfelf to one Prince, had renounced all friend * 
 fhip and all attachment, and had let himfelf out 
 as the ready inftrument and Zany of every fuceef- 
 five Minifter, he might poflibly have acquired 
 the high honour of marking his Ihroud or deco- 
 rating his coffin with the living rays of an Iriih 
 at leaft, if not a Britifh Coronet : Inftead of 
 which, tho ; enforcing laughter from every difpo- 
 iition, he appears, now, as fuch a character, 
 which every wife man Will pity and avoid, every 
 knave will cenfure, and every fool will fear: And 
 accordingly Shakefpeare, ever true to nature, has 
 made Harry defert, and Lancajler cenfure him: 
 rHe dies where he lived, in a Tavern, broken- 
 C
 
 hearted, without a friend ; and his final exit is 
 given up to the derifion of fools. Nor has his 
 misfortunes ended here ; the fcandal arifing from 
 the mifapplication of his wit and talents feems. 
 
 s jmmortal. He has met with as little juflice or 
 mercy from his final judges the critics, as from his 
 companions of the Drama. With our cheeks flill 
 yed with laughter, we ungratefully as unjuflly 
 cenfure him as a coward by nature, ancl a rafcal 
 upon principle : Tho', if this were fp, it might 
 be hoped, for our own credit, that we Ihould be- 
 hold him rather with difguft and difapprobatiqn. 
 
 , than with pleafure and delight. 
 
 But to remember our queftion Jj Falftajf a, 
 conjlitutional cozvard f 
 
 With refpeft to every infirmity, except that 
 of Cowardice, we mufl take him as at the period 
 in which he is reprefentedtous. If we fee him 
 idiffipated, fat, it is enough ; we have nothing 
 to do with his youth, when he might perhaps
 
 have been modeft, chafle, " and not an Eagle's 
 talon in the watft." But Conftitutional Courage 
 extends to a man's whole life, makes a part of his 
 nature, and is not to be taken up or deferted 
 like a mere Moral quality. It is true, there is a 
 Courage founded upon principle, or rather a prinr 
 ciple independent of Courage, which will fomer 
 times operate in fpite of nature ] a principle, 
 which prefers death to fhame, but which always 
 refers itfelf, in conformity to its own nature, to 
 the prevailing modes of honour, and the falhions 
 of the age. But Natural courage is another 
 thing : It is independent of opinion ; It adapts . 
 itfelf to occafions, preferves itfelf under eve- 
 ry lhape, and can avail itfelf of flight as well 
 as of action. In the lafl war, fome Indians of 
 America perceiving a line of Highlanders to keep 
 their flation under every difadvantage, and under a 
 fire which they could not effectually return, were 
 fo miferably miftaken in our points of honour as 
 Q conjecture, from obfervation on the habit and 
 C 4 {lability
 
 liability of thbfe troops, that they were indeed 
 the women of England, who wanted courage to 
 run away. That Courage which is founded in 
 nature and conftitution, Falftqf, as J prefume 
 to fay, pofTefled; but I am ready to allow, 
 that the principle already mentioned, fo far as it 
 refers to reputation only, began with every other 
 Moral quality to lofc its hold on him in his old 
 age ; that is, at the time of life in which he is 
 reprefented to us ; a period, as it fhould feem, 
 approaching tojevexty* The truth is that he had 
 drollery enough to fupport himfelf in credit with- 
 out the point of honour, and had addrefs enough 
 to make even the prefervation of his life a poinc 
 of drollery. The reader knows I allude, tho,' fome- 
 thing prematurely, to his fictitious death in the 
 Battle of Shrewsbury. This incident is generally 
 conitrued to the difadvantage of Falftaff: It is a 
 traniaction which bears the external marks of 
 Cowardice : It is alfo aggravated to the fpedtators 
 fcy the idle tricks of the Player, who pracYifes 
 
 on
 
 : f *M 
 
 on this occafion all the attitudes and wild ap* 
 prehenfions of fear ; more ambitious, as it ihould 
 feem, of reprefenting a Caliban than a Falftaf; 
 pr indeed rather a poor unweildy miferable Tor-- 
 toife than either. The painful Comedian He? 
 fpread out on his belly, and not only covers him- 
 felf all over with his robe as with a fhell, but 
 forms a kind of round Tortpife-back by I know 
 not what fluffing or contrivance ; in addition to 
 which, he alternately lifts up, and deprefles, and 
 dodges his head, and looks to the one fide and t$ 
 the other, fo much with the piteous afpedl of that 
 animal, that one would not be forry to fee the am- 
 bitious imitator calipafhed in his robe, and ferved 
 up for the entertainment of the gallery. There 
 is no hint for this mummery in the Play : What- 
 ever there may be of dilhonour in Falftqff's con- 
 duel:, he neither does or fays any thing on this 
 occafion which indicates terror or dilbrder of 
 mind : On the contrary, this very act is a 
 proof of his having all his wits about him, and 
 is a ftratagem, fuch as it is, not improper for a 
 
 buffooji
 
 tmffoon, whofe fate would be fingulariy hard, 
 if he fliould not be allowed to avail himfelf pf 
 his Character when it might ferve him in moft 
 (lead. We muft remember, in extenuation, that 
 the executive, the deftroying hand of Douglas 
 was over him : (t It was time to counterfeit, or that 
 (( hot termagant Scot had paid hlmfcot and lot too. " 
 He had but one choice ; he was obliged to pafs, 
 thro' the ceremony of dying either in jeft: or in 
 earneft | &ad we fhall not be furprized at the 
 event, when we remember his propenfities to the 
 former. Life (and efpecially the life of Falflaff ) 
 might be a jeft ; but he could fee no joke what- 
 ever in dying : To be chopfallen was, with him, 
 to lofe both life and character together : He 
 faw the point of honour, as well as every thing 
 elfe, in ridiculous lights, and began to renounce 
 its tyranny. 
 
 But I am too much in advance, and muft 
 retreat for more advantage. I fhould not forr 
 get how much opinion is againft me, and that 
 I am to make my way by the mere force and 
 
 weight
 
 weight of evidence ; without which I muft not 
 fcope to pofTefs myfelf of the reader : No addrefs, 
 no infinuation will avail. To this evidence, 
 then, I now refort, The Courage of Fat/tap is my 
 Theme : And no paflage will I fpare from which 
 any thing can be inferred as relative to this point. 
 It would be as vain as injudicious to attempt conr 
 cealment : How could I efcape detection ? The 
 Play is in every one's memory, and a fingle paf- 
 fage remembered in detection would tell, in the 
 mind of the partial obferver, for fifty times its real 
 weight. Indeed this argument would be void of 
 all excufe if it declined any difficulty ; if it 
 $id not meet, if it did not challenge oppofition. 
 Every paflage then ihall be produced from 
 which, in my opinion, any inference, favourable 
 or unfavourable, has or can be drawn ; but not 
 methodically, not formally, as texts for comment, 
 but as chance or convenience Ihall lead the way 
 but in what ihape foever, they Ihall be always 
 jliftinguifhingly marked for notice. And fo 
 
 with
 
 with that attention to truth and candour which 
 ought to accompany even our lighted amufements 
 I proceed to offer fuch proof as the cafe will ad- 
 mit, that Courage is a part of Falftaff's Chora ft er^ 
 that it belonged to his conftitution, and was ma- 
 nifeft in the conduct and practice of his whole 
 life, 
 
 Let us then examine, as a fource of very an-* 
 thentic information, what Impreffions Sir Joht 
 Fajftaffhad made on the characters of the Drama ; 
 and in what eftimation he is fuppofed to ftand 
 with mankind in general as to the point of Perfo- 
 nal Courage, But the quotations we make for this 
 or other purpofes, muft, it is confefled, be lightly 
 touched, and no particular paflage ftrongly re-, 
 lied on, either in his favour or againit him. 
 Every thing which he himfelf fays, or is faid of 
 him, is fo phantaftically difcoloured by humour, 
 or folly, or jeft, that we muft for the molt part 
 look to the fpirit rather than the letter of what
 
 tis uttered, and rely at laft only on a combination 
 of the whole* 
 
 We will begin then, if the reader pleafes, by in- 
 quiring what Impreffioh the very Vulgar had 
 taken of Fal/iaff. If it is not that of Cowardice, be 
 it what elfe it may, that of a man of violence^ 
 or a Ruffian my ear s^ as Harry calls him, or any 
 thing elfe, it anfwers my purpofe ; how iniigni- 
 ficant foever the characters or incidents to be 
 firft produced may otherwife appear ; for thefe 
 Impreffions muft have been taken either from 
 perfonal knowledge and obfervation; or, what 
 will do better for my purpofe, from common 
 fame. Altho' I muft admit fome part of this evi- 
 dence will appear fo weak and trifling that it 
 certainly ought not to be produced but in proof 
 Impreffion only. 
 
 The Hoftefs Quickly employs two officers to arreft 
 Falftaff: On the mention of his name, one of them 
 immediately obferves, "that it may chance to coftfome 
 
 "of
 
 ( 3= ) 
 
 *' of them th'eir lives, for that he will Jlab.~ Alas dd'ay? 
 fays the hoftefs, " take heed of him t he cares net 
 f( what mifchief he doth ; if his weapon be out he will 
 (e foin like any devil', He will Jpare neither man* 
 " woman, or child. " Accordingly, we find that 
 when they lay hold on him he refifts to the utmofl 
 of his power j and calls upon Bardolph, whole 
 arms are at liberty, to draw. "Away^varlets^draiv 
 (< Bardolph, cut me off the villain's head, throw the 
 quean in the kennel. " The officers cry, a refcue, a 
 refcue I But the Chief Juftice comes in and thi 
 fcuffle ceafcs. In another fcene,- his wench Doll 
 fear/beet afos him " when he will leave fighting 
 ****** an d p a t c h u p jy ts Q U faty f or heaven. " 
 This is occafioned by his drawing his rapier, on 
 great provocation, and driving Pijlol, who is 
 drawn likewife, down flairs, and hurting him in 
 the fhoulder. To drive Piftol was no great feat ; 
 nor do I mention it as fuch; but upon this 
 occafion it was neceffary. "A Rafcal bragging Jlave, 
 fays he, " the rogue jied from me like quickjllver." Ex- 
 preffions, which as they remember the cow- 
 ardice
 
 ( 3' ) 
 
 ardice of Piftol, feem to prove that Faljlaff did 
 not value himfelf on the adventure. Even fome- 
 thingmay be drawn from Davy, Shallow's ferving 
 man, who calls Faljlaf, in ignorant admiration, the 
 man of war. I mufl obferve here, and I beg the 
 reader will notice it, that there is not a lingle ex:- 
 preffiondropt by thefe people, or either of Fal/laff's 
 followers, from which may be inferred the leaft 
 fuipicion of Cowardice in his character ; and 
 this is I think fuch an implied negation as deferves 
 confiderable weight. 
 
 But to go a little higher, if, indeed, to confider 
 Shallow's opinion be to go higher : It is from him, 
 however, that we get the earlieft account 
 of Falftaff. He remembers him a Page to 
 Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolk : "He broke, fays 
 he, "Schoggan's head at the Court-Gate when he was 
 " but a crack thus high. " Shallow, throughout, 
 coniiders him as a great Leader and Soldier, and 
 relates this facl: as an early indication only of his 
 future Prowefs. Shallow it is true, is a very ridi- 
 culous
 
 C 3'- ) 
 
 culous character ; but he picked up thefe InV 
 preffions fo me where ; and he picked up none of 
 a contrary tendency. I want at prefent only to 
 prove that Faff off Hood well in the report of com-- 
 mon fame as to this point ; and he was now near 
 feventy years of age, and had pafled in a Military 
 line thro' the active part of his life. At this 
 period common fame may be well confidered as 
 ihcfeal of his character ; a leal which ought not 
 perhaps to be broke open on the evidence of any 
 future tranfactiom 
 
 But to proceed. Lord Bardolph was a man of 
 the world, and of fenfe and obfervation. He in- 
 forms Northumberland, erroneously indeed, that 
 Percy had beaten the King at Shrewfburyi "The 
 King* '* according to him, " was wounded; the 
 " Prince of IValss and the two Blunts Jlain, certain 
 " Nobles, whom he names, had efcaped by flight, and 
 " the Brawn Sir John Falftaff was taken prifoner. " 
 But how came Falftaff into this lift ? Common 
 
 fame had put him there. He is fmgulstrly obli- 
 ged
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 ged to Common fame. But if he had not been 
 a Soldier of repute, if he had not been brave as 
 well as fatj if he had been mere brawn, it would 
 have been more germane to the matter if this 
 lord had put him down among the baggage or 
 the provender. The fact feems to be, that there 
 is a real confequence about Sir John Fal/laf which 
 is not brought forward i We fee him only in his 
 familiar hours ; we enter the tavern with Hal 
 and Poms ; we join in the laugh and take a pride 
 fo gird at him : But there may be a great deal of 
 truth in what he himfelf writes to the Prince, that 
 that tho' he be "jack Falftaffwith his Familiar s> he 
 is Sir John with the reft of Europe: " It has been re- 
 marked^ and very truly I believe, that no man is 
 a hero in the eye of his valet-de-chambre ; and 
 thus it is, we are witnefles! only of Falftafs weak- 
 nefs and buffoonery ;- our acquaintance is with 
 JackFalftafF, Plump Jatk and Sir John Paunch ; but 
 if we would look for Sir John Falftaff, we muft put 
 on, as Bunyan would hare exprefled itj the fpedta- 
 eles of obfervation. With refpeft, for inftancey 
 D ' t<*
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 to his Military command at Shrewfbury, nothing 
 appears on thefurface but the Prince's familiarly 
 faying, in the tone ufually aflumed when fpeak- 
 ing otFaljlqff, "I will procure this fat rogue a Charge 
 "*offoot ; " and in another place, " I will procure 
 61 the Jack a Charge of foot ; meet me to-morrow in the 
 " Temple Hall." Indeed we might venture to infer 
 from this, that a Prince of fo great ability, whofe 
 wildnefs was only external and arTiimed, would 
 not have procured, in fo nice and critical a con- 
 juncture, a Charge of foot for a known Coward. 
 But there was more it feems in the cafe : We 
 now find from this report, to which LordEardolph 
 had given full credit, that the world had its eye 
 upon Falftqff as an officer of merit, whom it ex- 
 pected to find in the field, and whofe fate in the 
 battle was an object of Public concern : His life 
 was, it feems, very material indeed ; a thread of 
 fo much dependence, that ji7/0, weaving the 
 fates of Princes, did not think it unworthy, 
 how coarfe foever, of being made a part of the 
 tiffue. 
 
 We
 
 ( ss ) 
 
 We lhall next produce the evidence of the 
 Chief Juflice of England. He inquires of his at- 
 tendant, " if the man who was then pafling Mm was 
 " Falftaff; he who was in quefiion for the robbery.' 9 
 The attendant anfwers affirmatively^ but reminds 
 his lord " that he had fince done good fervice at 
 Shrewjbury ; " and the Chief Juflice, on this oc- 
 cafion, rating him for his debaucheries, tells him 
 * ( that his day's fervice at Shrewfbury had gilded over 
 " his night's exploit at Gads Hill." This is furely 
 more than Common fame : The Chief Jujlice muft 
 have known his whole character taken together, 
 and muft have received the moft authentic infor- 
 mation, and in the trueft colours, of his behaviour 
 in that action. 
 
 But, perhaps, after all, the Military men may 
 be efteemedthe befl judges in points of this na- 
 ture. Let us hear then Coleville of the dale, a Sol- 
 dier, in degree a Knight , a famous rebel, and " whofe 
 " betters, had they been ruled by him, would have fold 
 " themfehes dearer :" A man who is of confequence 
 D 2 enough
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 enough to be gaurded by Blunt and led to prefent 
 execution. This man yields himfelf up even to the 
 very Name and Reputation of Faljlaff. " I think, " 
 fays he, "you are Sir John Faljlaff, and in that thought 
 "yield me. " But this is but one only among the 
 men of the fword ; they fliall be produced then 
 by dozens, if that will fatisfy. Upon the return 
 of the King and Prince Henry from Wales, thq 
 Prince feeks out and finds Faljlaff debauching in 
 a tavern ; where Peto prefently brings an account 
 of ill news from the North ; and adds, " that as 
 he came along he' met or over took a dozen Captains, bars 
 headed, fweating, knocking at the taverns, aud ajking 
 every one for Sir John FalflafF. He is followed by 
 Bardolpb, who informs Falftaff that "He muft azvoy 
 " to the Court immediately ; a dozen Captains Jlay at 
 (f door for him." Here is Military evidence in abund- 
 ance, and Court evidence too ; for what are we to 
 infer from Faljlafs being fent for to Court on this 
 ill news, but that his opinion was to be afked, as 
 a Military man of Ikill and experience, concern- 
 ing the defences rieceflary to be taken. Nor is 
 
 Shakefpear
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 Shakefpeare content, herewith leaving us to gather 
 up Falftajfs better character from inference and de- 
 duction : He comments on the fact by making 
 Falftqff obferve that " Men of merit are fought after : 
 " The undeferver mayjleep when the man of aftion is 
 " called on. " I do not wifli to draw Fat/toff's 
 character out of his own mouth ; but this obfer- 
 vation refers to the fact, and is founded in reafon. 
 Nor ought we to reject, what in another place he 
 fays to the Chief Juftice, as it is in the nature of 
 an appeal to his knowledge. " There is not a dan- 
 " gerous a ft ion, " fays he, " can peep out bis head but 
 I am thruft upon it. " The Chief Juftice feems by 
 his anfwer to admit the fact. "Well, be honeft, be 
 honeft, and heaven bkfs your expedition. " But the 
 whole paflage may deferve tranfcribing. 
 
 Ch. Juft. " WeU, the King has fevered you and 
 Prince Henry. I hear you are going with Lord John 
 of Lancajler, againft the ~~Ackbj/hop and the Earl of 
 Northumberland, "
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 " Falf. Tts, I thank your prettyfweet wit for it\ but 
 ef look you pray., all you that klfs my lady peace at home, 
 " that our armies join not in a hot day ; for I take but 
 " twojhirts out with me, and I mean not tofweat ex- 
 " traordinarily : If it- be a hot day, if I brandiJJ} any 
 (f thing but a bottk, would I might never fpit white 
 (l again* 'There is not a dangerous aflion can peep 
 " out his head but I am thruft upon it. Wett I cannot 
 f( lajl for ever. But it was always the trick of our 
 " Engl/JJj nation, if they have a good thing to make it 
 " too common. If you will needs fay I am an old man 
 f( you foouldgive me reft : I would to God my name 
 " were not fo terrible to the enemy as it is. I were 
 " better to be eaten to death with a rujl than to befcour'd 
 tf to nothing with perpetual motion. " 
 
 " Ch. Juft. mil be honejl, be honeft, and heaven 
 " blefsyour expedition. " 
 
 Faljlaff indulges himfelf here in humourous 
 exaggeration ; thefe paflages are not meant to 
 be. taken, nor are we to fuppofe that they were 
 
 taken 

 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 taken, literally ; but if there was not a ground 
 of truth, if Faljlaff had not had fuch a degree of 
 Military reputation as was capable of being thus 
 humouroufly amplified and exaggerated, the 
 whole dialogue would have been highly prepof- 
 terous and abfurd, and the acquiefcing anfwer of 
 the Lord Chief Juftice fingularly improper. But 
 upon the fuppofition of Falftaff's being confider- 
 ed, upon the whole, as a good and gallant Officer, 
 the anfwer is juft, and correfponds with the ac- 
 knowledgment which had a little before been 
 made, "that his dafs fervice at Shrewsbury had gilded 
 " over his nighfs exploit at Gads Hill. Ton may 
 " thank the unquiet time, fays the Chief Juftice, 
 " for your quiet o'erpofting of that action ; " agreeing 
 with what Faljlafffzys in another place;" ff/ell 
 (t God be thanked for thefe Rebels, they of end none but 
 " the virtuous ; I laud them, Ipraife them" Whe- 
 ther this be faid in the true fpirit of a Soldier or 
 not, I do not determine ; it is furely not in that 
 of a mere Coward and Poltroon. 
 
 D 4 It
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 It will be needlefs to ihew, which might be 
 done from a variety of particulars, that Falftaff' 
 was known, and had confederation at Court, Shal- 
 low cultivates him in the idea that a friend (it Court 
 is better than a penny in purfe : Wejlmorland 
 fpeaks to him in the tone of an equal : Upon 
 Falfiaf's telling him, that he thought his lord- 
 faip had been already at Shrewfbury, Wcftmor- 
 land replies, Faith Sir John, 'tis more than time 
 " that I were there, and you too ; the King I can tell 
 ^ you looks for us all; we mujl away all to night. 
 " Tut, fays FalilafF, never fear me, I am as vigilant 
 " as a cat tojleal cream. "He defires, in another 
 place, of my lord John of Lancafler, " that when 
 he goes to Court, he may ftand in his good report" 
 His intercourfe and correfpondence with both 
 theie lords feem eafy and familiar. Go, fays he to 
 the page, tl bear this to my Lord of Lancafter, this 
 (l to the Prince, this to the Earl of Weftmorland, and 
 " this (for he extended himfelf on all fides) to 
 old Mrs. Urfula, " whom it feems, the rogue ought 
 tp have married many years before. But thefe 
 
 intimations
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 intimations are needlefs : We fee him ourfelves in 
 the Royal Prefence', where, certainly, hisbuffooneries 
 never brought him ; nor was the Prince of a cha-r 
 racier to commit fo high an indecorum, as to 
 thruft, upon a folemn occafion, a mere Tavern 
 companion into his father's Prefence, efpecially 
 in a moment when he himfelf deferts his loofer 
 character, and takes up that of a Prince indeed. 
 ~-In a very important fcene, where Worcefter is 
 expected with propofals from Percy, and where- 
 in he is received, is treated with, and carries 
 back offers of accomodation from the King, 
 the King's attendants upon the occafion are 
 the Prince of Wales, Lord John of Lancqfter, the 
 Earl of mjimorland, Sir Walter Blunt > and Sir John 
 Faljlajl.--- What fhall be faid to this ? Falftaff is 
 not furely introduced here in vicious indulgence 
 to a mob audience ; he utters but one word, 
 a buffoon one indeed, but afide and to the Prince 
 only. Nothing, it fliould feem, is wanting, if 
 decorum would here have permitted, but that 
 he ftiQuld haye fpoken one fober fentence in the 
 
 Prefence
 
 Prefence (which yet we are to fuppofe him ready 
 and able to do if occafion fhould have required ; 
 or his wit was given him to little purpofe) and 
 Sir 'John Falftaff might be allowed to pafs for an 
 eftablimed Courtier and counfellor of ftate. " If 
 " I do grow great) fays he, Pit grow lefs, purge and 
 (( leave fack, and live as a nobleman Jhould do." No- 
 bility did not then appear to him at an unmea- 
 furable diftance ; it was, it feems, in his idea, 
 the very next link in the chain. 
 
