[ s ] 



" into thofe lies and braggadocios, which are the ufual concomi- 

 " tants of cowardice. But thefe appearances are only errors 

 " of the underftanding ; and the poet has contrived with infinite 

 " art to fteal impreffions upon his hearers or readers, that fhall 

 " keep their hold in fpite of thefe errors ; yet fo latent and fo 

 " purpofely obfcured, that we only feel ourfelves influenced by 

 " the efFedis without being able to explain the caufe. Falftaff, in 

 " fpite of all thofe flrong appearances, recommends himfelf to 

 " the heart by a conftitutional courage : and the occafions alluded 

 " to arc only accidental imputations on this quality defigned for 

 " fport and laughter, on account of adions of apparent cowardice 

 " and difhonour." The matter which I have here brought to- 

 gether into a fhort view is fubtle and refined. I may therefore be 

 miftaken ; but after an attentive reading I can make no other 

 application of his diftindlion between the conclufions of the 

 underftanding and thofe mental impreffions: and this I apprehend 

 to be the true fcope and fubftance of the author's criticifra upon 

 this part of the fubjedt. 



I AM willing then for the prefent to admit that all men are 

 confcious to themfelves of certain feelings about charadcr, inde- 

 pendent of and even in oppofition to the conclufions of the under- 

 ftanding. And upon the ground of this very diftin6tion I think 

 it might be fhewn, that Shakefpear has defigned cowardice, 

 rather than conftitutional courage, to be a part of FalftafF's real 

 charader. When a charadter appeals to the underftanding, the 

 judgment formed of it feems to me the refult of all its various 

 parts compared together. Its feveral adions, with their feveral 

 fprings and motives, fo far as reafon can difcover them, muft 



be 



