ankles in his heart.

DRYDEN.

This agreeable seat is surrounded with so many pleasing walks, which are
struck out of a wood, in the midst of which the house stands, that one
can hardly ever be weary of rambling from one labyrinth of delight to
another. To one used to live in a city the charms of the country are so
exquisite, that the mind is lost in a certain transport which raises us
above ordinary life, and is yet not strong enough to be inconsistent with
tranquillity. This state of mind was I in, ravished with the murmur of
waters, the whisper of breezes, the singing of birds; and whether I
looked up to the heavens, down to the earth, or turned on the prospects
around me, still struck with new sense of pleasure; when I found by the
voice of my friend, who walked by me, that we had insensibly strolled
into the grove sacred to the widow. "This woman," says he, "is of all
others the most unintelligible; she either designs to marry, or she does
not. What is the most perplexing of all, is, that she doth not either say
to her lovers she has any resolution against that condition of life in
general, or that she banishes them; but, conscious of her own merit, she
permits their addresses, without fear of any ill consequence, or want of
respect, from their rage or despair. She has that in her aspect, against
which it is impossible to offend. A man whose thoughts are constantly
bent upon so agreeable an object, must be excused if the ordinary
occurrences in conversation[122] are below his attention. I call her
indeed perverse; but, alas! why do I call her so? Because her superior
merit is such, that I cannot approach her without awe, that my heart is
checked by too much esteem: I am angry that her charms are not more
acceptable, that I am more inclined to worship than salute[123] her: how
often have I wished her unhappy, that I might have an opportunity of
serving her? and how often troubled in that very imagination, at giving
her the pain of being obliged? Well, I have led a miserable life in
secret upon her account; but fancy she would have condescended to have
some regard for me, if it had not been for that watchful animal her
confidant.

"Of all persons under the sun" (continued he, calling me by my name) "be
sure to set a mark upon confidants: they are of all people the most
impertinent. What is most pleasant[124] to observe in them, is, that they
assume to themselves the merit of the persons whom they have in thei