 But to return. I would now demand what could 
 bring Falftqff into the Royal Prefence upon fuch 
 an occafion, OF juftify the Prince's fo public ac- 
 knowledgment of him, but an eflabliflied fame 
 and reputation of Military merit ? In fhort, juft 
 the like merit as brought Sir Walter Blunt into 
 the fame circufnftances of honour. 
 
 But it may be objected that his introduction 
 into this fcene is a piece of indecorum in the 
 author. But upon what ground are we to fup- 
 
 pofe
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 pofe this ? Upon the ground of his being a no- 
 torious Coward ? Why this is the very point in 
 queftion, and cannot be granted : Even the direct 
 contrary I have affirmed, and am endeavouring 
 to fupport. But if it be fuppofed upon any, other 
 ground, it does not concern me ; I have nothing 
 to do with Shakefpeare's indecorums in general. 
 That there are indecorums in the Play I have no 
 doubt : The indecent treatment of Percy's dead 
 body is the greateft ; the familiarity of the infig- 
 nificant, rude, and even ill difpofed Poms with the 
 Prince, is another ;-- but the admiffion of Falftaff 
 into the Royal Prefence (fuppoling, which I have 
 a right to fuppofe, that his Military character 
 was unimpeached) does not feem to be in any 
 refpedt among the number. In camps there is 
 but one virtue and one vice ; Military merit 
 fwallows up or covers all. But, after all, what 
 ''have we do with indecorums ? Indecorums re- 
 fpect the propriety or impropriety of exhibiting 
 certain actions ; not their truth or falfiood when 
 exhibited. Shakefpeare ftands to us in the place 
 
 of
 
 C 44 ) 
 
 of truth and nature : If we defert this principle 
 we cut the turf from under us ; I may then ob- 
 ject to the robbery and other paffages as indeco- 
 rums, and as contrary to the truth of character. 
 In fliort we may rend and tear the Play to pieces, 
 and every man carry off what fentences he likes 
 befl.-But why this inveterate malice againft poor 
 , Falftaf ? He has fault? enough in confcience with- 
 out loading him with the infamy of Cowardice ; a 
 charge, which, if true, would, if I am not great- 
 ly miftaken, fpoil all our mirth.--But of that 
 hereafter. 
 
 It feems to me that, in our hafty judgment of 
 fome particular tranfactions, we forget the cir- 
 cumftances and condition of his whole life and 
 character, which yet deferve our very particular 
 attention. The author, it is true, has thrown the 
 moft advantageous of thefe circumftances into the 
 back ground as it were, and has brought nothing 
 out of the canvafs but his follies and buffoonery. 
 We difcover however, that in a very early period 
 
 of
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 of his life he was familiar with John of Gaunt ; 
 which could hardly be, unlefs he had poffefied 
 much perfonal gallantry and accompliihment, and 
 had derived his birth from a diftinguiflied at 
 leaft, if not from a Noble family. 
 
 It may feem very extravagant to infifl upon 
 Falftaff's birth as a ground from which, by any 
 inference, Perfonal courage may be derived, 
 efpecially after having acknowledged that he 
 feemed to have deferted thofe points of honour, 
 which are more peculiarly the accompanyments 
 of rank. But it may be obferved that in the 
 Feudal ages rank and wealth were not only con- 
 netted with the point of honour, but with per- 
 fonal ftrength and natural courage. It is obferv- 
 able that Courage is a quality, which is at leaft 
 as tranfmiffible to one's pofterity as features and 
 complexion. In thefe periods men acquired and 
 maintained their rank and pofleflions by perfonal 
 prowefs and gallantry ; and their marriage alli- 
 ances were made, of courfe, in families of the 
 
 fame
 
 fame character : And from hence, and from the 
 exercifes of their youth, we muft account for the 
 diftinguifhed force and bravery of our antient 
 Barons. It is not therefore befide my purpofc 
 to inquire what hints of the origin and birth of 
 Falftaff, Shakefpeare may have dropped in different 
 parts of the Play ; for tho' we may be difpofed 
 to allow that Falftaff in his old age might, under 
 particular influences, defert the point of honour, 
 cannot give up that unalienable poffeffion 
 pf Courage, which might have been derived to 
 him from a noble or diftinguifhed flock. 
 
 But it may be faid that Falftaff was in truth the 
 child of invention only, and that a reference to , 
 the Feudal accidents of birth ferves only to con- 
 found fidtion with reality : Not altogether fo. 
 If the ideas of- Courage and birth were jftrongly 
 affociated in the days of Shakefpeare, then would 
 .the affignment of high birth to Falftaff carry, and 
 be intended to carry along with it, to the minds 
 of the audience the affociated idea of Courage, 
 
 " if
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 if nothing fhould be fpecially interpofed to dif- 
 iblve the connection ; and the queftion is as 
 concerning this intention, and this effed:. 
 
 I fhall proceed yet farther .to make a few very 
 minute obfervations of the fame nature: But 
 if Shakefpeare meant fometimes rather to imprefs 
 than explain, no circumftances calculated to this 
 end, either directly or by afibciation, are too minute 
 for notice. But however this may be, a more con- 
 ciliating reafon ftill remains : The argument it- 
 felf, like the tales of our Novelifts, is a vehicle- 
 only ; thtirs, as they profefs, of moral inftrudtion; 
 ! and mine of critical amufement. The vindication 
 of Falftafs Courage deferves not for its own fake 
 the leaft fober difcuffion ; Falftaff is the word only, 
 Slakefpeare is the Ibemf: And if thro' this chan- 
 nel, I can furniih no irrational amufement, the 
 reader will not, perhaps, every where expect from 
 me the ftrict feverity of logical invefligation. 
 
 Falftaff, then, it may be obferved, was intro- 
 duced into the world, (at leaft we are told fo)
 
 by the name of Oldcqftle.* This was aligning 
 him an origin of nobility ; but the family of that 
 name difclaiming any kindred with his vices, he 
 was thereupon, as it is faid, ingrafted into ano- 
 ther flock-f fcarcely lefs diftinguifhed, tho' fal- 
 len into indelible difgraces ; and by this means' 
 
 * I believe tlie ftage was in pofleflion of fome rude 
 outline of Fal/laffhttovQ the time of Shakefpeare, under 
 the name of Sir John Oldcajlle ; and I think it probable 
 that this name was retained for a period in Shakefpearis 
 Hen. 4th. but changed to Falftaff before the play was 
 printed. The expieffion of " Old Lad of the Co/lie* 
 ufed by the Prince, does not however decidedly 
 prove this ; as it might have been only fome known 
 and familiar appellation too carelefly transferred from 
 the old Play. 
 
 f I doubt if Shakefpeare had Sir John Fajlolfe in 
 his memory when he called the character under confi- 
 deration Faljlajf. The title and name of Sir John 
 were transferred from Oldcajlle not Faftolfe, and there 
 is no kind of iimilarity in the characters. If he had 
 Fajlolfe in his thought at all, it was that while he ap- 
 proached the name, he might make fuch a departure 
 from it as the difference of character feemed to 
 require, 
 
 he
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 he has been made, if the conjectures of certain 
 critics are well founded, the Dramatic fucceffor, 
 tho', having refpect to chronology, the natural 
 proavus of another Sir John, who was no lefs than 
 a Knight of the moil noble order of the Garter, 
 but a name for ever dilhonoured by a frequent 
 expofure in that Drum-and-trumpet Thing cal* 
 led Thefiift part of Henry VI. written doubtlefs, 
 or rather exhibited, long before- Shakefpeare was 
 born, * tho' afterwards repaired, I think, and 
 E furbifhed 
 
 * It would be no difficult matter I think to prove 
 that all thofe Plays taken from the Englifh chronicle, 
 which a^e afcribed to Shakefpeare, were on the flags 
 before his time, and that he was employed by the Play- 
 ers only to refit and repair' ; taking due care to retain 
 the names of the characters and to preferve all thofe 
 incidents which were the moft popular. Some of thefe 
 Plays, particularly the two parts of Hen. TV,, have, 
 certainly received what may be called a thorough rgpair' 
 that is, Shakefptare new-wrote them to the old names. 
 In the latter part of Hen. V. fome of the old mate- 
 rialsremain ; and in the Play which I have here cen- 
 fured (Hen. VI.) we fee very little of the new. I fhould 
 conceive it would not be very difficult to feel one's 
 
 way
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 furbiihed up by him with here and there a little 
 fentiment and didion. This family, if any 
 
 branch 
 
 way thro' thefe Plays, and dlftinguifli every where 
 the metal from the clay. Of the two Plays of Hen. 
 JV.*, there has been, I have admitted, a complete 
 tranfmutation, preferring the old forms ; but in the 
 others, there is often no union orcoalefcence of parts,nor 
 are any of them equal in merit to thofe Plays more pe- 
 culiarly and emphatically Shakefpeare's own. The reader 
 will be pleafed to think that I do not reckon into the 
 works of Shakefpeare certain abfurd productions which 
 his editors have been fo good as to compliment him 
 with. I object, and ftrenuoufly too, even to The Tam- 
 ing of the Shre^u', not that it wants merit, but that it 
 does not bear the peculiar features and flamp of 
 Shakefpeare. 
 
 The rhyming parts of the Hiftoric plays are all, I 
 think, of an older date than the times of Shakefpeare. 
 There was a Play, I believe, of the Afls of King John, 
 of which the bailard Fahcnbridge feems to have been 
 the hero and the fool : He appears to have fpoken al- 
 together in rhyme. ShakefJ>:are fliews him to us in the 
 latter part of the fecond Icene in the rirft aft of King 
 John in this condition ;tho' he afterwards, in the courfe 
 of the Play, thought fit to adopt him, to give him lan- 
 guage and manners, and to make him his own.
 
 branch of it remained in Shakefpeare's time, 
 might have been proud of their Dramatic ally, 
 if indeed they could have any fair pretence to 
 claim as fuch him whom Sbakefpeare, perhaps in 
 contempt of Cowardice, wrote Falftaff, not Fajlolfe, 
 the true Hiftoric name of the Gartered Craven* 
 
 In the age of Henry IV. a Family creft and 
 arms were authentic proofs of gentility ; and this- 
 proof, among others, Shakejpeare has furnifhed us 
 with : Faljlaff always carried about him," it feems, 
 a Seal ring of his Grandfather's worthy as he fays, 
 forty marks : The Prince indeed affirms, but not 
 ferioufly I think, that this ring was copper. As 
 to the exiftence of the, bonds, which were I fup- 
 pofe the negotiable fecurities or paper-Tnoney of 
 t]ie time, and which he pretended to have loft, 
 I have nothing to fay ; but the ring, I believe, 
 was really gold ; tho' probably a little too much 
 alloyed with bafer metal. But this is not the 
 point : The arms were doubtlefs genuine ; they 
 were borne by his Grandfather, and are proofs 
 of an antient gentility ; a gentility doubtlefs, in 
 E 2 former
 
 former periods, connected with wealth and pof* 
 feffions, tho' the gold of the family might have 
 been tranfmuting by degrees, and perhaps, in the 
 hands of Faljlaf, converted into little better than 
 copper. This obfervation is m^de on the fup- 
 pofition of Falftaff's being confidered as the head 
 of the family, which I think however he ought 
 not to be. It appears rather as if he ought to 
 be taken in the light of a cadet or younger bro- 
 ther ; which the familiar appellation of John, 
 " the only one (as he fays) given him by his bro- 
 " thers and fillers," feems to indicate. Be this 
 as it may, we find he is able, in fpite of diffipation, 
 to keep up a certainj'to and dignity of appearance; 
 retaining no lefs than four, if not five, follower* 
 or men fervants in his train. He appears alfo , 
 to have had apartments in town, and, by his in- 
 vitations of Mqfter Gozver to dinner and to fupper, 
 a regular table : And one may infer farther from 
 the Prince's queflion, on his return from Wales, 
 to 'Bardolph, " Is your mqfter here in London, " that 
 he had likewife a houfe in the country. Slight 
 
 proofs
 
 ( S3 ) 
 
 proofs it muft be confeffed, yet the inferences 
 are fo probable, fo buoyant, in their own nature, 
 that they may well reft on them. That he did 
 not lodge at the Tavern is clear from the cir- 
 cumftances of the arreft. Thefe various occa- 
 fions of expence, fervants, taverns, houfes, and 
 and whores, neceflarily imply that Faljiaff muft 
 have had fome funds which are not brought m> 
 mediately under our notice. That thefe funds 
 were not however adequate to his ftyle of living 
 is plain .: Perhaps his train may be confidered 
 only as incumbrances, which the pride of family 
 and the habit of former opulence might have 
 brought upon his prefent poverty : I do not mean 
 abfolute poverty, but call it fo as relative to 
 his expense. To have ** but feven groats 
 f< and two-pence in his purfe " and a page to 
 bear it, is truly ridiculous ; and it is for that rea- 
 fon we become fo familiar with its contents, "He 
 * ( can find" he fays, tf no remedy for this confumption 
 * c of the purfe, borrowing does but linger and linger 
 -*' // out ; but the difeafe is incurable. " It might well 
 be deemed fo in his courfe of diffipation : But I 
 
 E 3 fliall
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 fhall prefently fuggeft one fource at leafl of his 
 fupply much more conflant and honourable than 
 that of borrowing. But the condition of Falftaff 
 as to opulence or poverty is not very material 
 to my purpofe : It is enough if his birth was 
 diflinguiihed, and his youth noted for gallantry 
 and accomplilhments. To the firft I have fpoken, 
 and as for the latter we ihall not be at a lofs when 
 we remember that " he was in his youth a page to 
 Thomas Mvwbray Duke of Norfolk'," a fituation 
 at that time fought for by young men of the beft 
 families and fir ft fortune. The houfe of every 
 great noble was at that period a kind of Military 
 fchool ; and it is probable that Fatftqffww fingu- 
 larly adroit at his exercifes : " He broke Schoggan's 
 (l head t " (forne boifterous fencer I fuppofe) 
 " when he was but a crack thus high,. " Shallow re- 
 members him as notedfyJkUful at back/word:, and 
 he was at that period, according to his own hu- 
 mourous account, " fcarcely an eagle's talon in the 
 waft, and could have crept thro' an alderman's thumb 
 ring. " Even at the age at which he is e^ibited 
 
 to
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 to us, we find him foundering, as he calls it, nine 
 fcore and odd miles, with wonderful expedition, to 
 join the army of Prince John of Lancafter; and 
 declaring after the furrender of Colevilk, that 
 " had be but a belly of any md'ifferency he zverejlmply 
 ff the mojl aftive fellow in Europe" Nor ought we 
 here to pafs over his Knighthood without notice. 
 It was, I grant," intended by the author as a dig- 
 nity which, like his Courage and his wit, was to 
 be debafed ; his knighthood by low fituations, 
 his Courage by circumftances and imputations 
 of cowardice, and his wit by buffoonery. But 
 how are we to fuppofe this honour was acquired ? 
 By that very Courage, it fhould feem, which we 
 fo obftinately deny him. It was not certainly given 
 him, like a modern City Knighthood, for his wealth 
 or gravity : It was in thefe days a Military ho- 
 nour, and an authentic badge of Military merit. 
 
 But Faljlqff was not only a Military Knight, 
 
 he pofTefs'd an honourable penfion into the 
 
 bargain ; the reward as well as retainer of 
 
 fervice, and which feems (befides the favours per- 
 
 E 4 haps
 
 , ( 56 ) 
 
 haps of Mrs. Urfula) to be the principal and only; 
 folid fupport of his prefent expences. But let us 
 refer to the paflage. " A pox of this gout, or a gout. 
 te of this pox ; for one or the other plays the rogue with 
 " my great toe : It is no matter if I do halt, I have the 
 ff wars for my colour and my penfion foallfeem the more 
 " reasonable. " The mention Fal/lqff here makes 
 of a penfion, has I believe been generally con- 
 ftrued to refer rather to hope than pojfejjion, yet I 
 know not why : For the poffeffive MY, my penfion. 
 (not a penfion) requires a different conflruction. 
 Is it that we cannot enjoy a wit, till we have 
 ftript him of every worldly advantage, and redu- 
 x ced him below the level of our envy ? It may be 
 perhaps for this reafon among others that Shake- 
 fpeare has fo obfcured the better parts of Falftaff 
 and ftolcn them fecretly on our feelings, inltead 
 of opening them fairly to the notice of our un- 
 derftandings. How carelefly, and thro' what 
 bye-paths, as it were, of carnal inference is this 
 fad; of a penfion introduced ! And how has he 
 aiTociated it with misfortune and infirmity ! Yet 
 
 I queilion
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 I queftion, however, if, in this one place the 
 ImpreJJion which was intended, be well and effec-. 
 tually made. It muft be left to the reader to de- 
 termine if in that mafs of things out of which 
 Faljlqf is compounded, he ever confidered a 
 penfion as any part of the compofition : A pen- 
 iion however he appears to have had, one that 
 halting could only feem to make more reafon- 
 able, not more honourable. The inference ari- 
 fing from the fact, I lhall leave to the reader. It 
 is furely a circumflance highly advantageous to 
 FaljlajF, (I fpeak of the pennons of former 
 days) whether he be confidered in the light of 
 a foldier or a gentleman. 
 
 I cannot forefee the temper of the reader, nor 
 whether he be content to go along with me in 
 thefe kind of obfervations. Some of the inci- 
 dents which I have drawn out of the Play may 
 appear too minute, whilft yet they refer to prin- 
 ciples, which may feem too general. Many points 
 require explanation; fomething fliould be faid 
 of the nature of Shakefpearis Dramatic cha- 
 racters ;
 
 ( 58 ) 
 
 rafters ; * by what arts they were formed, and 
 wherein they differ from thofe of other writers ; 
 fomething likewife more profeffedly of Shake- 
 
 fpearc 
 
 * The reader muft be fenfible of fomething in the 
 compofition of Sha&efpeare's characters, which renders 
 them eiTentially different from thofe drawn by other 
 writers. The characters of every Drama muft indeed 
 be grouped ; but in the groupes of other poets the 
 parts which are not feen, do not in fact exift. But 
 there is a certain roundnefs and integrity in the forms 
 of Shakefpearc, which give them an independence a.s 
 well as a relation, infomuch that we often meet with 
 paffages, which tho' perfectly felt, cannot be fuf- 
 ficientiy explained in words, without unfolding the 
 whole character of the Ipeaker : And this I may be 
 obliged to do in refpect to that of Lancafter, in order 
 to account for fomc words fpoken by him in cenfure 
 of Faljlaff. Something which may be thought too 
 heavy for the text, I Ihall add here, as a conjecture con.- 
 cerning the competition of Shakcfpeare's characters : Not 
 that they were the efFeft, I believe, fo much of a minute 
 and laborious attention, as of a certain comprehenfive 
 energy of^mind, involving within itfelf all the effects 
 of fyftem and of laboar. 
 
 Bodies
 
 ( S9 ) 
 
 fpeare himfelf, and of the peculiar character of 
 his genius. After fuch a review we may not 
 perhaps think any coniideration arifing out of 
 
 the 
 
 Bodies of all kinds, whether of metals, plants, or 
 animals, are fuppofed to poffefs certain firft principles 
 of toeing^ and to have an exiftence independent of the 
 accidents, which form their magnitude or growth : 
 Thofe accidents are fuppofed to be drawn in from the 
 furrounding elements, but not mdifcriminately ; each 
 plant and each animal, imbibes thofe things only, 
 which are proper to its own diftindt nature, and which 
 have befides fuch a fecret relation to each other as to be 
 capable of forming a perfect union and coalefcence : 
 But fo variouily are the furrounding elements mingled 
 and difpofed, that each particular body, even of thofe 
 tinder the fame fpecies, has yet fome peculiar of its 
 own. Shakefpeare appears to have conlidered the 
 being and growth of the human mind as analagous 
 to this fyftem : There are. certain qualities and ciT> 
 pacities, which he feems to have confidered as firft 
 principles ; the chief of which are certain ener- 
 gies of courage and activity, according to their degrees; 
 together with different degrees and forts of feniibilides, 
 and a capacity, varying likewife in the degree, of dif-y 
 cernment and intelligence. The reft of the compofi^- 
 
 tion
 
 ( 60 ) 
 
 the Play, or out of general nature, either as too 
 minute or too extenfive. 
 
 Sbakefpeare is in truth, an author whofe mimic 
 creation agrees in general fo perfectly with that 
 
 of 
 
 tion is drawn in from an atmofphere of furrounding 
 things; that is, from the various influences of the diffe- 
 rent laws, religions and governments in the world ; and 
 from thofe of the different ranks and inequalities in 
 fociety ; and from the different profeffions of men, en- 
 couraging or repreffing paffions of particular forts, and 
 inducing different modes of thinking and habits of life; 
 and he feems to have known intuitively what thofe 
 influences in particular were which this or that origi- 
 ginal conftituuon would moil freely imbibe, and which 
 would moft .eafily affociate and coalefce. But all thefe 
 things being, in different fituations, very differently 
 difpofed, and thofe differences exactly difcerned by 
 him, he found no difficulty in marking every indivi- 
 dual, even among characters of the fame fort, with 
 fomething peculiar and diftinct. Climate and com- 
 plexion demand their influence, " Be thufivhen thou 
 art dead, and I will kill thee, and love thee after^ 
 is a fentiment chara&eriftic of, and fit only to be uttered 
 by a Moor. 
 
