[ '3 ] 



charging the former impreflion : on the contrary, both parts are 

 naturally and clofely conneded; the fufpicion fixed upon him 

 from the furrender of the booty, heightened by his own con- 

 fcioufnefs of his fcurvy retreat, fet his invention at work, and 

 produced his vindication. 



And here I cannot help obferving that the ingenious critic's 

 over-ftrained defence of FalftafTs courage does not make amends 

 for the lofs of his inimitable wit and humour which have been 

 facrificed on this occafion. " FalftafFs evafions," fays he, " here 

 " fail him : he is at the end of his invention ; and it feems fair, 

 " that in defcd of wit the law fhould pafs upon him, and that 

 " he ftiould undergo the temporary cenfure of that cowardice 

 " which he could not pafs" off by any evafion whatever." 

 Strange, indeed, that the writer fhould difcover a dcfed of wit 

 in a fcene where it fcems to have triumphed with a more 

 wonderful fupcriority over furrounding difficulties than in any 

 other part of his dramatic charader. Let us attend for a moment 

 to the occafion : when FalflafF had finifhed his incomprehenfible 

 lies about the exploit at Gadfhill, the prince fuddenly puts him 

 down with a plain tale, of which poor Jack could not deny a 

 fyllable. In this ftate of erabarraffment we feel a peculiar interefl 

 about him, not conceiving how his wit, though variable and in- 

 exhauftible, could extricate him, when on a fudden, with a 

 fort of charm, he fets both us and himfelf free. To the farcafm 

 of Poins : " Come, let us hear, Jack, what trick hail thou'uow ?" 

 he replies, " By the L — d I knew you as well as he that made 

 you,'* and then profefTes himfelf a coward upon inflind. Nothing 

 can be more exquifite and delightful ; it is not cutting the in- 

 tricate 



