Explanation: This affliction in my life has streaked all my conduct with a softness, of which I should otherwise have been incapable.

Answer: It is part of Sir Roger de Coverley’s speech taken from “Sir Roger’s Reflection on the widow”. This essay is written by Richard Steele. It should be read in continuation of the essay called “His Account of His Disappointment in Love”. In the extracted Sentence, Sir Roger means to say amusingly that his disappointment in love brings a beneficent effect on his disposition. His simplicity is also revealed here.

Sir Roger loves a young beautiful widow whom he has called ‘Perverse’. But he is rejected by this captivating lady. So he is disappointed in his love. But whenever he thinks of her, he gets the feeling that his youth has returned to him. This is the suffering or pain caused by his failure in love in his life. It has introduced a vein of gentleness into all his actions. Sir Roger humorously says that his disappointment in love has made him softhearted and forgiving. Otherwise, he is incapable of gaining politeness and gentleness. He is not to be gentle and kind if he would not rejected by the widow.

Steele throws light on the character of Sir Roger de Coverley who is simple and naive. His use of humor is also vivid.