 But
 
 ( 61 ) 
 
 of nature, that it is not only wonderful in the 
 great,but opens another fcene of amazement to the 
 difcoveries of the microfcope. We have beenchar-* 
 ged indeed by a Foreign writer with an overmuch 
 admiring of this Barbarian : Whether we have 
 
 admired 
 
 But it was not enough for Shakefpeare to have formed 
 lais characters with the moft perfect truth and cohe- 
 rence ; it was further necefTary that he fhould poffefs 
 a wonderful facility of compreffing, as it were, his 
 own fpirit into thefe images, and of giving alternate 
 animation to the forms. This was not to be done 
 from without ; he muft have felt every varied fitua- 
 tion, and have fpoken thro* the organ he had for- 
 med. Such an intuitive comprehenfion of things and 
 fuch a facility, muft unite to produce a Shakefpeare. 
 The reader will not now be furprifed if I affirm that 
 thofe characters in Shakefpeare, which are feen only in. 
 part, are yet capable of being unfolded and underftood 
 in the whole ; every part being in fact relative, and 
 inferring all the reft. It is true that the point of action 
 or fentiment, which we are moft concerned in, is al- 
 ways held out for our fpecial notice* But who does 
 not perceive that there is a peculiarity about it, which 
 conveys a relilh of the whole ? And very frequently, 
 
 when
 
 ( 62 ) 
 
 admired with knowledge, or have blindly fol* 
 lowed thofe feelings of affection which we could 
 not refill, I cannot tell ; but certain it is, that to 
 the labonrs of his Editors he has not been over- 
 much obliged. They are however for the moft 
 part of the firft rank in literary fame ; but fome 
 
 of 
 
 when no particular point preffes, he boldly makes a 
 character aft and fpeak from thole parts of the com- 
 pofition, which are inferred only, and not diftindtly 
 Ihewn. This produces a wonderful effect ; it feems 
 to carry us beyond the poet to nature itfelf, and gives 
 an integrity and truth to facts and character, which 
 they could not otherwife obtain : And this is in rea- 
 lity that art in Shakefpeare^ which being withdrawn 
 from our notice, we more emphatically call nature. 
 A felt propriety and truth from caufes unfeen, I take 
 to be the higheft point of Poetic composition. If the 
 characters of Shakefpeare are thus whole, and as it were 
 original, while thofe of almoft all others writers are 
 mere imitation, it may be fit to confider them rather 
 as Hiftoric than Dramatic beings ; and, when occafion 
 requires, to account for their conduct from the whole 
 of character, from general principles, from latent mo- 
 tives, and from policies not avowed.
 
 of them had pofleffions of their own in Parnaf- 
 fus, of an extent too great and important to al- 
 low of a very diligent attention to the interests 
 of others; and among thofe Critics more 
 profeffionally fo, the ableft and the beft has un- 
 fortunately looked more to the praife of inge- 
 nious than of juit conjecture. The character of 
 his emendations are not fo much that of right 
 or wrong, as that, being in the extreme, they 
 are always Warburtoriian* Another' has fince 
 undertaken the cuftody of our author, whom he 
 feems to confider as a fort of wild Proteus or mad- 
 man, and accordingly knocks him down with the 
 butt-end of his critical ftaff, as often as he ex- 
 ceeds that line of fober difcretion, which this 
 learned Editor appears to have chalked out 1 for . 
 him : Yet is this Editor notwithftanding " a man 
 take him for all in all, " very highly refpec- 
 table for his genius and his learning. What 
 however may be chiefly complained of in thefe 
 gentlemen is, that having erected themfelves 
 into the condition, as it were, of guardians and 
 
 truftees
 
 ( 4 3 
 
 truftees of Shakefpeare, they have never under- 
 taken to difcharge the difgraceful incumbran- 
 ces of fome wretched productions, which have 
 long hung heavy on his fame. Befides the evi- 
 dence of tafle, which indeed is not communica- 
 ble, there are yet other and more general 
 proofs that thefe incumbrances were not incur- 
 red by Shakcjpeare : The Latin fentences difper- 
 fed thro' the imputed tralh is, I. think, of itfelf 
 a decilive one. Love's Labour loft contains a 
 very conclufive one of another kind ; tho' the 
 very laft Editor has, I believe, in his critical 
 fagacity, fuppreffed the evidence, and withdrawn 
 the record. 
 
 / ,>* 
 
 Yet whatever may be the neglect of fome, or 
 
 the cenfure of others, there are thofe, who firmly 
 believe that this wild, this uncultivated Barba- 
 rian, has not yet obtained one half of his fame ; 
 and who truft that fome new Stagyrite will arife, 
 who inftead of pecking at the furface of things 
 will enter into the inward foul of his compofi- 
 tions, and expel by the force of congenial 
 
 feelings
 
 feelings, thbfe foreign impurities which have 
 flamed and difgraced his page. And as to thofe 
 fpots which will flill remain^ they may perhaps 
 become invifible to thofe who lhall feek them 
 thro* the medium of his beauties, infteacl of look- 
 ing for thofe beauties^ as is too frequently done^ 
 thro' the fmoke of fome real or imputed obfcu- 
 rity. When the hand of time lhall have brufhed 
 off his prefent Editors and Commentators, and 
 when the very name of Voltaire, and even the 
 memory of the laaguage in which he has written, 
 ihall be no rhore^ the Apalachian mountains, the 
 banks of the Ohio, and the plains of Sciota ftiall , 
 refound with the accents of this Barbarian : In 
 his native tongue he fliall roll the genuine paffions 
 of nature ; nor fhall the griefs' of Lear be allevi- 
 ated, or the charms and wit of Rofatind be aba- 
 ted by time. There is indeed nothing periftiable 
 about him, except that very learning which he_^ 
 is faid fo much to want. He had notj it is true, 
 enough for the demands of the age in which he 
 lived, but he had perhaps too much for the reach 
 F of
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 Of his genius, and the intereft of his fame* 
 Milton and he will carry the decayed remnants 
 and fripperies of antient mythology into more 
 diftant ages than they are by their own force in- 
 titled to extend; and the metamorphofes of 
 Ovid, upheld by them, lay in a new claim to 
 unmerited immortality. 
 
 Shakefpeare is a name fo interefting, that it if 
 cxcufable to flop a moment, nay it would be in* 
 decent to pafs him without the tribute of fome 
 admiration. He differs- effentially from all other 
 Writers: Him we may profefs rather to feel 
 than to underftand ; and it is fafer to fay, on 
 many occafions, that we are pofTeffed by him, 
 than that we poflefs him. And no wonder ;- 
 He fcatters the feeds of things, the principles 
 of character and action, with fo cunning a hand 
 yet with fo carelefs an air, and, mafler of our 
 feelings, fubmits himfelf fo little to our judgment, 
 that every thing feems fuperior. We difcern not 
 his courfe, we fee no connection of caufe arid ef- 
 fect,
 
 I & > 
 
 fcdij \ve are rapt in ignorant admiration, ahd 
 claim no kindred with his abilities; All the 
 incidents^ all the parts> looje like chahce; whilft 
 we feel and are fenfible that the whole is de- 
 fign. His Characters not only aft and fpeak 
 in ftrict conformity to nature> but in ftfict 
 relation to us ; juft fo much is ftiewii as is re- 
 quifite, juft fo much is imprefled ; he com- 
 mands every paflage to our heads ahd to our 
 hearts, and moulds us as he pleafes, ahd thaC 
 with fo much eafe, that he never betrays his 
 own exertions; We fee thefe Characters aft from 
 x the mingled motives of paffion^ reafon^ in- 
 terefl, habit and completion, in all their pro- 
 portions, wheri they are fuppoied to know it 
 not themfelves; and we are made to acknow- 
 ledge that their actions and fehtiments are^ frorri 
 thofe motivesj the neceflary refult; He at 
 once blends and diflinguiihes every thing; 
 ^every thing is complicated, every thing is plain; 
 I retrain the further expreflions of my ad- 
 miration left they Ihould not feem applicable 
 F * ft
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 to man ; but it is really aftonifhing that a 
 mere human being, a part of humanity only, 
 Ihould fo perfectly comprehend the whole ; 
 and that he ihould poffefs fuch exquifite 
 art, that whilft every woman and every child 
 lhall feel the whole effect, his learned Editors 
 and Commentators fhould yet fo very frequently 
 miftake or feem ignorant of the caufe. A 
 fceptre or a draw are in his hands of equal effi- 
 cacy ; he needs no feledtion ; he converts every 
 thing into excellence ; nothing is too great, 
 nothing is too bafe. Is a character efficient 
 like Richard, it is every thing we can wi{h : 
 Is it otherwife, like Hamlet, it is productive 
 of equal admiration : Action produces one 
 mode of excellence and inaction another : The 
 1 Chronicle, the Novel, or the Ballad ; the king, 
 or the beggar, the hero, the madman, the fot 
 or the fool ; it is all one ; nothing is worfe, no- 
 thing is better : The fame genius pervades and 
 is equally admirable in all. Or, is a character 
 to be fhewn in progreflive change, and the events 
 
 of
 
 ( 69 > 
 
 of years comprized within the hour ; with 
 what a Magic hand does he prepare and fcatter his 
 fpells! The Understanding muft, in the firft 
 place, be fubdued ; and lo ! how the rooted 
 prejudices of the child fpring up to confound 
 the man ! The Weird fitters rife, and order is 
 extinguished. The laws of nature give way, 
 and leave nothing in our minds but wildnefs 
 and horror. No paufe is allowed us for reflec- 
 tion : Horrid fentiment, furious guilt and com- 
 punction, air-drawn daggers, murders, ghofts, 
 and inchaiitment, fhake and poffefs its wholly. 
 In the mean time the procefs is completed. 
 Macbeth changes under our eye, the milk of hu- 
 man kindnefi is converted to gaU; he has fupped full 
 of horrorf 3 and his May of life is fallen into the 
 fear, the yellow leaf; whilfl we, the fools of " 
 amazement, are infenfible to the Ihifting of 
 place and the lapfe of time, and till the cur- 
 tain drops, never once wake to the truth of 
 things, or recognize the laws of exiftence, 
 On fuch an occafion, a fellow, like Rymer, / 
 F 3 waking
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 waking from his trance, ihall lift up his Con- 
 liable 's ftaff, and charge this great Magician, 
 this daring fratticex of arts inhibited, in the name 
 of Arijloik, to farrender ; whilft Ariflotle him- 
 felf, difowning hi$ wretched Officer, would 
 fall prqftrate at his feet and acknowledge his 
 Supremacy.-- O fupreme of Dramatic excel- 
 lence ! (might be fay>) not to me he imputed the 
 jnfolencc of fools. The bards of Greece were 
 confined within the narrow circle of the Chorus, 
 and hence they found themferyes conftrained to, 
 practice, for the moft part, $e precifion, and 
 copy the details of nature. I followed them, 
 and knew nqt that a larger circle might he 
 drawn, and the Drama extended to the whole 
 ^each of human genius. Convinced, I fee that 
 a more compendious nature may be obtained ; 
 a nature of effecls only, to which neither the 
 j-elatians of place,, or continuity of time, are al- 
 ways eflential. Nature, condefcending to the 
 faculties and apprehenfions of man, has drawn 
 
 through. 
 

 
 ( 7* ) 
 
 through human life a regular chain of vifible 
 caufes and effects : But Poetry delights in fur ? 
 prize, conceals her fteps, feizes at once upon 
 the heart, and obtains the Sublime of things 
 without betraying tfie rounds of her afcent: 
 True Pqefy is magic, not nature; an effect 
 from caufes hidden or unknown. To the Ma- 
 gician I prefcribed no laws ; his law and his 
 power are one; his power is his law. Him, 
 who neither imitates, nor is within the reach 
 of imitation, no precedent can or ought to 
 bind, no limits to contain. If his end is ob^ 
 tained, who lhall queftion his courfe ? Means, 
 whether apparent or hidden, are juflified in 
 Poefy by fuccefs.; but then moft perfect and 
 mofj: admirable when moft cpncealed *. But 
 
 * Thefe obfervations have brought me fo near to the 
 jregions of Poetic magic, (uling the word here in its 
 ftrift and proper fenfe, and not loofely as in the ttxt) 
 that tho' they lie not dire&ly in my courfe, I yet may 
 
 be
 
 whither am I going i This copious and de- 
 lightful topic has drawn me far beyond my 
 defign : I haflen back to my fubjecl:, and am 
 guarded, for a _ time at leaft, againft any fur- 
 ther temptation to digref$. 
 
 I was 
 
 be allowed in this place to point the reader that way. 
 A felt propriety, or truth of art, from an unfeen, tho* 
 fuppofed adequate caufe, we call nature. A like feel- 
 ing of propriety and truth, fuppofed without a caufe, 
 or as feeming to be derived from caufes inadequate, 
 fantaflic, and abfurd,--fuch as wands, circles, incanta- 
 tions, and fo forth, we call by the general name 
 magic, including all the train of fuperftition, witches, 
 ghofts, fairies, and the reft..- -Rea fan is confined to the 
 line of vifible exigence ; our pajjlom and our fancy 
 extend far beyond into the obfcure ; but however law- 
 jiefs their operations may Icexn, the images they fo 
 wildly form have yet a relation to truth, and are the 
 fhadows at leaft, however fantaftic, of" reality. I am 
 not invalidating but paffing this fubjeft, jmd mtifl 
 therefore leave behind me much curious fpcculaxjon. 
 Of Perfonifications however we ihould obferv'e thy 
 thofe which are made out of abftraft ideas are th^ 
 creatures of the Underft rinding only : Thus, of the 
 
 mixed
 
 C 73 ) 
 
 I was confidering the dignity of Fajfaff fo 
 far as it might fcem connedied with, or pror 
 duftive of military merit, and I have afligned 
 him reputation at leaft, if not fame> noble 
 connexion, birth, attendants, title, and an ho- 
 
 nourabla 
 
 / 
 
 mixed modes, virtue, beauty, wifdom and others, 
 what are they but very obfcure ideas of qualities con- 
 fidered as abftracled from any fabjefi whatever ? The 
 mind cannot fteadily contemplate fuch an abftrac- 
 tion: What then does it do ? - Invent or ima- 
 gine a fubjea in order to fupport thefe qualities ; 
 and hence we get the Nymphs or Goddefles of vir- 
 tue, of beauty, or of wifdom; the very ob- 
 fcurity of the ideas being the caufe of their con- 
 verfion into fenfible objects, with precifion both -of 
 feature and of form. But as reafon has its perfonifi- 
 cations, fo has^w.---Every paffion has its Objecl, 
 tho' often diftant and obfcure; --to be brought nearer 
 then, and rendered more diftinft, it is perfonified ; 
 and Fancy fantaftically decks, or aggravates the/,' 
 and adds " a local habitation and a name. " But paf- 
 fion is the dupe of its own artifice and reaKfet the 
 image it had formed. The Grecian theology was mix- 
 ed of both thefe kinds of perfonification. Of the images 
 produced by paffion it muft be obferved that they are 
 
 tkc
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 nourable penfion; every one of them prefump- 
 tive proofs of Military merit, and motives of 
 a&ion. What dedudKon is to be made on 
 thefe articles, and why they are fo much ob- 
 fcijred may, perhaps, hereafter appear. 
 
 I have 
 
 the images, for the moft part, not of the paffions 
 themfelves, but of their remote effe&s. Guilt looks 
 through the medium, and behoL's a devil ; fear, fpec- 
 tres of every fort ; hope, a fmiling cherub ; malice and 
 envy fee hags, and witches, and inchanters dire; 
 whilft the innocent and the young, behold with fear- 
 ful delight the tripping fairy, whofe fhadowy form the 
 moon gilds with its fofteft beams. -Extravagant as 
 all this appears, it has its laws fo precife that we 
 are fenfible both of a local and temporary, and of an 
 univerfal magic ; the firft derived from the general na- 
 ture of the human mind, influenced by particular habits, 
 inilitutions, and climate ; and the latter from the fame 
 general nature abftrafted from thofe confide rations : 
 Of the firft fort the machinery in Macbeth is a very 
 ftriking inftance ; a machinery, which, however exqui- 
 fite at the time, has already Ipft more than half its 
 force ; and the Gallery nqw laughs in fome places 
 where it ought to fhudder : But the magic of the 
 Tem^ejl is lafting and Tiniverfal. 
 
 There
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 I have now gone through the examination of 
 all the perfons of the Drama from whofe mouths 
 any thing can be drawn relative to the Cou- 
 rage of Fal/lap, excepting the Prince and Poms, 
 vvhqfe evidence I have begged leave to referve^ 
 
 and 
 
 There is befides a fpecies of writing for which we 
 have no term of art, and which holds a middle place 
 between nature and magic ; I mean where fancy either 
 alone, or mingled with reafon, or reafon afiuming the 
 appearance of fancy, governs fome real exiftence ; but 
 the whole of this art is pourtrayed in a {ingle Play ; 
 in the real madnefs of Lear, in the affumed wildnefs 
 pf Edgar, and in the Prof efiional Fantafque of the Fool, 
 all operating to contraft and heighten each other. 
 There is yet another feat in this kind, which Shake- 
 fpeare has performed ;- -he ha* perfonified malice in his 
 Caliban ; a character kneaded up of three diftinct na^- 
 tures, the diabolical, the human, and the brute. 
 The reft of his preternatural beings are images of 
 effefts Qnly ? and cannot fubfift but in a furrounding 
 atmofpfyere pf thofe paffions, from which they are de- 
 rived. CaKkan is the paflion itfelf, or rather a com- 
 pound of njalice, fervility, ^and luft, fubjlantiated ; and 
 bef^ fhewn in contraft with the lightnefs of 
 
 Arid
 
 0nd excepting a very fevere cenfure patted on 
 him by Lord John of Lancqfter, which I fhall 
 prefently confider : But I mufl firfl obferve, 
 that fettingafide thejefls of the Prince and Poins, 
 ad this cenfure of Lancafter, there is not one 
 
 expreffion 
 
 Ariel and the innoeence of Miranda. Witches arc 
 fometimes fubftantial exiftences, fuppofedto be pofleifed 
 by, or allyed to the vmfubftantial ; but the Witches 
 in Macbeth areagrofs fort offhadows, " bubbles of the 
 earth,'* as they are finely called by Banquo. Ghofts 
 differ from other imaginary beings in this, that they 
 belong to no element, have no fpecific nature or cha r 
 racier, and are effedlts, however harfh the expreffion, 
 fuppofed without a caufe ; the reafon of which is that 
 they are not the creation of the poet, but the fervile 
 copies or tranfcripts of -popular imagination, connecr 
 ted with fuppofed reality 'and religion. Should the 
 poet ailign the true caufe, and 1 <att%cfem die mere paint- 
 ing or coinage of the brain, Iie'wpiit4 diiipppint his 
 own end, and deftroy the being he had raifed. Should 
 he affign fiftitious caufes, and add a fpecific nature, and 
 a local habitation, it would not be endured ; or the 
 efFeft would be loft by the converfion of one being 
 into another. The approach to reality in this cafe 
 
 defeats
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 expreffion uttered by any character in the Drama 
 that can be conftrued into any impeachment of 
 Fat/toff's Courage ; an obfervation made before 
 as refpecting fome of the Witneffes ; it is 
 now extended to all : And though this filence 
 be a negative proof only, it cannot, in my opi- 
 nion, under the circumftances of the cafe, and 
 whilft uncontradi&ed by facets, be too much re- 
 lied on. If Fal/laff had been intended for the 
 character of a Miles Gloriofus, his behaviour 
 ought, and therefore would have been com- 
 mented upon by others. Shakefpeare feldom 
 trufls to the apprehenlions of his audience ; his 
 characters interpret for one another continually, 
 and when we leaft fufpect fuch artful and fecret 
 
 management 
 
 defeatsall the arts and managements of fiftion. The 
 Whole play of the Tempeft is of fo high and fuperior a 
 nature that Dryden, who had attempted to imitate in 
 vain, might well exclaim that 
 
 Shakefpeare 1 's magic could not copied be, 
 
 " Within that circle none durft walk but He. "
 
 management : The cpndudt of Skakefpearc iii 
 this refpedt is admirable^ and I could point 
 eut a thoufand paffages which might put to ] 
 ihame the advocates of a formal Chorus, and 
 prove that there is as little of neceffity as grace in 
 fo mechanic a contrivance *. But I confine my 
 cenfure of the Chorus to its fuppofed ufe of com- 
 ment and interpretation only. 
 
 Falfiaff is, indeed/o far from appearing to 
 my eye in the light of a Miles Gloriofus, that 
 in the bed of my tafte and judgment, he does 
 not difcover, except in confequence of the 
 robbery, the leaft trait of fuch a character. All 
 his boafting fpeechcs are humouij mere hu- 
 mour, and carefully fpoken to perfons who 
 cannot mifapprehend them, who cannot be im- 
 pofed on : They contain indeed, for the moft 
 |>art, an unreafonable and imprudent ridicule 
 
 of 
 
 * ./Enobarbus, in Anthony and Cleopatra is in 
 effeft the Chorus of the Play ; as Menenius Agrippa 
 is of Coriolanus*
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 of himfelf, the ufual fubjed: of his good hu* 
 moured merriment ; but in the company of ig^ 
 norant people, fuch as the Juftices, or his own 
 followers, he is remarkably referved, and does 
 not hazard any thing, even in the way of hu- 
 mour, that may be fubjedt to miflake : Indeed 
 he no where feems to fufped: that his character 
 is open to cenfure on this fide, or that he 
 needs the arts of imposition.* " Turk Gregory 
 " never did fuch deeds in arms as I have done this 
 " day" is fpoken, whilft he breathes from a&ion, 
 to the Prince in a tone of jolly humour, and 
 contains nothing but a light ridicule of his 
 own inactivity : This is as far from real boaft- 
 ing as his faying before the battle, " Wovld it 
 " were bedtime, Hal, and all were well" is frora 
 meanefs or depreffioni This articulated wib 
 is not the the fearful outcry of a Coward, but the 
 frank and honeft breathing of a generous fellow, 
 who does not expedt to be ferioufly reproached 
 with the character. Inftead indeed, of deferv- 
 ing the name of a vain glorious Coward, his 
 
 modefty
 
 modefty perhaps on this head, and whimficdl 
 ridicule of himfelf, have been a principal fource 
 of the imputation* 
 
 But to come to the very ferious reproach 
 thrown upon him by that cold blooded boy, as 
 
 he calls him, Lancafter. Lancafter makes a 
 
 folemn treaty of peace with the Archbi/hop of 
 Tork, Mowbray, &c. upon the faith of which 
 they difperfe their troops ; which is no fooner 
 done than Lancafter arrefts the Principals, and 
 purfues the fcattered Jlraj : A tranfaction, by 
 the bye, fo fingularly perfidious, tKat 1 wifh 
 Shakefpeare, for his own credit, had not fuf- 
 fered it to pafs under his pen without marking 
 it with the blackeft ftrokes of Infamy. Dur- 
 ing this tranfadtion, Falftaff arrives, joins in 
 the purfuit, and takes Sir John Cokvllle prilb- 
 ner. Upon being feen by Lancafter he is thus 
 addrefled : ~ 
 
 " Now
 
 8i 
 
 tc Now Falftajf, where have you been all this while ? 
 
