--When he pretends to _Activity_,
there is _Wit_ in the _Contrast_ between his _Mind_ and his _Person_,
--And _Wit_ in their _Agreement_, when he triumphs in _Jollity_.
To compleat the whole,--you have in this Character of _Falstaff_,
not only a free Course of _Humour_, supported and embellish'd with
admirable _Wit_; but this _Humour_ is of a Species the most _jovial_
and _gay_ in all Nature.--Sir _Jobn Falstaff_ possesses Generosity,
Chearfulness, Alacrity, Invention, Frolic and Fancy superior to all
other Men;--The _Figure_ of his _Person_ is the Picture of Jollity,
Mirth, and Good-nature, and banishes at once all other Ideas from your
Breast; He is happy himself, and makes you happy.--If you examine him
further, he has no Fierceness, Reserve, Malice or Peevishness lurking
in his Heart; His Intentions are all pointed at innocent Riot and
Merriment; Nor has the Knight any inveterate Design, except against
_Sack_, and that too he _loves_.--If, besides this, he desires to
pass for a Man of _Activity_ and _Valour_, you can easily excuse so
harmless a _Foible_, which yields you the highest Pleasure in its
constant _Detection_.
If you put all these together, it is impossible to _hate_ honest
_Jack Falstaff_; If you observe them again, it is impossible to avoid
_loving_ him; He is the gay, the witty, the frolicksome, happy, and
fat _Jack Falstaff_, the most delightful _Swaggerer_ in all Nature.
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