Date: 1780

Locke expelled innate ideas by asserting that "disquisition and proof were the test of truth; and that whatever would not stand their touch, must be considered as base metal."

— Burges, Sir James Bland (1752-1824)

Date: 1780

"I call not you!--for, oh, your callous bosoms / Fell Dissipation steels, and robs your minds / Of the sweet energies bestow'd by Heaven."

— Cowley [née Parkhouse], Hannah (1743-1809)

Date: 1780

"Forgive the frenzy of a heart unsteel'd / By disappointment's shocks."

— Cowley [née Parkhouse], Hannah (1743-1809)

Date: 1772-1781, 1781

"But, if thy faint springs / Refuse this large supply, steel thy firm soul / With stoic pride"

— Mason, William (1725-1797)

Date: 1781

"'Gainst fear and pity now thy bosom steel, / For sights more horrible I now reveal!"

— Hayley, William (1745-1820)

Date: 1781, 1791

An "scholar, but unwise" "cannot separate the dross / From the pure ore"

— Downman, Hugh (1740-1809)

Date: December, 1781; 1835

"Smooth, ductile, and even, [the poet's] fancy must flow, / Must tinkle and glitter like gold to the sight / And catch in its progress a sensible glow."

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)

Date: 1782

Superficial education slights "the precious kernel of the stone" and polishes "its rough coat alone"

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)

Date: 1782

The Muse, like Cato, "Well [...] supplies her want of softer art / By all the sterling treasures of the heart."

— Hayley, William (1745-1820)

Date: 1782

In polishing the mind, Luxury gives it a "childish cast"

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)