 " When every thing is over then you com : 
 
 " Thefe tardy tricks of yours will, on my life, 
 
 *' One time or other break fome gallows' 1 back" 
 
 This may appear to many a very formida- 
 ble paffage. It is fpoken, as we may fay, in 
 the hearing of the army, and by one intitledj 
 as it were by his flation to decide on military 
 conduct ; and if no punifhment immediately 
 follows, the forbearance may be imputed to 
 a regard for the Prince of Wales, whofe favour 
 the delinquent was known fo unworthily to pof- 
 fefs. But this reafoning will by no means ap- 
 ply to the real circumflances of the cafe. The 
 effect of this paffage will depend on the cre- 
 dit we Khali be inclined to give to Lancafler 
 for integrity and candour, and ftill more upon 
 the fafts which are the ground of this cenfure, 
 and which are fairly offered by Shakefpeare to 
 our notice. 
 
 G We
 
 ( 82 ) 
 
 We will examine the evidence arifing from 
 both ; and to this end we muft in the firft 
 place a little unfold the character of this young 
 Commander in chief ;- from a review of which 
 we may more clearly difcern the general impulfes 
 and fecret motives of his conduct : And this is 
 a proceeding which I think the peculiar cha- 
 racter of Shakefyeare's Drama will very well 
 juftify. 
 
 We are already well prepared what to think of 
 this young man :*-\Ve have juft feen a very pretty 
 manoeuvre of his in a matterof the higheft mo- 
 ment, and have therefore the lefs reafon to be fur- 
 prized if we find him pradtifmg a more petty 
 fraud with fuitable fkill and addrefs. He ap- 
 pears' in truth to have been what Falfiaff calls 
 him, a cold referve d fob cr -blooded boy ; a politician, 
 as it fhould feem, by nature ; bred up moreover 
 in the fchool of Bolingbroke his father, -and tu- 
 tored to betray : With fufficicnt courage and 
 ability perhaps, but with too much of the 
 
 knave
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 knave in his compofition, and too little of 
 enthufiafm, ever to be a great and fuperior cha- 
 rafter. That fuch a youth as this fhould, 
 even from the propenfities of character alone, 
 take any plaufible occafion to injure a frank 
 unguarded man of wit and pleafure, will not 
 appear unnatural. But he had other induce- 
 ments. Falftqff'hzd given very general fcandal 
 by his diflinguifhed wit and noted poverty, 
 infomuch that a little cruelty and injuftice 
 towards him was likely to pafs, in the eye of 
 the grave and prudent part of mankind, as a 
 very creditable piece of fraud, and to be ac- 
 counted to Lancqfter for virtue and good fer- 
 vice. But Lancajler had motives yet more pre- 
 vailing ; Falftaff was a Favourite, without the 
 power which belongs to that character; and 
 the tone of the Court was ftrongly againil him, 
 as the mifleader and corrupter of the Prince ; 
 who was now at too great a diftance to afford 
 him immediate countenance and protection. 
 A fcratch then, between jeft and earneil as it 
 G 2 were,
 
 Were, fornething that would not too much of- 
 fend the prince, yet would leave behind a dif- 
 graceful fear upon Falftqff, was very fuhable 
 to the temper and fituation of parties and af- 
 fairs. With thefe obfervations in our thought 
 let us return to the paffage : It is plainly in- 
 tended for difgrace, but how artful, how cau- 
 tious, how infidious is the manner ! It may 
 pafs for meer pleafantry and humour : Lancnfter 
 aflumes the familiar phrafe and girding tone 
 of Harry ; and the gallows, as he words it, 
 appears to be in the moil danger from an en- 
 counter with Faljlaff^ With refpect to the mat- 
 ter, 'tis a kind of matching malicbo\ it means 
 mifchief indeed, but there is not precifion enough 
 in it to intitle it to the appellation of a formal 
 charge, of to give to Falftaf any certain and 
 determined ground of defence. Tardy tricks may 
 mean, not Cowardice but negleft only, though 
 the manner may feem to carry the imputa- 
 tion to both. The reply of Falftaff is exactly 
 
 fuited to the qualities of the fpeech; for 
 
 Falftaff
 
 Fajftaff never wants ability but conduct only. 
 lie anfvvers the general effect of this fpeech, 
 by a feeling and ferious complaint of injuf- 
 tice ; he then goes on to apply his defence to 
 the vindication both of his diligence and cou- 
 rage j but he deferts by degrees his ferious tone, 
 and taking the handle of pleafantry which 
 Lancajler had held forth tp him, he is pru- 
 dently content, as being fenfible of Lancqfter's 
 high rank and ftation, to let the whole pafs oft' 
 jn buffoonery and humour. But the queflion 
 is, however, not concerning the adroitnefs and 
 management of either party : Our bufinefs is, 
 after putting the credit of Lancajler out of the 
 queflion, to difcover what there may be of truth 
 and of fact either in the charge of the one, or 
 the defence of the other. From this only, 
 we lhall be able to draw our inferences with 
 fairnefs and with candour. The charge againft 
 Faljltiff is already in the poffetfion of the rea- 
 per : The defence follows. 
 
 Q 3 Falf.
 
 ( 86 ) 
 
 Falf. " / 'would be firry, my lord, but It Jheuld 
 f( be thus : I never knew yet but that reftuke find 
 " check were the reward of valour. Do you think 
 " me a fwattow, an arrow, or a bullet ? Have I 
 " in my poor and old motion the expedition of 
 " thought? I fpeeded hither within the very ex- 
 Sf tremejl inch of pojfib'dity. I have foundered nine- 
 (< fcore and odd pofts, (deferting by degrees his 
 ff ferious tone, for one of more addrefs and ad- 
 * ( vantage) and here travel-tainted as I am, have I 
 *< in my pure and immaculate valour taken Sir John 
 *' Colevilk of the dale, a mo ft furious Knight and 
 a valorous enem " 
 
 anfwer then is, that he ufed all poffi- 
 ble expedition to join the army ; the not- 
 doing of which, with an implication of Cow- 
 ardice as the caufe, is the utmoft extent of 
 the charge againfl him ; and to take off this 
 implication he refers to the evidence of a fact 
 prefent and manifeft, the furrender of Colevilk ; 
 in whoJe hearing he fpeaks, and to whom 
 
 therefore
 
 therefore he his fuppofed to appeal. Nothing 
 then remains but that we ftiould inquire if 
 Fal/laff's anfwer was really founded in truth; 
 " Ifpeeded hither, fays he, within the extremejl inch 
 " f pqffibility : " If it be fo, he is juftified : But 
 I am afraid, for " we muft not conceal any 
 thing, that Faftqff was really detained too long 
 by his debaucheries in London ; at leaft, if we 
 take the Chief Juftice's words very ftridtly. 
 
 " Ch. Juft. How now, Sir John ? What are you 
 * c brawling here? Doth this become your PL ACE, your 
 " TIME, your BUSINESS ? Toufiould have been well 
 <( on your way to Tork" 
 
 Here then feems to be a delay worthy 
 perhaps of rebuke; and if we could fuppofe 
 Lancafter to mean nothing more by tardy tricks 
 than idlenefs and debauch, I ihould not poffibly 
 think myfelf much concerned to vindicate 
 Faljlaff from the charge ; but the words imply, 
 to my apprehenfion, a defigned and deliberate 
 G 4 avoidance
 
 ( 88 ) 
 
 avoidance of danger. Yet to the contrary of 
 this we are furniihed with very full and com- 
 plete evidence. Falftaff, the moment he quits 
 London, difcovers the utmoft eagernefs and im r 
 patience to join the army ; he gives up his 
 gluttony, his mirth, and his eafe. We fee him 
 take up in his paffage fome recruits at Shallow's 
 houfe ; and tho* he has pecuniary views upon 
 Shallow, no inducement flops him ; he takes 
 no refrefhment, he cannot tarry dinner, he hur- 
 ries off ; "I will not, fays he to the Juftices, 
 te ufe many words, with you* Fare ye well Gentle- 
 " men both ; I thank ye, I muft a, dozen miles to 
 night" He mifufes, it is true, at this time the 
 King's Prefs damnably ; but that does not con- 
 cern me, at leaft not for the prefent ; it belongs to. 
 other parts of his character. --It appears then 
 manifeftly that Shakefpeare meant to fliew 
 Falftaffzs really ufmg the utmoft fpeed in his 
 power ; he arrives almoft literally within the 
 extremeft inch of pojfibility ; and if L&ncafter had 
 not accelerated the event by a flroke of perfidy 
 
 ' much
 
 ( 89 ) 
 
 much more fubjecl: to the imputation of 
 Cowardice than the Debauch of Falftqf, he 
 would Have been time enough to have ftiared 
 in the danger of a fair and honefl decifion. 
 But great men have it feems a priviledge; 
 tf that in the General's but a choleric ivord, 
 '! which in the Soldier were flat Ihfphemy" 
 Yet after all, Falftaff did really come time 
 enough, as it appears, to join in the villain* 
 ous triumphs of the day, to take prifoner 
 Cokville of the dale y a nioft furious Knight and 
 valorous enemy. Let us look to the fad:. 
 If this incident Ihould be found to contain 
 any ftriking proof of Falftaff's Courage and 
 Military fame, his defence againft Lancafter 
 will be flronger than the reader has even a 
 right to demand. Falftaff encounters Grfeville in 
 the field, and having demanded his name, 
 is ready to aflail him ; but Coleville afks him 
 if he is not Sir John Fal/laf; thereby implying 
 a purpofe of furrender. Fal/laffwill not fo much 
 as furnilh him with a pretence, and anfwers 
 
 only,
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 only, that he is as good a man. " Do you yield Sir, 
 orJJoall Ifweat for you f " I think, fays Coleville 
 " you are Sir John Faljlaff, and in that thought 
 " yield me. " This fact, and the incidents 
 with which it is accompanied, fpeak loudly; 
 it feems to have been contrived by the au- 
 thor on purpofe to take off a rebuke fo autho- 
 ritatively made by Lancafter. The fact is fet 
 before our eyes to confute the cenfure : Lan- 
 cajler himfelf feems to give up his charge, 
 tho' not his ill will ; fo'r upon Faljlaff's afking 
 leave to pafs through Glofterfhire, and art- 
 fully defiling that, upon Lancafler'* return to 
 Court, he might Jland well in his report, Lan^ 
 cafter feems in his anfwer to mingle malice 
 and acquital. " Fare ye zvell, Falftaff, J in my 
 " condition Jhall better fpeak of you than you 
 " dcferve. I zvould, fays FalflafF, who is left 
 behind in the fcene, " Tou had but the 
 " wit ; 'twere better than your Dukedom" He 
 continues on the ilage fome time chewing the 
 cud of dishonour, which, with all his facility, 
 
 he
 
 he cannot well fwallow. " Good faith" fays he, 
 accounting to himfelf as well as he could 
 for the injurious conduct of Lancafter ; " this 
 " fobsr-blooded boy does not love me" This he 
 might well believe. " A man, fays he, cannot 
 " make him laugh ; there's none of thefe demure 
 " beys come to any proof \ but that's no marvel, 
 " they drink no fack" Faljlqff then it feems 
 knew no drinker of fack who was a Coward ; 
 at leaft the inftance was not home and fami- 
 liar to him." They all, fays he, fall into a kind 
 *' of Male green ficknefs, and are generally fools and 
 Cczvards." Anger has a privilege, and I 
 think Faljlqff has a right to turn the tables upon 
 Lancajler if he can ; but Lancajler was certainly 
 no fool, and I think upon the whole, no Cow- 
 ard; yet the Male green ficknefs which Fal- 
 ftaff talks of, feems to have infected his man- 
 ners and afpect, and taken from him all 
 external indication of gallantry and courage. 
 He behaves in the battle of Shrewfbury beyond 
 the promife of his complexion and deportment : 
 
 "By
 
 ( 9* ) 
 
 " By leaven thou baft deceived me Lancafter, fays 
 Harry, " I did not think thee Lord of fuch a 
 fpirit ! Nor was his father lefs furprized " at his 
 holding Lord Percy at the point with luftier main- 
 tenance than he did look for from fuch an unripe 
 warrior, " But how well and unexpectedly fo- 
 ever he might have behaved upon that oc- 
 cafion, he does not feem to have been p/ a 
 temper to truft fortune too much or too often 
 with his fafety; therefore it is that, in order 
 to keep the event in his own hands, he loads 
 the Die, in the prefent cafe, with villainy and 
 deceit : The event however he pioufly afcribes, 
 like a wife and prudent youth as he is, with- 
 out paying that worihip to himfelf which he 
 fo juftly merits, to the fpecial favour and ia-_ 
 terpofition of Heaven. 
 
 " Strike up your drums, purfue the feat tered /ray. 
 " Heaven, and not we, have fafely fought to-day.'* 
 
 But the prophane Faljlaf, on the contrary, 
 lefs informed and lefs fludious of fupernatural 
 
 things,
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 things, imputes the whole of this conduct to 
 thin potations, and the not drinking largely of 
 good and excellent Jherris ; and fo little doubt 
 does he feem to entertain of the Cowardice and 
 ill difpofition of this youth, that he ftands 
 devifmg caufes, and cafling about for an hypo- 
 thefis on which the whole may be phyfically 
 explained and accounted for ; but I fliall leave 
 him and Dodlor Cadogan to fettle that point 
 as they may. 
 
 The only ferious charge againft Falftaff's Cou- 
 rage, we have now at large examined ; it came 
 from great authority, from the Commander in 
 chief, and was meant as chaftifement and re- 
 buke ; but it appears to have been founded in ill- 
 will, in the particular character of Lancqfter, and 
 in the wantonnefs and infolence of power; and the 
 author has placed near, and under our notice, 
 full and ample proofs of its injuftice. And thus 
 the deeper we look unto Falftafs character, the 
 Wronger is our convidtion that he was not in- 
 tended
 
 ( 94 ) 
 
 tended to be ftiewn as a Conflitutional coward: 
 Cenfure cannot lay fufficient hold on him, and 
 even malice turns away, and more than half 
 pronounces his acquittal. 
 
 ^ 
 But as yet we have dealt principally in parole 
 
 and circumflantial evidence, and have referred 
 to Faft only incidentally. But Fafts have a 
 much more operative influence : They may 
 be produced, not as arguments only, but Re- 
 cords ; not to difpute alone, but to decide. It 
 is time then to behold Fdjlaff'm actual fervice 
 as a foldier, in danger, and in battle. We 
 have already difplayed one fact in his defence 
 againft the cenfure of Lancajler ; a fact ex- 
 tremely unequivocal and decifivc. But the 
 reader knows I have others, and doubtlefs goes 
 before me to the action at Shrew/bury* In the 
 midft and in the heat of battle we fee him 
 come forwards ; what are his words ? " I 
 .- " have led my Rag-o-mttffians where they are peppered; 
 " there's not three of my hundred andffty left alive" 
 
 But
 
 ( 95 ) 
 
 But to whom does he fay this ? To himfelf 
 only; he fpeaks in foliloquy. There is no 
 queflioning the fad:, be had led them ; they 
 ivere peppered', there were not three left alive. He 
 was in luck, being in bulk equal to any two 
 of them, to efcape unhurt. Let the author 
 anfwer for that, I have nothing to do with it : 
 He was the Poetic maker of the whole Corps > 
 and he might difpofe of them as he pleafed. 
 Well might the Chief juftice, as we now find, 
 acknowledge Faljlajfs fervices in this day's bat- 
 tle ; an acknowledgment, which amply confirms 
 the fad:. A Modern officer, who had per- 
 formed a feat of this kind, would expect, 
 not only the praife of having done his duty, 
 but the appellation of a hero. But poor Fal- 
 fiaff has too much wit to- thrive : In fpite of 
 probability, in fpite of inference, in fpite of 
 fact, he muft be a Coward flill. He happens 
 unfortunately to have more Wit than Cou- 
 rage, and therefore we are malicioufly deter- 
 mined that he ihall have no Courage at all. 
 But let us fuppofe that his modes of expref- 
 
 fion
 
 ( 96 ) 
 
 lion, even in foliloquy, will admit of fomci 
 abatement ; how much fhall we abate ? Say 
 that he brought off fifty inftead of three ; yet 
 a Modern captain would be apt to look big 
 after an adlion with two thirds of his men, 
 as it were, in his belly. Surely Shakefpeare never 
 meant to exhibit this man as a Conftitutional 
 coward ; if he did, his means were fadly de^- 
 flructive of his end. We fee him, after he 
 had expended his Rag-o-muffians, with fword 
 and target in the midft of battle, in perfect 
 pofleffion of himfelf, and replete with humour 
 and jocularity. He was, I prefume, in fome 
 immediate perfonal danger, in danger alfo of 
 a general defeat ; too corpulent for flight ; 
 and to be led a prifoner was probably to be 
 led to execution; yet we fee him laughing 
 and eafy, offering a bottle of fack to the 
 Prince inftead of a piftol, punning, and tel- 
 ling him, " there was that which would fack a 
 " city."" What is it a time, (fays the Prince) 
 " to jejl and dally noiv ?" No, a fober character 
 
 would
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
 would not jcft on fuch an occafion, but a 
 Coward could not ; he would neither have the 
 inclination, or the power. And what could fup- 
 port Falftaf in fuch a fituation ? Not principle ; 
 he is not fufpec\ed of the Point of honour; 
 he feems indeed fairly to renounce it. " Ho- 
 fc nour cannot fet a kg or an arm ; it has ho Jklll lit 
 "forgery : Wl:at is it ? a word only ; meer air. It 
 " is infenfible to the dead; and detraction will not 
 Cf let it live with the living" What then, but 
 a ftrong natural conflitutional Courage, which 
 nothing could extinguifh or difmay ? In the fol- 
 lowing paffages the true character of Falftqff&s to 
 Courage and Principle is finely touched, and 
 the different colours at once nicely blended 
 and diilinguifhed. " If Percy be alive, Til pierce 
 " him. If he do come in my way, fo : If he 
 s< do not, if I come in his willingly, let him make a 
 " Carbonado of me. I like not fuch grinning honour 
 " as Sir Walter hath ; give me life ; which, if I can. 
 (( fave, fo ; if not, honour comes tmlook'd for, and 
 " there 's an end. " One cannot fay which pre- 
 13 vails
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 vails moil here, profligacy or courage ; 
 are both tinged alike by the fame humour, 
 and mingled in one common mafs ; yet when 
 we confider the fuperior force of Percy, as we 
 muft prefently alfo that of Douglas, we ihall 
 be apt, I believe, in our fecret heart, to for- 
 give him. Thefe paflTages are fpoken in foli- 
 loquy and in battle: If every foliloqny made 
 under fimilar circumflances were as audible 
 as Falftafs, the imputation might perhaps 
 be found too general for cenfure. Thefc 
 are among the paflages that have imprefled 
 on the world an idea of Cowardice in 
 Falftfff;-yet why ? He is refolute to take 
 his fate : If Percy do come in his way, fo ; 
 if not, he will not feek inevitable deflru&ion ; 
 he is willing to fave his life, but if that can-* 
 not be, why, " honour comes unlook'd for, 
 and there's an end." This furely is not the 
 language of Cowardice : It contains neither 
 the Bounce or Whine of the character; he de- 
 rides, .it is true, and feems to renounce that 
 grinning idol of Military zealots, Honour, But 
 
 Fajftaf
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 Fal/hf was a kind of Military free-thinker^ 
 and has accordingly incurred the obloquy of 
 his condition. He flands upon the ground of 
 natural Courage only and common fenfe, and 
 has, it feems, too much wit for a hero. But 
 let me be well underftood ; I do not juftify 
 Faljlaff for renouncing the point of honour ; 
 it proceeded doubtlefs from a general relaxation 
 of mindj and profligacy of temper. Honour is 
 calculated tb aid and ftrengthen natural cou- 
 rage, and lift it up to heroifm ; but natural 
 courage^ which can act as fuch without honour^ 
 is natural courage flill ; the very quality I 
 wifli to maintain to Fal/taff* And if, without 
 the aid of honour, he can act with firmnefs, 
 his portion is only the more eminent and dif- 
 tinguifhed. In fuch a -character, it is to his 
 actions, not his fentiments, that we are to look 
 for conviction. But it may be flill further 
 urged in behalf of Falftaff, that there may be 
 falfe honour as well as falfe religion; It is 
 true ; yet even in that cafe, candour obliges 
 H 2 me
 
 C I0 ) 
 
 me to confefs, that the beft men are moft 
 difpofed to conform, and mod likely to be- 
 come the dupes of their own virtue. But it 
 may however be more reafonably urged, that 
 there are particular tenets both in honour and 
 religion, which it is the grofsnefs of folly 
 not to queftion. To feek out, to court aflured 
 deflrudtion, without leaving a fingle benefit 
 behind, may be well reckoned in the number : 
 And this is precifely the very folly which 
 Fdftaff feerris to abjure ; nor are we, perhaps 
 intitled to fay more, in the way of cenfure, 
 than that he had not virtue enough to be- 
 come the dupe of honour, nor prudence 
 enough to hold his tongue. I am willing how- 
 ever, if the reader pleafes, to compound this 
 matter, and acknowledge, on my part, that 
 Falflaff was in ail refpe&s the old foldier ; 
 that he had put himfelf under the fober dif- 
 cipline of difcretion, and renounced, in a great 
 degree at leaft, what he might call, the Va- 
 nities and Superflitions of honour ; if the reader 
 
 will
 
 c ioi r 
 
 will, on his part, admit that this might well 
 be, without his renouncing, at the fame time, 
 the natural firmnefs and refolution he was 
 born to. 
 
