It
is a question of fact, and concerning a quality which forms the basis of
every respectable character; a quality which is the very essence of a
Military man; and which is held up to us, in almost every Comic incident
of the Play, as the subject of our observation. It is strange then that it
should now be a question, whether _Falstaff_ is or is not a man of
Courage; and whether we do in fact contemn him for the want, or respect
him for the possession of that quality: And yet I believe the reader will
find that he has by no means decided this question, even for himself.--If
then it should turn out that this difficulty has arisen out of the Art of
_Shakespeare_, who has contrived to make secret Impressions upon us of
Courage, and to preserve those Impressions in favour of a character which
was to be held up for sport and laughter on account of actions of apparent
Cowardice and dishonour, we shall have less occasion to wonder, as
_Shakespeare_ is a Name which contains All of Dramatic artifice and
genius.

If in this place the reader shall peevishly and prematurely object that
the observations and distinctions I have laboured to establish are wholly
unapplicable; he being himself unconscious of ever having received any
such Impression; what can be done in so nice a case, but to refer him to
the following pages; by the number of which he may judge how very much I
respect his objection, and by the variety of those proofs which I shall
employ to induce him to part with it; and to recognize in its stead
certain feelings, concealed and covered over perhaps, but not erazed, by
time, reasoning, and authority?

In the mean while, it may not perhaps be easy for him to resolve how it
comes about, that, whilst we look upon _Falstaff_ as a character of the
like nature with that of _Parolles_ or of _Bobadil_, we should preserve
for him a great degree of respect and good-will, and yet feel the highest
disdain and contempt of the others, tho' they are all involved in similar
situations. The reader, I believe, would wonder extremely to find either
_Parolles_ or _Bobadil_ possess himself in danger: What then can be the
cause that we are not at all surprized at the gaiety and ease of
_Falstaff_ under the most trying circumstances; and that we never think of
charging _Shakespeare_ with departing, on this account, from the truth and
coherence of character? Perhaps, after all, the _real_ character of
_Falstaff_ may be different from his _appa