facts through a distorting subjective medium, and gives an impression
of his history and exploits more or less at variance with the bare
facts as seen by a contemporary outsider. The scientific Goethe,
though truthful enough in the main, certainly fails in his
reminiscences to tell a plain unvarnished tale. And Falstaff was
_not_ habitually truthful. Indeed, that Western American, who
wrote affectionately on the tomb of a comrade, 'As a truth-crusher he
was unrivalled,' had probably not given sufficient attention to
Falstaff's claims in this matter. Then Falstaff's companions are not
witnesses above suspicion. Generally speaking, they lie open to the
charge made by P. P. against the wags of his parish, that they were
men delighting more in their own conceits than in the truth. These are
some of our difficulties, and we ask the reader's indulgence in our
endeavours to overcome them. We will tell the story from our hero's
birth, and will not begin longer _before_ that event than is
usual with biographers.

The question, _Where_ was Falstaff born? has given us some
trouble. We confess to having once entertained a strong opinion that
he was a Devonshire man. This opinion was based simply on the flow and
fertility of his wit as shown in his conversation, and the rapid and
fantastic play of his imagination. But we sought in vain for any
verbal provincialisms in support of this theory, and there was
something in the character of the man that rather went against it.
Still, we clung to the opinion, till we found that philology was
against us, and that the Falstaffs unquestionably came from Norfolk.

The name is of Scandinavian origin; and we find in 'Domesday' that a
certain Falstaff held freely from the king a church at Stamford. These
facts are of great importance. The thirst for which Falstaff was