 But there is a formidable objection behind. 
 Falftaff counterfeits bafely on being attacked 
 by Douglas; he aflumes, in a cowardly fpirit, 
 the appearance of death to avoid the reality. 
 But there was no equality of force ; not the 
 leafl chance for victory, or life. And is it 
 the duty then, think we fall, of true Courage, 
 to meet, without benefit to fociety, certain death /* 
 Or is it only the phantafy of honour ? But 
 fuch a fiction is highly difgraceful; true, 
 and a man of nice honour might perhaps 
 have grinned for it. But we muft remember 
 that Falftajf had a double character ; he was 
 a wit as well as a foldier ; and his Courage, 
 however eminent, was but the accejjary ; his 
 wit was the principal; and the part, which, 
 if they ihould come in competition, he had the 
 H 3 greateft
 
 ( '02 ) 
 
 greatefl intereft in maintaining. Vain indeed were 
 the liccntioufnefs of his principles, if he fhould 
 feek death like a bigot, yet without the meed 
 of honour ; when he might live by wit, and 
 encreafe the reputation of that wit by living. 
 But why do I labour this point? It has been 
 already anticipated, and our improved ac- 
 quaintance with Falftaff will now require' no 
 more than a fhort narrative of the fact. 
 
 Whilft in the battle of Shrewfbury he is 
 exhorting and encouraging the Prince who is 
 engaged with the Spirit Percy *' Well faid Hal 3 
 to him Hal" he is himfelf attacked by the Fiend 
 Douglas. There was no match ; nothing re- 
 mained but death or ftratagem ; grinning ho- 
 nour, or laughing life. But an expedient 
 offers, a mirthful one, Take your choice 
 Falftaff, a point of honour, or a point of 
 drollery. It could not be a queftion ; - 
 Falftaff falls, Douglas is cheated, and the world 
 laughs. But does he fall like a Coward ? 
 
 No,
 
 No, like a buffoon only; the fuperior prin- 
 ciple prevails, and Falftaff lives by a flra- 
 tagem growing out of his character, to prove 
 himfelf no counterfeit, to jeft, to be employed, 
 and to fight again. That Falftaff valued him- 
 felf, and expected to be valued by others, 
 upon this piece of faving wit is plain. It 
 was a flratagem, it is true; it argued pre- 
 fence of mind; but it was moreover, what 
 he moft liked, a very laughable joke ; and as 
 fuch he considers it ; for he continues to coun- 
 terfeit after the danger is over, that he may 
 alfo deceive the Prince, and improve the 
 event into more laughter. He might, for ought 
 that appears, have concealed the tranfa&ion; 
 the Prince was too earneflly engaged for ob- 
 fervation ; he might have formed a thoufand 
 excufes for his fall ; but he lies Hill and lif- 
 tens to the pronouncing of his epitaph by the 
 Prince with all the waggifh glee and levity 
 of his character. The circumflance of his 
 Wounding Percy in the thigh, and carrying 
 
 the 

 
 the dead body on his back like luggage, is indecent 
 but not cowardly. The declaring, though in 
 jeft, that he killed Percy, feems to me idle, but 
 it is not meant or calculated for impojition ; it is 
 fpoken to the Prince hiwfelf, the man in the 
 world who could not be, or be fuppofed to be 
 impofed on. But we mull hear, whether to the 
 purpofe or not, what it is that Harry has to fay 
 over the remains of his old friend. 
 
 P. Hen. What old acquaintance ! could not 
 
 all this flefh 
 
 Keep in a little life ? Poor Jack farewell ! 
 I could have better fpareda better man. 
 Oh ! I fhou'd have a heavy mifs of thee, 
 If I were much in love with vanity. 
 Death hath not flruck fo fat a deer to-day, 
 Tho' many a de.arer in this bloody fray ; 
 Jmbowelled will I fee thee by and by ; 
 Till then, in blood by noble Percy lye. 
 
 This
 
 C 105 ) 
 
 This is wonderfully proper for the occafion ; 
 it is affectionate, it is pathetic, yet it remembers 
 his vanities, and, with a faint gleam of recol- 
 lected mirth, even his plumpnefs and corpu- 
 lency ; but it is a pleafantry foftned and ren- 
 dered even vapid by teridernefs^ and it goes off 
 the fickly effort of a miferable pun*. But to our 
 immediate purpofe, why is not his-. Cowardice 
 remembered too ? what no furprize that Falftaff 
 
 ihould 
 
 * The cenfure commonly patted on Shakefpeari s puns t 
 is, I think, not well founded. I remember but very 
 few, which are undoubtedly his, that may not be juf- 
 tifyed ; and if fo, a greater inftance cannot be given 
 of the art which he fo peculiarly pofiefTed of convert- 
 verting bafe things into excellence. 
 
 (< For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, 
 " I'll pay the forfeiture with all my heart" 
 
 A play upon words is the moft that can be expected 
 from one who affects gaiety under the preflure of fe- 
 vere misfortunes ; butfo imperfect, fo broken a gleam, 
 
 can 
 
 \
 
 ftiould lye by the fide of the noble Percy in the 
 bed of honour ! No reflection that flight, though 
 unfettered by difeafe, could not avail ; that fear 
 could not find a fubterfuge from death ? Shall 
 his corpulency and his vanities be recorded, 
 and his more chara&eriftic quality of Cowardice, 
 even in the moment that it particularly demanded 
 notice and reflection, be forgotten ? If by fpar- 
 ing a better man be here meant a better foldier, 
 there is no doubt but there were better Soldiers 
 in the army, more active, more young, more 
 principled, more knowing ; but none, it feems, 
 taken for all in all, more acceptable. The com- 
 parative better ufed here leaves to Falftaff the 
 praife at leaft of good; and to be a good foldier, 
 
 can only fcrve more plainly to difclofe the gloom and 
 darknefs of the mind ; it is an effort of fortitude, which 
 failing in its operation, becomes the trueft, becaufe 
 the moft unaffe&ed pathos ; and a ikilful ator, well 
 managing his tone and aftion, might with this mife-r 
 table pun, lleep a whole audience fuddenly in tears. 

 
 is to be a great way from Coward. But Falftaff's 
 goodnefs, in this fort, appears to have been not 
 only enough to redeem him from difgrace, but 
 to mark him with reputation ; if I was to add 
 with eminence and diftinftion, the funeral honours, 
 which are intended his obfequies, and his being 
 bid, till then, to lye in bkod ly the noble Percy, 
 would fairly bear me out. 
 
 Upon the whole of the paffages yet before us, 
 why may I not reafonably hope that the good 
 natured reader, (and I write to no other) not 
 offended at the levity of this exercife, may join 
 with me in thinking that the chara&er of Faljlaff 
 as to valour, may be fairly and honeftly fummed 
 up in the very words which he himfelf ufes to 
 Harry ; and which feem, as to this point, to be 
 intended by Shakejpeare as a Compendium of his 
 character. " What, fays the Prince, a Coward 
 Sir John Paunch /" Falftaf replies, " Indeed I 
 " am not John of Gaunt your grandfather, but yet 
 " no Coward, HalS\ 
 
 The
 
 C 108 ) 
 
 The robbery at Gadjhill comes now to be con- 
 fjdered. But here, after fuch long argumenta- 
 tion, we may be allowed tp breath a little. 
 
 I know not what Impreffion has been made 
 on the reader ; a good deal of evidence has been 
 produced, and much more remains to be offered. 
 But how many forts of men are there whom 
 no evidence can perfuade ! How many, who 
 ignorant of Shakefpeare, or forgetful of the text, 
 may as well read heathen Greek, or the laws 
 of the laud, as this unfortunate Commentary ? 
 How many, who proud and pedantic, hate all 
 novelty, and damn it without mercy under one 
 compendious word, Paradox ? How many more, 
 who not deriving their opinions immediately 
 from the fovereignty of reafon, hold at the will 
 of fome fuperior lord, to whom accident or in- 
 clination has attached them, and who, true to 
 their vafTalage, are refolute not to furrender, 
 without exprefs permiflion, their eaj&e and ill- 
 gotten poffeflions. Thefe, however habited, are 
 
 the
 
 C 109 ) 
 
 the mob of mankind, who hoot and holla, hifs 
 or huzza, juft as their various leaders may di- 
 red. I challenge the whole Pannel as not hold- 
 ing by free tenure, and therefore not competent 
 to the purpofe either of condemnation or acquit- 
 tal. But to the men of very nice honour what 
 ihall be faid ? I fpeak not of your men of good 
 fervice, but fuch as Mr. * * * * " Souls made 
 of fire, and children of the fun " Thefe gentlemen, 
 I am fadly afraid, cannot in honour or prudence 
 admit of any compofition in the very nice ar- 
 ticle of Courage ; fufpicion is difgrace, and they 
 cannot ftay to parley with dishonour. The mif- 
 fortunc in cafes of this kind, is, that it is not 
 eafy to obtain a fair and impartial Jury : When 
 we cenfure others with an eye to our own ap- 
 plaufc, we are as feldom "Tparing of reproach, 
 as inquifitive into circumftance| ; and bold is 
 the man, who tenacious of juftice, ihall venture 
 to weigh circumftances, or draw lines of diftinc- 
 tion between Cowardice and any apparently fimi- 
 lar or neighbour quality : As well may a lady, 
 
 virgin
 
 ( no ) 
 
 virgin or matron, of immaculate honour, pre- 
 fume to pity or palliate the foft failing of fome 
 unguatded friend, and thereby confefs, as it were, 
 thofe fympathetic feelings which it behoves her 
 to conceal under the moft contemptuous difdain ; 
 a difdain, always proportioned, I believe, to a 
 certain confcioufhefs which we muft not explain. 
 I am afraid that poor Falftaff has fuffered not a 
 little, and may yet fuffer by this faftidioufnefs of 
 temper. But though we may find thefe clafles 
 of men rather unfavourable to our willies, the 
 Ladies, one may hope, whofe fmiles are moft 
 worth our ambition, may be found more pro- 
 pitious ; yet they too, through a generous con- 
 formity to the brave, are apt to take up the high 
 tone of honour. Heroifm is an idea perfectly 
 conformable to the natural delicacy and ele* 
 vation of their minds. Should we be fortunate 
 enough therefore to redeem Fal/loft from the im- 
 putations of Cowardice, yet plain Courage, I 
 am afraid, will not ferve the turn : Even their 
 heroes, I think, muft be for the moft part in the 
 
 bloom
 
 bloom of youth, otjujl where youth ends, in man- 
 hood's frejhejl prime ; but to be " Old, cold, and of 
 "intolerable entrails i to be fat and greafy, as poor 
 " as Job, and asjlanderous as Satan ;" Take him 
 away, he merits not a fair trial ; he is too of- 
 feniive to be turned, too odious to be touched. 
 I grant, indeed that the fubject of our lecture 
 is not without his infirmity ; " He cuts three in- 
 " ches on the ribs, he was Jhort-winded" and his 
 breath poflibly not of the fweeteft : " He had the 
 Sf gout," or fomething worfe, " which played the 
 " rogue with his great toe." But thefe confidera- 
 tions are not to the point ; we fhall conceal, as 
 much as may be, thefe offences ; our bufinefs is 
 with his heart only, which, as we fhall endeavour 
 to demonftrate, lies in the right place, and is 
 firm and found, notwithstanding a few indica- 
 tions to the contrary. As for you, Mrs. MON- 
 TAGUE, I am grieved to find thatjyoK have been 
 involved in a Popular error ; fo much you muft 
 allow me to fay ; for the reft, I bow to your 
 genius and your virtues : You have given to the 
 
 world
 
 "* 
 
 xvorld a very elegant competition ; and I am 
 told your manners and your mind are yet more 
 pure, more elegant than your book. Falftaff 
 was too grofs, too infirm, for your infpedtion ; 
 but if you durfl have looked nearer, you would 
 not have found Cowardice in the number of 
 his infirmities. We will try if we cannot re- 
 deem him from this univerfal cenfure. Let 
 the venal corporation of authors duck to the gol- 
 den fool, let them ftiape their fordid quills to the 
 mercenary ends of unmerited praife, or of bafer 
 detraction ; old Jack though deferted by princes, 
 though cenfured by an ungrateful world, and 
 perfecuted from age to age by Critic and Com- 
 mentator, and though never rich enough to 
 hire one literary proflitute, fhall find a Voluntary 
 defender; and that too at a time when the 
 whole body of the Nabobry demands and requires 
 defence ; whilft their ill-gotten and almofl un- 
 told gold feels loofe in their unaffured grafp, 
 and whilft they are ready tofhake off portions of 
 the enormous heap, that they may the more 
 
 fecurely
 
 ( "3 > 
 
 fecurely clafp the remainder. But not to di- 
 grefs without end, to the candid, to the 
 chearful, to the elegant feader we appeal ; 
 our exercife is much too light for the four eye 
 of {lrict feverity ; it profefles amufement only^ 
 but we hope of a kind more rational than the 
 Hiftory of Mifs Betjy, eked out with the 
 Story of Mifs Lucy, and the Tale of Mr. 
 ^wankum : And fo, in a leifure hour, and with 
 the good natured reader, it may be hoped, 
 to friend, we return, with an air as bufy and 
 important as if we were engaged in the grave 
 office of meafuring the Pyramids, or fettling 
 the antiquity of Stonehenge, to converfe with 
 this jovial, this fat, this roguifh, this frail, 
 
 but, I think, not cowardly c6mpanion. 
 
 -* 
 
 Though the robbery at Gads-Hill, and the 
 fuppofed Cowardice of Falftaff on that occa- 
 lion, are next to be coniidered, yet I muft 
 previoufly declare, that I think the difcuffion 
 of this matter to be now uneflential to the 
 I re-eftablifhmenc
 
 t "4 ) 
 
 , fe-eftablilhmerit of Fal/lqf's reputation as a 
 man of Courage. For fuppofe we Ihould 
 grant, in form, that Faftqff was furprized 
 with fear in this (ingle inftance, that he was 
 off his guard, and even acted like a Coward ; 
 what will follow, but that Falftaff, like greater 
 heroes, had his weak moment, and was not 
 exempted from panic and furprize ? If a fin- 
 gle exception can deftroy a general character, 
 Heffor was a Coward, and Anthony a Poltroon. 
 But for thefe feeming contradictions of Cha- 
 racter we ihall feldom be at a lofs to ac- 
 count, if we carefully refer to circumftance 
 and fituation. In the prefent inflaflce, Falftaf 
 had done an illegal act ; the exertion was over ; 
 and he had unbent his mind in fecurity. The 
 fpirit of enterprize, and the animating prin* 
 eiple of hope, were withdrawn : In this 
 fituation, he is unexpectedly attacked; he 
 has no time to recall his thoughts, or bend 
 his mind to action. He is not now act- 
 ing in the Profeffion and in the Habits of a 
 
 Soldier;
 
 Soldier ; he is aflbciated with known Cowards ; 
 his aflailants are vigorous, fudden, and bold; 
 he is cdnfcious of guilt; he has dangers to 
 dread of every form, prefent and future j jpri- 
 fons and gibbets, as well as fword and fire 3 
 he is furrounded with darknefs, and the Sheriff 
 the Hangman, and the whole Pqffe Commitatus 
 may be at his heels : Without a moment 
 for reflection, is it wonderful that, under 
 thefe circumflances, " hefiould run and roar, and 
 " carry his guts away with as much dexterity as 
 po/ibk ?" 
 
 But though I might well reft the queftiori 
 on this ground, yet as there remains many 
 good topics of vindication ; and as I think 
 a more minute inquiry into this matter will 
 only bring out more evidence in fupport of 
 Falftaff's conftitutional Courage, I will not de- 
 cline the difcuflion* I beg permiffion there- 
 fore to Hate fully, as well as fairly, the 
 a whole
 
 Whole of this obnoxious tranfadtion, this un- 
 fortunate robbery at Gads-Hill. 
 
 In the fcene wherein we become firft ac- 
 quainted with Faljlqff, his character is opened 
 in a manner worthy of Shakefpeare : We fee him 
 in a green old age, mellow, frank, gay, eafy, 
 corpulent, loofe, unprincipled, and luxurious; 
 a Robber, as he fays, by his vocation', yet not 
 altogether fo : There was much, it feems, of 
 mirth and recreation in the cafe : " The poor 
 abufes of the times," he wantonly and humouroufly 
 tells the Prince " want countenance ; and he hates 
 to fee refolution fobbed of, as it is, by the rujly 
 curb of old father antic, the law. " When he 
 quits the fcene, we are acquainted that he is 
 only paffing to the Tavern : "Farewell," fays 
 he, with an air of carelefs jollity and gay con- 
 tent, "You will find me in EaJl-Cheap" "Fare- 
 " well" fays the Prince, " thou latter fpring ; 
 "farewell, all haUown fummer" But though all 
 this is excellent for Shakefpeare' s purpofes, we 
 
 find
 
 ( II? ) 
 
 find, as yet at leaft, no hint of Falftafs Cow- 
 ardice, no appearance of Braggadocio, or any 
 preparation whatever for laughter under this 
 head. The inflant Faljlaff is withdrawn, Poins 
 opens to the Prince his meditated fcheme of a 
 double robbery; and here then we may rea- 
 fonably expert to be let into thefe parts of 
 character. We mall fee. 
 
 Poins. Now mygoodfweet lord, ride with us to- 
 <( morrow ; I have a jeft to execute that I cannot 
 " manage alone. Falftaff, Bardolph, Peto, and 
 <( Gadfhiliyfo// rob thofe men that we have already 
 " waylaid ; yourfelf and I will not be there ; and 
 " when they have the booty, if you and I do not 
 < rob them, cut this head"from offmyjhoulders" 
 
 This is giving ftrong furety for his words; 
 perhaps he thought the cafe required it : But 
 " how, fays the Prince,^// we part with them in 
 " fetting forth ?" Poins is ready with his anfwer; 
 he had matured the thought, and could folve 
 I 3 every
 
 every difficulty : They could fet out before, or 
 (( after ; their horfes might be tied in the wood ; 
 i( they could change their vifors ; and he had al~ 
 *' ready procured cafes of buckram to Inmajk their 
 *' outward garments " This was going far; it was 
 doing bufinefs in good earneft, But if we 
 look into the Play we lhall be better able to 
 account for this activity; we lhall find that 
 there was, at leaft as much malice as jefl in. 
 Point's intention. The rival filiations of Poins 
 and Pajftqg- had produced on both fides much 
 jealoufy and ill will, which occasionally ap- 
 pears, in Shakefpeare's manner, by fide lights, 
 without confounding the main action ; and by 
 the little we fee of this Poins, he appears to be 
 an unamiable, if not a very brutifti and bad, 
 character. But to pafs this ; the Prince next 
 fays, with a deliberate and wholefame caution, 
 16 I doubt they will be too hard for us" Poins's reply 
 is remarkable ; " Well, for two of them, I know 
 f * them to be as true bred Cowards as ever turned back; 
 and for the third, if he fghts knger than le 
 
 "fee*
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 (f fees caufe, I will forfwear arms" There is In 
 this reply a great deal of management : 
 There were four perfons in all, as Pom well 
 knew, and he had himfelf, but a little before, 
 named them, Falftaff, Bardolph, Pfto, and Gadf- 
 btll; but now he omits one of the number, 
 which muft be either Falftaff, as not fubject 
 to any imputation in point of Courage ; and 
 in that cafe Peto will be the third; or, as I 
 rather think, in order to diminim the force of the 
 Prince's objection, he artfully drops <Sad(hill t 
 who was then out of town, and might there- 
 fore be fuppofed to be lefs in the Prince's 
 notice; and upon this fuppofition Faljl l aff 'will 
 be the third, who will not fght longer thait 
 fa fees reafon. But on either fuppofition, what 
 evidence is there of a pre-fuppofed Cowar- 
 dice in Falftqff? On the contrary, what 
 ftronger evidence can we require that 
 the Courage of Falftaff had to this hour, 
 through various trials, flood wholly unim- 
 peached, than that Peins, the ill-difpofed Poins, 
 I 4 who
 
 ( 120 ) 
 
 who ventures, for his own purpofes, to (teal, as it 
 were, one of the four from the notice and me- 
 mory of the Prince, and who mews himfelf, 
 from worfe motives, as fkilfull in diminifhing 
 as Falflaff appears afterwards to be in increafing 
 of numbers, than that this very Poms mould 
 not venture to put down Falftqff in the lift 
 of Cowards ; though the occafion fo ftrongly 
 required that he mould be degraded. What 
 Poms dares do however in this fort, he does. 
 " As to the third, " for fo he defcribes Falftaff, 
 (as if the name of this Veteran would have 
 excited too ftrongly the ideas of Courage and 
 rcfiftance) " If he fights longer than he fees reafon 
 (t I will forfwear arms" This is the old trick 
 of cautious and artful malice : The turn of 
 expreffion, or the tone of voice does all ; 
 for as to the words themfelves, limply con- 
 dered, they might be now truly fpoken of 
 alinoft any man who ever lived, except the 
 iron-headed hero of Sweden. But Poins how- 
 ever adds fomething, which may appear more 
 
 decifive
 
 decifivc ; " The virtue of this jeft will be, the 
 " incomprehenfible lyes which this fat rogue will 
 "tell when we meet at fupper ; how thirty at 
 " leaft he fought with ; and what wards, what 
 " blows, what extremities, he endured : And in the 
 <f reproof of this lies the jeft :" Yes, and thema- 
 f{ lice too. This prediction was unfortunately 
 fulfilled, even beyond the letter of it ; a com- 
 pletion more incident, perhaps, to the predic- 
 tions of malice than of affection. But we 
 fhall prefently fee how far either the predic- 
 tion, or the event, will go to the impeach- 
 ment of Falftaff's Courage. The Prince, who is 
 never duped, comprehends the whole of Poinis 
 views. But let that pafs 
 
 In the next fcene we behold all the parties 
 at Gads-Hill in preparation for the robbery. 
 Let us carefully examine if it contains any inti- 
 mation of Cowardice in Falftqff. He is {hewn 
 under a very ridiculous vexation about his 
 horfe, which is hid from him ; but this is no- 
 thing
 
 ( I" ) 
 
 thing to the purpofe, or only proves that Fal- 
 fiaff knew no terror equal to that of walking 
 eight yards of uneven ground. But on occaiion of 
 Gad/Mi's being afked concerning the number 
 of the travellers, and having reported that they 
 were eight or ten, Falftaff exclaims, " Zounds ! 
 " will they not rob us /" If he had faid more 
 ferioufly, " / doubt they will be too lard for us" 
 he would then have only ufed the Prince's 
 own words upon a lefs alarming occaiion. 
 This cannot need defence. But the Prince, 
 in his ufual flile of mirth, replies, t( What a 
 t( Coward, Sir John Paunch !" To this one would 
 naturally expecl: from Falftaff fome light an 
 fwer ; but we are furprized with a very feri-. 
 ous one ; " 7 am not indeed John of Gaunt your 
 * ( grandfather, but yet no Coward, Hal." This 
 is fingular : It contains, J think, the true cha* 
 racier of Falftaff', and it feems to be thrown 
 out here, at a very critical conjuncture, as a 
 caution to the audience not to take too fadly 
 what was intended only (to ufe the Prince's 
 
 words)
 
 ( "3 ) 
 
 words,) te as argument for a week, laughter for 
 " a wonth 9 and a good je/t for ever after" The 
 whole of Falftaff's pail life could not, it ihould 
 feem, furnifh the Prince with a reply, and he 
 is, therefore,, obliged to draw upon the com- 
 ing hope. " Welly (fays he, myfterioujly?) 
 ** let the event try j" meaning the event of 
 the concerted attack on Falftqffi an event fo 
 probable, that he might indeed venture to 
 rely on it. But the travellers approach : The 
 Prince haftily propofes a divifion of ftrength ; 
 that he with Poms ihould take a ftation fe- 
 perate from the reft, fo that if the travellers 
 Ihould efcape one party, they might light on 
 the other : Falftaff does not object, though 
 he fuppofes the travellefs to be eight or ten 
 in number. We next fee Falftaff attack thefe 
 travellers with alacrity ufing the accuflomed 
 words of threat and terror ;< they make no 
 refiftance, and he binds and robs them. 
 
