Nor
perhaps would the beauties of the body be so much affected
to be held cheap, were they, in their nature, to be bought
and delivered. But for me, whose natural philosophy all
resided in the favourite center of sense, and who was rul'd
by its powerful instinct in taking pleasure by its right
handle, I could scarce have made a choice more to my purpose.
Mr. H . . .'s loftier qualifications of birth, fortune
and sense laid me under a sort of subjection and constraint
that were far from making harmony in the concert of love,
nor had he, perhaps, thought me worth softening that superi-
ority to; but, with this lad, I was more on that level which
love delights in.
We may say what we please, but those we can be the easi-
est and freest with are ever those we like, not to say love,
the best.
With this stripling, all whose art of love was the
action of it, I could, without check of awe or restraint,
give a loose to joy, and execute every scheme of dalliance
my fond fancy might put me on, in which he was, in every
sense, a most exquisite companion. And now my great plea-
sure lay in humouring all the petulances, all the wanton
frolic of a raw novice just fleshed, and keen on the burning
scent of his game, but unbroken to the sport: and, to carry
on the figure, who could better TREAD THE WOOD than he, or
stand fairer for the HEART OF THE HUNT?
He advanc'd then to my bed-side, and whilst he fal-
tered out his message, I could observe his colour rise, and
his eyes lighten with joy, in seeing me in a situation as
favourable to his loosest wishes as if he had bespoke the
play.
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