Let us turn now to some instances of sweet observance in other kinds.
There is observance, more true than sweet, in the character of
_Jacques_, in "As You Like It:" the fault-finder in age was the
fault-doer in youth and manhood. _Jacques_ patronizing the fool, is one
of the rarest shows of self-ignorance.
In the same play, when _Rosalind_ hears that _Orlando_ is in the wood,
she cries out, "Alas the day! what shall I do with my doublet and hose?"
And when _Orlando_ asks her, "Where dwell you, pretty youth?" she
answers, tripping in her role, "Here in the skirts of the forest, like
fringe upon a petticoat."
In the second part of "King Henry IV.," act iv. scene 3, _Falstaff_ says
of _Prince John_: "Good faith, this same young sober-blooded boy doth
not love me; nor a man cannot make him laugh;--but that's no marvel: he
drinks no wine." This is the _Prince John_ who betrays the insurgents
afterwards by the falsest of quibbles, and gains his revenge through
their good faith.
In "King Henry IV," act i. scene 2, _Poins_ does not say _Falstaff_ is a
coward like the other two; but only--"If he fight longer than he sees
reason, I'll forswear arms.
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