 Hitherte
 
 ( "4 ) 
 
 Hitherto I think there has not appeared 
 the leail trait either of boafl or fear in Fal- 
 Jlaff. But now comes on the concerted tranf- 
 action, which has been the fource of fo much 
 dilhonour. As thy are Jharing the booty, (fays 
 the ftage direction) fhe Prince and Poins fet upon 
 them, they all run away ; and FalltarT after a blow 
 or two runs away too, leaving the booty behind 
 them. " Got with much eafe :" fays the Prince, 
 as an event beyond expectation, " Now mer- 
 tl rily to horfe" Poins adds, as they are going 
 off, " How the rogue roared !" This obfervation is 
 afterwards remembered by the Prince, who 
 urging the jeft to Falflaff, fays, doubtlefs with 
 all the licence of exaggeration,--"^^/ you Falftafl^ 
 <( carried your guts away as nimbly, with as quick 
 <( dexterity, and roared for mercy, and Jlill ran 
 t{ and roared, as I ever heard bull-calf." If he 
 did roar for mercy, it muft have been a very 
 inarticulate fort of roaring ; for there is not a 
 iingle word fet down for Falftaff from which 
 this roaring may be inferred, or any ftage di- 
 rection
 
 rection to the actor for that purpofe : But, in 
 the fpirit of mirth and derifion, the lighteft 
 exclamation might be eafily converted into the 
 roar of a bull-calf. 
 
 til 
 
 We have now gone through this tranfaction 
 confidered fimply on its own circumftances, 
 and without reference to any future boaft or 
 amputation. It is upon thefe circumftances 
 the cafe muft be tried, and every colour fub- 
 fequently thrown on it, either by wit or folly, 
 ought to be difcharged. Take it, then, as it 
 ftands hitherto, with reference only to its own 
 preceding and concomitant circumftances, and to 
 the unbounded ability of Shakefpeare to obtain 
 his own ends, arid we muft, I think, be com- 
 pelled to confefs that this tranfaction was ne- 
 ver intended by Shake/pear to detect and ex- 
 pofe the falfe pretences of a real Coward ; but, 
 on the contrary, to involve a man of allowed 
 Courage, though in other refpects of a very 
 peculiar character, in fuch circumftances and 
 
 fufpicions
 
 C *& ) 
 
 fufpicions of Cowardice as might, by the ope- 
 ration of thofe peculiarities, produce afterwards 
 much temporary mirth among his familiar 
 and intimate companions : Of this we cannot 
 require a fhonger proof than the great atten- 
 tion which is paid to the decorum and truth 
 i 
 
 of character in the ftage direction already 
 quoted : It appears, from thence, that it was 
 not thought decent that Faljlaff mould run at all, 
 until he had been deferted by his companions, 
 and had even afterwards exchanged blows 
 with his aflailants ; and thus, a jult diftinction 
 is kept up between the natural Cowardice of 
 the three aflbciates and the accidental Terrof 
 of Faljlaff. 
 
 Hitherto, then, I think it is very clear 
 that no laughter either is, or is intended to 
 be, raifed upon the fcore of Falftafs Cow- 
 ardice. For after all, it is not fingularly 
 ridiculous that an old inactive man of no 
 boaft, as far as appears, or extraordinary pre- 
 
 tenfions
 
 ( "7 ) 
 
 tenlions to valour, ihould endeavour to fave 
 himfelf by flight from the affault of two 
 bold and vigorous affailants. The very Players, 
 who are, I think, the very worft judges of 
 Shakefpedre, have been made fenfible, I fuppofe 
 from long experience, that there is nothing 
 in this tranfadtion to excite any extraordinary 
 laughter ; but this they take to be a defeat 
 in the management of their author, and there- 
 fore I imagine it is, that they hold them- 
 felves obliged to fupply the vacancy, and fill 
 it up with fome low buffoonery of their own. 
 Inftead of the difpatch neceffary on this oc- 
 cafion, they bring Falftaff, fluffing and ally to the 
 very front of the ftage ; where with much 
 mummery and grimace, he feats himfelf down, 
 with a canvafs money-bag in his hand, to 
 divide the fpoil. In this fituation he is at- 
 tacked by the Prince and Point, whofe tin 
 fwords hang idly in the air and delay to ftrike 
 till the Player Falftaff, who feems more trou- 
 bled with flatulence than fear, is able to rife ; 
 
 which
 
 ( 1*8 ) 
 
 which is not till after fome ineffectual efforts, 
 and with the affiftance, (to the beft of my 
 memory) of one of the thieves, who lingers 
 behind, in fpite of terror, for this friendly 
 purpofe ; after which, without any refinance on 
 his part, he is goaded off the ftage like a fat ox 
 for ilaughter by thefe Jlony-kearted drivers in 
 buckram. I think he does not roar ; perhaps 
 the player had never perfected himfelf in the 
 the tones of a bull-calf. This whole tranf- 
 action fhould be ihewn between the interfaces 
 of a back fcene : The lefs we fee in fuch 
 cafes, the better we conceive. Something of 
 refiflance and afterwards of celerity in flight 
 we fliould be made wimeffes of ; the roar we 
 Ihould take on the credit of Poms. Nor is 
 there any occafion for all that bolflering with 
 which they fill up the figure of FaJftaffi they 
 do not diflinguifli betwixt humourous exagge- 
 ration and neceffary truth. The Prince is 
 called ftarvd'mg, dried neat's tongue, Jlock fjh, and 
 other names of the fame nature. They might 
 
 with
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 with almoft as good reafon, fearch the glafs- 
 houfes for fome exhaufled ftoker to furnifh out 
 a Prince of Wales of fufficient correfpondence 
 to this picture. 
 
 We next come to the fcene of Falftqfs bragga- 
 docioes. I have already wandered too much into 
 details ; yet I muft, however, bring Falftaff for- 
 ward to this laft fcene of trial in all his proper 
 colouring and proportions. The progreflive 
 difcovery of Falftqfs character is excellently 
 managed. In the firfl fcene we become ac- 
 quainted with his figure, which we muft in fome 
 degree confider as a part of his character ; we 
 hear of his gluttony and his debaucheries., and 
 become witnefles of that indiftinguifhable mix- 
 ture of humour and licentioufnefs which runs 
 through his whole character ; but what we are 
 principally ftruck with, is the eafe of his 
 manners and deportment, and the unaffected 
 freedom and wonderful pregnancy of his wit 
 and humour. We fee him, in the next fcene, agi- 
 K tated
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 tared with vexation : His horfe is concealed 
 from him, and he gives on this occafion fo 
 flriking a defcription of his diftrefs, and his 
 words fb labour and are fo loaded with heat 
 and vapour, that, but for laughing, we fhould 
 pity him ; laugh, however, we muft at the 
 extreme incongruity of a man at once corpu- 
 lent and old, aflbciating with youth in an en- 
 terprize demanding the utmoft extravagance 
 of fpirit, and all the wildnefs of activity : 
 And this it is which makes his complaints fo 
 truly ridiculous. " Give me my bor/e !" fays he, 
 in another fpirit than that of Richard ; "Eight 
 " yards of uneven ground" adds this Forrejler of 
 Diana, this enterpriz'mg gentleman of the Jhade, 
 " is threefcore and ten miles a-foot with me." 
 In the heat and agitation of the robbery, out 
 comes more and more extravagant inftances o-f 
 incongruity. Though he is moil probably 
 older and much fatter than either of the tra- 
 vellers, yet he calls them, Bacons, Bacon-fed, and 
 gorbellied knaves :' " Hang them, (fays he) fat chuffs, 
 
 " fbev
 
 C '3' ) 
 
 f * tloey bate us youth : What! young mn, muft- 
 " live :Tou are grand Jurors, are ye ? Will jure 
 "je, i' faith" But, as yet, we do not fee the 
 whole length and breadth of him : This is refer- 
 ved for the braggadocio fcene. We expect enter- 
 tainment, but we don't well know of what kind. 
 Point, by his prediction, has given us a hint : 
 But we do not fee or feel Falfoff to be a 
 Coward, much lefs a boafter; without which 
 even Cowardice is not fnfficiently ridiculous ; 
 and therefore it is, that on the ftage, we find 
 them always connected. In this uncertainty 
 on our part, he is, with much artful prepa- 
 ration, produced. His entrance is delayed to 
 Simulate our expectation ; and, at laft, to take 
 off the dullnefs of anticipation, and to add fur- 
 prize to pleafure, he is called in, as if for 
 another purpofe of mirth than what we are 
 furniftied with : We now behold him, fluc- 
 tuating with fiftion, and labouring with dif- 
 fembled paffion and chagrin : Too full for 
 utterance, Poins provokes him by a few fim- 
 K 2 pie
 
 pie words, containing a fine contrail of af- 
 fected eafe. " Welcome Jack, where haft thott 
 " been ?" But when we hear him burft forth, 
 " A plague on all Cowards ! Give me a cup of fack. 
 " Is -there no virtue extant /" We are at once 
 in poffeffion of the whole man, and are ready 
 to hug him, guts, lyes and all, as an inex- 
 hauftible fund of pleafantry and humour. 
 Cowardice, I apprehend, is out of our thought ; 
 it does not, I think, mingle in our mirth. 
 As to this point, I have prefumed to fay al- 
 ready, and I repeat it, that we are, in my 
 opinion, the dupes of our own wifdom, of 
 fyftematic reafoning, of fecond thought, and 
 after reflection. The firft fpectators, I believe, 
 thought of nothing but the laughable fcrape 
 which fo fingular a character was falling into, 
 and were delighted to fee a humourous and un- 
 principled wit fo happily taken in his own 
 inventions, precluded from all rational defence, 
 and driven to the neceffity of crying out, af- 
 ter
 
 ( '33 ) 
 
 ter a few ludicrous evafions, " No more of that, 
 " Hal, if thou lov'Jl me." 
 
 I do not conceive myfelf obliged to enter 
 into a confederation of Falftaff's lyes concern- 
 ing the tranfaction at Ga/s-bill. I have con- 
 fidered his conduct as independent of thofe 
 lyes ; I have examined the whole of it apart, 
 and found it free of Cowardice or fear, ex- 
 cept in one inftance, which I have endeavour- 
 ed to account for and excufe. I have therefore 
 a right to infer that thofe lyes are to be de- 
 rived, not from Cowardice, but from fome other 
 part of his character, which it does not con- 
 cern me to examine : But I have not content- 
 ed myfelf hitherto with this fort of negative 
 defence; and the reader I believe is aware 
 that I am refolute (though I confefs not un- 
 tired) to carry this fat rogue out of the reach 
 of every imputation which affects., or may feem 
 to affect, his natural Courage. 
 
 K 3 The
 
 ( '34 ) 
 
 The firft obfervation then which ftrikes us,, 
 as to his braggadocioes, is, that they are brag- 
 gaBocioes after the faff. In other cafes we fee 
 the Coward of the Play biufler and boaft for 
 a time, talk of diftant wars, and private duels, 
 out of the reach of knowledge and of evi- 
 dence ; of ftorms and flratagerns, and of falling 
 in upon the enemy pell-mell and putting thou- 
 fands to the fword ; till, at length, on the 
 proof of fome prefent and apparent fact, he 
 is brought to open and lofting fhame ; to lhame 
 I mean as a Coward; for as to what there is 
 of lyar in the cafe, it is confidered only as 
 acceflbry and fcarcely reckoned into the ac- 
 count of difhonour. But in the inftance be- 
 fore us, every thing is reverfed : The Play 
 opens with the Faft ; a Fact, from its circum- 
 ftances as well as from the age and inactivity 
 of the man, very excufable and capable of 
 much apology, if not of defence. This Fact 
 is preceded by no blufter or pretence what- 
 ever ; the lies and braggadocioes follow ; but 
 
 they
 
 ( '35 ) 
 
 they are not general*, they are confined, and 
 have reference to this one Fad: only ; the de- 
 tection is immediate; and after fome accompa- 
 nying mirth and laughter, the fhame of that 
 detection ends; it has no duration, as in other 
 cafes ; and, for the reft of the Play, the cha- 
 racter Hands juft where it did before without 
 any punifoment or .degradation whatever* 
 
 To account for all this, let us only fup- 
 pofe that Falftaff was a man of natural Cou- 
 rage, though in all refpects unprincipled ; but 
 that he was furprized in one fingle inflance 
 into an act of real terror ; which, inflead of ex- 
 cufing upon circum fiances, he endeavours to 
 cover by lyes and braggadocio ; and that thefe 
 lyes become thereupon the fubject, in this place, 
 of detection. Upon thefe fuppofitions the whole 
 difficulty will vanifh at once, and every thing 
 be natural, common, and plain, The Fa8 it- 
 felf will be of courfe excufable ; that is, it will 
 arife out of a combination of fuch circum- 
 K 4 fiances,
 
 ftances, as being applicable to one cafe only, 
 \vill not deftroy the general character : It will 
 not be preceded by any braggadocio, contain- 
 ing any fair indication of Cowardice ; as real 
 Cowardice is not fuppofed to exift in the cha- 
 racter. But the firfl act of real or apparent 
 Cowardice would naturally throw a vain un- 
 principled man into the ufe of lyes and bragga- 
 docio ; but thefe would hare reference only to 
 the Faff in queftion, and not apply to other 
 cafes or infect his general character, which is 
 not fuppofed to fland in need of impofition. 
 Again, the detection of Cowardice as fuch, 
 is more diverting after a long and various 
 courfe of Pretence, where the lye of character 
 is preferved, as it were, whole, and brought 
 into fufricient magnitude for a burfl of dif- 
 covery yet, mere occafional lyes, fuch as 
 F<ilftaff is hereby fuppofed to utter, are, for 
 the purpofe of fport, beft detected in the tel- 
 ling ; becaufe, indeed, they cannot be preferv- 
 ed for a future time; the exigence and the 
 
 humour
 
 ( '37 ) 
 
 humour will be pad : But the foams arifing 
 to Faljlaff from the detection of mere lyes would 
 be temporary only ; his character as to this point, 
 being already known, and tolerated for the ku- 
 mour. Nothing, therefore, could follow but 
 mirth and laughter, and the temporary triumph 
 of baffling a wit at his own weapons, and re- 
 ducing him to an abfolute furrender : After 
 which, we ought not to be furprized if we 
 fee him rife again, like a boy from play, and 
 run another race with as little dilhonour as 
 before. 
 
 What then can we fay, but that it is clearly 
 the lyes only, not the Cowardice of Faljlaff 
 which are here detected : -Lyes, to which what 
 there may be of Cowardice is incidental only, 
 improving indeed the Jeft, but by no means 
 the real Bufinefs of the fcene. And now alfo 
 we may more clearly difcern the true force 
 and meaning of Point's prediction. " The Jeft 
 " will be, fays he, tie iiicomprehenfiblc Lyes that 
 
 " t&is
 
 ( '38 ) 
 
 * f this fat rogue will tell us : How thirty at 
 leaft he fought with :-and in the reproof of 
 " this lyes the jeft ;" That is, in the detection 
 pf thefe lyes fimply ; for as to Courage, he had 
 never ventured to infinuate more than that 
 Falftaff would not fight longer than he faw 
 caufe : foins was in expectation indeed that 
 Falftaff would fall into fome difhonour on 
 this occafion ; an event highly probable : But 
 this was not, it feems, to be the principal 
 ground of their mirth, but the detection of 
 thofe incomprehenfible lyes, which he boldly 
 predicts, upon his knowledge of Falftafs cha- 
 racter, this fat rogue, not Coward, would tell 
 them. This prediction therefore, and the com- 
 pletion of it, go only to the impeachment 
 of Fal/laffs veracity and not of his Courage, fhefe 
 " lyes, fays the Prince, are like the father of 
 t( them, grofs as a mountain, open, palpable. 
 " Why thou clay-brained gutts, thou knotty pa- 
 " ted fool ; how could/I thou know thefe men in Ken- 
 
 ' dal
 
 ( '39 ) 
 
 f dal Green, when it was Jo dark thou couldft 
 f ' not fee thy hand ? Come tell us your reafon" 
 
 f Poms. Come your reafon, Jack, your reofon" 
 
 " Again, fays the Prince, Hear how a plain 
 ?' Trie fiall put you down What trick, what de- 
 <' vice, what ftarting hole canft thou now fnd 
 " out to hide thee from this open and apparent 
 <' Jhame ?" 
 
 <( Poins. Come let's hear, Jack, what tn&k 
 Ipajt thou now?" 
 
 All this clearly refers to Fal/laffs lyes only 
 as fuch ; and the objection feems to be, that 
 he had not told them well, and with fufficient 
 fkill and probability. Indeed nothing feems to 
 have been required of Falftajf at any period 
 of time but a good evafion. The truth is, 
 that there is fo much mirth, and fo little of 
 malice or impolition, in his fictions, that they 
 
 may
 
 C 14* ) 
 
 may for the moft part be confidered as mere 
 flrains of humour and exercifes of wit, im- 
 peachable only for defeat, when that hap- 
 pens, of the^ quality from which they are 
 principally derived. Upon this occafion Fal- 
 Jtafs evaiions fail him; he is at the end 
 of his invention ; and it fecms fait that in 
 defect of wit, the law fhould pafs upon him, 
 and that he fliould undergo the temporary 
 cenfure of that Cowardice which he could 
 not pafs off by any evafion whatever. The bell 
 he could think of, was inftitffi : He was in- 
 deed a Coward upon inftinR ; in that refpect like 
 a valiant lion, who would not touch the true Prince. 
 It would have been a vain attempt, the rea- 
 der will eafily . perceive, in Falftaff, to have 
 gone upon other ground, and- to have aimed 
 at juftifying his Courage by a ferious vindi- 
 cation : This would have been to have miftaken 
 the true point of argument : It was his lyes, 
 not his Courage, which was really in queflion. 
 There was betides no getting out of the toils 
 
 in
 
 C 141 ) 
 
 in which he had entangled himfelf : If he 
 was not, he ought at leaft, by his own 
 fhewing, to have been at half-fword with a dozen 
 of them two hours together ; whereas, it unfor- 
 tunately appears, and that too evidently to be 
 evaded, that he had run with fingular celerity 
 from two, after the exchange of a few blows. 
 only. This precluded Falftaff from all ratio- 
 nal defence in his own perfon; but it has 
 not precluded me, who am not the advocate 
 of his lyes but of his Courage. 
 
