Date: 1752, 1791

"Know too, the joys of sense controul, / And clog the motions of the soul; / Forbid her pinions to aspire, / Damp and impair her native fire: / And sure as Sense (that tyrant!) reigns, / She holds the empress, Soul, in chains."

— Cotton, Nathaniel, the elder (1705-1788)

Date: 1753

"Now proud, imperial reason, boast thy pow'r!"

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1753

"E'en while her smile-dress'd beauty fills my eyes, / And life itself pierc'd by the musick, dies, / To shew proud joys, that reason rules 'em all."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1753

"Bless his protective hand, that calls out Arts, / And hail his Empire, o'er a people's hearts."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1753

Love may "To slighted beauty .. new powers impart: / And stretch the aided empire of the heart"

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1754

The "grim natives" of East-Brent were of "reason wholly void, whom instinct rules"

— Bowden, Samuel (fl. 1733-1761)

Date: 1754

Reason may rule the mind and keep her God-like seat

— Bowden, Samuel (fl. 1733-1761)

Date: 1755, 1773

"All the empire I had wanted / Then had been my shepherd's heart."

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1755

"Oh let me now thy tender Mercy find, / With thy free Grace illuminate my Mind, / Let me no more the Slave of Passion be, / But turn my wand'ring Thoughts to Heav'n and thee."

— Masters, Mary (1694-1771)

Date: June, 1756

"But soul-rejoicing health again returns, / The blood meanders gentle in each vein, / The lamp of life renew'd with vigour burns, / And exil'd reason takes her seat again-- / Brisk leaps the heart, the mind's at large once more, / To love, to praise, to bless, to wonder and adore."

— Smart, Christopher (1722-1771)