 But there are other lingularities in Fal/luffs 
 lyes, which go more directly to his vindi- 
 cation. That they are confined to one fcene 
 and one occafion only, we are not now at 
 a lofs to account for ; but what fliall we fay 
 to their extravagance? The lyes of Parolks 
 and Bobadill are brought into fome fhape ; but 
 the fictions of Falftaff are fo prepofterous 
 and incomprehenfible, that one may fairly doubt 
 if they ever were intended for credit; and 
 
 therefore
 
 therefore, if they ought to be called lyes, and 
 not rather humour ; or, to compound the mat- 
 ter, humourous rhodomontades. Certain it is, that 
 they deftroy their own purpofe and are clearly 
 not the effect, in this refpect, of a regulated 
 practice, and habit of impolition. The real 
 truth feems to be, that had Falftqff, looie and 
 unprincipled as he is, been born a Coward 
 and bred a Soldier, he muft, naturally, have 
 been a great Braggadocio, a true miles gkriofus : 
 But in fuch cafe he Ihould have been ex- 
 hibited active and young; for it is plain, 
 that age and corpulency are an excufe for 
 Cowardice, which ought not to be afforded 
 him. In the prefent cafe, wherein he was not 
 only involved in fufpicious circumflances, but 
 'wherein he feems to have felt fome confci- 
 ous touch of infirmity, and having no can- 
 did conftruction to expect from his laughing 
 companions, he burfts at once, and with all 
 his might, into the moft unweighed and pre- 
 pofterous fictions, determined to put to proof 
 
 on
 
 on this occafion his boafled talent of /wearing 
 truth out of England. He tried it here, to its 
 utmoft extent, and was unfortunately routed 
 on his own ground ; which indeed, with fuch 
 a mine beneath his feet, could not be other- 
 wife. But without this, he had mingled in 
 his deceits fo much whimfical humour and 
 fantaftic exaggeration that he muft have been 
 detected ; and herein appears the admirable 
 addrefs of Sbakefpeare, who can fhew us Fal- 
 Jiaff in the various light, not only of what 
 he is, but what he would have been under 
 one fingle variation of character, the want of 
 natural Courage ; whilft with an art not enough 
 underftood, he moft effectually preferves the 
 real character of Falftaff even in the moment 
 he feems to depart from .it, by making his 
 lyes too extravagant for practifed impofition; 
 by grounding them more upon humour than 
 deceit ; and turning them, as we fhall next fee, 
 into a fair and honeft proof of general Cou- 
 rage, by appropriating them to the conceal- 
 
 "ment
 
 ( 144 ) 
 
 ment only of a (ingle exception. And hence 
 it is, that we fee him draw fo deeply and 
 fo confidently upon his former credit for Cou- 
 rage and atchievment : " / never dealt better in 
 tf my life, thou know'Jl my oldward, Hal'" arc ex- 
 preffions, which clearly refer to fome known 
 feats and defences of his former life. His 
 exclamations againfl Cowardice, his refer- 
 ence to his own manhood, " Die when 
 " thou wilt old Jack, if manhood, good man- 
 " hood, be not forgot upon the face of the earth, 
 " then am I a Jhottcn herring :" Thefe, and 
 various exprefEons fuch as thefe, would be 
 abfurdities not impoiitions, Farce not Comedy, 
 if not calculated to conceal fome defect fup- 
 pofed unknown to the hearers ; and thefe hear- 
 ers were, in the prefcnt cafe, his conftant 
 companions, and the daily witneffes of his con* 
 duel. If before this period he had been a 
 known and detected Coward, and was confci- 
 ous that he had no credit to lofe, I fee no 
 reafon why he Ihould fly fo violently from a 
 
 familiar
 
 ( '45 ) 
 
 familiar ignominy which had often before at- 
 tached him ; or why falfhoods, feemingly in 
 fuch a cafe, neither calculated for or expecting 
 credit, fhould be cenfured, or detected, as lyes 
 or impofition. 
 
 That the whole tranfactiort was confidered 
 as a mere jeft, and as carrying with it no fe- 
 rious imputation on the Courage of Falftaff is 
 manifeft, not only from his being allowed, 
 when the laugh was paft, to call himfelf, 
 without contradiction in the perforated cha- 
 racter of Ha;l himfelf, " valiant Jack Falfta/, and 
 ff the more valiant being % as be i3, old Jack Falftaff," 
 but from various other particulars, and, above 
 allj from the declaration, which the Prince 
 makes on that very night of his intention of 
 procuring this fat rogue a Charge of foot ; a 
 circumftance, doubtlefs, contrived by Sbakefyeare 
 to wipe off the feeming dilhonour of the day : 
 And from this time forward, we hear of no 
 imputation arifing from this tranfaction ; it is 
 L bora
 
 ( 146 ) 
 
 borrt and dies in a convivial hour; it leaves 
 no trace behind, nor do we fee any longer 
 in the character of Falftaff the boafting or 
 braggadocio of a Coward. 
 
 Tho' I have considered Falftafs character 
 as relative only to one fingle quality, yet fo 
 much has been faid, that it cannot efcape the 
 reader's notice that he is a character made up 
 by Shakefpeare wholly of incongruities ; a man 
 at once young and old, enterprizing and fat, 
 a dupe and a wit, harrrilefs and wicked, weak 
 in principle and refolute by confutation, cow- 
 ardly in appearance and brave in reality ; a 
 knave without malice, a lyar without deceit; 
 and a knight, a gentleman, and a foldier, with- 
 out either dignity, decency, or honour : This 
 is a character, which, though it may be de- 
 compounded, could hot, 'I believe, have been 
 formed, nor the ingredients of it duly mingled 
 upon any receipt whatever : It required the 
 Land of Sbakejpeare himfelf to give to every 
 
 particular
 
 ( 147 ) 
 
 particular part a relifli of the whole, and of the' 
 whole to every- particular part; alike the fame 
 incongruous, identical Falftaff, whether to the 
 grave Chief Juflice he vainly talks of his youth j 
 and offers to caper for a tkoufand\ or cries to 
 "Mrs. Doll, " I am old, I am eld," though fhe is 
 feated on his lap> and he is courting her for 
 bufles. How Shakefpeare could furnifh out fenti^ 
 ment of fo extraordinary a compolition, and fup- 
 ply it with fuch appropriated and characteriftic 
 language, humour and wit^ I cannot tell 5 
 but I may^ however, venture to infer, and 
 that confidently, that he who fo well under- 
 ftood the ufes of incongruity, and that laugh- 
 ter was to be raifed by the dppofition of 
 qualities in the fame man, and not by their 
 agreement or conformity, would never have 
 attempted to raife mirth by fhewirig us Cow- 
 ardice in a Coward unattended by Pretence, 
 and foftened by every excufe of age, corpu- 
 lence, and infirmity : And of this we cannot 
 have a more ilriking proof than his furnifh- 
 L 2 ing
 
 C '48 ) 
 
 ing this very character, on one inftance of 
 real terror, however excufable, with boaft, 
 braggadocio, and pretence, exceeding that of 
 all other flage Cowards the whole length 
 of his fuperior wit, humour, and invention. 
 
 What then upon the whole lhall be faid 
 but that Shakefpeare has made certain Impref- 
 iions, or produced certain effects, of which 
 he has thought fit to conceal or obfcure the 
 caufe ? How he has done this, and for what 
 fpecial ends, we lhall now prefume to guefs.--- 
 Before the period in which Shakefpeare wrote> 
 the fools and Zanys of the ftage were drawn 
 out of the coarfeft and cheapeil materials : Some 
 effential folly, with a dalh of knave and coxcomb, 
 did the feat. But Skakejpeare, who delighted 
 in difficulties, was refolved to furnifh a richer 
 repaft, and to give to one eminent buffoon 
 the high relilh of wit, humour, birth, dig- 
 nity, and Courage. But this was a procefs 
 which required the niceft hand, and the ut- 
 
 moft
 
 rnoft management and addrefs : Thefe enu- 
 merated qualities are, in their own nature, 
 productive of rejpeff ; an Impreffion the moft 
 oppofite to laughter that can be. This Im- 
 preffion then, it was, at all adventures, ne- 
 ceffary to with-hold ; which could not perhaps 
 well be without dreffing up thefe qualities in 
 fantaflic forms, and colours not their own ; and 
 thereby cheating the eye with Ihews of bafe- 
 nefs and of folly, whilft he ftole as it were 
 upon the palate a richer and a fuller gmtf. 
 To this end, what arts, what contrivances, has 
 he not pradifed ! How has he fteeped this 
 fmgular character in bad habits for fifty years 
 together, and brought him forth faturated with 
 every folly and with .every vice not deftruc- 
 tive of his effent'ial character, or incompatible 
 with his own primary defign ! For this endj 
 he has deprived Falftaf of every good princi- 
 ple ; and for another, which will be prefently 
 mentioned, he has concealed every bad one. 
 He has given him alfo every infirmity of body 
 that
 
 ( 150 ) 
 
 that is not likely to awaken our cornpafllon, 
 and which is moft proper to render both his. 
 better qualities and his vices ridiculous : He 
 has aflbciated levity and debauch with age, 
 corpulence and inactivity with courage, and has 
 roguiihly coupled the gout with Military ho- 
 nours, and a peujion with the pox. He has 
 likewife involved this character in fituations, 
 out of which neither wit or Courage can ex- 
 tricate him with honour. The furprize at 
 GcuhJrill might have betrayed a hero into 
 flight, and the encounter with Douglas left him 
 no choice but death or ftratagem. If he plays 
 arj after-game, and endeavours to redeem his 
 ill fortune by lies and braggadocio, his ground 
 fails him ; no wit, no evafion will avail : Or 
 is he likely to appear refpedtable in his per- 
 fon, rank, and demeanor, how is that refpedt 
 abated or difcharged ! Sbakefpeare has given 
 him a kind of ftate indeed ; but of what is it 
 compofed ? Of that fuftian cowardly rafcal 
 Piftol, and his ypke-fcllow of few words the 
 
 equally
 
 equally deedlefs Nym; of his cup-bearer the 
 fiery Trigon, whofe zeal burns in his nofe, 
 Bardolph ; and of the boy, who bears the purfe 
 with feven groats and two-pence ; a boy who was 
 given him on purpofe to fet him off, and 
 whom he walks before, according to his own 
 defcription, " like a few float had overwhelmed 
 61 all her litter but one." 
 
 But it was not enough to render Falftqffn- 
 diculous in his figure, fituations, and equi- 
 page ; Jlill his refpedtable. qualities would have 
 come forth, at leail occasionally, to fpoil our 
 mirth ; or they might have burft the inter- 
 vention of fuch flight impediments, and have 
 every where ihone through : It was neceflary 
 then to go farther, and throw on him that fub- 
 ftantial ridicule, which only the incongruities 
 of real vice can furnilh ; of vice, which was 
 to be fo mixed and blended with his frame 
 as to give a durable character and colour to 
 
 the whole* 
 
 L 4 But
 
 But it may here be neceffary to detain the 
 Deader a moment in order to apprize him of 
 my further intention ; without which, I might 
 hazard that good underftanding, which I hope 
 has hitherto been preferved between us, 
 
 I have 'till now looked only to the Courage 
 of falflaff, a quality which having been denied, 
 in terms, to belong to his conftitution, I 
 have endeavoured to vindicate to the Under- 
 flandings of my readers ; the Impreflion on 
 their Feelings (in which all Dramatic truth 
 confifts) being already, as I have fuppofed, in 
 favour of the character. In the purfuit of 
 this fubject I have taken the general Impreffion 
 of the whole character pretty much, I fuppofe, 
 like other men ; and, when occafion has re- 
 quired, have fo tranfmitted it to the reader ; 
 joining in the common Feeling of Fa!ftqff*s 
 pleafantry, his apparent freedom from ill prin- 
 ciple, and his companionable wit and good 
 iiumour ; With a ftage character, in the arti- 
 cle.
 
 ( '53 ) 
 
 de of exhibition, we have nothing more to, 
 do; for in fact what is it but an Impreffion; 
 an appearance, which we are to confider as a 
 reality ; and which we may venture to ap- 
 plaud or condemn as fuch, without further in- 
 quiry or inveftigation ? But if we would ac- 
 count for our Impreffions, or for certain fenti- 
 ments or actions in a character, not derived 
 from its apparent principles, yet appearing, we 
 know not why, natural, we are then compelled 
 to look farther, and examine if there be not 
 fomething more in the character than is 
 Jhewn ; fomething inferred, which is not brought 
 under our fpecial notice: In fhort, we muft 
 look to the art of the writer, and to the prin- 
 ciples of human nature, to difcover the hid- 
 den caufes of fuch effects. Now this is a 
 very different matter The former confidera- 
 tions refpected the Impreffion only, without 
 regard to the Underftanding ; but this queftion 
 relates to the Underftanding alone. It is true 
 that there are but few Dramatic characters 
 
 which
 
 ( 154 ) 
 
 which will bear this kind of inveftigation, as 
 not being drawn in exadt conformity to thofe 
 principles of general nature to which we muft 
 refer. But this is not the cafe with regard to 
 the characters of Shakefpeare ; they are ftruck 
 
 ^ 
 
 out whole, by fome happy art which I cannot 
 clearly comprehend, out of the general mafs of 
 things, from the block as it were of nature : 
 And it is, I think, an eafier thing to give a 
 jufl draught of man from thefe Theatric forms, 
 which I cannot help confidering as originals, 
 than by drawing from real life, amidft fo 
 much intricacy, obliquity, and difguife. If 
 therefore, for further proofs of Falftqff's Cou- 
 rage, or for the fake of curious fpeculation, 
 or for both, I change my pofition, and look 
 to caufes inflead of effects, the reader muft 
 not be furprized if he finds the former Falftaff 
 vanifli like a dream, and another, of more dif- 
 guftful form, prefented to his view' ; one, whofe 
 final punifhment we fli&ll be fo far from re- 
 gretting, that we ourfelves lhall be ready to 
 confign him to a feverer doom. 
 
 The
 
 The reader will very eafily apprehend that 
 a character, which we might wholly difap- 
 prove of, coniidered as exifting in human life, 
 may yet be thrown on the ftage into certain 
 peculiar fituations, and be compreffed by ex- 
 ternal influences into fuch temporary appear- 
 ances, as may render fuch character for a time 
 highly acceptable and entertaining, and even 
 more diflinguifhed for qualities, which on this 
 fuppofition would be accidents only, than an-, 
 other tharacler really pofleffing thofe qualities, 
 but which, under the preffure of the fame fi- 
 tuation and influences, would be diftorted into 
 a different form, or totally loft in timidity and 
 weaknefs. If therefore the character before 
 us will admit of this kind of inveftigation, 
 pur Inquiry will not be without fome dignity, 
 coniidered as extending to the principles of 
 human nature, and to the genius and arts of 
 Him, who has beft caught every various form of 
 the human mind, and tranfmitted them with the 
 greateft happinefs and fidelity. 
 
 To
 
 To return then to the vices of Falftaff.--- 
 We h*ve frequently referred to them under 
 the name of ill habits j but perhaps the rea- 
 der is not fully aware how very vicious he in- 
 deed isjr he is a robber, a glutton, a cheat, 
 a drunkard, and a lyar ; lafcivious, vain, info-- 
 lent, profligate, and profane: A fine infufion 
 this, and fuch as without very excellent cook- 
 ery muft have thrown into the difh a great 
 deal too much of the fumet. It was a nice ope- 
 ration ; thefe vices were not only to be of a 
 particular fort, but it was alfo neceflary to 
 guard them at both ends ; on the one, from 
 all appearance of malicious motive, and indeed 
 from the manifeftation of any ill principle 
 whatever, which muft have produced difguftf* 
 a fenfation no lefs oppolite to laughter than is 
 refpeR ; and, on the other, from the notice, or 
 even apprehenfion, in the fpectators, of pernicious 
 tfeft ; which produces grief and terror, and is 
 the proper province of Tragedy alone. 
 
 /Rums
 
 jfahns cannot with ftridt propriety be faid 
 to be either virtuous or vicious; Thefe quali^ 
 ties, or attributes, belong to agents only ; and 
 are derived, even in refpect to them, from in- 
 tention alone. The abftracting of qualities, 
 and confidering them as independent of any 
 fubjeft, and the applying of them afterwards 
 to actions independent of the agent, is a dou- 
 ble operation which I do not pretend, thro* 
 any part of it, to underftand* All actions 
 may moft properly, in their own nature, I 
 think, be called neutral ; tho' in common dif- 
 courfe, and in writing where precifion is not 
 requiiite, we often term them vicious, tranf- 
 fering on thefe occafions the attributive from 
 the agent to the effiion ; and fometimes we call 
 them evil, or of pernicious effect, by tranf- 
 ferring, in like manner, the injuries inciden- 
 tally arifing from certain actions to the life, 
 happinefs, or intereft of human beings, to the 
 natural operation, whether moral or phyiical, 
 of the aft ions thernfelves : One is a colour 
 
 thrown
 
 ( '58 ) 
 
 thrown on them by the intention, in which I 
 think confifls all moral turpitude, and the 
 ether by effect : If therefore a Dramatic 
 writer will ufe certain managements to keep 
 vicious intention as much as poilible from 
 our notice, and make us fenfible that no 
 evil effect follows, he may pafs off actions 
 of very vicious motive, without much ill im- 
 preflion, as mere incongruities, and the effect 
 of humour only; words thefe, which, as ap- 
 plied to human conduct, are employed, I be- 
 lieve, to cover a great deal of what may de- 
 ferve much harder appellation. 
 
 The difference between fuffering an evil ef* 
 feet to take place, and of preventing fuch 
 effect, from actions precifely of the fame na- 
 ture, is fo great, that it is often all the differ- 
 ence between Tragedy and Comedy. The Fine 
 gentleman of the Comic fcene, who fo 
 promptly draws his fvvord, and wounds, with- 
 out killing, fome other gentleman of the 
 
 fame
 
 ( '59 ) 
 
 fame fort; and He of Tragedy, whofe flabs 
 are mortal, differ very frequently in no other 
 point whatever. If our Falftaf had really 
 feppered (as he calls it) two rogues in buckram 
 fuits, we mufl have looked for a very different 
 conclufion, and have expected to have found 
 Falftaf s EfTential profe converted into blank 
 verfe, and to have feen him move off, in 
 How and meafured paces, like the City Pren- 
 tice to the tolling of a Faffing bell; "be 
 <( would have become a cart as well as another, 
 " or a plague on bis bringing up." 
 
 Every incongruity in a rational being is a 
 fource of laughter, whether it refpefts man- 
 ners, fentiments, con^ucl, or even drefs, or fitu- 
 ation ; but the greateft of all poffible incon- 
 gruity is vice, whether in the intention it- 
 felf, or as transferred to, and becoming more 
 manifeft in adtion ; it is inconfiftent with moral 
 agency, nay, with rationality itfelf, and all the 
 ends and purpofes of our being. Our author 
 
 defcribes
 
 defcribes the natural ridicule of vice in his 
 MEASURE for MEASURE in the ilrongeft 
 terms, where, after having made the angels 
 weep over the vices of men, he adds, that 
 with our fpleens they might laugh themfelves quite 
 mortal. Indeed if we had a perfed: difcernment 
 of the ends of this life only, and could 
 preferve ourfelves from fympathy, difguft and 
 terror, the vices of mankind would be a 
 fource of 'perpetual entertainment. The great 
 difference between Heraclitus and Democritus lay, 
 it feems, in their fpleen only j for a wife and 
 good man muft either laugh or cry without 
 ceafing. Nor indeed is it eafy to conceive 
 (to inftance in one cafe only) a more 
 laughable, or a more melancholy object, than 
 a human being, his nature and duration con- 
 fidered, earnestly and anxioufly exchanging 
 peace of mind and confcious integrity for 
 gold ; and for gold too^ which he has often 
 no occafion for, or dares not employ : But 
 
 Voltaire
 
 ( 161 ) 
 
 Voltaire has by one Publication rendered all 
 arguments fuperfluous ; He has told us, in his 
 Candide, the merrieft and moft diverting tale of 
 frauds, murders, maffacres, rapes, rapine, de- 
 folation, and deftruction, that I think it pof- 
 iible on any other plan to invent ; and he has 
 given us motive and effeft> with every pof- 
 fible aggravation, to improve the fport. One 
 would think it difficult to preferve the point 
 of ridicule, in fuch a cafe, unabated by contrary 
 emotions ; but now that the feat is performed 
 it appears of eafy imitation, and I am 
 amazed that our race of imitators have made 
 no efforts in this fort : It would anfwer I 
 Ihould think in the way of profit, not to 
 mention the moral ufes to which it might 
 be applied. The" managements of Voltaire 
 < confift in this, that he aflumes a gay, eafy, 
 and light tone himfelf; that he never ex- 
 cites the reflections of his readers by making 
 any of his own ; that he hurries us on with 
 fuch a rapidity of narration as prevents our 
 M emotions
 
 emotions from refting on any particular point 
 and to gain this end, he has intervoven the 
 conclufion of one fadt fo into the commence- 
 ment of another, that we find ourfelves en- 
 gaged in new matter before we are feniible 
 that we had finilhed the old ; he has like- 
 wife made his crimes fo enormous, that we 
 do not fadden on any fympathy, or find 
 ourfelves partakers in the guilt. But what is 
 truly fingular as to this book, is, that it 
 does not appear to have been written for any 
 moral purpofe, but for That only (if I do- 
 not err) of fatyrifing Providence itielf ; a de-" 
 fign fo enormoufly profane, that it may well 
 pafs for the moil ridiculous part of the 
 whole compofition. 
 
 But if vice, divefted of difguft and terror,- 
 is thus in its own nature ridiculous, we ought 
 not to be furprifed if the very fame vices 
 which fpread horror and defolation thro' the 
 
 Tragic fcene Ihould yet furnifli the Comic 
 ' 
 
 with
 
 C 163 ) 
 
 \vithits higheft laughter and delight, and that- 
 tears, and mirth, aiid even humour and wit 
 itfelf, fhould grow from the fame root of^. 
 incongruity : For what is humour in the hu- 
 mourift, bur incongruity, whether of fentiment, 
 conduct, or manners ? What in the man of 
 humour, but a quick difcernmentj 2nd keen 
 fcnfibility of thefe incongruities ? And what is 
 wit itfelf, without prefuming however to give 
 a complete definition where fo many have 1 
 failed, but a talent, for the mofl part, of 
 marking with force and vicacity unexpected 
 points of likenefs in things fuppolcd incon- 
 gruous, and points of incongruity in things fup- 
 pofed alike: And hence it is that wit and humour, 
 tho' always diftinguifhed, are fo often coupled 
 together ; it being very poffible, I fuppofe, to 
 be a man of humour without wit ; but I 
 think not a man of wit without humour. 
 
 But I have here raifed fo much new matter* 
 
 that the reader may be out ' of hope of fee- 
 
 M a ing
 
 ( 164 ) 
 
 ing this argument, any more than the tale of 
 frijlram, brought to a conclufion : He may 
 fuppofe me now prepared to turn my pen to 
 a moral, or to a dramatic Eflay, or ready to 
 draw the line between vice and virtue, or 
 Comedy and Tragedy, as fancy fhall lead the 
 way ;--But he is happily miflaken ; I am pref- 
 iing earneflly, and not without fome impati- 
 ence, to a conclufion. The principles I have 
 now opened are neceffary to be confidered for 
 the purpofe of eftimating the character of Fal~ 
 Jlaff t confidered as relatively to human nature : I 
 fhall then reduce him with all poffible dif- 
 patch to his Theatric condition, and reftore 
 him, I hope, without injury, to the flage. 
 
 There is indeed a vein or two of argument 
 running through the matter that now furrounds 
 me, which I might open for my own more 
 peculiar purpofes ; but which, having refitted 
 much greater temptations, I fhall wholly de- 
 fert. It ought not, however, to be forgotten, 
 
 that
 
 that if Shakefpeare has ufed arts to abate our 
 refpect of Falflaff 9 it fhould follow by juft 
 inference, that, without fuch arts, his charac- 
 ter would have grown into a refpett inconfif- 
 tent with laughter; and that yet, without 
 Courage, he could not have been refpectable 
 at all; that it required nothing lefs than the 
 union of ability and Courage to fupport his 
 other more accidental qualities with any tole- 
 rable coherence. Courage and Ability are firft 
 principles of Character, and not to be deftroyed 
 whilft the united frame of body and mind con- 
 tinues whole and unimpaired ; they are the 
 pillars on which he Hands firm in fpight of 
 all his vices and difgraces; but if we Ihould 
 take Courage away, and reckon Cowardice a- 
 mong his other defects, all the intelligence 
 and wit in the world could not fupport hirn 
 through a fmgle Play. 
 
 The effecT: of taking away the influence 
 
 of this quality upon the manners of a cha- 
 
 M 3 racier,
 
 racter, tho' the quality and the influence be affu- 
 rned only, is evident in the cafes of Parolies 
 and Bobadil. Parolies, at leaft, did not feerrt 
 to want wit ; bqt both thefe characters are re- 
 duced almoft to non-entity, and after their 
 difgraces, walk only thro* a fcene or two, the 
 mere mockery of their former exiftence. Parolies 
 was fo changed, that neither the fool, nor the 
 old lord Le-feu > could readily recollect his 
 perfon ; and his wit feemed to be annihilated 
 with his Courage. 
 
 Let it not be here objected that Falftaff is 
 univerfally considered as a Coward ; we do 
 indeed call him fo ; but that is nothing, 
 if the character itfelf does not act from any 
 confcioufnefs of this kind, and if our Feel- 
 ings take his part, and revolt againfl our 
 underflanding. 
 
 As to the arts by which Shakefpeare has 
 Contrived to obfcure the vices of Fal/laf, they 
 
 are
 
 fuch, as being fubfervient only to the mirth 
 .of the Play, I do nqt feel myfelf obliged . to 
 detail. 
 
 But it may be well worth our curiofity to 
 inquire into the compofition of Falftaff's cha- 
 racter. Every man we may obferve, has two 
 -characters; that is, every man may be feen 
 jexternally, and from without ; -or ' a fection 
 may be made of him, ap4 he may be illumi- 
 ... nated from within. 
 
 Of the external character of Faljtajf, we 
 <:an fcarcely be faid to have any fleady view. 
 Jack Faljlaff we are familiar with, but Sir John 
 was better known, it feems, to the reft of Europe, 
 than to his intimate companions ; yet we have 
 fo many glimpfes of him, and he is opened 
 to us occafionally in fuch various points of 
 view, that we cannot be miftaken in defcrib- 
 ing him as a man of birth and faihion, bred 
 . i)p in all the learning and accompliflimeats of 
 
 the
 
 C 168 ) 
 
 the times ; of ability and Courage equal to any 
 fituation, and capable by nature of the higheft 
 affairs ; trained to arms, and pofleffing the 
 tone, the deportment, and the manners of a 
 gentleman ; but yet thefe accompliihments and 
 advantages feem to hang loofe on him, and 
 to be worn with a ilovenly careleffhefs and in- 
 attention : A too great indulgence of the quali- 
 ties of humour and wit feems to draw him 
 too much one way, and to deftroy the grace 
 and orderly arrangement of his u other accom- 
 pliftiments; and hence he becomes flrongly 
 marked for one advantage, to the injury, and 
 almoft forgetfulnefs in the beholder, of all the 
 reft. Some of his vices likewife flrike through, 
 and ftain his Exterior ; his modes of fpeech 
 betray a certain licentioufnefs of mind; and 
 that high Ariftrocratic tone which belong- 
 ed to his fituation was pufhed on, and 
 aggravated into unfeeling infolence and oppref- 
 fion. " // is not a confirmed browj* fays the Chief 
 
 Juflice,
 
 Juflice, 5* nor the throng of words that come with 
 " fuchmore than impudent faucinefs front you, can 
 t thrujl me from a level confederation : n " My lord, 
 anfvvers Falftaff, "you call honour able boldnefs im- 
 " pudent faucinefs. If a man will courffe and fay 
 " nothing, he is virtuous : No my lord, my humbk 
 " duty remembered, I will not be yourfttitor. I fay 
 " to you I dejire deliverance from thefe officers, being 
 "upon hq/ly employment in the King's affairs." 
 " Tou Jpeak 9 replies the Chief Juflice, " as hav- 
 " ing power to do wrong." His whole behaviour 
 to the Chief Juflice, whom he defpairs of 
 winning by flattery, is ilngularly infolent ; and 
 the reader will remember many inflances of 
 his infolence to others : Nor are his manners 
 always free from the taint of vulgar fociety ; 
 "This is the right fencing grace, my lord," (fays he 
 to the Chief Juftice, with great impropriety of 
 manners) " tap for tap, and fo part fair :" " Now 
 t( the lord lighten tkee," is the reflection of the 
 Chief Juflice, " thou art a very great fool." 
 
 Such
 
 Such a character as I have here defcribed, 
 flrengthened with that vigour, force, and alacrity 
 of mind, of which he is poflefled, muft have 
 fpread terror and difmay thro' the ignorant, 
 the timid, the modeft, and the weak : Yet is 
 he however, when occafion requires, capable of 
 much accomodation and flattery ; and in order 
 to obtain the protection and patronage of the 
 great, fo convenient to his vices and his po- 
 verty, he was put under the daily neceffity of 
 practifing and improving thefe arts ; a bafe- 
 nefs, which he compenfates to himfelf, like 
 other unprincipled men, by an increafe of in- 
 Iblence towards his inferiors. There is alfo 
 a natural activity about Falftajf, which for 
 want of proper employment, ftiews itfelf in a 
 kind of fwell or buftle, which feems to cor- 
 refpond with his bulk, as if his mind had 
 inflated his body, and demanded a habitation 
 of no lefs circumference : Thus conditioned 
 he rolls {in the language of OJfiaii) like, a Whale 
 sj Ocean^ fcatteiing the fmaller fry - 9 but afford- 
 ing
 
 ing, in his turn, noble contention to Hal and 
 Poms-, who, to keep up the allufion, I may 
 be allowed on this occafion to compare 'to 
 the Threfher and the Sword-fiih. 
 
 To this part of Fal/taffs character, many 
 things which he does and fays, and which 
 appear unaccountably natural, are to be re- 
 ferred. 
 
 We are next to fee him from within : And 
 here we ihall behold him moft villainoufly 
 unprincipled and debauched ; pofTefling indeed 
 the fame Courage and ability, yet ftained with 
 numerous vices, unfuited not only to" his 
 primary qualities, but to his age, corpulency, 
 rank, and profeflion ; reduced by thefe vices 
 to a ftate of dependence, yet refolutely bent 
 to indulge them at any price. Thefe vices 
 have been already enumerated ; they are many, 
 and become ftill more intolerable by an ex- 
 
 cefs
 
 ( '7* ) 
 
 cefs of unfeeling infolence on one hand, and 
 of bafe accomodation on the other. 
 
 But what then, after all, is become of old 
 Jack ? Is this the jovial delightful companion ; 
 Faljlajf, the favourite and the boaft of the 
 Stage ? by no means. But it is, I think 
 however, the Falftaf of Nature j the very 
 fluff out of which the Stage Falftaff is com- 
 pofed ; nor was it poflible, I believe, out of 
 of any other materials he could have been 
 formed. From this difagreable draught we 
 Uiall be able, I truft, by a proper difpofition 
 of light and lhade, and from the influence 
 and compreflion of external things, to pro- 
 duce plump Jack, the life of humour, the fpU 
 rit of pleafantry, and the foul of mirth. 
 
 To this end, Falftaff muft no longer be 
 confidered as a (ingle independent character, 
 but grouped, as we find him fliewn to us in 
 the Play; his ability muft be difgraced by 
 
 buffoonery,
 
 ( >73 ) 
 
 buffoonery, and his Courage by circumftances of 
 imputation ; and thofe qualities be thereupon 
 reduced into fubjects of mirth and laughter : 
 His vices mufl be concealed at each end from 
 vicious defign and evil effect, and muft there- 
 upon be turned into incongruities, and aflume 
 the name of humour only ; his infolence muft 
 be reprefled by the fuperior tone of Hal and 
 Poins, and take the fofter name of fpirit only, 
 or alacrity of mind ; his ftate of depend- 
 ence, his temper of accomodation, and his adti- 
 vity, muft fall in precifely with the indul- 
 gence of his humours ; that is, he muft thrive 
 beft and flatter moft, by being extravagantly 
 incongruous; and his own tendency, impelled 
 by fo much activity, will carry him with 
 perfect eafe and freedom to all the necefiary ; 
 excefles. But why, it may be afked, Ihould 
 incongruities recommend Falflaff to the favour 
 of the Prince ? Becaufe the Prince is fup- 
 pofed to pofiefs a high relifh of humour 
 
 and
 
 t 174 ) 
 
 and to have a temper and a force about nirri^ 
 which, whatever was his purfuit, delighted 
 in excefs. This, Falftaff is fuppofed perfectly 
 to comprehend ; and thereupon not only to 
 indulge himfelf in all kinds of incongruity^ 
 but to lend out his own fuperior wit and 
 humour againft himfelf, and to heighten the 
 ridicule by all the tricks and arts of buf- 
 foonery for which his corpulence, his age, 
 and fituation, furniih fuch excellent materials; 
 This compleats the Dramatic character of 
 Falftaff, and gives him that appearance of 
 perfect good-nature, pleafantry, mellownefs, 
 and hilarity of mind, for which we admire 
 and almoft love him, tho" we feel certain re- 
 ferves which forbid our going that length ; 
 the true reafon of which is, that there will 
 be always found a difference between mere 
 appearances, and reality : Nor are we> nor can 
 we be, infenfible that whenever the action of 
 external influence upon him is in whole 
 or in part relaxed, the character reftores 
 
 itfelf
 
 ( '75 ) 
 
 itfelf proportionably to its more vmpleafing 
 condition. 
 
 A character really poffefling the qualities 
 which are on the . flage imputed to Falftaff, 
 would be beft ftiewn by its otfn natural ener-* 
 gy; the leafl compreffion would diforder it, 
 and make us feel for it all the pain of fym- 
 pathy : It is the artificial condition of Falftaff 
 which is the fource of our delight ; we enjoy his 
 diftrefles, we gird at him ourfelves, and urge 
 the fport without the leaft alloy of compafiion ; 
 and we give him, when the laugh is over, 
 undeferved credit for the pleafure we enjoyed. 
 If any one thinks that thefe obfervations are 
 the effect of too much refinement, arid that 
 there was in truth more of chance in the 
 cafe than of management or defign, let him 
 try his own luck; perhaps, he may draw out 
 of the wheel of fortune a Macbeth, an Otbelb, 
 a Benedift, or a Falftaff. 
 
 Such
 
 Such, I think, is the true character of 
 this extraordinary buffoon; and from hence 
 we may difcern for what fpecial purpofes 
 Shakefpeare has given him talents and qualities, 
 which were to be afterwards obfcured, and 
 perverted to ends oppofite to their nature; 
 it was clearly to furnilh out a Stage buffoon 
 of a peculiar fort ; a kind of Game-bull which 
 would ftand the baiting thro' a hundred Plays, 
 and produce equal fport, whether he is pinned 
 down occafionally by Hal or Poms, or tofles fuch 
 mongrils as Bardolph, or the Juflices, fprawling 
 in the air. There is in truth no fuch thing 
 as totally demolilhing Falftaff; he has fo much 
 of the invulnerable in his frame that no ri- 
 dicule can deflroy him; he is fafe even in 
 defeat, and feeins to rife, like another Anteus, 
 with recruited vigour from every fall; in this 
 as in every other refpe'dl:, unlike Parolles 
 or Bobadil : They fall by the firft ftiaft of 
 ridicule, but Fal/laff is a butt on which we 
 may empty the whole quiver, whilfl the 
 
 fubftance
 
 fubftance of his character remains unimpaired. 
 His ill habits, and the accidents of age and 
 corpulence, are no part of his eflential con- 
 flitution ; they come forward indeed on our 
 eye, and folicit our notice, but they are 
 fecond natures, not firft; mere fhadows, we 
 purfue them in vain; Falftaff himfelf has 
 a diftinct and feparate fubfiftence; he laughs 
 at the chace, and when the fport is over, 
 gathers them with unruffled feather under his 
 wing : And hence it is that he is made to 
 undergo not one detection only, but a feries 
 of detections ; that he is not formed for one 
 Play only, but was intended originally at 
 leaft for two ; and the author we are told, was 
 doubtful if he fliould not extend him yet 
 farther, arid engage him in the wars with 
 France. This he might well have done, for 
 there is nothing periftiable in the nature of 
 Falfiajf : . He might have involved him, by the 
 vicious part of his character, in new difficult 
 ties and unlucky fituations, and have enabled 
 N him
 
 ( i7 ) 
 
 him, by the better part, to have fcrambled 
 through, abiding and retorting the jefts and 
 
 , 
 laughter of every beholder. 
 
 But whatever we may be told concerning 
 the intention of Shakefpeare to extend this cha- 
 racter farther, there is a manifeft preparation 
 near the end of the fecond part of Henry 
 IV. for his difgrace : The difguife is taken off, 
 and he begins openly to pander to the ex- 
 cefles of the Prince, intitling himfelf to the 
 character afterwards given him of being the 
 tutor and the feeder of his riots. " I will fetch 
 "off," (fays he) tkefe Juftices.I will devife 
 ** matter enough out. of this Shallow to keep the Prince 
 if in continual laughter the wearing out of fix 
 " fafoiom* If the young dace be a bait for the 
 " old pike/' (fpeaking with reference to his 
 own defigns upon Shallow) " / fee no reafon in 
 " the law of nature but I may fnap at- him" 
 This is fliewing himfelf abominably diffolute : 
 The laborious arts of fraud, which he prac- 
 
 tices
 
 ( '79 ) 
 
 tices on Shattffiv to induce the loan of a thou- 
 fand pound, create difguft', and the more, 
 as we are fenfible this money was never likely 
 to be paid back, as we are told that was, of 
 which the travellers had been robbed. It is 
 true we feel no pain for Shallow, he being a 
 very bad character, as would fully appear, 
 if he were unfolded; but Falftaffs deliberation 
 in fraud is not on that account more excu- 
 fable. The event of the old King's death 
 draws him out almoft into deteftation. " Maf- 
 " ter Robert Shallow, chvfe what office thou wilt 
 " in tie land, 'tis time. I am fortune's Steward. 
 " let us take any 'man's horfes. $be laws of Eng- 
 " land are at my commandment. Happy are they 
 tc who have been my friends ; and woe to my 
 " Lord Chief Juftice." After this we ought not 
 to complain if we fee Poetic juftice duly ex- 
 ecuted upon him, and that he is finally given 
 up to fiiame and diihonour. 
 
 N z But
 
 ( i8o ) 
 
 But it is remarkable that, during this pro- 
 cefs, we are not acquainted with the fuccefs 
 of Fal/lafs defigns upon Shallow 'till the mo- 
 ment of his difgrace. " If I fad had time," (fays 
 he to Shallow, as the King is approaching,) 
 " to have made new liveries, I would have bejlowed 
 " the thoufand pounds I borrowed of you ;" and 
 the firft word he utters after this period is, 
 " Mafter Shallow, / owe you a thoufand pounds :" 
 We may from hence very reafonably pre- 
 fume, that Shakefpeare meant to connedt this 
 fraud with the punifhment of Falftqff, as a 
 more avowed ground of cenfure and diflio- 
 nour: Nor ought the confideration that this 
 paflage contains the moft exquifite comic hu- 
 mour and propriety in another view, to dimi- 
 nifh the truth of this obfervation. 
 
 But however juft it might be to demolish 
 Falftaff in this way, by opening to us his 
 bad principles, it was by no means convenient* 
 If we had been to have feen a iingle repre- 
 
 fentation
 
 t .81 ) 
 
 fehtation of him only, it might have beef! 
 proper enough; But a$ he was to be fliewri 
 from night to night, and from age to age, the 
 difguft arifirig from the clofe, would by de- 
 grees haVe fpread Itfelf over the whole cha- 
 racter ; reference would be had throughout to 
 his bad principles, and he would have be- 
 come lefs acceptable as he was more known : 
 And yet it was neceflary to bring him, like 
 all other ftage characters, to fome conclufiori. 
 Every play mufl be wound up by fome eventj 
 which may ftiut in the characters and the action i 
 If fome Toer& obtains a crown, or a miflrefs, 
 involving therein the fortune of others, we 
 are fatisfied; we do not defire to be after- 
 wards admitted of his ..council, or his bed- 
 chamber : Or if through jealoufy, caufelefs 
 or well founded^ another kills a beloved wife, 
 and himfelf after, there is no more to be 
 faid; they are dead, and there an endj 
 Or if in the fcenes of Comedy, parties are 
 engaged, and plots formed, for the furthering 
 
 or
 
 or preventing the completion of that great 
 article Cuckoldcm, we expeft to be fatisfied 
 in the point as far as the nature of fo nice 
 a cafe will permit, or at leaft to fee fuch a 
 man if eft dlfpofition as will leave us in no 
 doubt of the event. By the bye, I cannot but 
 think that the Comic writers of the laft age 
 treated this matter as of more importance, 
 and made more buflle about it, than the 
 temper of the prefent times will well bear ; 
 and it is therefore to be hoped that the 
 Dramatic authors of the prefent day, fome 
 of whom, to the beft of my judgment, are de- 
 ferving of great praife, will confider and treat 
 this bufinefs, rather as a common and natu- 
 ral incident ariling out of modern manners, 
 than as worthy to be held forth as the 
 great object and fole end of the Play. 
 
 
 
 But whatever be the queftion, or whatever 
 the char after, the curtain muft not only be dropt 
 
 before
 
 before the eyes, but over the minds of the fpeo 
 tators, and nothing left for further examina- 
 tion and curiofity. But how was this to be 
 done in regard to Falftqff ? He was not in- 
 volved in the fortune of the Play ; he was en- 
 gaged in no action which, as to him, was to 
 be compleated ; he had reference to no fyftem, 
 he was attracted to no center ; he pafles thro* 
 the Play as a lawlefs meteor, and we wiih to 
 know what courfe he is afterwards likely to 
 take : He is detected and difgraced, it is 
 true ; but he lives by detection, and thrives 
 on difgrace; and we are delirous to fee him 
 detected and difgraced again. The Fleet might 
 be no bad fcene of further amufement ; he . 
 carries all within him, and what matter where, 
 ;/ he be Jllll the fame y poffeffing the fame force 
 of mind, the fame wit, and the fame incon- 
 gruity. This, Shakefpeare was fully fenfible of, 
 and knew that this character could not be 
 compleatly difmiffed but by death. ** Our 
 * author, (fays the Epilogue to the Second 
 
 "Part
 
 *' Part of Henry IV.) will continue the fioty 
 " with Sir John in it$ and make you merry 
 " with fair Catherine of France ; where, for any 
 " thing I know, Falfiqff fttall dye of a fweat, 
 " unlefs already he be killed with your hard 
 " opinions." If it had been prudent in 
 Shakefpeare to have killed FaJftaff with hard opi- 
 nion, he had the means in his hand to effect 
 it; but dye, it feems, he muft, in one forrri 
 or another, and a fweat would have been no un- 
 fuitable cataftrophe. However we have reafon 
 to be fatisfied as it is ;---his death was worthy 
 of his birth and of his life : " He was born> 
 he fays, " about three o'clock in the afternoon with 
 a white head, and fomething a round belly" 
 But if he came into the world in the even- 
 ing with thefe marks f age, he departs 
 out of it in the morning in all the follies 
 and vanities of youth ; " He was Jhaked (we 
 " are told) " of a burning quotidian tertian ;--- 
 c the young King had run bad humours on the 
 (< knight ; his heart was frafted and corroborate ; 
 
 " and
 
 (( and a' parted juft between, twelve and one, even 
 " at the turning of the tide, yielding the crow a 
 "pudding, andpajfing direBly into Arthur's bofom, 
 " If ever man went into the bofom of Arthur."- 
 So ended this fingular buffoon ; and with him 
 ends an Eflay, on which the reader is left 
 to beftow what character he pleafes : An Eflay 
 profefling to treat of the Courage of Falftaff, 
 but extending itfelf to his Whole character ; 
 to the arts and genius of his Poetic-Maker, 
 SHAKESPEARE ; and thro* him fometimes, with 
 ambitious aim, even to the principles of hu- 
 man nature itfelf. 
 
 THE END.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page. line. 
 
 49, 8, (in the notes) for Henry VI. read Henry IV. 
 5 3) (in tne notes) corrcft the feme error. 
 60, the laft but two in the notes, for be this when thou art 
 
 dead read be thus, Sec. 
 
 65^ 13, for the plains of Sciola read the plains of Sciota. 
 78, 9, for as far read -fo far. 
 84, 14, for minching malicho read miching maHcho. 
 o, 6 and 7, for goes off the fickly effort read goes off in the 
 
 .fkkly effort. 
 
 1081 the laft but one, for bare read t>afe. 
 
 109, 8, for circumjianccs read circumjtaruc. 
 
 In a few of the copies 
 
 172, 4, for the jovial delightful companion read Is this the 
 jovial t &c. 
 
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